First-year medical student Andrew Razzano was very close to his grandfather, Frank Razzano. After developing Type 2 diabetes, the elder Razzano, a World War II veteran, passed away from heart-related complications resulting from his diabetes.

The death of his grandfather set the younger Razzano on the path of medical research and sparked his dream of becoming a doctor. As an undergraduate majoring in biological sciences at Ohio University, he jumped at the chance to work for John Kopchick, Ph.D., a principal investigator at the Edison Biotechnology Institute. Kopchick pioneered the discovery of the drug Somavert, a growth hormone receptor antagonist that eventually may also prove effective against diabetes. He and other Edison principal investigators are currently engaged in researching cures for diabetes.

Because of that chance, in 2004, near the end of his junior year, Razzano became an AMVETS scholar — as Kopchick refers to the undergraduate research position, says Razzano. AMVETS scholars are funded by AMVETS, one of America’s foremost veterans service and are made possible by the organization’s Diabetes Institute Training Award, which AMVETS began three years ago. AMVETS — including Athens Post 76, Logan Post 1776, and national and district posts — has raised more than $50,000 to fund undergraduate research at Edison. Razzano was eligible for the award because his grandfather and others in his family served in the military.

At first, says Razzano, he had to “learn lab protocols and read a lot of research-related articles. Then I was able to start doing DNA isolation, worked on an aging study and eventually designed my own study.

“The research I did at Edison dealt with the vascular inflammation associated with Type 2 diabetes. It truly meant a lot to me because diabetes has affected my family, like so many others. Unlike most of those affected, I have had the opportunity to make a difference in this area,” Razzano says. He graduated with a bachelor in biological science/pre-medicine. He also spent a summer in OU-COM’s undergraduate research program.

At Kopchick’s lab, he says, “You are treated as a lab technician. You are involved in the weekly meetings. You have to be on your toes. John expects a lot from us.”

And that’s good, says Razzano.

“It’s great because you are working in a business-oriented, drug-producing laboratory. You get to see firsthand the process from beginning to end — from the inception of the approach to envisioning the end goal.”

Bill Butcher, a member of local Post 76, says AMVETS saw the need to assist this community, one affected by the prevalence of diabetes, by supporting diabetes research.

“This was a major push for our organization,” says Butcher.

Butcher discussed with Kopchick, a personal friend, how AMVETS could best help diabetes research efforts underway at Edison. After the details were worked out, the Diabetes Institute Training Award was founded.

The National AMVETS has donated $15,000 each year for the Diabetes Institute Training Award. Locally, AMVETS posts have donated $2,000 each year to fund the award.

“For Bill and AMVETS to fund this program for undergraduates says a lot about the commitment they have to help our community and support students who are seeking to make a difference,” says Kopchick.

The award program is open to Ohio undergraduates and was designed to give students a peek into the research side of medicine, Kopchick says.

“They not only learn how to do diabetes research, in the process they make new discoveries. It’s our hope that some of these discoveries will lead to new therapeutics for the treatment of diabetic patients. It’s a very good research-oriented program.”

Two other Ohio graduates have also been AMVETS scholars, Megan Buchholtz and Stephanie Keeton. Currently there are four students training at Edison through the AMVETS program: Andrew Dittenhoffer, Josh Harbert, Kerri Bauske and Frank Hartge, an Iraqi war veteran.

Like Razzano, for students to qualify for the award they must have a veteran in the family or be one themselves. The award helps pay their salaries as well as for research supplies and travel expenses. In 2005, Razzano traveled with fellow AMVETS scholars to present at the Annual Endocrinology Society Meeting in San Diego.

He says the experience he had at Edison was amazing.

“I received top notch research experience and participated in a great work environment,” he says. “To be part of a research effort that has produced numerous intellectual patents and has a drug on the market right now — Somavert — allowed me to see how much work goes into researching diseases. I saw how researchers can target a disorder and produce a drug to fix it.

“All the great experiences I have had would not have been possible with out the support and encouragement of AMVETS. The organization took a great interest not only in my research but also in me as a person.

“AMVETS wanted to know what we were doing — they would come by the laboratory and talk with us about what we did. I’ve also been to the post a few times. They would honor us at post meetings and would give us a chance to talk about our research. It was a great opportunity.”

“It’s wonderful,” says Kopchick, “to see the look on students’ faces when I tell them that they are the recipients of the AMVETS Diabetes Institute Training Award.”