UNMC College of Medicine faculty received 44 grant awards representing more than $10.1 million in new funding during the months of September and October. Highlights included:
Nebraska Pediatric Clinical Trial Unit
Jessica Snowden, M.D., pediatrics – infectious diseases, has received a National Institutes of Health award for more than $1.6 million from the National Institute Child Health and Human Development to support the professional development of clinical researchers at UNMC and Children’s Hospital, while building on our existing program to conduct clinical trials research for children with a variety of conditions. Furthermore, this award will help provide the underserved and rural populations of Nebraska and surrounding states access to state-of-the-art clinical trials.
Drug use may affect HIV reservoirs in brain
Howard Fox, M.D., Ph.D., pharmacology & experimental neuroscience, has received a National Institutes of Health award for more than $700,000 from the National Institute on Drug Abuse to study whether HIV persists in the brain even in the presence of treatment, and to study the effects the use of morphine and methamphetamine have on these viral reservoirs in the brain.
Macrophage regulation in HIV and drug abuse
Pawel Ciborowski, Ph.D., pharmacology & experimental neuroscience, has received a National Institutes of Health award for more than $600,000 from the National Institute on Drug Abuse to study the effects of HIV infection and drug abuse on the epigenetic regulation of macrophages, a key cellular component of the immune system.
Transforming en route care for soldiers
Keely Buesing, M.D., surgery – general surgery, has received a task order award from the Department of Defense through the National Strategic Research Institute. Dr. Buesing has received more than $400,000 to support studies on how to transform the military’s En Route Care System, which provides clinical and casualty care for injured warfighters from the point of injury until receiving definitive care in a hospital.
Improving big data research by developing ontology metadata
W. Scott Campbell, Ph.D., pathology & microbiology, has received a National Institutes of Health award for more than $400,000 from the National Human Genome Research Institute to develop reference terminology metadata to improve the ontology development for anatomic pathology, microbiology, and molecular genetics, in order to support big data research objectives.
Effects of HIV and cocaine on neuroinflammation
Shilpa Buch, Ph.D., pharmacology & experimental neuroscience, has received a National Institutes of Health award for more than $300,000 from the National Institute on Drug Abuse to study the effects that cocaine abuse has on neuroinflammation in the central nervous system when infected with HIV.
Neurotoxic effects of glutamate in HAND
Jialin Zheng, M.D., pharmacology & experimental neuroscience, has received a National Institutes of Health award for over $0.3 million from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke to study whether the inhibition of excess glutamate production can prevent neuronal injury and decrease synaptic dysfunction in HIV-associated neurocognitive disorder (HAND).
Role of extracellular vesicles in methamphetamine-induced neuronal injury
Sowmya Yelamanchili, Ph.D., pharmacology & experimental neuroscience, has received a National Institutes of Health award for more than $300,000 from the National Institute on Drug Abuse to study the role of extracellular vesicles in the progression of neuronal injury under conditions of chronic methamphetamine abuse.
Aging may affect mucociliary clearance
Kristina Bailey, M.D., internal medicine – pulmonary, has received a National Institutes of Health award for more than $200,000 from the National Institute on Aging to study the mechanisms behind how normal aging leads to dysfunctional mucociliary clearance, which can lead to pneumonia.
ROS-activatedT- lymphocytes in hypertension
Adam Case, Ph.D., cellular & integrative physiology, has received a National Institutes of Health award for more than $200,000 from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute to study whether reactive oxygen species (ROS), which are uncontrolled in hypertension, can lead to the activation of immune cells such as T-lymphocytes.
Improving military care of shock patients
Jason MacTaggart, M.D., surgery – general surgery, has received a task order award from the Department of Defense through the National Strategic Research Institute. Dr. MacTaggart has received more than $200,000 to assist in analyzing and developing a strategic transition plan for the military’s Endovascular Skills for Trauma and Resuscitative Surgery (ESTARS) curriculum, which trains general and trauma surgeons in the military on delivering effective resuscitation and hemorrhage control to treat for shock.
Role of autophagy in mucin secretion
John Dickinson, M.D., internal medicine – pulmonary, has received a National Institutes of Health award for more than $100,000 from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute to study how autophagy, a mechanism of cell death, may regulate the secretion of mucin from airway epithelial cells in the context of airway diseases such as asthma, COPD, and cystic fibrosis.
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.
Alexey Kamenskiy, Ph.D., surgery – general surgery, has received support from the U.S. Army’s Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs for a study of the endovascular management of hemorrhage and a long-term analysis of stent-graft durability in young military trauma populations.
John Um, M.D., surgery – cardiovascular & thoracic, is the UNMC lead on a clinical study to evaluate safety and clinical performance of a new left ventricular assist system for the treatment of advanced, refractory, left ventricular heart failure.
Surinder Batra, Ph.D., biochemistry & molecular biology, has received support through the University of Pittsburgh to assist with a study that will validate biomarkers for early diagnosis and risk prediction of pancreatic neoplasms.
Lyudmyla Berim, M.D., internal medicine – oncology/hematology, is the UNMC lead on a phase 1/1b clinical study that will evaluate a novel combination therapy that may promote anti-tumor activity of immune cells as a treatment of a variety of incurable cancers.
Sara Bares, M.D., internal medicine – infectious diseases, has received support to implement an HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis service in community pharmacies.
Matthew Rizzo, M.D., neurological sciences, has received support from the Toyota Collaborative Safety Research Center for a study of driving safety using real-time glucose monitoring in patients with insulin-dependent diabetes.
Rudy Lackner, M.D., surgery – cardiovascular & thoracic, is the UNMC lead on a clinical study to compare two different pleural catheters on their effectiveness in removing fluid from around the lungs and causing pleurodesis.
Matthew Lunning, D.O., internal medicine – oncology/hematology, is the UNMC lead on a clinical study that is providing long-term follow-up on patients who received treatment for acute lymphoblastic leukemia in a previous clinical trial.
Marco Olivera-Martinez, M.D., internal medicine – GI, is the UNMC lead on a clinical study to confirm the efficacy and safety of a novel treatment in patients with hepatorenal syndrome.
Justin Mott, M.D., Ph.D., biochemistry & molecular biology, has received support to develop a nucleic acid delivery platform.
Elizabeth Reed, M.D., internal medicine – oncology/hematology, is the UNMC lead on a phase 3 clinical study of combination therapy in patients with HER2-negative advanced breast cancer.
Haitao Wen, Ph.D., pathology & microbiology, has received an LB 606 award from the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services for a study titled "O-GlcNAc Signaling in Intestinal Stem Cell-mediated Epithelial Regeneration." In 2008, the Nebraska State Legislature adopted the Stem Cell Research Act (LB 606), which established a Stem Cell Research Advisory Committee to facilitate awarding of grants to Nebraska institutions or researchers for conducting stem cell research that does not use human embryonic stem cells.
Caitlin Murphy, Ph.D., pathology & microbiology, has received support to assist in the clinical evaluation of a novel in vitro diagnostic device for the diagnosis of lower respiratory tract infections.
Santhi Gorantla, Ph.D., pharmacology & experimental neuroscience, has received support through Rutgers University to assist in study using the HIV infection mouse model developed by Dr. Gorantla and Larisa Poluektova, Ph.D.
Carol Toris, Ph.D., ophthalmology & visual sciences, has received support to evaluate the effects of a novel drug on aqueous humor dynamics in an animal model. Dr. Toris has also received support to study the effects of two novel intraocular pressure-lowering drugs on aqueous humor dynamics in an animal model.
Lori Maness-Harris, M.D., internal medicine – oncology/hematology, is the UNMC lead on a phase 3 clinical study that will compare the efficacy and safety of a novel oral medication to treat acute myeloid leukemia.
Gregory Pavlides, M.D., internal medicine – cardiology, is the UNMC lead on a clinical trial to assess the safety and efficacy of the use of a novel temporary ventricular assist device during high risk percutaneous coronary interventions.
Myron Toews, Ph.D., pharmacology & experimental neuroscience, has received support through the University of Nebraska at Omaha to assist with a study of the effects of oxytocin ligand and receptor variants on social behavior.
Vijaya Bhatt, M.D., internal medicine – oncology/hematology, has received support through the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center to be the UNMC lead on a phase 2 clinical trial of a novel treatment for patients with chronic graft-versus-host disease.
Cyrus Desouza, M.B.B.S., internal medicine – DEM, is the UNMC lead on a trial to assess the efficacy and safety of a novel treatment for type 2 diabetes and moderate renal impairment.
Shailender Singh, M.B.B.S., internal medicine – GI, is the UNMC lead on a phase 1 clinical study of a novel treatment for chronic pancreatitis.
Shirley Delair, M.D., pediatrics – infectious disease, has received funding from the Edna Ittner Foundation to study the role of maternal vitamin D status on newborn sepsis in central Nigeria.
Tammy Kielian, Ph.D., pathology & microbiology, has received support from the Batten Disease Support and Research Association to study the link between "danger signals" and the activation of inflammasomes in the pathogenesis of juvenile Batten disease.
Daniel Murman, M.D., neurological sciences, has received support through the University of Southern California to assist in a study that will evaluate whether an investigational drug can slow the progression of amyloid plaque development in Alzheimer’s disease.
Bradley Britigan, M.D., dean of the College of Medicine, has received technical salary support from the V.A. Medical Center – Omaha.
Danish Bhatti, M.D., neurological sciences, is the UNMC lead on a observational clinical study of patients with advanced Parkinson’s disease that were treated with duodopa/duopa in a routine clinical setting.
Kari Simonsen, M.D., pediatrics – infectious diseases, is the UNMC lead on a phase 1 clinical study of a novel drug to treat pediatric patients hospitalized for gram-positive bacterial infections. Dr. Simonsen is also the UNMC lead on a clinical study of a novel antibiotic as a treatment for pediatric patients with bacterial infections.
Carol Casey, Ph.D., internal medicine – GI, has received support through the University of Nebraska – Lincoln to assist in developing the Nebraska Center for Integrated Biomolecular Communication.
Jeffrey Delaney, M.D., pediatrics – cardiology, has received support through the St. Jude Medical Cardiology Division to assist in a clinical study that will identify potential risk factors associated with the occurrence of erosion due to the implantation of a novel septal occluder to treat atrial septal defect secundum.
Ted Mikuls, M.D., internal medicine – rheumatology, has received technical salary support from the V.A. Medical Center – Omaha for his Veteran’s Affairs Rheumatoid Arthritis registry.