November 29, 1994 Contact: Robert Irion (408/459-2495)

BIOTECH TRAINING GRANT TO BENEFIT UC SANTA CRUZ GRADUATE STUDENTS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SANTA CRUZ, CA--Biotechnology is a growing and exciting field, especially in the area of drug design and research. From finding potential drugs in nature to determining how existing drugs work, from making compounds in the lab to inventing molecules on a computer, this aspect of biotechnology holds great promise for improving our health.

Now, thanks to a $150,000 training grant, graduate students in chemistry at UC Santa Cruz will gain a more thorough exposure to this dynamic field. The goal is to prepare the students for biotechnology careers in either academia or industry.

The grant, one of seven given to University of California campuses this year, was awarded by the UC Systemwide Biotechnology Research and Education Program. Starting in January, it will support graduate students in the labs of seven faculty members in UCSC's Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. The department will receive $75,000 a year for two years to pay tuition and fees for some students, help them travel to scientific meetings, bring in guest speakers, and establish a series of visits to biotechnology companies.

"We have all of the elements of research at a modern biotechnology company in place here at UCSC," says Professor Phillip Crews. "Students will get an advance snapshot of biotechnology as a whole by participating in this grant."

Crews and Professor Anthony Fink are the program's codirectors. Other faculty members whose students will benefit are Professors Pradip Mascharak and Todd Wipke, Associate Professors Joseph Konopelski and Glenn Millhauser, and Assistant Professor Sheila David.

Crews and Fink view the grant as a way to strengthen a unifying theme that already exists among the labs of the seven scientists. "All of our approaches aim either directly or indirectly toward the development of new drugs," Fink says. Thumbnail sketches of some of that research reveal a common thread:

-- Crews and his students scour the South Pacific for marine organisms whose tissues harbor active compounds, determine the chemical structures of the compounds, and test them against cells that cause cancer and other diseases.

-- Fink's group studies why some bacteria are resistant to antibiotics and attempts to develop new compounds that can overcome this resistance.

-- Students under David and Mascharak explore the interaction of drugs with DNA and RNA, the genetic substances that allow cells to multiply, including disease cells.

-- In Konopelski's lab, students devise ways to create bioactive compounds from scratch, particularly anticancer drugs found in tiny amounts in nature.

-- Wipke's team uses a sophisticated computer program, inventon, to design entirely new compounds that could improve upon current drugs.

"The whole process of developing a bioactive compound that has some clinical use occurs in all of these layers," says Crews. He emphasizes that most of the biotechnology research at UCSC occurs at a very basic level. Although the research may not lead directly to a new miracle drug on the shelf, he says, it lays the groundwork for chemists and pharmacologists elsewhere.

Fink believes that the meetings and activities planned for students under the training grant will foster their intellectual growth and increase collaboration among the labs. "It builds upon one of UCSC's hallmarks," says Fink: "mentorship and a close relationship among researchers and students at all levels."

Editor's note: For further comments, call Phillip Crews at (408) 459-2603 or Anthony Fink at (408) 459-2744.

This release is also available on UC NewsWire, the University of California's electronic news service. To access by modem, dial (209) 244-6971.

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