Cornell researcher is 1st veterinarian to win $2.5 million NIH award

Ithaca, N.Y.

-- A reproductive biologist at Cornell University's College of Veterinary Medicine is the first veterinarian to receive the National Institutes of Health's Pioneer Award, which provides a five-year, $2.5 million research grant.

Alexander J. Travis, VMD, PhD, one of 18 recipients of 2009 Pioneer Awards, is researching the design and function of mammalian sperm, particularly the organization of their energy-producing pathways. With his award, he is seeking a means of harnessing the locomotive power of sperm and to develop very small energy sources for implantable medical devices that could carry out a variety of diagnostic and therapeutic functions.

"We're borrowing the sperm's strategy for locomotion," Travis said. The power in a sperm's tail, for example, might drive tiny drug-delivering bio-machines that could deliver drugs to precise targets in the body, such as tumors.

NIH Pioneer Awards support the work of scientists who propose pioneering or innovative approaches that could have a high impact on a wide area of biomedical and behavioral research challenges.