Medical research highlights, October 2024

Jennifer Lundberg, PhD

The UNMC College of Medicine received grant and funding awards representing more than $3 million in new funding in August. Awards included:

Jennifer Lundberg, PhD, pathology, microbiology and immunology, received a grant of $602,814 from DHHS/NIH/NIAID for the study “Targeting Extracellular Nucleoside Metabolism as a Strategy to Potentiate the Effects of Immunotherapy in Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma.”

Rey Carabeo, PhD, pathology, microbiology and immunology, received a grant of $565,363 from the U.S. Army/USAMRAA/CDMRP to study functional relevance of C. trachomatis trp oper on polymorphism.

Natalia Osna, MD, PhD, pharmacology and experimental neuroscience, received a grant of $220,656 from DHHS/NIH/NIAAA to study how non-ISGylated HIV proteins are sorted to hepatic exosomes to activate liver fibrosi.

Jingwei Xie, PhD, surgery-transplant, received a grant of $211,909 from the Terasaki Research Institute for a study engineering the open porous nanofibrous microsphere integrated fibrillar hydrogel for the co-delivery of antibacterial and angiogenic agents aimed at the rapid diabetic wound repair. Dr. Xie also received a grant of $85,000 from Nebraska DHHS for a study of dECM decorated scaffolds for bone regeneration.

Abraham Killanin, pharmacology and experimental neuroscience, received a grant of $53,974 from DHHS/NIH/NIMH for the study “The Effect of Pubertal Hormones on the Development of Neural Oscillatory Dynamics in Youth.”

Christopher Cummings, MD, PhD, pediatrics-genetics, received a grant of $50,000 from the Edna Ittner Trust Fund UN Foundation for the study “Uncovering the Role of Disrupted Genome Architecture in Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders.”

Mark Primeaux, PhD, biochemistry and molecular biology, received a grant of $38,693 from DHHS/NIH/NCI for a study of tumor-cell intrinsic and extrinsic determinants of drug resistance and metastasis.

Meg Schaefer, genetics, cell biology and anatomy, received a grant of $38,549 from DHHS/NIH/NHLBI for the study “Defining Mechanisms of SAMD1 in Hematopoiesis.”

Apar Ganti, MD, internal medicine-oncology/hematology, received the $33,032 Alliance U10CA180821 Operations Grant from Brigham & Women’s Hospital.

Peter Iwen, PhD, pathology, microbiology and immunology, received a grant of $28,125 from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln for the study “The Transmission and Evolution of AMR in the Environment.”

Cyrus Desouza, MBBS, internal medicine-DEM, received a grant of $24,790 from the Nebraska Educational Biomedical Research Foundation to support work with Jey Balakrishnan.

Industry-sponsored grants and contracts:

The following industry-sponsored grants and contracts were received.

David F. Mercer, MD, PhD, surgery-transplant, received funding for the study “Safety And Effectiveness Of 4% Tetrasodium Ethylenediaminetetraacetic Acid Catheter Lock Solution in Preventing Central Venous Catheter Occlusions in Children with Intestinal Failure: A Randomized Controlled Trial.”

Ronald Krueger, MD, ophthalmology and visual sciences, received funding to investigate the safety and effectiveness of the TENEO 317 Model 2 (1.28 US) Excimer Laser for Laser in situ Keratomileusis (LASIK) surgery to treat hyperopia with or without astigmatism.

Matthew Lunning, DO, internal medicine-oncology/hematology, received funding for a study to determine the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics and preliminary efficacy of ABBV-319 in B-cell malignancies.

Julie Vose MD, internal medicine-oncology/hematology, received funding for a study to evaluate SGN-35C in adults with advanced malignancies.

Nicole Shonka, MD, internal medicine-oncology/hematology, received funding for a study of ONC201 for refractory meningioma.