Department of Biology NewsRelease

Biologists Receive National Science Foundation Grant

    GREENSBORO —   Dr. Esther M. Leise, associate professor of biology, and Dr. Mark Hens, assistant professor of biology at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, are recipients of a $293,300 grant from the National Science Foundation to conduct the three-year study “Nitric Oxide Inhibition of Metamorphosis in a Marine Snail.”

Dr. Esther Leise	Dr. Mark Hens

    The study will give science new insights into how the brain chemistry of mollusks controls their metamorphosis from larvae into small adults. The findings could have implications for the aquaculture industry, allowing a wider variety of invertebrates to be reared in hatcheries or in the laboratory.  Leise also has a small grant from the North Carolina Sea Grant program to study this issue. Leise is principal investigator and Hens is co-principal investigator.

    Leise, a neurobiologist, joined the faculty of UNCG in 1991. In addition to her research in neuroendocrine control of molluscan metamorphosis, she also researches evolution of invertebrate nervous systems. She has published numerous studies in academic journals. Leise holds the Ph.D. from the University of Washington.

    Hens, a cell and development biologist, joined the faculty in 1996. He is the recent recipient of a grant from University of North Carolina Institute of Nutrition to investigate birth defects caused by folate deficiency. His research interests are tumor cell metastasis and cell migration in developing embryos, and he has published several studies and abstracts on these topics in academic journals. In 2000, he received the Teaching Excellence Award for the College of Arts and Sciences at UNCG. Hens received his Ph.D. from Medical University of South Carolina.