November 10, 1994: Vol26n10: Six faculty receive NIH grants recognizing young investigators

    Thomas J. Langan; Deborah Leckband and Paulette Tempro. 
Thomas J. Langan; Deborah Leckband and Paulette Tempro. 
Thomas J. Langan; Deborah Leckband and Paulette Tempro. 
e UB facue UB facue UB facue UB facue UB facue UB facue UB facue UB
facuBy LISA WILEY
News Bureau Staff
Six UB faculty members have received FIRST (First Independent Research
Support and Transition) grants from the National Institutes of Health
recognizing young investigators who show promise for future scientific
achievement in the biomedical sciences. 
	Those receiving the five-year awards are Kathleen M. Karlinski
Boje; John K. Crane; Mira Edgerton; Thomas J. Langan; Deborah Leckband
and Paulette Tempro. 
	Kathleen M. Karlinski Boje, assistant professor of
pharmaceutics, has received a first-year grant of $111,000. She will
examine blood-brain and blood-cerebrospinal fluid barrier
permeability. Her studies may identify therapeutic strategies to
prevent permeability changes in these barriers in neuroinflammatory
disease states. A member of the UB faculty since 1992, Boje graduated
from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh and received a doctorate in
pharmaceutics from UB.
	An assistant professor of medicine, John K. Crane has been
awarded a first-year grant of $104,000 to study the mechanism by which
E. coli  bacteria cause diarrhea, especially in children. The research
may lead to methods to prevent and treat the toxins that produce
diarrhea, particularly in developing countries. Crane joined the UB
faculty this year and serves as an attending physician at the Erie
County Medical Center. He received a bachelor's degree from Cornell
University and a medical degree from the University of Virginia.
	Mira Edgerton, clinical assistant professor in the departments
of prosthodontics, biomaterials and oral biology, received a
first-year grant of $99,000. She will use the money to study salivary
histatins, shown to be active inhibitors of yeast cell growth and
germination. A better understanding of this molecular mechanism may
lead to the creation of synthetic peptides with enhanced function and
methods to deliver histatins to selected oral sites. A member of the
UB faculty since 1982, Edgerton began her Williamsville specialty
practice in prosthodontics in the same year. She earned a bachelor's
degree from Ohio State University, a master's degree from UB, a
doctorate of dental surgery from Case Western Reserve University and a
specialty certificate in prosthodontics from the UB School of Dental
Medicine.
	Thomas J. Langan, associate professor of neurology and
pediatrics, received a first-year grant of $97,000 to explore the link
between astrocyte growth and recovery from brain damage. His research
focuses on astrocytes, the star-like cells that are the most numerous
type found in the brain. The grant will allow him to study the
biochemical control mechanism by which the cells function, and
determine how this mechanism applies to brain injury and recovery.
Langan is an attending neurologist at The Children's Hospital of
Buffalo. He received his bachelor's and medical degrees from Brown
University.
n assistant professor of chemical engineering, Deborah Leckband has been
awarded a first-year grant
of $103,699. She conducts fundamental measurements of the molecular
forces controlling biological recognition. Her work has been the first
to verify the impact of external protein surface structure in the
control of protein recognition events. She also is investigating how
biological membrane composition can modulate recognition at cell
surfaces. A member of the UB faculty since 1993, Leckband has held
pre- and postdoctoral fellowships from the National Institutes of
Health. She graduated from Humboldt State University in California and
earned a doctorate in biophysical chemistry from Cornell University.
	Paulette Tempro, associate professor of periodontics, has been
awarded a first-year $96,000 transfer grant from the University of
Connecticut, where she served as an assistant professor before joining
the UB faculty in 1993. She conducts research on adhesins of
capnocytophaga gingivalis, a gram-negative oral bacterium. Adhesins
are surface molecules that allow bacteria to stick to surfaces and
play a key role in the attachment and colonization of pathogenic
bacteria. Research into the structure of these molecules may lead to
ways to prevent the attachment of bacteria that cause periodontal
disease.  
	A graduate of Pace University, she received a dental degree
from the State University of New York at Stony Brook and a certificate
in periodontology from Columbia University.