The National Science Foundation has selected a University of Alabama professor for a CAREER grant. Patrick Frantom, assistant professor of chemistry in the University’s College of Arts and Sciences, was awarded $1 million dollars to be put toward his studies of enzymes. The five-year grant will allow for research to be performed at a high level at the Capstone.
“It is a huge honor to be selected for this award when there is a very low rate of large grants being given,” Frantom said. “I am excited and honored to have received this award.”
The grant will allow for two full-time graduate students to be employed and fund the supplies and equipment needed. Ultimately, the main objective is to move through the research plan in five years.
Frantom’s work focuses on enzymes, the molecules that create chemical reactions. Each enzyme is a machine that has a blueprint given from DNA. The group of enzymes in the study share a common structure, or “scaffolding.” Frantom’s main focus is studying how the enzyme is affected by a change in environment. By isolating an individual aspect of an enzyme and breaking it down to study different functions, Frantom hopes to understand how enzymes respond to such change. The data will hopefully open the door for the engineering of enzymes to yield practical and economical results in the near future.
The study includes three other collaborates from across North America. Patricia Babbitt at the University of California, San Francisco is an expert in bioinformatics and utilizes a computer to explain diversity in scaffolding. Frantom will also work with the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York and the University of Waterloo in Canada.
A portion of the funding will be allocated for the research in the University’s Emerging Scholars program. Former participants from the program will be employed as researchers and have the opportunity to continue their efforts beyond their one-year commitment. The funding will also continue research mentoring opportunities to undergraduates studying biochemistry at The University of Alabama.
The grant will also allow for a new undergraduate course to be created. The course will replace traditional lab experiments with a more real-life chemistry approach. Additionally, the facilities and supplies in the laboratories will be upgraded.
“I am very excited for our lab and for the University as a whole,” Frantom said. “The College of Arts and Sciences has received numerous grants in the past years that has overall enhanced the college’s research reputation.”
