News Release
For Immediate Release — June 3, 2009
Food Science and Technology Doctoral Student Receives
McClure
Scholarship for Study of Malaria
Ms. Adrienne Roach, doctoral
student in the Department of
Food Science and Technology at
the University of Tennessee
Institute of Agriculture
Ms. Adrienne Roach, a doctoral student in the Department of Food Science and Technology at the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture, was awarded a W.K. McClure Scholarship. The W.K. McClure Fund for the Study of World Affairs offers scholarships for research, study, internships and volunteer work to upper level undergraduates and graduate students whose studies will enhance and promote education for world responsibility.
The scholarship is used for development of insights and knowledge relative to significant problems associated with world affairs and the reduction of international conflict, principally through legal, political, economic, social and scientific studies. Roach will use the scholarship to travel to Germany to work in the parasitology group of Dr. Volker Heussler at the Bernhard-Nocht-Institute for Tropical Medicine (BNITM) in Hamburg, Germany. Dr. Heussler’s group focuses on parasite-host interactions during the liver stage of Plasmodium parasites. One of their research goals is to develop anti-malarial drugs based on parasite-host interactions. Malaria has been termed a neglected disease because there is a severe lack of attention and resources in poor countries to facilitate its eradication.
The goal of Roach’s summer research abroad is to evaluate the capabilities of the casein micelle, the major protein in milk, as a suitable carrier for triclosan and its potential use as an antimalarial agent. She plans to conduct in vitro experiments to treat Plasmodium infected liver cells with triclosan-containing casein micelles to assess the effects on parasite growth and development. Contacts made while participating in the faculty led study abroad trip to Ghana in May of 2007 with Dr. Amadou Sall provided the necessary connections to make this opportunity possible.
Roach is pursuing her Ph.D. degree in Food Science and Technology under the direction of Dr. Federico Harte. She received her B.S. in Biology from Alabama A&M University in Normal, Ala., and her M.S. degree in Biosystems Engineering and Technology from UT under the direction of Dr. John Buchanan.
The UT Institute of Agriculture provides instruction, research and public service through the UT College Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, the UT College of Veterinary Medicine, UT AgResearch, including its system of 10 research and education centers and UT Extension offices in every county in the state.
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Contact: Dr. Michael Davidson, Professor and Head, Department of Food Science and Technology,
865-974-0098