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OSU Students and ResearchersWorking to Improve Quality of Life

compounds, while Karchesy conducts chemicaland biological screening of Northwest forest plantsfor potential new medicines and insecticides.Other OSU faculty members from chemistry, veterinary medicine and agricultural sciences alsowork in the lab.

Students and Faculty—Eric L. Sauers, a doctoral student in sports medicine at Oregon State, andDerald Herling, an OSU assistant professor ofmechanical engineering, worked together to createa new instrument called a “shoulder arthrometer,”that can help physicians better diagnose and treatathletes with shoulder dislocations and otherinjuries.

Global Cooperation—Andy Blaustein, a professorof zoology at OSU, and colleagues at the BritishAntarctic Survey collaborated on a study aboutthe possible effects of an asteroid colliding withEarth. The effects on human and animal healthcould be catastrophic, not just from the collision,but the ensuing ozone depletion, increased ultra-violet radiation, and widespread acid rain.

Institutional Collaboration—Scientists at OSU’sLinus Pauling Institute and doctors at the BostonUniversity School of Medicine collaborated on astudy that revealed the role that vitamin C canplay in reducing high blood pressure in personssuffering from hypertension. It was published inthe prestigious medical journal, Lancet.

“We have a commitment to addressing the needsof the region in many areas, and health is certainlya critical one,” White said. “Addressing quality oflife issues from the cradle to the grave will be anincreasing area of emphasis for the university—in research, education and outreach.”

In the gymnasium of the stately Women’sBuilding, Breeanna Hart, a cheerful undergraduatestudent plays catch with a young girl with Down’ssyndrome in a carefully planned exercise toimprove the child’s motor skills.

In the Center for the Humanities building on theoutskirts of campus, associate professor of humandevelopment and family sciences Karen Hookerfinishes a study on the impact of caregiving on thefamily and friends of Alzheimer’s disease patients.

And in Multnomah County, Extension specialistsPatricia Aune and Caroline Cannon coordinatethe Oregon Family Nutrition Program, which ishelping families improve their nutrition—andstretch their food dollars. This highly successfuloutreach program has helped more than 10,000children in one year alone, giving them a headstart on learning a healthy lifestyle.

Oregon State University faculty, staff and students—in every OSU college and in everyOregon county—are helping to improve the livesof people with their research and public outreachin health-related fields.

“For a university without a medical school, OregonState has an astonishing breadth of health-relatedresearch,” said Tim White, OSU’s provost andexecutive vice president.

A key to the success of the OSU faculty, Whitesaid, is their ability to transcend institutionalboundaries and create unique partnerships. Someof those partnerships team engineers with physiol-ogists. Some match humanities scholars with phys-ical scientists. And others pair OSU students withfaculty—sometimes in a mentoring situation andsometimes as collaborators.

The university’s outstanding research faculty alsopartner with scientists from prestigious institutionsand organizations around the world. Here are afew examples:

Bridging Disciplines—George Constantine, a professor emeritus of pharmacy, and Joe Karchesy, an associate professor of forest products, formed a new laboratory to explore natural products.Constantine specializes in the study of herbal

Special Movement Clinic

On most Friday evenings, as many as60 children and young adults excitedlycongregate in the Women’s Buildinggymnasium to do things that most ofus take for granted. Catching a ball.Swinging a bat. Climbing warily atop abalance beam.

The Friday night ritual is part of theSpecial Physical and Motor FitnessClinic, offered by the College of Healthand Human Performance. It isdesigned to help children with all kindsof disabilities work on their fitness,motor skills, and aquatic skills. Butmostly they just have fun.

we are teachers

The skills these youngsters developwill help them with day-to-day life intheir classrooms, on playgrounds, andat home. An even deeper imprint ismade on the undergraduate and grad-uate students at OSU who work theclinic. In this photograph, Lai Saeturn,a student in the College of HomeEconomics and Education, works onhand motor skills with KayceeSettlemire.

Oregon State is becoming nationallyknown for its Movement Studies inDisability program, and top doctoral

students are lured to campus by thisreputation and by outreach programslike the clinic. Undergraduate studentsin a variety of fields gladly give uptheir Friday evening social life for thechance to work with the kids.

“It’s hard to say who gets more out ofit—the OSU students or the kids,” saidJeff McCubbin, who directs the clinicand the movement studies program.“I think it’s safe to say everyonecomes out a winner.”

Smoking is a powerful addiction—so powerfulthat targeted education efforts to help low-incomepregnant women give up cigarettes are successfulless than one out of 10 times.

So when Oregon State University researchers com-pleted a project during which they got 34 percentof their subjects to quit smoking during pregnan-cy, it opened some eyes. And the prestigiousRobert Wood Johnson Foundation respondedwith a four-year, $850,000 grant to continue thework.

The key to the OSU researchers’ success: money.They found that regular cash incentives of just$50 a month—to pregnant women and theirsocial support partners—helped the women kicktheir smoking habit.

Rebecca Donatelle, an associate professor of publichealth at OSU, is principal investigator in the lat-est study. She acknowledges that some people mayquestion the strategy of giving pregnant womenmoney “to do what they should be doing anyway.If you set aside the ethical debate for a momentand look at the financial implications,” Donatellesaid, “they are profound.”

She points to new economic estimates that put thecost of complicated births for smokers at 66 per-cent higher than similar births for non-smokers.

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Going Up in Smoke:OSU study shows promise for eliminating

smoking by pregnant women

“It’s a question of paying a relativelysmall amount for prevention now…or payingmany times that later.”

“And that doesn’t begin to address the potentialhealth problems that these babies, their families,or the smoking mothers will have throughout theirlifetimes.”

“Smoking consequences, ranging from cancers,asthma and other respiratory diseases and risk, addup to one of the costliest health problems in societytoday,” Donatelle said. “It’s a question of paying arelatively small amount for prevention now…orpaying many times that later.”

With their new grant, they will partner with theProvidence Health System and other health careproviders in Oregon, to determine whether thesuccess varies with the amount of the incentive,and how important the role is played by the socialsupport partner.

As part of the project, OSU is offering “best practice” guidelines to volunteers. The researcherswill identify smokers, assess their habits, advisethem on health risks, and provide follow-up counseling and education.

“What we’ve found thus far is exciting,” Donatellesaid. “The national average for smoking cessationefforts is 9 percent and the success ratio rarelyexceeds 14 percent. The OSU study was 34 per-cent. That means we’ve clearly identified an areathat needs to be further explored.”

Algae bloom in the tropicalwaters off thecoast ofVenezuela

create a pharmaceutical that has greater specificityof drug action. Studying the compound also willhelp us learn more about how these complex sodi-um channels work and how diseases and drugsaffect them. “It is,” he said, “a valuable discovery.”

This isn’t the first time that the OSU researchershave found success in mining drugs from the sea.Several years ago, Gerwick discovered a compoundcalled “Curacin A” in different samples of Lyngbyamajusscula that had powerful anti-cancer properties.In fact, Curacin A was remarkably similar to taxol.

Since that early discovery, Gerwick has expandedhis research lab and now works with a team of 10faculty and graduate students as OSU continues tobecome a leader in the promising field of miningdrugs from the sea.

Gerwick presented his latest findings on kalkitoxinin December 2000 to a prestigious research con-ference hosted by the American Chemical Society.His research was funded by the National Institutesof Health, Dow AgriSciences and Oregon SeaGrant.

“To think that such promising compounds comefrom what essentially is pond scum is amazing andironic,” Gerwick said. “It is a great example of thatold saying that one person’s garbage is anotherperson’s treasure.”

Kalki Beach is a tropical island paradise. Its lushfoliage, white sandy beaches and sparkling bluewaters are rarely disturbed by vacationers, whohave yet to discover the beauty of Curacao. Butthis hidden gem off the coast of Venezuela tantalizes one Oregonian for a different reason.It is a treasure trove in natural pharmaceuticals.

Bill Gerwick, a professor in OSU’s College ofPharmacy, has spent much of the last decadestudying marine blue-green algae. In some locales,that same algae is known as “pond scum.” Thespecies known as Lyngbya majuscula, however, isgaining a much more dignified reputation.

During the past year, Gerwick and his research team extracted a compound from algae harvestedin a bay near Kalki Beach that is one of the mostpowerful neurotoxins they had seen. Dubbed“kalkitoxin,” the compound is so potent that a single drop of it could kill two swimming poolsfull of animal-derived nerve cells—or neurons.

The potency and unique structure of kalkitoxinhas the potential to lead to new treatments forpain, epilepsy and neurodegenerative diseases.

Gerwick said he believes the compound works byblocking sodium channels, thus preventing nervecells from firing off their electrical signals. “Kalki-toxin is incredibly potent, which means it likelybinds with greater affinity,” Gerwick said. “Whenthat happens, there is a good chance that you can

Out of the Mouths of Bays…

Researchers Finding Treasurein “Pond Scum”

Algae bloom in the tropical watersoff the coast of Venezuela

OSU continues to become a leader in the promisingfield of mining drugs from the sea.