SEED Grants 2003

Quantitative MRI Contrast Reagent Bolus-Tracking Studies for Improved Specificity in Breast Cancer Diagnosis

Wei Huang
Department of Radiology, SBU
Charles Springer
Chemistry Department, BNL
Luminita A. Tudorica
Department of Radiology, SBU
Thomas Yankeelov
Chemistry Department, BNL

This proposal hypothesizes that the quantitative contrast reagent bolus-tracking MRI method, BOLERO, will provide accurate measurements of tumor perfusion and tumor vascular permeability in breast lesions, significantly improving specificity in detection of breast malignancy and reducing unnecessary biopsies.

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Nitrogen Fixation in Plants: Physiological Studies using Short-lived Isotopes

Manuel Lerdau
Department of Ecology and Evolution, SBU
Richard Ferrieri
Chemistry Department, BNL
Alistair Rogers
Environmental Sciences, BNL

This proposal aims to improve understanding of plant responses to environmental stress to allow for the realization of the Green Revolution in developing crops with the potential to enhance productivity in agricultural systems by using a complementary approach that addresses the integration of physiological processes with visualization and quantification of molecular movement and disposition across the scale of the entire plant.

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Development of New Inhibitors of Botulinum Toxin

Benjamin Luft
Department of Medicine, SBU
John Dunn
Department of Biology, BNL
Subramanyam Swaminathan
Department of Biology, BNL

The purpose of this work is to understand the structure-function relationship of botulinum neurotoxins leading to a structure based rational drug design for the treatment of botulism, with the concern that the use of toxins produced by Clostridium botulinum will be introduced to populations as a method of biowarfare terror.

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Computational Analysis of Genomic Sequence Tags

Steven Skiena
Department of Computer Science, SBU
Daniel van der Lelie
Department of Biology, BNL
Sean McCorkle
Department of Biology, BNL

The aim of this proposal is to provide a method of computational analysis that will support the genomic sequence tag in studying the structure, functional roles, and diversity of complex communities of microbes, previously indescribable as vast types of microorganisms cannot exist under laboratory conditions for examination.