The overall program will use a combination of structural, chemical and biological tools to further the development of new and more effective drugs to combat AIDS. The five-year grant is being provided under the NIGMS initiative, Structural Biology of AIDS-Related Proteins.

Eddy Arnold, a resident faculty member of the Center for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine (CABM) at Rutgers' Piscataway campus and a professor in Rutgers' department of chemistry and chemical biology, will serve as program director for the four projects. CABM is a research institute jointly administered by the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) and Rutgers.

"This major award enables Professor Arnold and his colleagues to continue their powerful work to develop effective treatments for this dreadful disease that threatens the well-being of millions of people worldwide," said Joseph J. Seneca, Rutgers' university vice president for academic affairs. "Rutgers is proud to have the work of its scientists recognized by this highly competitive award and to contribute to the improvement of public health through basic research."

Concurrent with his role as program director, Arnold will also function as principal investigator on one of the four projects, assisted by co-principal investigator Stefanos Sarafianos, an associate research professor at CABM. The other projects are led by Roger A. Jones, professor of chemistry and chemical biology at Rutgers and chair of the department; Stephen H. Hughes, a laboratory and section chief in the NIH National Cancer Institute's HIV Drug Resistance Program; and Michael A. Parniak, a professor of medicine in the Division
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Contact: Joseph Blumberg
blumberg@ur.rutgers.edu
732-932-7084 x652
Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey
12-Nov-2002