Montclair, NJ. –David Rotella, the Montclair State University Sokol Professor of Chemistry and a former research scientist in the pharmaceutical industry, has been awarded a $2.5 million, five-year grant from the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) to help develop inhibitors of the botulinum toxin, which causes botulism, a life-threatening illness characterized by paralysis and respiratory failure. Rotella is working with government agencies, pharmaceutical companies and other scientists to help the United States combat this serious threat in the war on bioterrorism.