ECU announces 2005 Research and Creative awards

Four researchers at East Carolina University were honored in August with the university’s 2005 Achievement for Excellence in Research/Creative Activity awards.
Dr. Joseph M. Chalovich, of the Department Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and Dr. G. Lynis Dohm, of the Department of Physiology, received the University Lifetime Achievement award. Dr. Festus Eribo, of the School of Communication, and Yu “Frank” Yang, of the Department of Chemistry, received the Five-Year Achievement award.

Dr. Deirdre Mageean, Vice Chancellor of Research and Graduate Studies, said she was proud of the accomplishments of these four researchers.

“These faculty represent the spirit and creativity of East Carolina University,” Mageean said. “Congratulations to these faculty for their exceptional research accomplishments.”

Chalovich, who has taught at the Brody School of Medicine since 1984, studies muscle contraction control and cardiovascular disorders with grants from the National Institutes of Health, the American Heart Association and NATO. He is also working to regulate the polymerization of a protein (fesselin) discovered in his laboratory.

Dohm started his career at the Brody School of Medicine in 1972. His research on metabolism, obesity and the benefits of exercise has been funded by numerous grants from the National Institutes of Health, and he has published 185 peer-reviewed papers in the past 33 years. ECU also designated Chalovich and Dohm as distinguished research professors by the university.

Eribo, who studies issues of press freedom and the use of communication for development and social change, particularly in Africa, has taught at East Carolina University since 1989. He serves on the editorial board of two journals and has published five books and more than 30 articles or book chapters in the past 16 years.

Yang, whose research helps eliminate hazardous organic solvents in water, joined the Chemistry Department at ECU in 1997. He has received more than $800,000 in grants, has published more than 40 articles and is credited with leading the most comprehensive subcritical water research in the world.

Each researcher will receive a cash award and will speak at a research seminar this fall.