Frank Schroeder, assistant professor at the Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research at Cornell, is a recipient of the 2008 DuPont Young Professor grant for his research on the response of cellular systems to bioactive small molecules.

The grant provides $75,000 over three years to young faculty worldwide doing original research in chemistry, biofuels, miniaturization applications for electronics and medicine, structure and function of proteins, nanocomposites, earth sciences and climate change.

Schroeder's research focuses on identifying and characterizing the molecular structures and functions of biologically active organic compounds -- specifically the "small molecules," including terpenoids, lipids, alkaloids, steroids -- that could offer valuable new insight into biological processes and ultimately lead to the development of new drug treatments for a variety of diseases.

Over the past five years, Schroeder developed a new technique that uses nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy to study critical small molecules in complex mixtures. Using that technique, he recently discovered a natural hormone that causes the body to excrete excess sodium without depleting potassium -- a finding that could lead to safer and more effective medications for combating hypertension.

Schroeder earned his Ph.D. from the University of Hamburg, Germany, and worked as a research associate at Cornell and Harvard Medical School before joining the Boyce Thompson faculty in 2007.

Since the award's inception in 1967, DuPont has awarded nearly $45 million in grants to more than 520 researchers.