COM research highlights, April 2023

Kuan-Hua Chen, PhD

The UNMC College of Medicine received grant and funding awards representing more than $2.2 million in new funding in February and March.

Kuan-Hua Chen, PhD, neurological sciences, received a grant of $249,000 from DHHS/NIH/NIA for a study of behavioral and physiological linkage in people with frontotemporal dementia and spousal caregivers.

Andy Bi, MD, PhD, internal medicine-oncology/hematology, received a grant of $108,173 from the Roswell Park Cancer Institute for a study targeting PLK-1 for treating MYC-driven lymphomas.

Cyrus Desouza, MBBS, internal medicine-DEM, received a grant of $70,804 from the Nebraska Educational Biomedical Research Association as the Nebraska ICA for Ramesh Ramalingam; of $33,027 from the Nebraska Educational Biomedical Research Association as the Nebraska ICA for Susan Burbach, and $19,901 from the Nebraska Educational Biomedical Research Association as the Nebraska ICA to support Regan TeKolst’s effort on the SURPASS project.

Josue Avecillas-Chasin, MD, PhD, neurosurgery, received a grant of $66,840 from the University of California-Los Angeles for a study on intracranial neurophysiological signatures of fear and anxiety in humans.

Seth Winfree, PhD, pathology/microbiology, received a grant of $30,292 from Washington University in St. Louis for the Kidney Single Cell and Spatial Molecular Atlas Project.

Brianna Johnson-Rabbett, MD, PhD, internal medicine-DEM, received a grant of $21,976 from the Nebraska Educational Biomedical Research Association as the Nebraska ICA for SELECT project for Jenna Eggert.

Steven Yeh, MD, ophthalmology and visual sciences, received a grant of $20,430 from Johns Hopkins University for the Adalimumab vs. conventional immunosuppression for uveitis trial.

Laura Graeff-Armas, MD, PhD, internal medicine-DEM, received a grant of $14,650 from the Nebraska Educational Biomedical Research Association as the Nebraska ICA for ZEUS Project for Jenna Eggert.

Industry-sponsored grants and contracts:

The following industry-sponsored grants and contracts were received.

Megan Arthur, MD, dermatology, received funding for a study to Evaluate the Efficacy and Safety of BIIB059 in Participants with Active Subacute Cutaneous Lupus Erythematosus.

Joel VanDeGraaff, MD, internal medicine-allergy/immunology, received funding for a study to assess the efficacy and safety of CDX-0159 in patients with chronic spontaneous urticaria.

Ruben Quiros, MD, pediatrics-gastroenterology, received funding for a study to evaluate the efficacy and safety of Maralixibat in the treatment of subjects with biliary atresia after hepatoportoenterostomy.

Russell McCulloh, MD, pediatrics-hospitalists, received funding for a study to identify concerns, confidence levels, and logistics surrounding COVID-19 and HPV vaccine discussions between rural families and primary health care providers.

Kelsey Klute, MD, internal medicine-oncology/hematology, received funding for a study to evaluate the efficacy and safety of Ampligen compared to control group/no treatment following FOLFIRINOX in subjects with locally advanced pancreatic adenocarcinoma.

Edward O’Leary, MD, internal medicine-cardiovascular, received funding for the Long-Term Outcome and Quality Indicator (LOQI) Impella Registry.

Joseph Fernandes, MD, neurological sciences, received funding for a study to assess the efficacy, safety, tolerability, PK and biomarker effects of PTC857 in adult subjects with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Michele Ansari, MD, neurosurgery, received funding for a multicenter observational study of GammaTile surgically targeted radiation therapy (STaRT) in intracranial brain neoplasms.

Daniel Hershberger, MD, internal medicine-pulmonary, received funding for a trial evaluating the efficacy and safety of BI 1015550 over 52 weeks in patients with Progressive Fibrosing Interstitial Lung Disease.

Shaheed Merani, MD, PhD, surgery-transplant, received funding for the OCS Liver Perfusion (OLP) Registry.