(Photo George Howard, Right Eye Photography)

ASPB Past President Vicki Chandler, University of Arizona (UA) Regents' Professor and director of the BIO5 Institute, has received the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director's Pioneer Award. The award will provide Chandler with $2.5 million in direct funds to support her research, which has the potential to lead to significant advances in human health. Chandler is the first researcher in Arizona to receive the highly competitive award and is one of only 13 recipients selected this year from 840 scientists.

Chandler studies plants as model systems to understand the mechanisms that regulate gene activity. Her research, funded by the National Science Foundation for the past 10 years, has uncovered new evidence about the mechanisms by which living organisms transmit genetic information. She has shown that Mendel’s laws, discovered more than 150 years ago, do not account for all aspects of inheritance, which could explain why certain human diseases are inherited in ways that have long puzzled researchers.

"The genetic mechanisms in plants, animals and humans are strikingly similar," Chandler said. "We have reason to believe that the genetic processes we observed in plants also exist in humans. Applying our findings to animal model systems will help us better understand what causes certain diseases, such as diabetes and muscular dystrophy. This award is incredibly exciting and timely as it will enable us to take what we have learned from studying plant systems and apply it to animal systems, including humans."

Chandler's dean, Eugene Sander, said: "She is one of the nation's truly great plant biologists, but the real significance of this award is that the medical community has recognized that her pioneering work on plant genetics can have an enormous impact on human medicine."

"The NIH Director's Pioneer Award adds to the luster of one of Arizona's most distinguished scientists, already recognized as a member of the prestigious National Academy of Science and world-renowned for her research in plant genomics," said UA President Peter Likins. "What I find most remarkable about Vicki is her astonishing versatility as a scholar, teacher, manager and campus leader. She is an academic superstar."

"When my research group moves into the Thomas W. Keating Building, the future hub for BIO5, we will have colleagues side by side studying plant systems, animal systems and human diseases," Chandler said. "BIO5 provides the innovative and interdisciplinary environment that is needed to fully understand the molecular basis of human diseases and develop new therapies."

BIO5 brings together scientists from five disciplines to collaborate on important problems such as how to diagnose, treat or prevent disease; how to better feed a hungry world; and how to maintain livable environments. It is through this collaboration that BIO5 is able to conduct cutting-edge research that translates into real-world applications and contributes to the state’s economic development. In the past year, BIO5 members have filed 37 inventions and five start-up companies have been approved by the Arizona Board of Regents.

In addition to serving as the director of BIO5, Chandler is a Regents' Professor of plant sciences and molecular and cellular biology at the UA, with a primary appointment in the department of plant sciences in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.

The NIH Director’s Pioneer Award is a key component of the NIH Roadmap for Medical Research. The Roadmap is a series of far-reaching initiatives designed to transform the nation's medical research capabilities and speed the movement of research discoveries from the bench to the bedside. It provides a framework for the priorities addressed by the NIH to optimize its entire research portfolio and lays out a vision for a more efficient and productive system of medical research.

(This article is based on a news release from the University of Arizona)