E-Insight

February 2004

College Honored with Programs of Research and Scholarly Excellence

In 1991, President Albert C. Yates announced the designation of Programs of Research and Scholarly Excellence (PRSEs) at Colorado State University. Nominees to the program are selected because they achieve great distinction and set a standard for excellence that serves as a model for programs throughout the University. Programs are selected after an extensive nomination and review process that takes place every four years. This year's PRSEs have been announced and the College is proud to be home to four of the designated programs, and strongly affiliated with a fifth program based in the College of Natural Sciences. For the Musculoskeletal Research Program, this is the first time being designated a PRSE. We congratulate all programs that have achieved this honor.

The College's current Programs of Research and Scholarly Excellence are the following:

Animal Reproduction and Biotechnology Laboratory
Dr. Gordon Niswender, Director

The research, education and outreach programs within the ARBL are focused on meeting the Land Grant Mission of Colorado State, including the educational mission of the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. Ongoing research is directed at understanding "small baby" syndrome using sheep as a model; development of potential treatments for hormonally dependent cancers; increasing the reproductive efficiency of food and fiber producing animals; molecular regulation of genes which control reproductive processes; understanding hormonal signaling pathways; and reproductive toxicology.

Musculoskeletal Research Program
Dr. Wayne McIlwraith, Director

The interdisciplinary Musculoskeletal Research Program consists of three units: Orthopaedic Research Center (Dr. Wayne McIlwraith, Director); Orthopaedic Bioengineering Laboratory (Dr. Donna Wheeler, Director); and Comparative Ruminant Orthopaedic Laboratory (Dr. A.S. Turner, Director)

The Orthopaedic Research Center's areas of focus include articular cartilage healing, microdamage in subchondral bone, development of fluid markers, and development of molecular biology techniques to evaluate early changes in cartilage healing and to document early molecular events in arthritis. The Orthopaedic Bioengineering Research Laboratory provides an environment for undergraduate and graduate education in Biomedical Engineering while advancing treatment and/or prevention of muscular, neuromuscular or skeletal injury and/or disease. The Ruminant Orthopaedic Research (Sheep) Program has been developed during the past 15 years by Dr. Simon Turner and involves collaboration with a number of researchers to develop a very effective program using sheep as a means of researching important orthopaedic research problems including osteoporosis.

Infectious Diseases Program
Dr. Jon Carlson, Director

This Program of Research and Scholarly Excellence is comprised of faculty, staff and graduate students from three Colorado State University departments and two colleges. It concentrates on better means to diagnose, treat and prevent through vaccination four categories of infections: (1) those caused by retroviruses, which cause AIDS and other diseases; (2) mycobacterial infections, which cause tuberculosis and other diseases; (3) vector-borne diseases, which through insect transmission cause encephalitis and other diseases worldwide; and (4) blood parasites, which are the major cause of disease in the world. Three large research programs serve as cornerstones for infectious disease activities including the Arthropod-Borne and Infectious Diseases Laboratories, the Mycobacteria Research Laboratories and the Prion Research Program.

Radiological Health Sciences and Cancer Research Program
Dr. Robert Ullrich, Director

This University Program of Research and Scholarly Excellence provides education, research, and service related to carcinogenesis, radioecology, radiation protection, cancer diagnosis, and experimental therapeutics. This multi-departmental, and multi-college program collaborates on many projects with researchers at the James L. Voss Veterinary Teaching Hospital, using animal models with naturally-occurring tumors to advance the diagnosis and treatment of cancer in humans and animals.

Molecular, Cellular and Integrative Neuroscience (MCIN) Program
Dr. James Bamburg, Director

MCIN is headquartered in the College of Natural Sciences, though the majority of its faculty affiliates are from CVMBS. Research programs impact the treatment of illnesses such as Alzheimer's disease, AIDS, diabetic neuropathy, spinal cord injuries, epilepsies, heart disease, and muscular dystrophies. Research programs in MCIN also address fundamental questions such as how does the nervous system develop, and how do factors such as aging and music affect cognitive function. The research problems range from the molecular level, with a strong emphasis on signaling and ion channel function, to the neurobiological mechanisms of perception, especially taste and color vision.