Ward to Present at National Conference

Posted February 7, 2012

Katherine Ward, a doctoral candidate working with Robert Stahelin, assistant professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at Indiana University School of Medicine-South Bend, has received an invitation to address the national conference of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in April.

Ward’s presentation, “The Characterization and Identification of Ceramide-1-Phosphate Binding Proteins,” was selected from among 1,200 abstracts for programming as short oral presentations. Her research, which focuses on the lipid Ceramide-1-Phosphate and its interaction with proteins, also will be submitted as a poster presentation.

Her work elucidates how C1P, which is involved in inflammation, is recognized by the therapeutic protein target cytosolic phospholipase A2 alpha.  The long-term goal of this research is to inhibit the interaction between the lipid and target protein, which could be used to treat heart disease as well as arthritis, asthma and lung cancer.

Ward is a graduate student in chemistry and biochemistry at the University of Notre Dame, where Stahelin is assistant adjunct professor.