RELEASED: June 18, 2009

DANVILLE, KY—Dr. Steve Asmus, Elizabeth Molloy Dowling Associate Professor of Biology and Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, has been awarded a two-year Academic Research Enhancement Award from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The $150,000 grant pays for lab equipment, supplies and summer stipends for student collaborators.

Asmus's student collaborators are Sarah Hawkins, a rising senior from Louisville; Laura Hench, a rising sophomore from Lexington, Ky.; and Donald Allen, an incoming first-year student participating in the Kentucky-West Virginia Alliance for Minority Participation.

Hench, a rising sophomore, is planning to major in biochemistry and molecular biology. "I'm still trying to decide whether I want to take the med school/doctor route or the grad school/research one," she says. "I'm not sure which career would be best suited for me, but doing this research this summer is helping me to start answering that question."

Hench adds, "I'm absolutely loving doing this research with Dr. Asmus. Everything about it is wonderful: the people, the actual research subject, the equipment. I get to use some really fantastic equipment; it's quite mind-blowing at times."

The project grant is titled "Phenotype Analysis of Tyrosine Hydroxylase Neurons in Rat and Human Cortices." The research focuses on the interneurons of the cerebral cortex, which play a key role in cognitive function. The proposed studies explore the chemical properties of interneuron abnormalities that have been linked to neurological disorders such as Parkinson's and epilepsy. The goal is a better understanding of the function of these cells and their potential role in disorders.

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