Bio-Techne Go Everywhere Travel Grant - June Recipient Selected!

June 2017 Go Everywhere with Bio-Techne Travel Grant Awarded to PhD Student from the Indian Institute of Chemical Biology!

Bio-Techne launched its Go Everywhere Travel Grant Program which awards $1000 USD (or equivalent) to 1 researcher each month to attend the meeting of their choice. This grant program allows the researcher to attend more targeted meetings in their field and provides funding to support both small and large scientific associations that promote discovery and collaboration.

The recipient of the June 2017 grant is Titli Nargis, a PhD Student at CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical biology in Kolkata, India!

Titli Nargis, a PhD Student at CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical biology in Kolkata, India is the June Recipient of the Bio-Techne Go Everywhere Travel Grant in 2017

Ms. Nargis is conducting her research in the division of cell biology and physiology. She chose to apply the grant to the Gastrointestinal Control of Metabolism Keystone Meeting held in Copenhagen, Denmark in May 2017.

Her work centers on understanding the role of Dipeptidyl Peptidase-4 (DPP4) in metabolic diseases, particularly in type 2 diabetes. DPP4 inhibitors are widely used as therapy in type 2 diabetes as they promote insulin secretion by stabilizing incretin hormones. DPP4 is a type II transmembrane protein expressed in various tissues and the soluble extracellular domain is released into the plasma. Although plasma DPP4 activity is often increased in type 2 diabetes, the source and molecular mechanisms behind such augmented activity is unknown.

The research that Ms. Nargis presented at the meeting, KLK5 induces shedding of DPP4 from circulatory Th17 cells in Type 2 Diabetes (Abstract #4105), demonstrated the role of Th17 cells in DPP4 activity in type 2 diabetes. Specifically, her research used “a cohort of treatment naïve nonobese type 2 diabetes patients (to show) that circulatory T helper 17 (Th17) cells are an important contributor to the increased plasma DPP4 activity. Importantly we found that T cell derived kallikrein-related peptidase 5 (KLK5) catalyses the shedding of DPP4 from the cell surface, emphasizing the link of T cell inflammation with T2DM.”

When Titli accepted the grant from Bio-Techne, she stated:

“The epidemic of diabetes poses difficult challenges to the health of growing populations around the globe. An important goal of this meeting was to highlight a wide range of methodologies that can be brought to understand multifactorial diseases like diabetes, the central node of my research work. Discussions on the wide array of recent unpublished data that link gastrointestinal system with immune system to the etiology of T2DM deeply influenced my thought and helped shaping my future research questions. A key goal of this meeting was to bring together leading investigators from around the globe. Interacting with investigators who have been revealing system level understanding of metabolic control together with those mastered in cutting edge technologies was exciting, intriguing as well as fun.”

In her research, Ms. Nargis utilized the Human DPPIV/CD26 DuoSet^® ELISA kit, the Human Kallikrein 5 DuoSet^® ELISA kit, the Proteome Profiler^™ Human Protease Array Kit, and several conjugated antibodies and recombinant proteins from R&D Systems!

Bio-Techne and our brands are proud to support Titli’s work and the work of many of the researchers that have applied to our travel grants so far this year. If you are interested in applying to any of our travel grants, please go to www.rndsystems.com/travel.