FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

For more information, contact:

The University of Tennessee Health Science Center

Sheila Champlin - (901) 448-4957, schampli@uthsc.edu

Nursing Student Ansley Stanfill of

The University of Tennessee Health Science Center

Receives $38,699 Fellowship Award for Genetic Differences Research

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Memphis, Tenn. (February 26, 2013) - Ansley Stanfill, BSN, RN, hopes to identify genetic changes present in kidney transplant recipients that cause differential weight gain after surgery. The third-year doctoral student in the College of Nursing at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC) has received a $38,699 award from the National Institute of Nursing Research, a subsidiary of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The award will fund her two-year study entitled, "Dopaminergic Genetic Contributions to Obesity in Kidney Transplant Recipients."

Through her research, Stanfill hopes to identify genetic changes that alter the function of the neurotransmitter dopamine and thus predispose certain individuals to rapidly gain weight after kidney transplant surgery. If it is done successfully, these individuals could be targeted with personalized lifestyle interventions aimed at reducing environmental contributions to weight gain.

"I am hopeful that my dissertation work will also cross over from the model population of kidney transplant recipients into the general population at large," said Stanfill. "This award allows me protected time to focus on my research as well as be able to understand and influence the clinical treatment of obesity in other patient populations."

The Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award from the NIH is a training grant given to predoctoral students to provide tuition, stipend and research materials support during their programs.

The National Institutes of Health , the nation's medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit www.nih.gov.

As the flagship statewide academic health system, the mission of the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC) is to bring the benefits of the health sciences to the achievement and maintenance of human health, with a focus on the citizens of Tennessee and the region, by pursuing an integrated program of education, research, clinical care, and public service. Offering a broad range of postgraduate and selected baccalaureate training opportunities, the main UTHSC campus is located in Memphis and includes six colleges: Allied Health Sciences, Dentistry, Graduate Health Sciences, Medicine, Nursing and Pharmacy. UTHSC also educates and trains cohorts of medicine, pharmacy and/or allied health students -- in addition to medical residents and fellows -- at its major sites in Knoxville, Chattanooga and Nashville. Founded in 1911, during its more than 100 years, UT Health Science Center has educated and trained more than 53,000 health care professionals in academic settings and health care facilities across the state. For more information, visit www.uthsc.edu.

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