The economy is tanked. The cuts keep coming. The smiles fade.

Not tomorrow.

Friday afternoon, July 17 is the seventh annual Bruce's Big Balloon Battle at Briggs.

Bruce? That would be Bruce Hammock, distinguished professor of entomology at the University of California, Davis, and a longtime member of the National Academy of Sciences. He and fellow researchers, faculty, staff and students will leave their offices and labs at 1:30 p.m. to fill up 2500 water balloons, and then exactly at 3:45 they will...ahem... throw them at each other on the north lawn of Briggs Hall.

Fact is, they work hard and they play hard. The annual balloon battle is how they spell R-E-L-I-E-F.

Hammock's research and daily schedule would overwhelm most scientists. He holds a joint appointment in cancer research with the UC Davis Medical Center. He  directs the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS)  Superfund Program on the UC Davis campus, as well as the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Training Program in Biotechnology and the NIEHS Combined Analytical Laboratory. His discovery of an enzyme inhibitor that holds promise to control human diseases (such as hypertension, diabetes, asthma and cystic fibrosis) is now a first-in-class drug in human clinical trials.

But this noted entomologist who switched his research from pest control to human pain control, also excels at water balloon battles--so much so that nobody, but nobody can beat Bruce Hammock. 

Still, Hammock lab researcher Christophe Morisseau, coordinator of the 2009 and 2008 battles, tries. Morisseau's aim is good, but Hammock's feet are faster.

The best part is when the water warriors deplete their water supply and chase each other with tubs and buckets of water.

Check out the 2008 battle, the 2007 battle and the 2006 battle.

Just water--nothing else--is tossed.

Oh, but what if...

Aftter the 2006 battle, we asked Jason Graham, a forensic entomology researcher who works with blow flies and maggots, if he planned to compete the following year. "I'd like to participate next year," he said, "but I don’t think they’d appreciate what we have to throw.”

It's a sense of urgency.

When UC Davis researchers Bruce Hammock and Nipavan Chiamvimonvat and their team discovered that a prototype drug reduces heart enlargement--one of the most common causes of heart failure--and published their work in the  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the response was overwhelming.

Electronic and print news media throughout the world picked it up. So did bloggers and other social networkers.  But the most heartwarming responses came from heart patients. 

One person e-mailed Hammock: "I've been following your research in cardiac hypertrophy for sometime and we really thank you." He said his family has a history of cardiac hypertrophy and wants to know more about the developments.

And to think this research sprang from studies on insect pest control in the Hammock lab.

The research in the Chiamvimonvat and Hammock laboratories showed that the new class of drugs reduces heart swelling in rat models with heart failure. 

 “This holds promise to treat heart failure and other cardiovascular as well as kidney problems,” said nephrology professor Robert Weiss, Department of Internal Medicine.   

Similar compounds are now in clinical trials.  

"It certainly gives a feeling of urgency," agreed Hammock. 

Call it serendipity. Call it a major collaborative effort. Call it a keen eye for science.

Whatever you call it, research that sprang from studies on insect pest control in the Bruce Hammock lab at the University of California, Davis, has resulted in a prototype drug that  reduces heart enlargement, one of the most common causes of heart failure.

We all know of people suffering from heart failure, which occurs when the heart can’t pump enough blood throughout the body. The condition affects 5 million people in the United States and contributes to 300,000 deaths each year.  The leading causes of heart failure are coronary artery disease, high blood pressure and diabetes. 
 

The research in the laboratories of cardiologist and cell biologist Nipavan Chiamvimonvat, Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, UC Davis School of Medicine,  and entomologist Bruce Hammock, Department of Entomology, showed that the new class of drugs reduces heart swelling in rat models with heart failure.  
 

 “This holds promise to treat heart failure and other cardiovascular as well as kidney problems,” said nephrology professor Robert Weiss, Department of Internal Medicine. 
 

Similar compounds are now in clinical trials.

"The study of rat models showed that heart failure is driven by high angiotensin associated with high blood pressure, artery disease and some kidney disease,” Hammock said.  “When that occurs, a key enzyme called soluble epoxide hydrolase is increased." 

The 11-member research team showed they could inhibit the enzyme with a drug made by Paul Jones, a former postgraduate researcher at UC Davis. The swelling and ultimate failure of the heart is blocked and reversed, Hammock said.

“Interestingly, the increase in heart size associated with extreme exercise does not increase levels of the epoxide hydrolase, and exercise induced heart enlargement fortunately is not blocked by the drug.” 

This research follows earlier studies reported from the Chiamvimonvat laboratory on cardiac hypertrophy.  The two UC Davis laboratories collaborated with the laboratories of John Shyy at UC Riverside and Yi Zhu, Cardiovascular Sciences, Peking University Health Science Center. 

The paper, “Soluble Epoxide Hydrolase Plays an Essential Role in Angiotensin II-Induced Cardiac Hypertrophy,” is online.

This is definitely a significant discovery that could result in saving scores of lives.  And to think it all started with the Hammock lab discovering an enzyme inhibitor that regulates insect larvae development. 

Friday lite.

That's what it was.

But it was more than that, too.

Every year, Bruce Hammock, distinguished professor of entomology at UC Davis, wages a water balloon battle for faculty, researchers, graduate students, staff, family and friends.

It takes place on the lawn, north side of Briggs Hall, near his basement lab and offices. We like to kid around that he's located on the “garden level” of Briggs. When Hammock hosts Bruce's Big Balloon Battle at Briggs, it becomes the “water level.”

This year (Friday, Aug. 15) they filled 2500 water balloons and then threw them at one another. Every year when the water balloons are all gone, they empty the buckets—which really makes for some nice photos. I'm glad Bruce Hammock can be so accommodating!

“Nobody can beat Bruce Hammock at water balloons,” said  former administrative assistant Jeanette Martin, who returned for the big balloon battle.

The Hammock lab works hard and plays hard.

Bruce Dupree Hammock just won the 2008 UC Davis Distinguished Teaching Award for Graduate and Professional Teaching; he was nominated for his "dedication to his students, his interdisciplinary thrust, and his scientific and professional career guidance."

“This award is one of the most prestigious granted on the UC Davis campus and recognizes consistent outstanding teaching and commitment to student success,” said Krishnan Nambiar, chair of the Academic Senate Distinguished Teaching Award Committee in a letter to Hammock nominator Michael Denison, professor of environmental toxicology.

Chemical ecologist Walter Leal, professor of entomology at UC Davis, described Hammock as an excellent teacher and mentor.  “I can unequivocally tell you that teaching is Dr. Hammock's passion. He considers teaching the most important role of his university career...He motivates, encourages and inspires, molding a whole new generation of scientists who are discovering ways to benefit humankind.”

Hammock is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and holds a joint appointment in Cancer Research with the UC Davis Medical Center. He directs the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS)  Superfund Program on the UC Davis campus, as well as the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Training Program in Biotechnology, and the NIEHS Combined Analytical Laboratory.

In the last five years Hammock has hosted more than 40 postdoctoral fellows or senior scientists.  He has helped train future entomologists, biochemists, engineers, chemists and biologists.

You could say he also trains them to be water warriors.

Make that water warriors, extraordinaire.