Source: Daniel Marcus, 785-532-4532, marcus@k-state.edu
Websites: http://www.k-state.edu/media/mediaguide/bios/marcusbio.html
and http://www.vet.k-state.edu/depts/ap/faculty/marcus.htm
Photo available. Contact media@k-state.edu or 785-532-2535.
News release prepared by: Beth Bohn, 785-532-2535, bbohn@k-state.edu

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

K-STATE'S DANIEL MARCUS TO SERVE ON NATIONAL BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH COMMITTEE

MANHATTAN -- A Kansas State University professor has been elected to serve on a national committee that seeks to elevate biomedical research resources in Kansas and other states.

Daniel C. Marcus, university distinguished professor of anatomy and physiology, will serve a four-year term on the National Committee for the National Association of IDeA Principal Investigators. The 20-member committee assists the National Center for Research Resources, a division of the National Institutes of Health, in strengthening biomedical research in 23 states -- including Kansas -- that are part of the Institutional Development Awards, or IDeA, network. The committee meets in Washington, D.C.

The association represents the principal investigators from each IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence and Center of Biomedical Research Excellence, and is focused on elevating biomedical research infrastructure in states with historically low levels of research funding from the National Institutes of Health.

Marcus is the principal investigator for the K-State Center of Biomedical Research Excellence, based in the College of Veterinary Medicine. The center studies epithelial cell function in human health and disease. It supports individual research projects as well as research facilities for confocal microscopy, molecular biology and electrophysiology investigators across eight departments in five K-State colleges.

The center is beginning its ninth year of funding through a National Institutes of Health award of about $22 million over 10 years.

Marcus is internationally known for his research on the physiology of inner ear epithelial cells. Functions of these cells are essential for healthy hearing and balance.

He has received the Pfizer Research Excellence Award from K-State's College of Veterinary Medicine and has honorary membership in Society of Phi Zeta, Sigma Chapter, an organization that recognizes and promotes scholarship and research pertaining to the welfare and diseases of animals. Marcus also is a reviewer for several professional journals and granting agencies.

Marcus joined K-State in 1998 as an associate professor in anatomy and physiology. He was promoted to professor in 2000 and was named a university distinguished professor, K-State's highest academic ranking, in 2006. His previous professional experience was at Creighton University, Washington University in St. Louis and Boys Town National Research Hospital. His master's and doctorate degrees are in electrical and biomedical engineering from Washington University, St. Louis. His bachelor's degree in physics is from Antioch College in Ohio.