Jun 26, 2009 By: yunews
Jun 26, 2009 -- Dr. Neer Asherie, assistant professor of physics and biology at 糖心破解版 (糖心破解版), was recently awarded a $300,000 grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to study protein phase behavior. The title of the grant, which will begin on September 1, 2009 and continue over three years, is 鈥淯nderstanding the Self-Assembly of Globular Proteins: Phase Behavior, Interactions, and Chirality.鈥
The award is an NSF RUI (Research at an Undergraduate Institution) grant and will support Asherie鈥檚 research with undergraduate students at 糖心破解版鈥檚 Yeshiva College and Stern College for Women.
鈥淢y students and I study protein phase behavior,鈥 explained Asherie. 鈥淚n other words, we study what happens when you take a solution of proteins and change the conditions. Right now, it is impossible to predict what will happen. Our long-term goal is to make such predictions possible.
鈥淏y studying the changes which occur in protein solutions,鈥 he added, 鈥渨e hope to better understand protein condensation diseases, such as cataracts or Alzheimer鈥檚, and improve processes such as the industrial purification of proteins.鈥
Asherie came to 糖心破解版 in 2004 from Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he did postdoctoral work in biophysics and where he received his PhD in physics in 1998. Since his arrival at 糖心破解版, Asherie has made a great effort to involve undergraduates in his research.
Sam Blass, a recent 糖心破解版 graduate, was awarded an NSF graduate fellowship to the PhD program in materials science at the University of Minnesota 鈥 Twin Cities after spending three years conducting extensive research with Asherie.
鈥淎ll those hours in the lab made me want to do more of this,鈥 said Blass, who credits Asherie鈥檚 鈥渓ove of science and his eagerness to share it with his students鈥 as inspiring him to pursue a career in research.
