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Project EXPORT awards MUSC/SCSU grant Project EXPORT (Excellence in Partnerships for community Outreach, Research on health disparities, and Training) announced the two recipients for its 2006 pilot project grant award program. MUSC’s Gayenell S. Magwood, Ph.D., R.N., and Mahtabuddin Ahmed, Ph.D., South Carolina State University, will each be awarded $15,000 to fund research this year.   Project EXPORT is a collaborative effort between S. C. State University (SCSU) and MUSC. The focus of the EXPORT Center at SCSU and MUSC is the metabolic syndrome, or a cluster of disorders including hypertension, diabetes, lipid abnormalities and obesity, which have a strong impact on health disparities and which are particularly burdensome for South Carolina residents.   The MUSC/SCSU EXPORT Pilot Program is a one-year program that provides support for pilot projects in patient-oriented research in the disease areas of the metabolic syndrome. Pilot projects are designed as vehicles to collect preliminary data for subsequent competitive application (e.g., K-awards, R03, and R01 awards) and are targeted at minority investigators who have not yet received independent funding. Project EXPORT is led by principal investigator Sabra Slaughter, Ph.D., President’s Office chief of staff. The Pilot Core is directed by Richelle Koopman, M.D., Family Medicine assistant professor.   Previous EXPORT Pilot Program recipients include Valeria Shipp, Ph.D., College of Graduate Studies recent graduate, and Vanessa Diaz, M.D., Family Medicine, who was subsequently awarded a Harold Amos Medical Faculty Development Award from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Diaz also published the results of her research, funded by the EXPORT Pilot Proposal Program, in the International Journal of Obesity. Diaz was able to come full circle in the EXPORT Program, as she has served both as a reviewer for subsequent Pilot proposals and as a mentor for EXPORT’s Summer Undergraduate Research Program. Friday, Nov. 17, 2006 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 catalyst@musc.edu. To place an ad in The Catalyst hardcopy, call Island Publications at 849-1778, ext. 201.