Yale Bulletin and Calendar

September 27-October 4, 1999

Volume 28, Number 6

Chemist to study potential benefits of
sea sponge molecule with $150,000 grant

A Yale professor has been awarded a $150,000 grant from Johnson & Johnson to study the use of the natural product palau'amine, which was isolated from a marine sponge found in the West Pacific, as a potential chemotherapeutic agent.

David Austin, assistant professor of chemistry, says the three-year grant will be used to synthesize palau'amine, which was found off the Palau Islands, and several derivatives, to evaluate the biological effects.

"What attracted us to the molecule was its complexity and the particular combination of functionality," Austin says. "It has an interesting mix of functional groups that suggests its activity will teach us something new about its role in chemical biology."

The research will enable Austin to create simpler molecules that have essentially the same function and that could potentially be used as a drug, he says.

"The palau'amine structure is very complicated," notes Austin. "We will have to develop new chemical methods in order to synthesize it, which is vital to the understanding of the molecule's function."

Johnson & Johnson approved the grant under its Focused Giving Program, which since 1980 has funded more than $35 million in health care and medical research by academic scientists. Company spokeswoman Susan Greger says the program enables J&J to expand its research capabilities.

"The competitive program opens doors to new scientific developments and promotes mutually beneficial relationships between scientists working for the J&J family of companies and those who carry out their work at universities or research centers," she says.

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Ethics of stem cell research to be explored

Little-used Yale Library books get state-of-the-art care at off-campus shelving facility

Symposium and exhibit mark 'Celebration of Very Young Children and Books at Yale'

Gus Ranis forging unions, exploring borders at YCIAS

Forestry school dean will open lecture series on bioethics

Symposium explores themes in 'The Brothers Karamazov'

Former V.P. of European Commission named visiting scholar at Yale SOM

Philanthropist and builder Frederick P. Rose '44E dies

Astronomers say universe expanding faster than once thought

Scientists unravel 'yin' and 'yang' of how salmonella uses proteins to spark disease

Chemist to study potential benefits of sea sponge molecule with $150,000 grant

First winners of Frederick Douglass Book Prize named

Fall lecture series commemorates Brazilian writer Jorge Luis Borges

Scholars will share views on modernist art and photographyn

Paul Kennedy to open book discussion series

Professor to demonstrate his new OCTI game

Employee Day at the Yale Bowl

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