January 05, 2009
St.
John’s University Professor Ales Vancura, Ph.D and several
undergraduate and graduate students within the Department of
Biological Sciences co-authored two chapters in a recently
published book, Membrane Trafficking, released in
September 2008 by Humana Press. The book is one volume in the
highly acclaimed series, Methods in Molecular Biology.
Editor of the book, Dr. Vancura defines the phrase “membrane
trafficking” as a process in which proteins and other material must
be delivered to the proper places inside a cell, where it travels
in and out, much like airport traffic until it finds its proper
place throughout the cell.
“This opportunity doesn’t happen often, especially at the
undergraduate level,” says Dr. Vancura. “At
St. John’s, students gain hands-on experience through receiving
practical training and research skills, being mentored by doctoral
students and professors, as well as possibly co-authoring papers to
develop the edge they need in this competitive field.”
In
the book, one chapter titled “Purification of Yeast Membranes and
Organelles by Sucrose Density Gradient Centrifugation,” was
co-authored by St. John’s doctoral student Jennifer Chang, and
undergraduate student and McNair
Scholar Victoria Ruiz, who through scholarly research were able
to examine the look of cell growth and regulation. The second
chapter titled “Analysis of Nucleocytoplasmic Shuttling of NFkB
Proteins in Human Leukocytes,” co-authored by Ivana Vancurova,
Ph.D., an Associate Professor in the Biological Sciences
Department, doctoral students Chandra Ghosh and Hai-Yen Vu and
undergraduate student Tomas Mujo, explores the origins of
inflammatory disorders within the body. After two years of
dedicated research, these students have graduated from St. John’s
and moved on to a bright future in biological & medical
sciences.
With the years and commitment needed to complete scholarly
research, undergraduate and graduate students who are motivated,
interested in scholarly research, dedicated to the field, and show
exemplary academic skills prosper in this highly distinguished
program.
Throughout his career and with continuous funding by the National Institutes of Health (NIH),
Dr. Vancura, who has taught at the University for over a decade,
has dedicated his career to researching the regulation of cell
growth.
Dedicated to student achievement, he has seen the outcome that
co-authoring a published paper can produce for students who wish to
excel within the medical and research field. He attributes grant
funding and a highly skilled student body as key elements in
continuous successful research and student involvement. In this
creative and scholarly environment, students can participate in
research training on such topics as molecular biology, development
of inflammatory disorders and cell growth regulation that cannot be
offered in a regular classroom setting.
Dr. Vancura indicated that the Department of Biological Sciences at
St. John’s is committed to the University’s mission to promote
diversity, student engagement and academic advancement.
Luciano Galdieri, a third-year doctoral student and Brazilian
native, has seen first-hand the opportunities presented to him at
St. John’s. As part of the team working with Dr. Vancura consisting
of four doctoral students and two undergraduates, these students
are setting the goal of understanding the regulation of cell growth
that leads to diseases such as cancer.
“We want to increase student involvement and engagement in
scholarly work,” says Dr. Vancura, adding that students who major
in Biology come to St. John’s expecting this type of engagement to
enhance their training and practical experience. “It is crucial to
support these research activities, since they are very important
for future success of our students, both undergraduate and
graduate.”