For more information contact: Boonshoft School of Medicine, Judi Engle, Office of Public Relations, (937) 775-2951

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 30, 2002

Wright State School of Medicine Receives Research
Instrumentation Awards from the U.S. Department of Defense

Dayton, Ohio—The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) recently announced Defense University Research Instrumentation Program award grants to two faculty members from Wright State University School of Medicine. The grants support the purchase of state-of-the-art equipment, augmenting the capability to perform cutting-edge research.

The Office of Naval Research has awarded Jay B. Dean, Ph.D., professor of physiology & biophysics, more than $243,500 for the purchase of fluorescence microscopy equipment. This equipment will aide the research team at Wright State University in the study of oxygen toxicity.

Divers experience oxygen toxicity of the central nervous system and pulmonary system. Dean explains, “Paradoxically, while oxygen is needed to sustain life, too much oxygen is dangerous to the central nervous system and lungs of divers breathing pure oxygen, such as U.S. Navy SEALs." The study will help researchers develop methods to predict and prevent the onset of oxygen toxicity in military divers.

Nicholas V. Reo, Ph.D., associate professor of biochemistry and molecular biology, will receive more than $478,000 for his Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) instrumentation from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research. The grant provides funding towards the purchase of a high-resolution 600 MHz NMR Spectrometer for the Wright State University MR Laboratory.

“NMR spectroscopy focuses on chemical analyses and will be used to study cellular biochemistry and tissue metabolism,” Reo states. “This technology provides us with a chemical “fingerprint” that aids in the analyses of complex mixtures. NMR will be used to monitor the metabolic changes that occur within cells to aid in our understanding of chemical-induced toxicity.”

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