Dr. Strauss-Soukup has been awarded a $440,999 grant from the National Institute of Health, which will continue to fund her lab for the next three years.
Her lab is conducting research with the capacity to become the basis for developing drugs that target RNA.
In doing so, their work focuses in part on riboswitches, a group of noncoding RNAs that can be found in almost all bacteria.
“My new grant funding investigates whether riboswitches might exist in higher organisms, specifically whether they’re involved in a metabolic pathway that controls polyamine biosynthesis,” Dr. Strauss-Soukup said. “High polyamine concentrations have been observed in rapidly proliferating cells and therefore controlling polyamine biosynthesis could aid in controlling cancer growth.”
She continued stating, “Preliminary results indicate that these RNAs do act as polyamine “sensors” suggesting a substantially broader distribution of riboswitches among eukaryotic organisms and representing potential new drug targets in key metabolic processes.”
Regarding fund allocation specifics, the funding will pay for the supplies needed to perform the experiments on campus and for crystallography studies off campus.
Additionally, funds will be allocated to undergraduate researchers, allowing 3 – 4 students to work in her lab each year, as well as providing the opportunity for those students to travel and present their research across the country.
One of Dr. Strauss-Soukup’s student researchers and senior in the College of Arts and Sciences, Cait Sousley, presented her research on a species of mold at the American Chemical Society this past week.
“Undergraduate research has given me a really good background on the medical treatments that I’ll hopefully be using on patients someday,” Sousley said.
Another student researcher of Dr. Soukup, Ellie Alberts, a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences, echoed Sousley’s statement, saying, “This could become clinical human trials in 20 years if it continues […] its really strengthened my interest in the medical field.”
Alberts is working on a project called SHAPE. She’s analyzing structural changes in an oyster OAZ-RNA when binding to different analogs.
“Working with undergraduate students one-on-one is one of my favorite things to do,” Dr. Strauss-Soukup said. “Independent research offers the chance for students to be creative, design their own path, grapple with real obstacles, and take their education to the next level.”
When asked about their experience working under Dr. Strauss-Soukup’s leadership, both Sousley and Alberts referred to her as a mentor.
In fact, Sousley ended her interview by saying, “Wait, can I brag about Dr. Soukup for another minute?”
“She poured so much of her time and funding into this research, and she’s become such a significant mentor for me,” Sousley said. “She’s always so supportive of anything you choose to do.”
Alberts followed the sentiment with, “I just really enjoy getting to learn from her.”
Dr. Strauss-Soukup also attended the conference hosted by the American Chemical Society and, on Thursday, was a featured speaker in the nucleic acid section.