In the world of scientific research, $40,000 a year doesn’t seem like much money.
But for Julie Soukup, Ph.D., a professor of chemistry at Creighton University and program coordinator for the primarily undergraduate institutions within the NE-INBRE program, it was more than enough money to get the data she needed to apply for a much larger grant.
Like the R15 she was awarded in June.
The three-year, $450,000 grant will help further her research into the structure and function of riboswitch RNAs and the potential that they could eventually be targets for new antibiological agents, such as antibiotic and anti-cancer drug therapies.
"This project is an offshoot of a current INBRE project which helped me get the preliminary data I needed to apply for the R15 from NIH," Dr. Soukup said.
As an INBRE Developmental Research Project Program grant recipient now in her fourth year, Dr. Soukup has been able to fund undergraduate research students to work in her lab, purchase necessary supplies for the research, and in the past 10 years, INBRE funds have allowed her to purchase much needed lab equipment, including an ultracold freezer, thermocycler and Nano Isothermal Titration Calorimeter.
She said being part of the NE-INBRE program also gives her access to core facilities that she would not otherwise have.
"INBRE provides faculty at undergraduate institutions with other resources, including research mentors to share ideas with," Dr. Soukup said.
The research support has brought a certain level of excitement among the undergraduate students she mentors, as well.
"The work Dr. Soukup is doing stood out to me," said Christian Hannah, a senior majoring in biochemistry and Spanish at Creighton University.
Hannah said once he read about Dr. Soukup’s research, he asked to join her lab.
"She’s one of a handful of researchers in the country who are studying the role of riboswitch RNAs and investigating their potential to be drug targets," he said.
At Creighton University, Dr. Soukup teaches biochemistry, general chemistry and advanced nucleic acid biochemistry, and an occasional class on women in science.
She joined the NE-INBRE program in 2002 and has mentored 17 INBRE Scholars over the years.