Minority Career Advancement Award for Sabbatical Supplement in Evolutionary and Ecological Genetics

非裔美国人进化生物学家Scott Edwards博士将在2001年9月至2002年6月的休假年中利用这一少数族裔职业发展奖来补充薪金和提供实验室用品。 2002年9月至3月将在堪培拉的澳大利亚国立大学度过，在那里将进行关于蛇和鸟类性染色体进化的合作研究。 首席研究员将使用荧光原位杂交（FISH）技术来确定影响哺乳动物性别决定并位于哺乳动物Y染色体上的基因是否位于鸟类和蛇的性染色体上。 这项研究将为哺乳动物性染色体上发现的遗传模式提供有用的比较，并将帮助我们了解基因如何决定脊椎动物物种的性别。 从2002年3月至6月，Edwards博士将在联合王国康普顿的动物健康研究所进行免疫学研究，以便开发监测野生鸟类免疫反应的工具。 监测禽类免疫应答的能力最终将有助于测量抗病性对调节各种物种个体的生殖性能或适应性的重要性。

Dr. Scott Edwards, an African American evolutionary biologist, will use this Minority Career Advancement Award to supplement salary and provide laboratory supplies during a sabbatical year from September 2001 to June 2002. September to March 2002 will be spent at the Australian National University in Canberra, where collaborative studies on the evolution of sex chromosomes in snakes and birds will be conducted. The principal investigator will use the technique of fluorescence in-situ hybridization (FISH) to determine whether genes that influence sex determination in mammals and reside on the mammal Y chromosome are located on the sex chromosomes of birds and snakes. This research will provide a useful comparison to the genetic patterns found on mammalian sex chromosomes and will help us understand how genes determine the sex of vertebrate species. From March to June 2002 Dr. Edwards will undertake immunological research at the Institute for Animal Health in Compton, United Kingdom, in order to develop tools to monitor the immune response of birds in the wild. The ability to monitor the avian immune response will ultimately be useful for measuring the importance for disease resistance for modulating the reproductive performance, or fitness, of individuals of a variety of species.