Emory
Pharmacologist Wins Prestigious Keck Foundation Award
ATLANTA -- Randy
A. Hall, Ph.D., assistant professor of pharmacology in Emory University
School of Medicine, has been named a 2002 Keck Distinguished Young Scholar
in Medical Research. The award from the W.M. Keck Foundation includes
a $1 million grant over five years to the School of Medicine in support
of Dr. Hall's research on neurotransmitters and hormone receptors in
the brain and cardiovascular systems.
The Keck Foundation invites
30 institutions each year to submit one candidate for the national Keck
Distinguished Young Scholar competition. A total of five Keck Young
Scholars Awards are given annually in the U.S. According to the Keck
Foundation, the awards are designed to promote the early career development
of "a select group of the country's brightest young biomedical scientists
Ð those with the promise to become our nation's research leaders." The
program supports groundbreaking research that addresses the fundamental
mechanisms of human disease.
The award winners must exhibit
"extraordinary promise for independent basic biological and medical
research and a capacity for future academic leadership." The foundation's
goal is to provide young scientists with an opportunity to investigate
promising new ideas in the fundamental mechanisms of disease at a time
when they often engage in some of their most innovative work.
In the cardiovascular system,
Dr. Hall studies the ways in which hormones such as adrenaline bind
to cells in order to regulate cardiovascular function, and also studies
the mechanisms of action of drugs such as beta blockers, which block
adrenaline and prevent the heart muscle from becoming overexcited. In
the brain, Dr. Hall's lab is the mechanisms of action of neurotransmitters
such as GABA and glutamate, which are involved in the development of
schizophrenia, epilepsy and anxiety.
"Through a better understanding
of the ways that cells communicate in the brain and cardiovascular system,
we can gain insights that lay the foundation for the development of
new drugs of the future in treating disorders such as epilepsy, schizophrenia,
anxiety, stroke, and heart disease," Dr. Hall says. "The Keck awards
are significant because they allow young scientists like myself to establish
their own independent research programs and to work on new and exciting
ideas. These awards can make a tremendous difference early in a scientist's
career."
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