UNMC College of Medicine faculty received 25 grant awards representing more than $3.9 million in new funding during the month of July.
Finding new targets for prevention of type-1 diabetes
Nora Sarvetnick, PhD, surgery – transplant, has received a National Institutes of Health award for $500,000 from the National Institute of National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to discover a causative link between type-1 diabetes and the condition of intestinal dysbacteriosis and leakage of bacterial products into the pancreas from the duodenum, which may uncover new targets for disease prevention.
Effects of calcium channel dysfunction on chronic heart failure
Yulong Li, MD, PhD, emergency medicine, has received more than $300,000 through a National Institutes of Health award from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute to study the involvement of abnormal calcium channel activation in cardiac sympathetic over-excitation, which contributes to the mortality in patients with chronic heart failure, as well as the mechanisms responsible for calcium channel dysfunction.
Utilizing neuroimaging to study cognitive defects in Alzheimer’s patients
Alex Wiesman, a PhD student in the department of pharmacology & experimental neuroscience, has received a National Institutes of Health National Research Service Award from the National Institute of Aging for his project titled, "Oscillatory markers of cognitive deficits in patients with Alzheimer's disease."
Nebraska DHHS cancer and smoking disease research grants awarded
Three faculty members in biochemistry and molecular biology have received support through the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services (NE DHHS) Cancer and Smoking Disease Research Grant competition. Funded by LB506, this program focuses on reducing cancer and smoking-related diseases.
Recipients include:
Kishore Challagundla, PhD, for a project titled "Targeted therapy of exosomes and telomerase axis in AML therapy resistance;"
Naava Naslavsky, PhD, for a project titled "Control of centrosome cycle regulation and cancer by endocytic proteins;" and
Paul Sorgen, PhD, for a project titled "Regulation of Connexin43 by Tyk2 in breast cancer."
Industry-sponsored grants:
The following industry-sponsored contracts and foundation grants were received. Information on clinical trials enrolling patients at UNMC can be found here.
Scott Koepsell, MD, PhD, pathology & microbiology, has received support to study the clinical effectiveness of a new treatment using apheresis platelets in patients with hypoproliferative thrombocytopenia.
Ronald Zolty, MD, PhD, internal medicine – cardiology, is the UNMC lead on a clinical study to assess the safety and efficacy of a novel drug to improve mortality and morbidity in patients with chronic heart failure.
Armen Petrosyan, PhD, biochemistry & molecular biology, has received support from the NE Center for Integrated Biomolecular Communication through the University of Nebraska – Lincoln, for a study titled "The role for N-glycan carrying Sialyl-Lewis(x) in progression of prostate cancer."
Cyrus Desouza, MBBS, internal medicine – diabetes, endocrinology and metabolism, has received technical salary support for his Veterans Affairs Nebraska Educational Biomedical Research Association-sponsored clinical trials.
R. Katherine Hyde, PhD, biochemistry & molecular biology, has received support from St. Baldrick’s Foundation to study the role of HDAC1 in Inv(16) acute myeloid leukemia, as well as support from the Leukemia Research Foundation to study the role of CBFB-MYH11 in the maintenance of leukemia stem cells.
Erika Boesen, PhD, cellular & integrative physiology, has received a grant-in-aid award from the American Heart Association for a study titled: "EHD4: A Novel Player in the Urinary Concentrating Mechanism."
Bin Duan, PhD, internal medicine – cardiology, has received a scientist development grant from the American Heart Association for a study titled: "Bio-inspired engineered pediatric valve regulates MSC differentiation and MSC-monocyte interaction."
Brian Lowes, MD, PhD, internal medicine – cardiology, has received support from the Ohio State University to assist with research being done by the Dialated Cardiomyopathy (DCM) Research Project and the DCM Consortium.
Xinghui Li, PhD, pathology & microbiology, has received a "Careers in Immunology Fellowship" through the American Association of Immunologists.
James Harper, MD, pediatrics – oncology/hematology, is the UNMC lead on a phase III study to assess the safety, efficacy, and tolerability of a novel treatment and control of nonsurgical bleeding events in patients with severe hereditary von Willebrand disease.
Maneesh Jain, PhD, biochemistry & molecular biology, has received support to study endothelin receptor targeting in pancreatic cancer.
Carol Toris, PhD, ophthalmology & visual sciences, has received support to study the ability for nitric oxide donating compounds to lower intraocular pressures.
Allison Ashford, MD, internal medicine – general medicine, has received support from the Society of Hospital Medicine to assist with their Reducing Adverse Events Related to Opioids (RADEO) project.