ATHENS, Ohio -- Ohio University has received a "Heroes of Hope" award from the American Cancer Society, an honor that recognizes agency-funded researchers and institutions in Ohio that have made significant advances in cancer research.

The university was among 10 institutions in the state to receive the award, presented for the first time at a recent ceremony in Columbus hosted by the society's Ohio Division, which created the award this year.

"We know the No. 1 concern the public has for the American Cancer Society is to help find a cure for the disease," said Alice Churchill, spokeswoman for the Ohio Division. "These scientists are the people who are on the front lines of that, and yet they are behind the scenes. We wanted to recognize them with this award."

Mark Berryman, an assistant professor of biomedical sciences, and Don Holzschu, an assistant professor in biological sciences, attended the ceremony to accept the award on behalf of the university. Both are working on projects funded by the American Cancer Society through grants designed to support early-stage cancer research.

Cancer cells divide and grow at alarming rates, an activity that promotes the development of tumors. Studies in Berryman's lab, supported by a $18,314 grant, are focused on a family of human proteins that may be involved with cell division and growth, research that could shed light on how cancer cells are able to multiply so quickly.

"Because humans have a family of at least five related genes encoding proteins, it is difficult to pinpoint the role of an individual family member in cell growth and cell division," said Berryman, a faculty member in the university's College of Osteopathic Medicine.

Berryman has partnered with Soichi Tanda, an assistant professor of biological sciences, on a project to see if the fruit fly could be used as a model system for the studies. The gene in the insect is similar to those found in humans, Berryman said, "but it may be easier to determine the basic functions of the human genes by studying this relative found in flies."

Research in Holzschu's lab also involves a scrutiny of cell division. With the aid of a one-year, pilot grant of $16,000, Holzschu is trying to better understand a phenomena seen in walleye, a North American freshwater fish. Each fall, many walleye develop tumors on the outside of their scales. Each spring, these tumors spontaneously die.

Holzschu's earlier studies suggest the tumors are caused by a virus. Now, he is studying the proteins the virus produces -- proteins he suspects are involved in cell division, and possibly cell death.

"We want to know how these viruses cause tumors," said Holzschu, a faculty member in the College of Arts and Sciences, who now is working to develop another model for his studies. "By using a model of tumor growth and tumor death, we can determine how the viruses make tumors die so we can make tumors die in humans as they do in these fish."

The American Cancer Society is the largest private, nonprofit source of funding for scientists studying cancer in the United States. There currently are 66 scientists in Ohio working on cancer research aided by more than $8 million in grants from the society.