The research of the Department of Biomedical Sciences was organized around the Regulatory Peptide Center followed by the establishment of cores of Peptide Chemistry, Molecular and Cell Biology, Radioimmunoassay and Receptor Binding, and Neurobiology. Faculty from these centers hold secondary appointments in the Department of Biomedical Sciences and participate in the Graduate Program.
Pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer death in men and women in the United States.
A group in the Biomedical Sciences Department is working on several aspects of this disease, including early diagnosis, how the tumor alters metabolism and causes cachexia, the role of peptide growth factors in allowing the tumor cells to escape from normal proliferative regulation, and the mechanisms of action of some novel therapeutic agents, including retinoids and lipoxygenase inhibitors. This work involves collaborations with scientists in the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm and the National Cancer Institute. Congenital heart defects are the most common life-threatening birth defect and many times are accompanied by craniofacial anomalies. Moreover, metabolic derivatives of vitamin A are capable of mediating neural crest cell migration and proteolytic activity. Creighton researchers, in collaboration with investigators at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, are also investigating the effects of elevated homocysteine on neural crest morphogenesis and elucidating the mechanisms responsible for folic acid's protective effect on cardiovascular and craniofacial development.