Sunday, January 31, 2010

Where are they now?

This happy young man is Steven Davis. I caught up with Steven this past weekend (January 29, 2010) in Ann Arbor. Steven is completing his second year of Dental School and is preparing for his written boards.

Steven is the first student to receive his Master's Degree through the UMBTC.  His award winning research showed that knocking down the enzyme  MGMT using a technique called RNA interference (RNAi) can make brain cancer cells more sensitive to chemotherapy.  MGMT is a normal enzyme that repairs DNA damage, so it is very important in keeping our cells healthy. Most chemotherapy works by damaging DNA. So if cancer cells have active DNA repair mechanisms, the DNA damage caused by chemotherapy is fixed, thus thwarting the destruction of the cancer cell. By using (RNAi), Steven showed that the levels of MGMT in a malignant glioma cell can be reduced and that cell becomes more sensitive to temozolomide (Temodar) chemotherapy.

Steven set the bar high for the next generation of graduate students.
Congratulations, and good luck in your future endeavors.

1 comment:

RAR said...

Congrats, Steven, and good luck on your boards!