Three of four UK's research professorships fund work in health

Three of the four University of Kentucky research professorships awarded for the 2012-13 school year will fund health-related work. Each award is worth $40,000.

Mark Filmore, right, who teaches in UK's Department of Psychology, will research the role that cognitive processes have in promoting risk-taking behavior. It will have an emphasis on recreational drug use, including alcohol abuse and dependence.

Douglas Andres, left, professor and vice chair of the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry,  "had begun to define the molecular pathways that control adult neurogenesis, and have shown that Rit, a Ras family G-protein, plays a critical role in the survival of newborn adult neurons following traumatic brain injury," a press release reads. If that is the case, strategies that target Rit activation may be effective in helping recover or repair the injury.

In the Department of Internal Medicine, Mark Dignan, right, leads a program that focuses on cancer prevention and control in community settings using community-based participatory methods. Using the funds of his professorship, he plans to expand his training, "allowing him to conduct translational research with teams that include basic and clinical scientists as they continue their work to reduce cancer health disparities," the press release reads.

Christopher Pool, professor in the Department of Anthropology, is the fourth professorship recipient. (Read more)