Jeremy Prokop hopes to determine if the male-specific protein identified to elevate blood pressure translates into human blood pressure regulation.
Jeremy Prokop, an integrated biosciences Ph.D. student at The University of Akron, was awarded a two-year predoctoral fellowship by the Great Rivers Affiliate of the American Heart Association.
Prokop, a 2010-2011 Choose Ohio First Bioinformatics Scholarship recipient, earned a Bachelor of Science in Biology at UA in 2008. He is the only student in the Integrated Biosciences (IB) Ph.D. program with a predoctoral fellowship from a funding agency. He also is the first UA student to receive a predoctoral fellowship from the American Heart Association.
Diversifying knowledge base
Prokop, of Wadsworth, eventually plans to conduct postdoctoral research in hypertension and cancer and ultimately pursue a professorship. His research interests focus on correlations between structural epigenetics involved in the basic gene regulation of cancer and blood pressure. Prokop says the IB program offers "a great way to integrate numerous fields and diversify my knowledge base, in hopes of one day pursuing more diverse and complicated research questions."
The focus of Prokop's predoctoral fellowship is taking a classic animal model, the spontaneously hypertensive rat, to determine if the male-specific protein identified to elevate blood pressure translates into human blood pressure regulation.
The fellowship will significantly benefit Prokop’s research, notes Dr. Amy Milsted, professor of biology, and Prokop’s faculty adviser.
"The predoctoral fellowship from the American Heart Association Great Rivers Affiliate will allow Jeremy to devote 100 percent of his time to his research," Milsted says. "The awarding of this fellowship to a University of Akron graduate student confirms not only Jeremy's potential as a research scientist, but also the quality of our Integrated Bioscience Ph.D. students and our training program."
The Great Rivers Affiliate Predoctoral Fellowship program aims to help students initiate careers in cardiovascular and stroke research by providing research assistance and training. Fellows are given an annual award amount of $23,000 for a maximum of two years.
Media contact: Denise Henry, 330-972-6477 or henryd@.uakron.edu.