Press Release

For Immediate Release
Contact: Susan Preston
(973) 972-7265

At UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
Two Scientists Receive Prestigious MERIT Awards from the National Institutes of Health

Two faculty members at University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ)-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School (RWJMS) have received prestigious designations from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for their on-going research projects.

Ann Stock, Ph.D., of New Vernon, N.J. professor of biochemistry and resident member of the Center for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine (CABM), and Peter D. Yurchenco, M.D., Ph.D., of Franklin Township, N.J., professor of pathology and laboratory medicine, have both been selected to receive the Method to Extend Research In Time (MERIT) Award, which is a mechanism established by the NIH to provide long-term grant support to investigators of proven research competence and productivity.

"We are extremely honored to have two of our outstanding faculty members selected by the NIH for the prestigious MERIT award, which is a true testament to the quality and importance of their biomedical research," said Harold L. Paz, M.D., dean of the UMNDJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. "The medical school as a whole is particularly proud to have received simultaneously two of these extraordinary distinctions."

Dr. Stock's award is from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences. The $1,642,788 grant is funded for five years with a possibility of renewal for three to five more years. She is studying the structural and functional characterization of members of a large family of bacterial signal transduction proteins known as response regulators. These proteins function as molecular switches that control numerous different regulatory responses in bacteria, including many that are important for pathogenesis. The prevalence and importance of response regulator proteins in bacteria, coupled with their absence in animals, makes them attractive targets for the development of novel antimicrobial therapeutics.

Dr. Stock, who is also an investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, has been a UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School faculty member and a resident member of CABM, a joint program of the medical school and Rutgers University since 1991. She received her undergraduate degree in biochemistry and her doctorate in comparative biochemistry from the University of California at Berkeley and completed post-doctoral studies at Brandeis University and Princeton University. Dr. Stock has published more than 70 peer-reviewed research articles and is a member of the editorial board of several professional publications.

Dr. Yurchenco's award is from the National Diabetes and Digestive Kidney Diseases Advisory Council. The $1,498,243 grant is funded for five years with additional funding levels to be determined. Dr. Yurchenco's research is related to the assembly, structure and functions of basement membranes. These extracellular matrices form thin coats on cells and cell layers, providing adhesive substrates that are important for the embryonic development of tissues and for their subsequent maintenance. Basement membrane defects cause Alport's disease and Goodpasture syndrome of the kidney and contribute to the pathogenesis of diabetes mellitus. Furthermore, mutations in basement membrane components are a cause of lethal blistering disorders of skin and a severe form of congenital muscular dystrophy associated with nerve and brain abnormalities. The elucidation of basement membrane structure-function relationships is expected to lead to an understanding of how and why these diseases develop and to provide a rational basis with which to develop treatments.

Dr. Yurchenco has been a UMDNJ-Robert Wood Medical School faculty member since 1984. He received his undergraduate degree in biology magna cum laude from Wesleyan University and both his doctoral degree in biochemistry and medical degree from Albert Einstein College of Medicine. He has published more than 39 peer-reviewed research studies.

UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School is one of eight schools of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. With campuses in New Brunswick, Piscataway and Camden, the medical school is dedicated to the pursuit of excellence in education, research, health care delivery and the promotion of community health for the residents of New Jersey. With 2,500 full-time and volunteer faculty, the medical school maintains educational programs at the undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate levels for more than 1,500 students, as well as continuing education courses for health care professionals and community education programs. The medical school encompasses 21 basic science and clinical departments and also integrates diverse clinical programs conducted at its 34 hospital affiliates and numerous ambulatory care sites in the region. UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School also includes 85 centers and institutes; among them are The Cancer Institute of New Jersey, the Cardiovascular Institute, the Child Health Institute of New Jersey, the Center for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine, and the Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute.

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