A research group at the U is helping fight the war against colon cancer.
The David Research Group is headed by Sheila S. David, associate professor in the College of Science, and is staffed by more than a dozen U students.
David and her group study enzymes in the human body that help prevent cancer by repairing damaged DNA strands.
Damaged DNA mutates and can lead to colon cancer, heart disease and other illnesses.
“We were actually interested in this enzyme way before it was linked to the disease,” David said.
Defective enzymes can fail to repair damaged DNA. David focuses much of her research on the defects.
In 2000, David’s research was discovered by Dr. Julian R. Sampson, clinical professor of medical genetics at the University of Wales in Great Britain. He contacted David and asked her to help research defective enzymes.
The Sampson lab was studying a type of colon cancer called Familial Adenomatous Polyposis at the time.
“We are one of the more ‘chemical’ groups studying these enzymes. Most of the other labs are looking at them from a biology perspective,” David said.
David’s research staff consists of eight graduate students, four undergraduates and one postdoctoral student. Most research occurs in the summer, when students have more time to spend in the lab.
“Research is very time consuming. Everyone is working on various aspects of our research…small pieces which all fit together,” David said.
Many students spend their time running kinetic experiments that test how fast enzymes complete their purposes.
Along with U students, there are two students working at the lab who do not have the same research opportunities at their schools.
Shelley Henderson, an undergraduate student from Sam Houston State University, applied to work in David’s lab earlier this year.
Through a program sponsored by the National Science Foundation, Henderson was chosen to participate in a ten-week research program with David’s group.
Henderson hopes to work in the field of oncology in the future, and said the experience gained in David’s lab is valuable.
“I am very interested in doing cancer research. I am definitely getting better at running kinetic experiments,” she said.