Holy Cross Biologist Receives Grant for HIV/AIDS Research

WORCESTER, Mass. – Ann M. Sheehy, assistant professor of biology at the College of the Holy Cross, has received a $200,000 Smith Family New Investigator Award for newly appointed junior faculty engaged in basic research in the areas of AIDS, cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and neuroscience.  Awarded by The Medical Foundation in Boston, the grant will be distributed over two years, beginning in 2008.  Since 1991, more than $13 million has been awarded to nearly 100 researchers; Sheehy’s award marks the first time the grant has been given to a strictly undergraduate college.

Sheehy specializes in the fields of immunology and virology.  She has conducted extensive research on HIV and has published articles on the subject as well as others in the field of biology. Her most major contribution to science so far has been the discovery of an anti-HIV gene, which has led to new approaches to HIV research.

Sheehy says she will use the grant money to fund scientific research which continues to investigate the possibilities of controlling this human protein and enhancing its anti-HIV capabilities. Holy Cross students will be involved in all of the research.

“We feel very fortunate to have her on campus, where a significant part of our effort is devoted to undergraduate education,” says Mary Lee Ledbetter, professor and chair of the biology department. “To our delight, Dr. Sheehy shares our enthusiasm for designing, conducting, presenting and publishing research projects that include significant undergraduate participation.”

Sheehy earned her Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and her B.A. from Kalamazoo College. She received postdoctoral fellowships to work at the University of Pennsylvania and at Kings College, London. Sheehy resides in Worcester.

The Smith Family New Investigator Award comes on the heels of the sixth consecutive year of AIDS Compassion and Awareness Week at the College sponsored by the Bishop Healy Multicultural Society.  The group has planned a week of events dedicated to educating the community on the effects of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Sheehy’s class on the HIV pandemic will run a poster session at the AIDS Compassion & Awareness Week Charity Banquet on Nov. 30 at 4:30 p.m. in the Hogan Campus Center.