Partnership with U.S. Strategic Command could net $84 million over five years
Researchers study unusual tremor, stroke and benefits of exercise for cancer patients
The University of Nebraska announced last month that it has entered into a long-term partnership with the United States Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM) at Offutt Air Force Base to create a University-Affiliated Research Center (UARC). The UARC will serve as a primary research and development center that supports USSTRATCOM’s missions to deter and detect strategic attacks against the United States and its allies and to defend the nation as directed. Only 14 U.S. institutions, including the University of Nebraska, host a UARC.
The UARC is a university-wide initiative, drawing on a broad range of expertise from all four NU campuses. Faculty will have the opportunity to participate if their research aligns with federal funding opportunities. Their work will be solutions-oriented, geared toward meeting – and ultimately anticipating – USSTRATCOM’s needs.
The initial contract award from the Department of Defense to the university provides for up to $84 million over the next five years to support the early research activities of the National Strategic Research Institute. Research opportunities through the UARC are expected to grow significantly in the coming years, and the university anticipates additional funding in the future.
Jennifer Larsen, M.D., vice chancellor for research at UNMC, said: “Being selected by the Department of Defense to establish a UARC is a landmark event for UNMC researchers who already have a long history of Department of Defense funding. Over time we realized that our investigators have the expertise that STRATCOM and other defense agencies need and want. By forming this new collaboration, we hope to provide benefits for the defense of our troops as well as new funding opportunities for our investigators.”
Through the UARC, the university will provide research and development services for USSTRATCOM in areas in which NU faculty have demonstrated significant strength. These areas, which are critical to national security, include: nuclear detection and forensics, detection of chemical and biological weapons, passive defense against weapons of mass destruction, consequence management, and space, cyber and telecommunications law.
Diego Torres-Russotto, M.D., neurological sciences, hosted the largest study ever done for patients with orthostatic tremor (OT), a debilitating disorder that causes people to feel like they are going to fall down when they are standing. More than 50 OT patients came to UNMC for the study. They were from Spain, England, Canada, Panama, Australia and the United States.
Pierre Fayad, M.D., neurological sciences, served as UNMC’s lead researcher on the RESPECT trial, which began in 2003 and enrolled 980 patients at 69 centers across the U.S. and Canada. All patients in the study had suffered a stroke. The study looked at treating people surgically by closing a flap-like opening in the heart with an occluding device or treating people with medications. UNMC had a total of 14 patients enrolled – seven of them received the device and seven were treated medically. Results of the study were inconclusive as to which technique was more effective.
Three University of Nebraska Medical Center scientists are among the authors of a preliminary pilot study which suggests exercise by cancer survivors may buck up their immune systems and help ward off recurrences of the disease. Laura Bilek, Ph.D., physical therapy education; Graham Sharp, Ph.D., genetics, cell biology and anatomy; and Geoffrey Thiele, Ph.D., internal medicine/rheumatology, along with three researchers from the Rocky Mountain Cancer Rehabilitation Institute, analyzed T cells in the blood of cancer survivors before and after a 12-week exercise program. They presented their findings at the Integrative Biology of Exercise VI meeting in Westminster, Colo.
The UNMC Eppley Cancer Center received a $3.5 million grant from The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust to allow women living in rural Nebraska greater access to personalized breast cancer care. The grant will fund the Northern Great Plains Personalized Breast Cancer Program, a collaborative effort between the Eppley Cancer Center, Avera Health’s Avera Cancer Institute in Sioux Falls, S.D., Trinity Health Cancer Center in Minot, N.D., Sheridan Memorial Hospital and Welch Cancer Center, in Sheridan, Wyo. The goal of the program is to provide breast cancer patients living in rural areas access to state-of-the-art cancer genomic analysis and personalized cancer treatment options, as well as access to the Eppley Cancer Center’s Breast Cancer Collaborative Registry (BCCR).
College of Medicine faculty land 17 grants totaling more than $7.1 million
Research deals with lungs, kidneys and several cancer types
Joseph Sisson, M.D., internal medicine – pulmonary, has been awarded a National Institutes of Health grant from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. This $2.4 million award will allow Dr. Sisson to further study the role of alcohol stimulation in the impairment of ciliary function. Heavy alcohol consumption can lead to lung cilia becoming unresponsive to stress events leading to mucus congestion and infections such as bronchitis and pneumonia. Dr. Sisson’s work will emphasize ways to reverse and/or prevent alcohol related cilia damage in order to avoid lung infections.
Steven Sansom, Ph.D., cellular/integrative physiology, has been awarded a National Institutes of Health grant from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK). This $1.3 million award will allow Dr. Sansom to continue his work on the regulation of the renal calcium-activated potassium channel BK. BK hypertension is thought to be a result of defective renal handling of potassium. Understanding the mechanisms that regulate potassium elimination through the kidneys is important to the treatment of high blood pressure and other medical conditions and the prevention of cardiac arrhythmias and sudden death in patients being treated for these conditions.
Steven Caplan, Ph.D., biochemistry and molecular biology, has been awarded a National Institutes of Health award from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS). This $1.1 million award will continue Dr. Caplan’s work in regulating intracellular membrane and protein trafficking. Control of receptor internalization and recycling to the plasma membrane is central to normal cell function, and dysregulation of these processes is the underlying cause for diseases as diverse as atherosclerosis, diabetes, and cancer.
Babu Padanilam, Ph.D., cellular/integrative physiology, has been awarded a National Institutes of Health award from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK). This $150,000 award will allow Dr. Padanilam to explore the role of PARP-1 in acute kidney injury (AKI), a devastating clinical syndrome with a high mortality rate and with no clinically approved methods to treat or reverse the disease. Dr. Padanilam’s work hopes to provide a therapeutic target for treatment of AKI.
Cheng Wang, Ph.D., obstetrics & gynecology, has been awarded a National Institutes of Health award from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD). This $750,000 Pathway to Independence Award will allow Dr. Wang to continue his exploration of molecules that contribute to the physiological and pathological changes in the mammalian ovary. His long term goal is to develop novel diagnostic or therapeutic methods to improve women’s health particularly in the areas of infertility and ovarian cancer.
Parmender Mehta, Ph.D., biochemistry and molecular biology, has been awarded a grant from the Department of Defense, U.S. Army. This $550,000 award will allow Dr. Mehta to explore the role of gap junctions in tumor suppression. Impaired gap junction formation has been found in several forms of cancer. Dr. Mehta’s group will examine the role of connexins and cadherins in the formation of gap junctions and their role in prostate cancer cells.
Grants with other academic institutions:
James Harper, M.D., pediatrics-hematology/oncology, has received a Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)-sponsored award from the Heartland Genetics and Newborn Screening Collaborative for Genetic Counseling and Hemoglobinopathies in Nebraska.
William Rizzo, M.D., pediatrics-metabolism, has received a HRSA-sponsored award from the Heartland Genetics and Newborn Screening Collaborative for Inborn Errors of Metabolism Information (IBEM-IS).
Jose Americo Fernandes Filho, M.D., neurological sciences, will participate in a Columbia- based study of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients.
Carol Toris, Ph.D., ophthalmology, has received a $307,000 Network Integration Evaluation (NIE) award through the University of Michigan for her work titled “Aqueous Humor Dynamics Components that Determine Intraocular Pressure.”
Howard Fox, M.D., Ph.D., pharmacology and experimental neuroscience, has received a National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) award through the University of Missouri-Kansas City for his work titled “Methamphetamine and AIDS in non-human Primate Model.”
Industry-sponsored contracts:
The following industry-sponsored contracts also have been received. View information on clinical trials enrolling patients at UNMC.
Alison Freifeld, M.D., internal medicine – infectious diseases, for an interventional clinical trial to assess the safety and tolerability of a herpes zoster vaccine in patients with solid tumors or hematologic malignancies. This trial is currently recruiting patients. View details.
Scott Shurmur, M.D., internal medicine – cardiology, for a clinical trial to evaluate an antibody based intervention in the prevention of recurrent cardiovascular events among stable post-myocardial infarction patients. This trial is currently recruiting patients. View details.
Akhtari Mojtaba, M.D., internal medicine – oncology/hematology, for a clinical trial to evaluate the use of one drug formulation of an existing chemotherapeutic agent on the treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). This trial is currently recruiting patients. View details.