Colleges / Campus scene : Genetic Researcher to Receive $180,000

Researcher Kavita Arora, an assistant professor in developmental and cell biology, was one of 15 individuals throughout the United States recently named as a Searle Scholar for 1996.

Arora will receive $180,000 for her research over the next three years. She is studying the role of two genes in the embryonic growth of fruit flies. The research is expected to add to the knowledge of how specific parts of the body develop from an embryo, according to Elvera Ehrenfeld, dean of biological sciences at UC Irvine.

The Searle Scholars Program is supported by a trust established by John G. and Frances C. Searle. He was president of G.D. Searle & Co., an Illinois pharmaceutical company.

The relationship of Arora’s research to understanding human development and birth defects was also recognized by the March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation. She received its Basil O’Connor Starter Scholar Research Award in January.