Montana State University Billings Associate Professor of Molecular Biology, Lynn George, Ph.D., was recently awarded a National Institutes of Health Academic Research Enhancement Award (AREA) from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.
This three-year, $385,000 grant will support George’s efforts to continue and expand her research on Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. George’s grant proposal scored in the top one percentile, which is laudable, given the highly competitive nature of NIH funding.
NIH AREA grants are designed specifically for institutions like MSUB that focus on undergraduate research. The grant’s intent is to expose undergraduate students to research early in their academic careers.
George shares that providing students with an opportunity to learn cutting edge scientific techniques, conduct their own experiments, and to be part of the research process, gives them hands-on, real-world experience and insight into the field, in hopes that many will choose careers in science and research.
This is the third NIH AREA grant that George has received in the past nine years, and she is currently the only MSUB faculty member with an active AREA award. George has also secured other types of NIH funding, including a collaborative NIH INBRE RAIN grant with Professor Lisa Warner at Boise State University.
Additionally, she has secured funding from a private donor honoring children affected by Familial Dysautonomia (FD), a childhood onset neurodegenerative disease related to ALS. Overall, George’s research has brought in over $1.3 million dollars. In 2018, her research on FD was published in Nature Communications, a highly renowned and international open access journal that publishes high-quality research in the biological and physical sciences. In 2021 and 2022, George published two additional primary research articles, which included six undergraduate co-authors.
George’s new grant focuses exclusively on ALS, which is the most common motor neuron disease worldwide. She says that part of the incentive to focus on ALS is that it impacts more people. About two years ago while studying FD, George and former research students Joseph Walters, Cody Walters and DJ McGee— all three of whom are now in medical school, discovered the presence of a novel protein in motor neurons that had not been previously recognized.
George says that their work on FD laid the groundwork for discovering this protein, which has the potential to identify important new pathways for ALS treatment. “FD and ALS overlap, and this protein likely plays a role in both diseases,” says George. “This is a remarkable finding, and we are super excited about it.” George adds that life expectancy is around three years after an ALS diagnosis.
“What’s so excruciating about ALS is that the patient’s intellect and awareness remain intact, while their motor functions gradually waste away— patients lose their ability to walk, speak and eat, etc. We suspect that answering why motor neurons are selectively at risk in ALS will provide clues to potential mechanisms. In fact, one of our hypotheses is that the new protein we’re working with might be restricted to the specific neuronal subtypes that are impacted in FD and ALS.”
In addition to her research passion, George enjoys teaching and mentoring students. Over the last nine years, she has trained and mentored close to 30 students, many of whom have contributed data to her grant proposals and publications. George says that many of her former students have gone on to medical school, dental school, and other graduate programs.
One of her former students, Aurora Krebs, shares that she gained a true appreciation for her time with George when she started her first day as a junior research scientist in a Montana-based biotech company. “I told my co-workers about my experiences in Dr. George’s lab; from writing proposals and planning projects to trouble-shooting experiments.
They were in awe that I gained this level of experience as an undergraduate since many students aren’t afforded these opportunities even in graduate school.” Krebs also shares that had she attended any other institution, she would have felt very lost and alone. “Dr. George and the science department at MSUB took me under their wing, helped me gain confidence in myself, and gave me every tool for future success.”
Krebs currently works for a diagnostics biotech company and is also pursuing a master’s degree in biomedical neuroscience through the University of Florida.
George shares that the real impact of student research at MSUB is that it gives them the chance to experience the truly compelling nature of science.
“Instead of learning about science in the classroom, they get to actually perform science at the bench—they get to run their own experiments and participate in asking questions that have never been asked before, and sometimes they even get to be part of finding an answer.”
Former MSUB student Joseph Walters, currently in his third year in medical school at Pacific Northwestern University, worked in George’s lab for four years starting off as a student volunteer, then moved up to a technician and then lab manager.
He says that George spent a lot of time teaching him the process of scientific research, grant writing, lab techniques, data collection, analysis, and how to present research findings.
She also made sure he had a concrete understanding of cellular and molecular biology which he has used to further strengthen his medical education. “It is because of these experiences with Dr. George and her close mentorship that I was able to pursue my dream of a career in medicine, and I will forever be grateful to her.”
George explains that for some students, research experiences light a spark that inspires them to continue in research at the graduate level. For others, it boosts their self-confidence and reconnects them with the reasons they chose to major in a science-related field.
George also teaches an introductory biology course as well as an upper-level developmental biology course. While she loves teaching, George says that research is her passion. “I am a scientist at heart.”
Learn more about MSUB’s College of Health Professions and Science.
Original source can be found here
Alerts Sign-up