Research Spotlight

This spotlight will highlight the educational and professional journeys of the faculty and students.  

Organized by the National Council of Alcoholism, the month of April is Alcohol Awareness Month. This was created to draw more attention to the cause and effects of alcoholism as well as how to help families and communities deal with drinking problems. Current faculty, graduate students and alumni are aiding in this awareness through their research.

Under the direction of Uma Sundaram, M.D., vice dean for research at Marshall University Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine, Molly Butts, Ph.D., completed her doctoral degree in July 2019 and is currently in her post-doctoral training at Marshall University. Her graduate thesis and current research focuses on the effect of moderate alcohol consumption on intestinal nutrient transport. This research aims to understand how moderate alcohol consumption may affect the intestinal absorption of two vital nutrients, glucose and glutamine. Butts is hopeful that this research can foster an understanding of how alcohol consumption can contribute to nutrient and obesity-related disorders that heavily affect the state of West Virginia.

Butts’ achievements have been many as she has presented and received awards at conferences such as the Biomedical Transporters Conference in Lucerne, Switzerland, Digestive Diseases Week Annual Meeting, Annual Scientific Meeting of the Research Society on Alcoholism, and more. “She is an excellent young scientist,” and “has been a true inspiration to her peers at Marshall over the last several years,” Sundaram said. 

Butts chose Marshall University because it felt like a community focused on the success of students. “If I need to know more about an experimental procedure or subject matter that I do not have expertise in, I am able to seek out help from the Marshall research faculty and staff…The faculty and staff are always eager to mentor,” Butts stated. That support combined with the abundant research resources for equipment and presentation encouraged her to continue her post-graduate research at Marshall University into new fields and model systems. Butts mentioned, “the research environment is very translational so even though our lab does not work directly with alcohol research…[it is] very conducive to a wide range of biomedical research”

While Butts might be from Fredonia, NY, she hopes to continue making inroads into a better understanding of the effects of alcohol consumption and the health-disparities pertaining to obesity in the Appalachian region.