from A.J. Russo, Ph.D.
Professor of Biology
Class of 1964 Professor
Mount St. Mary's University

December 2006

I wanted to thank alumni and others who help make the Class of 1964 Professorship possible. I have just begun my tenure as the Class of 1964 Professor and would like to give you a progress report.

Since September 2006, I have established a Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE). Research stipends of $1,000 will be given to up to 5 science majors each summer (to be spent in any way they choose). In addition, $500 will be budgeted for supplies for each project. Students will apply for the stipends, and the most competitive research proposals will be chosen. Students may work with any of the full-time Mount science faculty on their collaborative projects.

Besides enhancing the student and faculty research experience, SURE may help defray student summer costs (such as housing) and encourage some of our students to stay at the Mount over the summer months. Indirectly, it will also encourage and facilitate science faculty summer research.

Students selected for SURE will be expected to present their research at the Mount Student Research Festival in the spring. They will also be required to present their work at a student research conference, such as a local Beta Beta Beta conference and/or The Pennsylvania Academy of Science Annual Conference.

Applications for summer 2007 SURE stipends have been received and are being evaluated by a small committee of science department faculty.

My lab has been focusing on research in autism for the past six years and we have made important preliminary discoveries. We have found that a significant number of autistic family members have antibodies to the protein metallothionein and that some autistic individuals have defective Metal Transcription Factor (MTF-1), the transcription factor for metallothionein.

We have also discovered that some autistic family members are deficient in their production of the serum protein alpha-1 antitrypsin. This recognition led us to a research collaboration with gastroenterologist Dr. Andrew Wakefield.

Dr. Wakefield is a world-renowned physician and autism researcher. He is currently the research director of The Thoughtful House Center for Children in Austin, Texas. The Thoughtful House provides medical, educational and recreational services for children with developmental disorders. My lab has started a blind clinical study with Dr. Wakefield's research group, investigating the potential relationship between alpha-1 antitrypsin and GI inflammatory disease seen in many autistic people. I continue to work on these projects with eight of the science department's best and brightest undergraduates (including two of our Kuderer Scholarship winners, Christine Wroge and Lauren Neville).

Besides these research efforts, I have developed a podcast website for our Introduction to Biology course (Bio 110) and others. With the help of the Mount's Media Center (a special thanks to J.B. Brewer and the many student workers), I've developed video podcasts for all my lectures. Students studying for GREs, MCATs or just in need of review for advanced biology courses can access the podcast web site and review the lectures. The Human Physiology course is currently on the web at http://web.mac.com/ajrusso1/iWeb/Site%204/Podcast/Archive.html.

That's all for now. I'll report to you again next year.