Julio Copello, Ph.D., portrait

February 27, 2007                                                     

SIU Med School Receives NIH Grant

A research scientist at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine in Springfield has been awarded a five-year grant from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, one of the National Institutes of Health, to study the way molecules communicate with each other and function in synchrony.  Total budget for the grant is $1,264,375.

The study will look at how groups of molecules connect to work in a coordinated way to allow calcium, which is required for heartbeat and muscle movement, to travel from one place to another inside the cells.  This research may eventually lead to the development of new drugs for humans for treatment of heart and muscle diseases. 

Julio Copello, Ph.D., assistant professor of pharmacology, is the principal investigator for the project.  This is the first national grant awarded for Copello’s research, which is focused on muscle physiology and pharmacology.

Copello joined SIU's faculty in 2005.  He earned his doctoral and master’s degrees in biochemistry from the University of La Plata in LaPlata, Argentina (1989, 1983).  He earned his bachelor’s in economics at the National School in Chacabuco, Argentina.

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