FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, Jan. 13, 2006
Contact: Dave Wellman, Director of Communications, (304) 696-7153
 

Gift of $50,000 to help further research at Marshall University

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – A gift of $50,000 by Monica Hatfield has been made to The Marshall University Foundation, Inc. to further research being done by Marshall University professor Dr. Menashi Cohenford and other researchers.   Hatfield currently is serving as chair of the Foundation board.

The gift will go toward the acquisition of a High Pressure Liquid Chromatography instrument and a Capillary Electrophoresis apparatus. The HPLC and CE instruments will be used to study advanced gycation endproducts and also in the analysis and separation of tumor associated markers, according to Cohenford, who is a professor of Integrated Science and Technology.

“Monica has a rich history of support of Marshall University,” said Dr. Sarah Denman, provost and senior vice president for academic affairs. “She is an example of how alums can give back to the institution in both service and financial support.  We are fortunate to have people like Monica associated with Marshall University.”  

Cohenford says his research has been focused on three areas:  the utilization of FT-IR spectroscopy to detect cervical cancer; the development and characterization of molecular probes to detect the human papillomavirus and delineating the role of nonenzymatic glycation reactions in the pathophysiology of diabetes and galactosemia, a rare genetic disorder of galactose metabolism. 

“The key instrumentation made possible through this donation will be available for faculty research, capstone undergraduate projects, and graduate thesis work by investigators from multiple departments and sectors of the university,” said Dr. Wayne Elmore, interim dean of Marshall’s College of Science.  “The instrumentation will be used immediately in several research projects and will enrich the experience of a new class in protein biotechnology that will make our students more marketable when they look for jobs.  We deeply appreciate the generous gift.”

“This donation is testament to Mrs. Hatfield’s devotion to science and to her selfless support of the community,” Cohenford said.  “Without people like her, science would be a stream of ideas without the resources to bring them to fruition.  I thank her sincerely.”

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