For Immediate Release

Contact:
Barbara Wing, Ph.D.
Chair, Professor of Biology
(417) 873-7683
E-mail: bwing@drury.edu

SPRINGFIELD , Mo. , May 3, 2006 — The Undergraduate Research Program in Pre-Health Sciences has recently received a grant from the Smith-Glynn-Callaway Medical Foundation for $27,000.

The Undergraduate Research Program in Pre-Health Sciences, directed by Dr. Barbara Wing, will receive $17,000 for student research on diabetes. The remaining $10,000 will go toward a scholarship annually funded by the Foundation.

Student researchers and faculty are screening for compounds that could be potential inhibitors of the damages to the blood vessels, which occurs in diabetic patients. This can lead to severe complications such as loss of vision, kidney damage and limb amputations.

Monies from the grants have been used to purchase equipment and supplies needed to allow the program to do the research.  It also provides funds for three Smith-Glynn-Callaway Undergraduate Research Fellowships each year, which allows students to spend most of one summer and a portion of the academic year working on the project.  The funds also provide for students to travel to a national meeting to present their research.

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