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Abney Foundation HCC announces 2003 scholarship recipients Hollings Cancer Center has announced the recipients of the 2003 Abney Foundation scholarship: Tarek Taha and Steven Reuland. Taha, a fourth-year M.D./Ph.D. student, is studying the regulation of sphingosine kinase by DNA damage. “Tarek is extremely successful in getting projects initiated and has made  significant progress in a short time,” said mentor Lina Obeid, M.D. “He is one of the best students I have worked with.”  Taha recalled early on that he was impressed and inspired by the efforts made by scientists who strive to make discoveries that will help to understand the way the body works and the way diseases develop. This led him to the medical scientist training program (M.D./Ph.D.).  Taha is first author on a manuscript entitled, “Regulation of Sphingosine Kinase by DNA Damage: Possible  Roles for Caspases and p53,” which is being submitted for publication. Reuland is a fourth-year graduate student in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. “Steve joined my  laboratory in 2000 to study the structure and enzyme mechanism of one of the major folate enzymes, 10-formyltetrahydrofolate dehydrogenase (FDH),” said mentor Sergey Krupenko, Ph.D. “In his most recent study, Steve was able to accomplish alanine-scanning muta-genesis of the region within the intermediate linker of FDH that was suspected to be  responsible for coupling the two catalytic domains and for reciprocal  flexibility of these domains. Steve has worked very hard to accomplish this, and the study confirmed the theory about the role of this region in FDH function.” A manuscript was recently accepted for publication in the Journal of Biological Chemistry with Reuland as first co-author. Each student received $20,000 from the Abney Foundation to pursue their studies during the next year. The mission of The Abney Foundation is to aid organizations that are operated  exclusively for educational, religious, charitable, scientific, and literary purposes. The highest priority is placed on higher education. To read more on the foundation, go to http://www.abneyfoundation.org/.     Catalyst Online is published weekly, updated as needed and improved from time to time by the MUSC Office of Public Relations for the faculty, employees and students of the Medical University of South Carolina. Catalyst Online editor, Kim Draughn, can be reached at 792-4107 or by email, catalyst@musc.edu. Editorial copy can be submitted to Catalyst Online and to The Catalyst in print by fax, 792-6723, or by email to petersnd@musc.edu or catalyst@musc.edu. To place an ad in The Catalyst hardcopy, call Community Press at 849-1778.