A researcher in the College of Arts and Sciences has been awarded grants from The ALS Association and Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU) to support his study of protein biosynthesis.

Carlos A. Castañeda, assistant professor of biology and chemistry, is the University’s inaugural recipient of a one-year, $50,000 starter grant from the ALS Association, a nonprofit organization that seeks to find a cure for Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease. ALS is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. Castañeda will use the award to investigate the effects of a protein called Ubiliquin-2 (UBQLN2) on ALS.

Castañeda also is the recipient of ORAU’s 2016 Ralph E. Power Junior Faculty Enhancement Award, whose $5,000 prize is being matched by the University. He will use the grant to study Ufm1, a protein that regulates the cellular stress response of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), and is linked to diabetes, migraine, breast cancer and other diseases. ORAU is a national consortium of more than 100 major institutions, committed to groundbreaking research in science, education, security and health. Read the full article at SU News.