UNMC College of Medicine faculty received 30 grant awards representing more than $10 million in new funding during the month of July. Highlights included:
Continued support for UNMC’s INBRE Program
James Turpen, Ph.D., genetics, cell biology & anatomy, has received a National Institutes of Health award for $3.5 million from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences. This is a renewal of Dr. Turpen’s grant that supports the Institutional Development Award Program (IDeA) Networks of Biomedical Research Excellence (INBRE) program in Nebraska. This program has been continuously funded since 2001 and has been used to create and support a biomedical research infrastructure that provides research opportunities for undergraduate students that aspire to continue into graduate research.
NanoART as novel treatment of HIV/AIDS
Howard Gendelman, M.D., pharmacology & experimental neuroscience, has received a National Institutes of Health award for $1.8 million from the National Institute on Drug Abuse. This is a renewal of his grant that supports the development of novel treatments for HIV/AIDS using long-acting nanoformulated antiretroviral therapy (NanoART). Dr. Gendelman also received support from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai for a project titled “CNS Reservoirs of HIV in a Mouse Model of HIV Infection and Cognitive Impairment.”
Renewed funding for chronic heart failure
Irving Zucker, Ph.D., cellular & integrative physiology, has received a National Institutes of Health award for $1.6 million from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. This is a program project grant renewal that has been continuously funded since 1999. This award supports research into the mechanisms of sympathethic nerve stimulation and its effects on the pathophysiology of chronic heart failure.
HIV research brings in two R01 awards
Shilpa Buch, Ph.D., pharmacology & experimental neuroscience, has received a National Institutes of Health R01 award for $500,000 from the National Institute on Drug Abuse to study microglial activation in the context of HIV infection and drug abuse. She also has received a separate R01 award for $400,000 from the National Institute of Mental Health for the development of therapeutic strategies to reduce neurocognitive decline that occurs as a result of HIV infection.
Targeted radionuclide therapy for pancreatic cancer
Surinder Batra, Ph.D., biochemistry & molecular biology, has received a National Institutes of Health R01 award for $0.4 million from the National Cancer Institute. The studies funded by this grant hope to develop a targeted radionuclide therapy focused on exploiting novel MUC4 antibodies to modulate the microenvironment of pancreatic cancers.
Novel devices for knee and hip repairs
Hani Haider, Ph.D., orthopedic surgery, has received more than $300,000 in industry-sponsored support for two separate studies. One study will test the durability of a novel knee replacement system, while the other will assess the use of ceramic femoral heads in total hip arthroplasty.
Creating new genetic money models of disease
Robert Norgren, Ph.D., genetics, cell biology & anatomy, has received a National Institutes of Health 1 award for $200,000 from the NIH Office of the Director to develop new Rhesus monkey models of human genetic diseases using methods of genetic screening and directed breeding. Since monkeys are genetically and physiologically similar to humans, the overall cost of drug development would decrease and the number of approved therapies would increase if more monkey models of disease were developed.
Macular degeneration clinical trial support
Yasir Sepah, M.B.B.S., ophthalmology & visual sciences, has received more than $200,000 in industry-sponsored support to provide image reading and sample analysis for a clinical trial involving neovascular age-related macular degeneration.
Effects of bactericidal proteins on autoimmunity
Nora Sarvetnick, Ph.D., surgery – transplant, has received nearly $200,000 as the UNMC lead for a research program involving Benaroya Research Institute at Virginia Mason Medical Center and the NIH. The research program is titled “Defining the Role of Altered Cytokine Signaling Pathways on Autoimmunity.” UNMC will be researching the connection between bactericidal proteins and autoimmunity.
Nanotechnology used to improve prostate cancer diagnosis
Prakash Kshirsagar, Ph.D., biochemistry & molecular biology, has received more than $100,000 in support through the U.S. Army’s Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs to study the use of nanotechnology to detect novel microRNAs to provide earlier diagnosis of prostate cancer.
Effects of arsenite exposure
Samuel Cohen, M.D., Ph.D., pathology & microbiology, has received more than $100,000 in support from the Electric Power Research Institute to study the effects of arsenite, a common pollutant in power plant wastewater, when exposed to a human keratinocyte cell line to induce cell death.
Redox effects T cell regulation in hypertension
Adam Case, Ph.D., cellular & integrative physiology, has received a National Institutes of Health award for $100,000 from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute to support a study on the redox regulation of T cells in cases of hypertension caused by sympathetic nerve excitation.
Industry-sponsored grants:
The following industry-sponsored contracts and foundation grants also were received. Information on clinical trials enrolling patients at UNMC can be found here.
Channabasavaiah Gurumurthy, Ph.D., genetics, cell biology & anatomy, has received support from Creighton University to characterize a mouse model that allows temporal control over gene expression of retinoblastoma (Rb) 1, which is important in regulating cellular proliferation and differentiation.
Pi-Wan Cheng, Ph.D., biochemistry & molecular biology, has received support through the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services (NE DHHS) Cancer and Smoking Disease Research Grant competition for a study titled “Altered n-glycans in golgi enzymes of aggressive cancer.”
Justin Mott, M.D., Ph.D., biochemistry & molecular biology, has received support through the NE DHHS Cancer and Smoking Disease Research Grant competition for a study titled “Cholangiocarcinoma cell proliferation driven by FGFR4.”
Naava Naslavsky, Ph.D., biochemistry & molecular biology, has received support through the NE DHHS Cancer and Smoking Disease Research Grant competition for a study titled “A novel immune complement inhibitor for prostate cancer.”
Diana Florescu, M.D., internal medicine – infectious diseases, has received support for a retrospective non-interventional study involving patients diagnosed with adenovirus infections.
Ted Mikuls, M.D., internal medicine – rheumatology, has received support from the University of Colorado – Denver for a study titled “Pathogenesis and prediction of future rheumatoid arthritis.” Dr. Mikuls also has received technical salary support from the V.A. Medical Center – Omaha for his Veteran’s Affairs Rheumatoid Arthritis (VARA) registry.
Julia Bridge, M.D., pathology & microbiology, is the UNMC lead on a multi-institutional study funded by the National Comprehensive Cancer Network to analyze the expression of programmed cell death ligand-1 (PDL-1) in lung cancer.
Stephen Rennard, M.D., internal medicine – pulmonary, has received support from the University of Iowa to study the role that early pulmonary vascular disease plays in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. He also has received a subcontract from the University of California – San Francisco for their Subpopulations and Intermediate Outcome Measures in COPD ("SPIROMICS") study.
James Hammel, M.D., surgery – cardiovascular & thoracic, is the UNMC lead on a multi-center clinical study sponsored by the St. Jude Medical Cardiology Division, which is investigating the effectiveness of a novel rotatable mechanical heart valve.
Birgit Khandalavala, M.B.B.S., family medicine, has received support through a Nebraska Bankers Association’s Equipment Grant to purchase an EndoPAT device, which is a non-invasive diagnostic device that can perform functional vascular health assessments on both large and small arteries.
Alissa Marr, M.D., internal medicine – oncology/hematology, is the UNMC lead on a clinical trial that is studying the effectiveness of a novel immunotherapeutic in treating patients with metastatic melanoma.