The following 12 grants representing more than $5.6 million in new funding were awarded to UNMC College of Medicine faculty during May.
Dmitry Oleynikov, M.D., surgery – general surgery, has received a Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program award for $4.3 million from the US Army. Dr. Oleynikov will continue his development of surgical robots which can be deployed remotely. These remotely-controlled, image-guided, mini-robots are designed to be placed into the abdomen for less invasive surgeries and are adaptable for use in distant or inaccessible locations.
Kaleb Michaud, Ph.D., internal medicine – rheumatology, has received a Rheumatology Research Foundation award for $400,000. Dr. Michaud has developed an electronic mobile health tool for the capture of RA activity measures in the rheumatology clinic. This trial, which involves seven US clinics and 1,000 patients, will collect 1-3 additional RA measures at normal clinic visits. Dr. Michaud will use the data collected to compare to that collected in the common paper forms to develop highly standardized measures which can be used to provide quantitative evidence for controlling rheumatoid arthritis and other inflammatory arthritis.
Industry-sponsored grants
Information on clinical trials enrolling patients at UNMC can be found here.
Carol Toris, Ph.D., ophthalmology & visual sciences, will evaluate the effect of a topically administered, compound steroid on intraocular pressure in the normotensive and hypertensive eye.
Yasir Sepah, M.B.B.S., ophthalmology & visual sciences, is the UNMC lead on an international, multi-center clinical trial. This trial will evaluate the safety and effectiveness of an RNA interference (RNAi) drug in patients with transthyretin (TTR)-mediated polyneuropathy, an inherited, progressively debilitating and fatal disease.
Diana Do, M.D., ophthalmology & visual sciences, is the UNMC lead on two multi-center clinical trials. These studies will focus on drug delivery and new drug development for diseases of the eye. One study is recruiting patients with diabetic macular edema and the other patients with chronic non-infectious uveitis.
Apar Ganti, M.D., internal medicine – oncology /hematology, is the UNMC lead on a multi-center clinical trial. This study will evaluate the effectiveness of an inhibitor of HSP90 (heat shock protein) combined with a molecularly targeted agent on the delay of chemotherapeutic resistance in some types of solid tumors.
Rana Zabad, M.D., neurological sciences, is the UNMC lead on a multi-center clinical trial. This prospective study will monitor patients with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis treated with either fingolimod or another disease-modifying therapy for safety-related outcomes.
Paul Sammut, M.D., pediatrics – pulmonary, is the UNMC lead on a multi-center clinical trial. This study will evaluate the prevalence of antibodies to certain animal viruses in patients who have cystic fibrosis who receive pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy as part of their treatment plan.
Peter Coccia, M.D., pediatrics – oncology/hematology, has received a clinical trials advancement award from the CureSearch for Children’s Cancer Foundation.
Iraklis Pipinos, M.D. and B. Timothy Baxter, M.D., surgery – general surgery, have each received awards from the Society for Vascular Surgery for projects done under their tutelage. Cole Bowdino received a Student Research Fellowship Award for his project with Dr. Pipinos, “The Role of T Regulatory Cells in Aneurysm Formation.” An E.J. Wylie Traveling Fellows Award was received by Dr. Baxter’s group for their project, “Contribution of Genetic Variation to Aneurysm Formation.”