{"493521":{"#nid":"493521","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Reddi Wins NSF CAREER Award","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003ENature is fraught with paradox. For example, as much as half of the proteins that we rely on require metals to function properly. But metals can be pretty toxic to cells. So, somehow cells have managed to repurpose something that is inherently toxic into something beneficial. And it\u2019s Amit Reddi\u2019s job to find out why.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003E\u201cBroadly speaking, we\u2019re interested in figuring out how cells assimilate metals into metabolism in a safe way,\u201d says Reddi, assistant professor in the School of Chemistry and Biochemistry and a faculty researcher with the Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003EThe work is important enough and challenging enough so that the National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded Reddi with a CAREER Award, an early career development program for young investigators.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003E\u201cBasically, the program provides funding for the investigator\u2019s potential to really make an impact,\u201d says Reddi, whose lab focuses primarily on copper and iron, which are among the dozen or so metals that are frequently encountered in biology.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003EReddi\u2019s lab is particularly interested in a form of iron called heme (heme gives blood its red color). Heme is very important, he says, because of its presence in a lot of proteins. However, heme is also toxic.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003E\u201cBut we have no idea how the cell shuttles heme around,\u201d says Reddi. \u201cSo we want to figure out exactly how cells handle heme \u2013 from the time its acquired or made by a cell, to how it\u2019s distributed to all of the proteins that require heme. The grant is focused on understanding how these types of processes work.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003EThe five-year award is totaled at $912,000, a lengthy jump start, \u201cthat gives me time to really build the program,\u201d says Reddi.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003EHis lab has developed sensors to track the flow of heme, so one of the grant goals is to apply these sensors help identify the molecules and processes that regulate the mobilization of heme.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003E\u201cThe longer term view, beyond the grant, is to recast heme as this very dynamic and mobile molecule,\u201d Reddi says. \u201cOur work has showed that it is actually a very mobile nutrient, and it might be important for signaling.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003EHeme is basically present in every aspect of metabolism. So, Reddi\u2019s even longer-term goal would be to control metabolism through the control of heme.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003E\u201cIf we can inhibit the ability of certain proteins from acquiring heme,\u201d he says, \u201cwe can begin to think about targeting diseases like cancer or neurodegenerative diseases where heme plays a role in the pathology.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p2\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p2\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECONTACT:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p2\u0022\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/node\/jerry.grillo@ibb.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EJerry Grillo\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ECommunications Officer II\u003Cbr \/\u003EParker H. Petit Institute for\u003Cbr \/\u003EBioengineering and Bioscience\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Five-year grant will support research on metals in the body"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003EFive-year grant will support research on metals in the body\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Five-year grant will support research on metals in the body"}],"uid":"28153","created_gmt":"2016-02-01 13:53:08","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:20:31","author":"Jerry Grillo","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2016-02-01T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2016-02-01T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"493511":{"id":"493511","type":"image","title":"Amit Reddi","body":null,"created":"1454432400","gmt_created":"2016-02-02 17:00:00","changed":"1475895251","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:54:11","alt":"Amit Reddi","file":{"fid":"204519","name":"amit3.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/amit3_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/amit3_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":990129,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/amit3_0.jpg?itok=bgflRMdo"}}},"media_ids":["493511"],"groups":[{"id":"1292","name":"Parker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience (IBB)"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"170324","name":"Amit Reddi"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca title=\u0022jerry.grillo@ibb.gatech.edu\u0022 href=\u0022http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/node\/jerry.grillo@ibb.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EJerry Grillo\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ECommunications Officer II\u003Cbr \/\u003EParker H. Petit Institute for\u003Cbr \/\u003EBioengineering and Bioscience\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jerry.grillo@ibb.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}