Hauptman-Woodward Medical Research Institute Investigator Daniel Gewirth, PhD, has recently been awarded a four-year, $1.6 million grant from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) of the The National Institutes of Health. Dr. Gewirth’s lab studies molecular chaperones, proteins that are necessary to help other proteins in the body achieve their final, active configurations. The current grant award will be used to understand how the body exploits small add-ons, known as glycan molecules, to change the functional properties of these chaperones. These changes cause the chaperone to act or not act on different proteins, including, most notably, those that are responsible for pernicious forms of breast cancer.
Dr. Gewirth’s work will make use of the National Crystallization Center and the Cryo-Electron Microscopy Center, both housed at HWI, as well as the extensive flow cytometry and mass spectrometry facilities located at partner institutions Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center and the University at Buffalo. By understanding how the activity of these chaperones is regulated, the work of Dr. Gewirth will point the way to new modes of treatment of diseases such as cancer.
Congratulations to Dr. Gewirth on earning this federal grant award to aid in his research work and HWI’s mission to improve the health and well-being of humanity through structural biology with innovation, discovery, and education.