Gov. Timothy Kaine recognizes two VCU faculty with 2007 Science Awards

Gov. Timothy Kaine has named a Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center researcher as one of the state’s Outstanding Scientists of 2007 and recognized a VCU Life Sciences faculty member for his contributions to science education.

Steven Grant, M.D., associate director for translational research at the VCU Massey Cancer Center, and co-director of the cancer cell biology program, was recognized for his widely renowned research in developing new strategies to combat leukemia and other hematologic malignancies. Grant was named an Outstanding Scientist for 2007.

Richard James Rezba, Ph.D., director for VCU’s Center for Life Sciences Education, was recognized for his contribution to science education. Rezba received the Bev Orndorff Award for Exceptional Service to Public Understanding of Science. The award is not given annually, rather at the discretion of a selection panel. Rezba is the third recipient of this honor.

Through his research, Grant has demonstrated that combinations of signaling inhibitors induce programmed cell death in cancer cells and has found that cancer cells activate a suicide program when the pathways they use to escape the effects of treatment are blocked. Phase I clinical trials have been initiated based on Grant’s work at the VCU Massey Cancer Center and other National Cancer Institute-designated centers including those at Johns Hopkins and Harvard University; Memorial Sloan-Kettering, the MD Anderson Cancer Center and others.

“The Massey Cancer Center would not be the vibrant research hub that it is today without the tremendous scientific contributions of Steven Grant,” said Gordon Ginder, M.D., director of the VCU Massey Cancer Center. “He embodies the finest qualities of a physician-scientist, and his work has had a major, positive impact on cancer research nationally, offering new hope for patients in Virginia and around the world.”

Grant is the Shirley Carter and Sture Gordon Olson chair in oncology, and is a professor of medicine, pharmacology, biochemistry and microbiology in the VCU School of Medicine. Grant joined Massey in 1988. He has had continuous funding from the National Cancer Institute and other sources for more than 24 years, and oversees the work of 16 faculty and students in his lab. He received training in internal medicine and hematology at Mount Sinai in New York, and in oncology at Yale University.  He is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and has published more than 280 articles in peer-reviewed journals.

Rezba is known for creating unique and entertaining ways to teach science. He served a key role in the development of “Secrets of the Sequence,” a video series that has influenced teachers and students alike in their understanding of science. The program is about how the genomic revolution affects all aspects of life. More than 50,000 copies have been downloaded by teachers world-wide.

“Dr. Rezba’s extraordinarily broad impact on the public understanding of science has been through influencing and encouraging generations of science teachers to bring into their classrooms a mastery of the best pedagogical skills with uniquely powerful teaching tools,” said Thomas F. Huff, VCU’s vice provost for Life Sciences. “He shows great enthusiasm for science and has the ability to make science a topic that all audiences can find intriguing – as well as fun.”

Two of Rezba’s books — “Students and Research” and “Learning and Assessing Science Process Skills” — are in their 4th and 5th editions respectively. During his 40-year career Rezba has raised a significant amount of grant money for science training. Rezba’s supporters say. This video and lesson program for “Secrets of the Sequence,” is free at www.vcu.edu/lifesci/sosq.