GRANT WILL HELP STUDY RESISTANCE

From his research into the effects of the aspiration-irrigation maneuver on acute sinus infections came a grant for additional study on the resistance of strep pneumonia to antibiotics.

Bristol-Myers Squibb has given Dr. Richard Martin a $1,000 grant to study how drugs like penicillin battle strep pneumonia.

"I was already conducting research on how the aspiration-irrigation maneuver affected children 8 and under and age 9 and over," Martin said. "Of the 140 cases, I was able to send cultures to labs to be tested for strep pneumonia."

Martin said the research on strep pneumonia is significant to this area because it is the first of its kind. "As far as I know, there has never been any study on the resistance of strep pneumonia to antibiotics," Martin said.

Charles Zinner, territory business manager for Bristol-Myers Squibb, said his company chose Martin's project because it was likely to produce important data from important research.

"This is the first time in a while that a grant has been given to an individual in a community," Zinner said. "Usually grants are given to medical schools or universities. But the research Dr. Martin was doing is going to tell us something we felt we needed to know."