The National Science Foundation has awarded a $360,000 grant to a chemistry professor atWest Virginia Universityto conduct research that could lead to possible treatments for various diseases, including cancer.

The grant allowsGeorge ODohertyand an international team of students in theC. Eugene Bennett Department of Chemistryto research new ways to synthesize complex carbohydrates called oligosaccharides.

I am excited and honored to receive this grant,ODoherty said.The work we are doing in the lab could change peoples lives for the better. The more we are able to study these compounds, the closer we may get to breakthrough cancer treatment. This research seeks practical applications that will directly impact treatment.

ODohertys research will attempt to develop new methods to synthesize synthetic oligosaccharides. This type of synthesis is important in the field of pharmaceuticals because the different configurations of molecules often have different biological activity.

Oligosaccharides are the complex carbohydrates that make up the starches and fibers we eat. Our bodies use them to store energy. Synthetic oligosaccharides have drawn interest in the food industry because of the sweet taste they lend to food, without the added calories of sugar. For example, the popular disaccharide, sucralose, is synthetically produced in labs from table sugar.

The international research team working on the project in the chemistry department consists of nine graduate students, two undergraduate students and a postdoctoral associate personally selected by ODoherty. They come from around the world, including China, India, Sri Lanka and West Virginia.

TheC. Eugene Bennett Department of Chemistryin theEberly College of Arts and Sciencesis one of WVU s major contributors in the areas of learning and discovery, awarding bachelors, masters and doctoral degrees in all fields of modern chemistry. WVU s chemistry faculty has obtained millions of dollars in federal grants for research in areas ranging from the design and control of wave propagation patterns in chaotic systems to the identification of chemical markers indicative of disease in humans. The department also has state-of-the-art equipment, including an NSF -funded Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy Facility that serves researchers across the University.