UIS and SIU Medicine faculty collaborate on innovative heart disease research

Faculty from the University of Illinois Springfield (UIS) and Southern Illinois University (SIU) School of Medicine have been awarded a grant from the Caryl Towsley Moy, Ph.D., Endowed Fund for Collaborative Research to conduct innovative heart disease research.

Julio A. Copello, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Pharmacology at SIU School of Medicine, and Stephen R. Johnson, Ph.D., UIS associate professor of chemistry, are investigating the ability of small proteins found in animal toxins, such as that of the scorpion, to modify the activity of calcium ion channels. Understanding the structure and function of these proteins may assist in developing therapeutics for heart disease, resulting in decreased mortality and health care costs.

Cardiovascular disease is a leading cause of death in the United States. Certain heart diseases (e.g., ischemia, arrhythmia, polymorphic ventricular tachycardia) are due to the abnormal function of calcium ion channels of the muscle tissue.

Richard Moy, M.D. (1931-2013), founding dean of the SIU School of Medicine, and his sons Philip and Eric Moy created the $250,000 endowed fund at UIS in honor of their wife and mother, former professor Caryl Moy (1932-2010). The fund supports faculty from UIS and the SIU School of Medicine to perform team-based research. Caryl Moy taught for 21 years at UIS (then Sangamon State University) beginning in 1970. She also served as a clinical professor at the SIU School of Medicine.

For more information, contact Keenan Dungey, UIS associate vice chancellor for research and institutional effectiveness, at 217/206-8112 or kdung1@uis.edu.