Cancer is one those words that can make a person’s blood run cold at the moment it is spoken. It is even more unsettling when the disease strikes a child.
The two largest grants received by the University of Nebraska Medical Center during the second quarter of 1997 will help fund research into a form of cancer in young people, and study the possible causes of cancer in general.
Harold M. Maurer, M.D., dean of the College of Medicine, is the primary investigator of a $638,903 grant that will help fund a collaborative study into the treatment and biological characteristics of rhabdomyosarcoma in childhood and adolescence. Rhabdomyosarcoma is an extremely malignant growth or tumor originating in skeletal muscle. The grant was awarded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the National Institutes of Health and the National Cancer Institute.
Dr. Maurer’s research hopes to develop effective treatments, improve survival rates, reduce therapy complications, and determine basic genetic features of rhabdomyosarcoma for diagnosis, prognosis and treatment.
The largest grant received by UNMC during the quarter will fund research that will attempt to determine metabolic actions of certain agents in the body that may induce events generally considered central to the origination of tumors. Ercole Cavalierli, D.Sc., professor in the Eppley Institute for Research in Cancer and Allied Diseases, is the primary investigator of the $897,995 grant also awarded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the National Institutes of Health and the National Cancer Institute.
A total of $8,955,189 in grants was received by UNMC during the second quarter of 1997, keeping pace with awards during the same period of 1996. It also brings the total received in 1997 to almost $13.5 million, which is $700,000 ahead of last year.
Federal sources comprised the largest segment of the awards received during April, May and June at $5,620,591. Industry sources contributed $1,438,543 and state sources $406,899. Another $1,489,156 was given by other sources.
Another grant awarded to UNMC could lead to safer battlefield conditions for American personnel. The U.S. Army awarded a $119,955 grant to Oksana Lockridge, a UNMC student in the Eppley Institute. Her study is testing various compounds with the long range goal of protecting soldiers from nerve agents — a goal highlighted by the ongoing investigation into the mysterious maladies suffered by veterans of the Gulf War.
UNMC is the only public academic health science center in the state. Through its commitment to research, education and patient care, UNMC has established itself as one of the country’s leading centers for cancer research and treatment and solid organ transplantation. More than $25 million in research grants and contracts are awarded to UNMC scientists annually. In addition, UNMC’s educational programs are responsible for training more health professionals practicing in Nebraska than any other institution.