WM Bio Professor Chosen for $1M Grant

By Amber Lester Kennedy Saturday, January 28, 2012

W&M Biology Department Chair Lizabeth Allison received a more than $1 million grant for her research on the thyroid hormone receptor.

Lizabeth Allison, chair of the college’s Biology department, will receive almost $1.1 million over four years. The grant is the third renewal of NSF funding for her research on mechanisms regulating the subcellular distribution of the thyroid hormone receptor.

Allison studies how proteins, known as nuclear receptors, move in and out of the cell’s nucleus, with a focus on the thyroid hormone receptor.

Learning how nuclear receptors work helps biologists understand how healthy cells work. The information is particularly important for a better comprehension of gene expression, she added. Her work also has medical relevance: “When there are misregulated traffic signals, this can lead possibly to types of cancer,” she said.

A dozen William & Mary students are working on the project with Allison, along with lab manager Vinny Roggero and Manohara Mavinakere, a senior research scientist. During the summer, she collaborates with Cornelius Bondzi, assistant professor of biology at Hampton University, and a group of Hampton University undergraduates.