University Times

Carson Chow, an assistant professor of mathematics, has been awarded a 1999 Sloan Research Fellowship by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.

The awards are given annually to 100 young scholars "who show the most outstanding promise of making fundamental contributions to new knowledge" in chemistry, computer science, economics, mathematics, neuroscience and physics.

"The mathematics department is extremely pleased for Carson Chow in winning an extraordinarily competitive Sloan Research Fellowship," said John Chadam, department chairperson. "The award is a clear indication of the high esteem that fellow scientists hav e for his past work and future potential. The award also brings recognition to a growing cross-disciplinary group of researchers at Pitt who are applying mathematics to biological problems."

Chow, who joined the Pitt faculty in September 1998, received his Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and his undergraduate degree from the University of Toronto. Chow's research is in applied mathematics, with an emphasis on computationa l neuroscience, creating and studying mathematical and computational models of interactions between neurons and how these interactions lead to observable behavior.

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Candace Johnson, professor of pharmacology and medicine at the School of Medicine and co-director of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute's (UPCI) Experimental Therapeutics Program, has been named deputy director for basic research at UPCI. Johns on had served in this position in an interim capacity.

At UPCI, Johnson's laboratory was the first to show that a vitamin D-like compound (calcitriol) inhibits the growth of existing prostate cancer and prevents the establishment of new tumors in animals. From these novel observations, Johnson and Donald Trum p, UPCI deputy director of clinical investigations, developed and implemented several promising clinical protocols using calcitriol for patients with advanced prostate cancer.

Johnson's research team also was the first to isolate and culture cells lining the blood vessels inside tumors. Her studies of these endothelial cells are helping to identify molecules that potential anti-cancer agents could be targeted against. In anothe r research focus, Johnson is determining whether the immune-modulating substance interleukin-1 enhances the effectiveness of conventional chemotherapy drugs against cancer in animals. Results of these initiatives are expected to translate into clinical tr ials.

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Bryan Deal, a winner of the Woody Hayes Award as the top high school coach in the state of Ohio, has been named to the football staff as recruiting coordinator, Panthers head coach Walt Harris announced.

Deal joins Pittsburgh after compiling a 42-14 record in the Ohio high school ranks over the past five years. He served the past two seasons at Cincinnati Princeton High, where he was named the 1998 Coach of the Year in the Greater Miami Conference, widely considered the premier high school football league in the state.

In addition, Harris has changed two staff assignments. J.D. Brookhart, tight ends coach the past two seasons, will now serve as wide receivers coach, while Curt Cignetti, recruiting coordinator since 1993, has been named tight ends coach.

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Leslie Bonci, adjunct professor presenting nutrition courses and lectures to students in medicine, nursing, dental medicine and health and rehabilitation sciences, has been appointed to a newly created position as director of nutrition for the department of orthopaedics and Center for Sports Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC).

Bonci, a registered dietician with a master's degree in public health, is renowned for her work as a nutrition consultant to local athletes and sports teams, including the Pittsburgh Steelers; community groups involved in recreational sports and performing arts; and corporations.

Bonci is responsible for developing clinical, community and academic nutrition programs; providing nutrition consultation to athletes at high schools and colleges and professional teams served by the Center for Sports Medicine, including the Pittsburgh Pa nthers and Steelers; and designing nutritional programs and consultation for dancers in the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre company.

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Frederick W. Clothey, professor and chair of religious studies, and Steven J.C. Gaulin, professor of anthropology, have been named American Fulbright Scholars for 1998-99. Three foreign professors who will reside on Pitt's campus have received the honor of Visiting Fulbright Scholars.

Clothey will visit Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic, to lecture on the academic study of religion. Gaulin will visit the University of Melbourne in Australia to lecture on and research evolutionary psychology.

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Pitt's visiting scholars are Stephane Breton from the Center for Anthropology of the Contemporary World, School for Advanced Study in Social Sciences, Paris, France; Anne Daguerre from the Department of Politics, Institute of Political Studies, Talence, F rance; and Rainer Stuhlman-Laeisz from the Department of Philosophy, Seminar for Logic and Foundation Research, University of Bonn, Germany.

The Fulbright Program, established in 1946 and recognized as the flagship program in international educational exchange, is sponsored and funded by the United States Information Agency. Support also is provided by participating government and host institu tions in the U.S. and abroad. The Council for International Exchange of Scholars facilitates the exchange U.S. and foreign Fulbright recipients.