UNMC’s total research grants reach record $62 million

The University of Nebraska Medical Center has broken its record for

total research grants in a single quarter by bringing in $26 million during

July, August and September. The record quarter brings UNMCs total grant

funding to $62 million.

University officials are particularly pleased with the increase because

the national research funding pool was sharply reduced due to a tight economy

and the diversion of significant funds from basic research to biosecurity-related

projects.

While the economy was slumping and state funding was going down, we

still managed to continue our momentum, said Thomas Rosenquist, Ph.D.,

UNMC vice chancellor for research. Lots of money that we went after in

the past is now earmarked for biosecurity and other areas that are currently

not accessible to us.

Yet, we received some significant grant awards early in the new fiscal

year that helped to surpass the previous single quarter record and propel

us forward to date.

Dr. Rosenquist said UNMCs impressive start for the 2003-04 fiscal year

featured grant awards of more than $20.5 million in one week in September

thanks to the two largest grants in UNMC history.

The largest single award was a five-year grant totaling more than $10.6

million. Awarded to study genes in neurosensory systems, the grant was

funded by the Centers of Biomedical Research Excellence (CoBRE) program,

which is supported by the NIH. Through the grant support, UNMC will form

a research center to study the relationship between neurosensory conditions

and specific genes or gene pathways, including disorders of vision and

hearing, as well as touch and balance. Shelley Smith, Ph.D., director of

the UNMC Center for Molecular Genetics, is the principal investigator for

the grant and will direct the NIH-designated Nebraska Center for Molecular

Biology of Neurosensory Systems.

A five-year grant totaling almost $9.9 million is the second largest

grant ever received by UNMC.

The grant establishes an NIH-designated Nebraska Center for Cellular

Signaling at UNMC to further the understanding of cell signaling the

biochemical response of cells to their environment in relation to a variety

of cancers. Margaret Wheelock, Ph.D., professor of oral biology, UNMC College

of Dentistry, is principal investigator and director of the new center.

UNMC received $15 million in total research grants for the fourth quarter

of the 2002-03 fiscal year (April, May, June 2003), ending the year with

a total of $55.8 million. Thirty-five investigators received grants worth

$100,000 or more in the fourth quarter. Among the highlights:

Jeffrey Payne, D.D.S., assistant dean for research, UNMC College of

Dentistry, received $537,094 from the NIH to conduct a two-year clinical

trial on the use of a low dose of doxycycline as an inexpensive, safe means

to reduce loss of bone density in the mouth, hip and spine of postmenopausal

women.  These women will have periodontitis (oral bone loss), which

afflicts at least 35 percent of U.S. adults and is the primary cause of

adult tooth loss, and will be at risk for osteoporosis.  Osteoporosis

is associated with an increased incidence of vertebrae, wrist and hip fractures

and tooth loss.

Jialin Zheng, M.D., associate professor in the Center for Neurovirology

and Neurodegenerative Disorders, department of pathology/microbiology,

received $257,250 to study HIV-associated dementia (HAD). HIV affects approximately

40 million individuals worldwide. In its late stages, approximately 20

percent of infected adults and 50 percent of infected children suffer from

HAD and can suffer a severe loss of memory and poor to no retention. Scientific

studies have established that macrophages, an important part of the immune

system that aids the fight against unwanted invaders and are a target of

the HIV virus, talk to other macrophages and other cells, including neurons,

through chemical signaling.  The research team seeks to identify what

these chemical signals mean and how these signals from HIV-infected macrophages

affect the neurons in the brain.