Calvin Professors, Students Win Awards
The National Institutes of Health has recognized and highlighted the potentially ground-breaking research of Calvin College biology professor Anding Shen by awarding her a $300,000 grant to continue studying how a certain type of cells may impact HIV infection.
Shen is trying to determine how endothelial cells and T-cells are signaling to each other, specifically what the endothelial cells are doing to the T-cells to make them more permissible for HIV infection. Calvin College is in Grand Rapids, Mich.
During a sabbatical as well as in her work over the next three summers, Shen and student researchers will be growing endothelial cells and T-cells in the same dish – a process known as co-culturing.
They will infect the T-cells with HIV, and then study what occurs. T-cells belong to a group of white blood cells and play a central role in the immune system.
Shen's research could have a significant effect on the treatment of AIDS.
After earning a Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University in 2004, Shen began teaching at Calvin in 2005. Contact Shen at 616-526-6025 or at [email protected]. See full story.
Brian Fuller
Meanwhile, Calvin College communication arts and sciences professor Brian Fuller and several of his students recently received two prestigious 2011 Telly Awards for the documentary they produced titled "A Shared Space: Learning from the Mustard Seed School."
The Telly Awards honor the best local, regional and cable television commercials and programs, as well as the finest video and film productions, and work created for the Web.
The half-hour documentary was shot over a three-week period in January 2010, in Hoboken, New Jersey. The finished product shows urban Christian education that runs counter to existing stereotypes.
Kyle Berkompas '10, Kristin Crawford '11, Chad Drenthe '11, Rachel Kuyvenhoven '11, Eric Nondahl '10 and senior Taylor Wogoman were all involved with the project.
The project was funded by the Kuyers Institute for Christian Teaching and Learning and the Battaglia Family with support from the Calvin College Alumni Association. For more info, contact Brian Fuller at 616-526-8787. For another, longer article on the documentary, visit: Story.
