The toxic ions are then trapped in the beads and removed from the surrounding water. Water purified in this manner becomes safe enough to drink. Dr. Alexandratos is Senior Consulting Scientist for Eichrom Industries, Inc., which markets Diphonix and related innovations. The Wheeley Award was established in 1989 to honor a UTK faculty member who has excelled in the transfer of technology from a university-based research program to a commercialized product. All faculty and staff interested in technology transfer are invited to attend.
Pancreatic cancer is the fourth most common cause of cancer-related death in the United States.
One of the reasons pancreatic cancer is not detected earlier is the lack of knowledge about the factors that trigger its development and progression. Dr. Schuller's research team is involved in developing model systems to study this deadly disease. The team has discovered that the offspring of hamsters who are given small amounts of alcohol and nicotine during pregnancy develop pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer at a very high rate. These findings suggest that pregnant women who drink even small amounts of alcohol and who are also exposed, by smoking or passive smoke, to small amounts of nicotine significantly increase the risk of their children developing pancreatic cancer as adults. With this new grant from NCI, Dr. Schuller's group will use in vitro research to study the molecular actions of pancreatic cancer cells, and to develop strategies for the prevention and therapy of the disease.