Dr. Mark Ireland, associate professor, Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology in WSU's School of Medicine, received a three-year grant from the National Eye Institute for over $450,000. This grant titled, "Transfection of Lens Cells with Phakinin Mutants," will examine how mutations found in structural proteins of the human lens lead to cataract formation in the eye.

Dr. Ireland, a resident of Clinton Twp., Michigan, received his Ph.D. from Wayne State University. Dr. Michael Shaw, assistant professor, Department of Immunology and Microbiology in WSU's School of Medicine, is a collaborator on this project.

Wayne State University is one of the nation's pre-eminent public research universities in an urban setting. In the past 20 years, Wayne State's research has grown 15 percent annually, with research expenditures reaching nearly $200 million in 2002. Over 75 percent of research at WSU is focused on the life sciences, and this focus has led our School of Medicine to climb the National Science Foundation rankings to 22 in 2001.

Through its multidisciplinary approach to research and education, and its ongoing collaboration with government, industry and other institutions, the university seeks to enhance economic growth and improve the quality of life in the city of Detroit, state of Michigan and throughout the world.