Recognition for outstanding research

Daniel Carson, chairperson and Trustees Distinguished Professor of Biological Sciences, has been honored for his record of research.

The College of Arts and Science sponsored a special reception during Homecoming last fall to mark a career award Carson has received from the National Institutes of Health. The NIH gave Carson a Method to Extend Research in Time (MERIT) award, which recognizes researchers who have demonstrated superior skill and outstanding productivity.

MERIT awards relieve investigators from the administrative burden of writing frequent grant-renewal applications by providing the opportunity to receive up to 10 years of research support.

"The MERIT award reflects the hard work of many individuals in my lab over 15 years," Carson says. "It will provide long-term support to my lab to study the molecular basis of embryo implantation into the uterine wall, and it will allow us to pursue riskier approaches that have higher potential benefits."

Carson notes that, despite "tremendous progress" in recent years in in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer techniques in humans and other species, implantation failure continues to be a serious problem. Therefore, he says, his research seeks to understand how the uterus controls the implantation process in both in vitro and natural pregnancies.

Carson joined the UD faculty in 1998 after 15 years on the faculty of M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. He earned his doctoral degree in microbiology from Temple University and did postdoctoral work in biological chemistry at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.