MACON — A Mercer University School of Medicine professor has been awarded a $176,238 grant to study the impact of certain proteins on a variety of diseases, including cancer, neurodegenerative diseases and autoimmune disorders, which could lead to advances in screening and treatment.
Pamela Cook, Ph.D., assistant professor of genetics, received the grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to support her research of long interspersed nuclear element-1 (LINE-1) proteins, which could be a key to understanding the development and progression of multiple diseases. The Exploratory Award Program is administered by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, a part of the National Institutes of Health.
LINE-1 is an enzymatic system that encodes proteins that facilitate the replication and insertion of new LINE-1 DNA and other transposable elements of DNA into the genome. However, the effects of LINE-1 proteins on cellular function are poorly understood. Since the late 1980s, scientists have been interested in understanding the effects of LINE-1 on human cells, but tools to investigate the function of these proteins are limited due to the large number of LINE-1 copies in the genome.
Dr. Cook’s research aims to develop a new tool to allow the study of how these proteins affect our cells. Associate professor James Drummond, Ph.D., also will contribute as a co-principal investigator on the grant.
“LINE-1 proteins are repressed in normal, healthy cells, but their expression is reactivated in many different disease states, including cancer, neurodegenerative diseases and autoimmune disorders,” Dr. Cook said. “Successful development of this tool would allow investigation into the function of LINE-1 proteins in disease.”
Understanding how LINE-1 proteins participate in disease development and progression could help unlock screening and treatment advances for a variety of common illnesses.
“Mercer University School of Medicine is very proud of Dr. Pamela Cook and this cutting-edge research. This grant will fund research that will result in meaningful insight into cancer care,” said Jean R. Sumner, M.D. FACP, dean of the School of Medicine.
Dr. Cook’s research has the potential to impact millions of people.
As many as 50 million people in the U.S. have some type of neurodegenerative disease. Almost 7 million Americans are currently living with Alzheimer’s, making it the third most prevalent disease in the United States after cancer and heart disease, according to the Alzheimer’s Association. The National Cancer Institute estimates that nearly 2 million Americans will be diagnosed with some form of cancer in 2024 alone.
In addition, there are over 80 known autoimmune diseases such as Type 1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis, lupus and rheumatoid arthritis, according to the National Institutes of Environmental Health Science, and many are rare and difficult to diagnose.
About Mercer University School of Medicine (Macon, Savannah, Columbus and Valdosta)
Mercer University’s School of Medicine was established in 1982 to educate physicians and health professionals to meet the primary care and health care needs of rural and medically underserved areas of Georgia. Today, more than 60% of graduates currently practice in the state of Georgia, and of those, more than 80 percent are practicing in rural or medically underserved areas of Georgia. Mercer medical students benefit from a problem-based medical education program that provides early patient care experiences. Such an academic environment fosters the early development of clinical problem-solving and instills in each student an awareness of the place of the basic medical sciences in medical practice. The School opened additional four-year M.D. campuses in Savannah in 2008 and in Columbus in 2021, and a clinical campus in Valdosta in 2024. Following their second year, students participate in core clinical clerkships at the School’s primary teaching hospitals: Atrium Health Navicent The Medical Center and Piedmont Macon Medical Center in Macon; Memorial Health University Medical Center in Savannah; Piedmont Columbus Regional Hospital and St. Francis Hospital in Columbus; and SGMC Health in Valdosta. The School also offers master’s degrees in preclinical sciences and family therapy and Ph.Ds. in biomedical sciences and rural health sciences.
