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| Title | Houstonian, 1994 |
| Contributor (LCNAF) |
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| Date | 1994 |
| Description | This edition of the Houstonian, published by the students of the university in 1994, is the official yearbook of the University of Houston. |
| Subject.Topical (LCSH) |
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| Subject.Name (LCNAF) |
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| Subject.Geographic (TGN) |
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| Genre (AAT) |
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| Language | English |
| Type (DCMI) |
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| Original Item Location | LD2281.H745 H6 v. 60 1994 |
| Original Item URL | http://library.uh.edu/record=b1158762~S11 |
| Digital Collection | Houstonian Yearbook Collection |
| Digital Collection URL | http://digital.lib.uh.edu/collection/yearb |
| Repository | Special Collections, University of Houston Libraries |
| Repository URL | http://info.lib.uh.edu/about/campus-libraries-collections/special-collections |
| Use and Reproduction | In Copyright |
| File Name | index.cpd |
| Title | Academics |
| Format (IMT) |
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| File Name | yearb_1994_099.jpg |
| Transcript | Gentics Prof Wins Grant Professor Deborah A. Kimbrell was awarded a $312,000 grant by the American Cancer Society to study Drosophila. Photo by Cesra Alvarez Cancer Society Backs Fruit Fly Study Tiey have wings, six legs capabilities of the Drosophila has and are no bigger than made it the laboratory choice ants. These tiny fruit flies "guinea pig". Kimbrell said that called Drosophilia are worht when blood cell functions of the $312,000 inthe form of a grant to Drosophila are disrupted, turners Dr. Deborah A. Kimbrell. begin to form. "The aim of our Kimbrell, UH genetics work is to isolate and character- professor, was awarded the grant by the American Cancer Society for human cancer studies. She said researching the immune system of these fruit flies can be very valuable, as there are many similarities to higher organisms, including humans. Although Kimbrell is a native Texan, she traveled alot during her youth. "I moved around so much that while I was an undergraduate, I got the realization that my dorm was the dwelling that I had lived in the longest in my whole life," she said. She graduated from Mills The tiny fruit fly Drosophila was worth $312,000 to Dr. Kimbrell and UH ize the genes that are involved in defense and formation of tumors," she said. Kimbrell had two graduate and four undergraduate students aiding her in research. She said she had too many people that wanted to work on the project. The four undergraduates are all from Kimbrell's genetics class. Kirt Martin, one of the students involved with the research, said he enjoyed the project. "The class was more interesting than I thought it would be. It takes time. You had to know what you were looking for. I liked it," he said. She also collaborated College, an all-girl college in California. She later went on to the with colleges in Sweden on University of California to complete her graduate studies and received a Ph.D in genetics. When she was in Stockholm at a seminar on the insect immunity of silk moths, the idea of the research project came about. "It really captured Leishmaniasis, a skin disease that is one of the top targeted diseases by the World Health Organization. "It comes from a parasite called Leishmania. That parasite is carried by a sand fly. When it bites a person and if it is in- my attention. And the experi- fected, it injects the parasite un- ence for using the fruit fly, Drosophilia, literally just rolled before my eyes," said Kimbrell. The molecular genetics der the skin. It can make a person very ill. Sometimes the illness can even lead to death," said Kimbrell. -Ivana Segvic 130 63) John L. Bears, Dean College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics Photo by Mark Lacy Academics |