Association Provides Seed Grants For Clinical Chemists

Clinical chemists relate the chemical composition of tissue and body fluids to different illnesses--a critical step in the diagnosis and treatment of diseases. For them, as for investigators in most other fields today, transforming an idea into reality requires extensive funding. Sylvia Daunert, an assistant research professor at the University of Kentucky, is conducting research involving time-resolved fluorescence, creating more selective and sensitive assays for biomolecules and other biological compounds by using complexes of certain elements, such as europium, with fluorescent compounds. These complexes will fluoresce longer than compounds in existing biological and clinical samples and will bind either with antibodies or with the biomolecule being studied. This causes the fluorescent properties of the compound to be delayed, hence the name "time-resolved fluorescence." Daunert was one of two recipients of $5,000 grants awarded last year by the Van Slyke Society, the philanthropic branch of the 40-year-old American Association for Clinical Chemistry (AACC), based in Washington, D.C. Despite its name, AACC includes members from countries outside the United States; the association currently has more than 10,000 members worldwide. Daunert says that without such funding, ideas such as hers would never come to fruition: "Five thousand dollars is not a lot of money, but it's enough seed money to allow testing of a principle and to collect enough data to apply for bigger grants." Daunert says that most of her Van Slyke money will be used to purchase chemicals and supplies. Founded in 1988, the Van Slyke Society aims to "... promote, encourage, and stimulate the study and application of clinical chemistry," according to the society's mission statement. The society awards two $5,000 grants per year, as well as six educational grants of $1,250 each to support undergraduate summer intern- ships for students interested in clinical chemistry careers. The other $5,000 grant recipient in 1992, Theodore K. Christopoulos, an assistant professor of clinical chemistry at the University of Windsor in Ontario, Canada, is conducting studies on a new amplification system for immunoassays and nucleic acid hybridization assays. Christopoulos proposes to increase the sensitivity of these assays by taking an antibody to a substance, such as thyrotropin, and attaching it to a gene that produces a CAT enzyme. The CAT enzyme acts as a reporter by taking on a color that corresponds with the substance being studied. Instead of producing only one molecule of the enzyme, the gene would produce thousands more. These molecules would be used to catalyze the breakdown of the substrate, and the rate at which they did so would be a measure of how much thyrotropin was in the blood sample. This system would be useful for diagnosing and monitoring thyroid diseases. Also, the system would be used to detect and quantify leukemia-specific mRNA sequences for diagnosing and monitoring chronic myeloid and acute lymphocytic leukemias. Christopoulos came upon the idea while working as a research fellow at Toronto Western Hospital and applied for the Van Slyke grant just before accepting his position at the University of Windsor. "The money helped me more than I could believe," says Christopoulos. "I needed money to set up my new lab right from the beginning. The money helped me to buy the reagents and supplies needed to get started." Research most likely to be considered for funding are studies that focus on new ways to determine chemicals in the body and new ways to use such information, says Harry Pardue, chairman of the Van Slyke Research Grants Committee and a professor of chemistry at Purdue University. "We look for proposals with the potential for transportability from the research lab to the practicing clinical lab," says Pardue. Other factors considered are the project's scope, originality, significance to the science, and soundness of research plan, as well as how achievable the proposed project is. A lower priority is given to requests for money to be used for salaries or general operating expenses. Pardue says that 20 percent to 40 percent of the half-dozen or so proposals the committee receives per year are funded. The proposals are reviewed by a six-member committee, consisting entirely of working clinical chemists. The grant funding cycle begins in June and ends in May the following year. The application deadline is March 15, and the project start date should be no later than June 1 the same year. Grants are awarded by June 1 and formally announced in July. Grants are not renewable. For more information, call Christopher Hoelzel, director of marketing and publications at AACC, (800) 892-1400 or (202) 857- 0717, or write: Grant Request, 2029 K St., N.W., Seventh Floor, Washington, D.C. 20006. James M. Weil is a freelance writer based in Philadelphia.

Association Provides Seed Grants For Clinical Chemists

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