Name: Professor Donna Wang
Department: Medicine
Type of research: Studying a protein that could regulate blood pressure and heart disease
Date of research: Wang has been studying this protein since 1998, and the project is ongoing.
Basics of the project: The specific protein Wang is researching is present in sensory nerves, which allow people to feel pain, heat or cold.
"What we are trying to define is (how) to assign a new role for this protein," Wang said.
"We believe this protein plays a role in cardiovascular regulation or the control of blood pressure."
Wang and six other MSU researchers from several fields of study across campus, including engineering, biochemistry and pharmacology, is developing molecular and animal models to research the protein, she said.
With these models, the researchers can see the protein's effect at the cellular, tissue and organ levels of animals and humans, and they eventually will be able to study the effect on the entire body, Wang said.
"Once we know more about the molecular structure of this protein, it might help the future design of a novel drug," she said.
Social impact of research: Wang's research could lead to the development of a medicine that uses the protein to treat heart-related problems, Wang said.
"It will certainly be conceivable that those drugs may be used for the treatment of hypertension and other cardiovascular diseases," she said.
Grants and funding: The project receives funding from MSU, the National Institutes of Health, the American Heart Association, the Michigan Life Sciences Corridor and various pharmaceutical companies. It costs between $500,000 and $1 million to run the project each year, Wang said.