Winslow Professor of Chemistry George Shields and Visiting Assistant Professor of Chemistry Karl Kirschner received a grant funded by the US Army Medical Research and Material Command, from the Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research Program, to support their research with students at Hamilton College. The proposal, titled "Development of a Computational Assay for the Estrogen Receptor," is a one-year grant of $113,620 that supports efforts to use computers to develop a procedure that predicts the binding affinity of potential drugs to the estrogen receptor.
The estrogen receptor takes part in several signaling pathways, and initial activation of the estrogen receptor occurs through the binding of estrogen. Approximately 70% of all breast cancers are estrogen receptor positive, making the estrogen receptor a compelling target for drug design.
This research builds directly on the senior thesis work of Scott Huntington '05. Previous Hamilton students who have helped develop this project include Sarah Taylor '03, Abby Markeson '04, and Sarah Felder '07. Assistant Professor of Biology Steve Festin, who specializes in cancer biology, has also helped the Shields group develop this research project.
This grant was one of 92 proposals recommended for funding out of a total of 1,285 proposals considered in a blind peer review process. Karilyn Larkin '06, is leading the team that is working on this project this summer, a group which includes Amy Barrows '08 and Greg Nizialek '08.
