Carver Trust Awards Iowa State University $508,000 for Two Projects
December 8, 2008
For More Information Contact:
Olivia Madison, Dean, Iowa State University Library, 515.294.1443
Gaya Amarasinghe, Biochemistry, Biophysics & Molecular Biology, 515.294.3216
Dave Gieseke, ISU Foundation, 515.294.7263, dgieseke@foundation.iastate.edu
AMES, IOWA - Iowa State University has received two grants from the Roy J. Carver Charitable Trust, based in Muscatine, Iowa, to study the biochemical mechanism by which the Ebola virus evades the host immune response to infection, and also to establish an educational technology classroom within the Parks Library on campus.
Gaya Amarasinghe, assistant professor of biochemistry, biophysics and molecular biology, has been awarded $308,068 to study viral proteins that facilitate immune evasion. In many cases, very limited information is available on key host-viral interactions that lead to infections and correspondly, fewer effective vaccines or approved treatments are available.
“Lack of basic knowledge on viruses like Ebola severely limits our ability to design therapeutics to counter viral infections,” Amarasinghe said. “We hope to address this issue using biochemical and structural methods in order to better understand how viral components interact with host cells. We’re really excited to have the opportunity to look at some of the viral proteins at high resolution using NMR spectroscopy and X-ray crystallography.”
Amarasinghe’s research team will use non-infectious recombinant proteins, which can be studied safely in Iowa State laboratories, to identify new aspects of basic biology and identify novel targets for structure-based drug design strategies. Support from the Carver Trust will aid Amarasinghe’s efforts to learn about key viral components with implications for human health and disease.
The Carver Trust has also committed $199,988 to the Iowa State University Library for a next generation technology-equipped multimedia classroom space. The facility will include instructional technologies supporting the Library’s pedagogical strategies.
“Our partnership with the Carver Trust will create a flexible and innovative multimedia classroom in the Parks Library’s Learning Connections Center that will enhance student learning across the disciplines and respond to learning styles and the needs of today’s students,” said Olivia Madison, dean of the library.
The Parks Library and the Learning Connections Center function as a central location for Iowa State students to gather to work on individual and group learning projects. The new multimedia classroom space will support the Library’s broader strategic vision for teaching and learning.
The Roy J. Carver Charitable Trust is a philanthropic foundation in Iowa with assets of more than $300 million and annual grant distributions of over $16 million. It was created through the will of Roy J. Carver, a Muscatine industrialist and philanthropist, who died in 1981.The Carver Trust has been a long-time supporter of Iowa State and is one of the university’s leading donors with a total giving of $24 million in gifts and grants.
These grants are part of Campaign Iowa State: With Pride and Purpose, the university’s $800 million fundraising effort.
