UNMC College of Medicine faculty brought in 22 awards representing nearly $4.4 million in new funding during the month of October. These awards included:
John Windle, M.D., internal medicine – cardiology, has received a $2.4 million award from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. This study will test the use of electronic health records (EHRs) by cardiology physicians and nurses and develop basic software models optimized to include the reported user’s preferences. The study data will be used to provide a set of best practices in the design of EHR software to allow vendors to understand and meet the needs of clinical providers.
Steven Hinrichs, M.D., pathology & microbiology, has received a task order from the National Strategic Research Institute. He will receive more than $700,000 to test novel treatments to prevent the effects of nerve agents.
Justin Mott, M.D., Ph.D., biochemistry & molecular biology, has received a National Institutes of Health (NIH) COBRE grant to study the impact of programmed cell death due to exposure of bile duct lining cells to fatty acids in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). The grant was awarded to the Nebraska Center for the Prevention of Obesity Diseases through Dietary Molecules (University of Nebraska – Lincoln).
Industry-sponsored contracts
The following industry-sponsored contracts and foundation grants also were received. Information on clinical trials enrolling patients at UNMC can be found here.
Guangshun Wang, Ph.D., pathology & microbiology, is continuing his work on the development of novel antimicrobial peptides, which can eliminate invading pathogens or alter the immune system.
Michael Moulton, M.D., surgery – cardiovascular & thoracic, is the UNMC lead on a multi-center, Phase II clinical trial to evaluate the safety and efficacy of a drug in patients undergoing high-risk cardiopulmonary bypass. Dr. Moulton is also the UNMC lead for an industry-sponsored, global clinical trial assessing the use of a device used to remove plaque buildup in peripheral vascular disease.
Stephen Rennard, M.D., internal medicine – pulmonary, is the UNMC lead for a Cornell University NIH research program titled “Design and Testing of Practical Tools to Identify Individuals at High Risk for COPD.”
James Sullivan, M.D., anesthesiology, is the UNMC lead on a Phase III clinical trial to evaluate the use of a computer-assisted sedation delivery system in cardiac procedures.
Quan Dong Nguyen, M.D., ophthalmology and visual sciences, received a fellowship from the Global Ophthalmology Awards Program to study changes in chemical messenger levels inside the eyes of patients with diabetic macular edema.
James Harper, M.D., pediatrics – hematology/oncology, is the UNMC lead for a multi-center, Phase III clinical trial. This study will test the effectiveness of a test drug in the prevention and treatment of bleeding episodes in patients with hemophilia B.
Perry Johnson, M.D., surgery – plastic & reconstructive, has received a contract to study the safety and effectiveness of new implants in breast augmentation, reconstruction, or revision.
Cyrus Desouza, M.B.B.S., internal medicine – diabetes, encocrinology, metabolism, has received technical salary support for his Veteran’s Affairs Nebraska Educational Biomedical Research Association sponsored clinical trials.
Howard Gendelman, M.D., pharmacology & experimental neuroscience, is the UNMC lead for a NIH research program through St. Luke’s – Roosevelt Institute for Health Sciences. This study will investigate HIV levels in the brains of mice using a new mouse model of HIV infection designed in Dr. Gendelman’s laboratory.
Geoffrey Thiele, Ph.D., internal medicine – rheumatology, is the UNMC lead for a NIH research program through Cleveland Clinic. The study will assess the mechanism involved in the death of skeletal muscle cells that occurs in alcoholic liver disease.
Matthew Lunning, M.D., D.O., internal medicine – oncology/hematology, is the UNMC lead for a multi-center, Phase Ib/IIa clinical trial sponsored by Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. This study will test the combination of two drugs for the treatment of lymphoma and myeloma.
John Bertoni, M.D., Ph.D., neurological sciences, is the UNMC lead for a multi-center, Phase III clinical study on the effectiveness of a test drug in slowing disease progression in newly diagnosed Parkinson’s patients.
Dennis Chakkalakal, orthopedic surgery, has received technical salary support for his Veteran’s Affairs Merit Rehabilitation research and development project, “Prevention of Fracture Healing in Alcohol Abusers.”
Stephen Obaro, M.B.B.S., Ph.D., pediatrics – infectious diseases, has received support from the University of Minnesota to study the use of dried blood spot real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays to detect bacterial infection.
Alexey Kamenskiy, Ph.D., surgery – general surgery, has received a contract to study the utilization of a novel peripheral stent system in the repair of damaged arteries.
Donny Suh, M.D., pediatrics administration, is the UNMC lead on a National Institutes of Health, National Eye Institute Phase I clinical device study with the Jaeb Center for Health Research’s Pediatric Eye Disease Investigator Group.
Donald Coulter, M.D., pediatrics – hematology/oncology, has received support from the University of British Columbia to assess the use of biomarkers to identify children at risk of adverse effects from their successful cancer treatments and to predict long-term complications.
Paul Fey, Ph.D., pathology & microbiology, has received a contract to test how reproducible a polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based technique is for the detection of common pathogens that cause meningitis or encephalitis.