SIU breast, prostate cancer research gets funding

SPRINGFIELD — Research on breast cancer and prostate cancer just got a big federal boost at Southern Illinois University in Springfield.

Grants totaling more than $400,000 from the Department of Defense U.S. Army Medical Research have been awarded to two SIU scientists.

Associate professor Yin-Yuan Mo (YIHN'-Yahn-Moe) will use part of the money to study small nucleic acids called micro RNAs. They're involved in tumor formation and might someday become targets for treating breast cancer.

The grants also will fund research on breast cancer recurrence and ways to keep prostate cancer dormant. Postdoctoral fellow Aya Kobayashi (EH-'yuh koe-bie-AHSH'-ee) is involved in those projects.

Mo studied in China and Washington state before joining SIU in 2003. Kobayashi is from Japan and came to SIU in 2008.