Dr. Fadi Bou-Abdallah. Submitted.
POTSDAM -- Dr. Fadi Bou-Abdallah, a professor in the Department of Chemistry at SUNY Potsdam, has received a grant award from the National Institutes of Health for $414,047.
The NIH Academic Research Enhancement Award grant will fund Bou-Abdallah's project, titled "Effect of Ferritin Subunit Composition on Iron Core Formation, Morphology and Iron Mobilization: Physical Characterization and Physiological Relevance," for the next three years (from 2019 to 2022).
"It is a great honor to be recognized by NIH for the wonderful science we do at SUNY Potsdam with our undergraduates. This grant award would not have been possible without our students' dedication and hard work, and represents a culmination of years of excellence in undergraduate teaching and research," Bou-Abdallah said.
Through this research, Dr. Bou-Abdallah seeks to understand how ferritin, the major iron storage protein in mammals, plays a crucial role in iron mineralization and housekeeping.
"Improper iron mineralization has been suggested to contribute to the progression of diseases, and a number of studies have found abnormal brain iron and ferritin levels in neurodegenerative disorders, such as Parkinson's, Alzheimer's disease and Friedreich's ataxia," Bou-Abdallah said.
Bou-Abdallah plans to work with SUNY Potsdam undergraduates over the next three academic years and summers to complete the project. The students will be involved in all aspects of this research and be exposed to interdisciplinary research at the interface of chemistry, biology and materials science.
