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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SDSU Researcher to Receive 2003 CSU Biotech Faculty Award

SAN DIEGO, Wednesday, January 8, 2003 - San Diego State University researcher Skai Krisans will accept the 2003 California State University Biotechnology Faculty Research Award on Thursday, January 9, at the Sheraton Fairplex in Pomona, Calif. Krisans will deliver a lecture on her research on the role of peroxisomes in cholesterol biosynthesis.

Krisans is the third SDSU professor to receive the annual award, which was established in 1991 to honor faculty who have demonstrated outstanding scientific achievement in the CSU's molecular life science and biotechnology research effort.

"I am very proud and humbled to receive this award, and it should be shared with the top researchers and outstanding students at SDSU," Krisans said.

Chris Glembotski, chair of the Biology Department at SDSU and winner of the award in 2000, said Krisans deserves the award for several reasons.

"In her 33 years as a professor at SDSU, Dr. Krisans has maintained an extremely high level of research and teaching," Glembotski said. "She has made her career making discoveries that could lead to a cure for heart disease someday, while involving students in all levels of her research program."

Krisans is credited with discovering the importance of peroxisomes in cholesterol synthesis. Peroxisomes are organelles that, previous to her research, were largely understudied and misunderstood.

"Based in large part on Dr. Krisans discoveries, we now know that without peroxisomes, diseases arise that are mostly due to insufficient cholesterol biosynthesis," Glembotski said. "These are the peroxisomal deficiency diseases."

Krisans other career accomplishments include multiple papers and numerous reviews published in The Journal of Biological Chemistry, The Journal of Lipid Research and other top journals. She is a highly sought after speaker for international symposiums. The National Institutes of Health, the American Heart Association and several biotechnology companies have funded her research continuously throughout her career.

Krisan's work is counted among approximately 1,400 research projects currently underway at SDSU. Last year, SDSU received a record $140 million in faculty-sponsored research funding, which places it among the top 6.7 percent of the 3,800 higher education institutions nationwide engaged in research.

San Diego State University is the oldest and largest higher education institution in the San Diego region. Founded in 1897, SDSU has grown to offer bachelor's degrees in 78 areas, master's degrees in 62 areas and doctorates in 14. SDSU's more than 33,000 students participate in academic curricula distinguished by direct contact with faculty and an increasing international emphasis that prepares them for a global future. For more information log on to www.sdsu.edu.

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