INBRE: CLAFLIN U: FACULTY AND UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH DEVELOPMENT

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This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. Claflin University is located in Orangeburg, South Carolina, only 35 miles from the University of South Carolina (USC). Claflin University is the first HBCU in the state to start a Center for Biotechnology (The South Carolina Center for Biotechnology or SCCBT) as well as instituting a new Masters of Science (MS) program in Biotechnology. As a mentored institution of the SC-BRIN, Claflin established a state-of-the-art DNA sequencing facility. Claflin University benefited greatly by inclusion in the first phase of the SC-BRIN. Our administrators (in particular our President) are committed to developing a research program for the entire institution as a direct outcome of the SC-BRIN. We have already established collaborative links between five of our faculty and faculty at USC and Clemson University through the SC-BRIN and we are ready to step-up our research enterprise, assuring that our program will contribute to the overall success of the SC-INBRE. This application focuses on three research infrastructure building areas: 1) For Student Training, we propose: a. Support for a total of 15 graduate student (MS) INBRE Research Fellows b. Support for a total of 18 academic year undergraduate research internships 2) For Faculty Development, we request support for the development of two collaborative research projects involving two new tenure track faculty hires at Claflin. Dr. Jianguo Chen (our SC-BRIN Faculty Fellow) will be developing the project A: "Viral and Host Cell Determinants of Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Type 16 Integration and HPV-mediated Transformation". Dr. Randall Harris (hired in January 04) will be developing the project B: "Role of Biofilms in the Development of Colon Cancer." Both projects will be mentored by senior faculty at the South Carolina Cancer Center. To further develop our research enterprise, we request support for a third pilot project maturing from an existing collaboration with the USC School of Medicine. Project C: "Molecular Targets for Zinc in Prostate Cancer Prevention", will be led by Dr. Omar Bagasra, a senior faculty member at Claflin. 3) For Faculty, Postdoctoral, and Staff Recruitment we are requesting: a) Salary support and start-up packages for two newly approved tenure track faculty positions, a protein biochemist and a structural biochemist; b) support and training for two minority post-doctoral researchers; and c) support for laboratory technicians for the SCCBT. Together, these three sets of activities are all designed to enhance the research programs of the SCCBT and will allow Claflin University's faculty, students, and research staff to contribute substantially to the overall South Carolina INBRE theme of Developmental and Applied Bioengineering.