(Posted 7-20-99)
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
News Service Contact: Brian Long, 336-334-4314

UNCG BIOCHEMIST GETS $80,000
FOR RESEARCH ON CANCER TEST
 

Dr. Thomas Shields

GREENSBORO -- Dr. Thomas P. Shields, an assistant professor of chemistry at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, has received two grants totaling $80,000 for research that could lead to an in-home cancer test.

The idea behind the research is to use RNA to develop a simple biosensor that can detect byproducts of cancer cells. The biosensor would be used in an in-home cancer test similar to those that women use to test for pregnancy.

RNA transmits information from DNA, which is considered the encyclopedia of a cell. Shields is trying to identify RNAs that will bind to cancer cell byproducts. After finding the RNAs, he will use them to develop a biosensor.

Shields has received grants of $40,000 each from Research Corp. and the N.C. Biotechnology Center. The funding will support Shields’ search for RNAs that can recognize cancer cell byproducts. It also will support preliminary development of biosensors.

"People have realized that RNA is capable of doing a lot of different things," Shields said. "Its role in many different cellular functions has exploded."

Shields is a biochemist who joined UNCG’s faculty in 1998. He received his doctorate from California Institute of Technology and did post-doctoral research at the University of Colorado under a National Institutes of Health National Research Service Award. He has published articles in several professional journals.