February 18, 2011
MEDICAL UNIVERSITY of SOUTH CAROLINA
Vol. 29, No. 25
The Gullah ConneCTion Community-based research aids Sea Islands population By Dawn Brazell Public Relations
W
hen there’s a genetic goldmine in a community as special as the Sea Islanders, there’s a heavy responsibility to value and protect it. That’s what drew Ida Johnson-Spruill, Ph.D., R.N., back to MUSC when she finished her graduate work. She felt compelled to return home because she missed working with the Gullah community. Going away gave her perspective on the rare and special opportunity The image above is “Cousins” by Jonathan Green from the 2008 MOJA Arts Festival. Project SuGAR of doing genetic research with this distinct population used cultural events in its community-based research to strengthen community ties. that was isolated from the complex diseases. Another goal that has worked out (SIFP), which represents a broader effort to identify mainland for many years, she said. beautifully was to develop long-term collaborations with genes that cause complex or polygenic diseases in In conjunction with the Citizen Advisory African-Americans. SIFP includes such groups as the Community (CAC), she is planning a tribute to be held people and institutions on the Sea Islands to promote preventative health, she said. Center of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) this summer to commemorate the accomplishment That goal has grown beyond what anyone expected. for Oral Health at MUSC and the Systemic Lupus of work that began in 1995 with Project SuGAR (Sea Frederica Hughes, R.N., a research nurse who is part Erythematosus in Gullah Health (SLEIGH) Study. Island Genetic African American Family Registry), of the community and who also worked with the project One goal of Project SuGAR was to enroll 400 which is a MUSC community-based research study for several years, said the project just seemed to grow a African-American families with Type 2 diabetes, but conducted from 1995 to 2004 focusing on Gullah life of its own. “It became bigger than any of the people the group ended up enrolling 652 families. Prior families affected by Type 2 diabetes. who started it,” she said. to Project SuGAR, there was little information or The goal was to establish a world-class family registry It served as a catalyst and became an important research regarding candidate genes contributing to the and DNA bank of Sea Island families to identify genetic component of the Sea Islands Families Project defects or mutations responsible for expression of See Gullah on page 8
3
BiomeDical research Bank Patients may now choose to donate unused samples to biobank.
6
$1.92m Grant
2
Dental students honored
The pediatric residency program is reshaping its training efforts.
5
Meet Angela
11
Classifieds
READ THE CATALYST ONLINE - http://www.musc.edu/catalyst