Nancy Merner, assistant research professor, received a New Investigator Award from the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy, according to a University press release.
Merner is in her second year as an assistant research professor in the school’s Department of Drug Discovery and Development.
Merner’s project, “Gaining Insight Towards Breast Cancer Disparities Through Gene Discovery Efforts,” aims to identify the genetic mutations that explain why African-Americans under the age of 40 have a higher incident rate of breast cancer and are normally diagnosed with a more aggressive and less treatable form of breast cancer, according to the release.
“The overall goal of this proposal is to gain insight towards how mutations in known breast cancer susceptibility genes contribute towards hereditary breast cancer in African Americans,” Merner said in the release. “The specific aim is to screen 48 breast cancer cases from the underserved and understudied Alabama population for a panel of known breast cancer susceptibility genes.”
The AACP’s New Investigator Award program provides start-up funding for new pharmacy faculty’s research programs. Each grant is up to $10,000 to individual faculty early in their academic careers at United States colleges and schools of pharmacy that are accredited by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education and whose institution is a regular institutional member of AACP, the release states.
“I am honored to be a 2016 recipient of an AACP New Investigator Award," Merner said in the release. "I am very passionate about my research program; thus, this early career support and recognition is quite gratifying. The seed money provided through this award will aid in my group’s seminal research efforts that will, ultimately, help decipher the factors that contribute towards breast cancer disparities in the U.S., and provide the insight that is necessary to develop more effective and personalized breast cancer therapies.”
Merner is the third Auburn pharmacy faculty member to earn the honor in four years, the release states. In 2013, assistant professor Jingjing Qian earned the award for her project, “Psychiatric Health Services Utilization and Spending among Young Medicare Enrollees.” Assistant professor Kimberly Garza won the award in 2014 for her project, “Effectiveness of Different Financial Incentives to Improve Medication Adherence.”
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