The University of Nebraska Medical Center has received a five-year grant
totaling almost $9.9 million from the National Institutes of Health (NIH)
to further the understanding of cell signaling — the biochemical response
of cells to their environment in relation to study a variety of cancers.
The grant establishes an NIH-designated Nebraska Center for Cellular Signaling
at UNMC, and is the second largest new grant in history received by UNMC.
Funded by the Centers of Biomedical Research Excellence (CoBRE) program,
an NIH-supported program, it also is the second CoBRE grant received in
a week at UNMC. Last week, a grant for $10.6 million was received at UNMC
for the NIH-designated Nebraska Center for Molecular Biology of Neurosensory
Systems.
Margaret Wheelock, Ph.D., professor of oral biology, UNMC College of
Dentistry, is principal investigator of the latest grant and director of
the new Nebraska Center for Cellular Signaling. The center will focus on
the study of cell signaling, and will expand cellular signaling research
of talented junior researchers to foster new research initiatives that
ultimately will improve the health of Nebraskans and people around the
world. Research projects will focus on relation to head and neck, prostate,
colon, skin cancer and cancer in general.
Im delighted that Dr. Wheelock and her associates have received this
large grant award which in essence recognizes the excellence and importance
of the science involved in the project and its potential for developing
new, innovative scientists, said UNMC Chancellor Harold M. Maurer, M.D.
These new scientists themselves will become independent researchers. What
is equally impressive and unique is that this award is the second large
COBRE grant from the NIH to UNMC in one month. I find our scientists truly
amazing.
Five research projects within the grant will be led by researchers from
UNMC, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Creighton University. Each
project involves the study of cellular signaling with a focus on its role
in producing tumors. Cell signaling — the biochemical response of cells
to their environment — is a rapidly growing area of national research
due to scientific and technological advances made in the last 10 years.
This grant will allow us to bring together outstanding junior and senior
faculty with similar interests, which will greatly enhance the science
knowledge and opportunities for more collaboration. said Dr. Wheelock.
It will increase the research profile of Nebraskas dental schools and
develop junior researchers. We also will be working toward attracting more
grants and researchers long after the COBRE grant concludes.
Dr. Wheelock said the significant level of common themes among the five
research projects strengthens the work, with the goal to further the understanding
of the biological process of cancer.
Normally, cells in the body signal to one another. During the cancer
process, cell signaling goes awry. Were studying whats gone wrong in
the signaling pathways when cells grow more rapidly and divide. If we can
modify the information pathway in the cells, perhaps we can decrease the
potential of the cancerous cell to spread, Dr. Wheelock said. Our clinicians
have a lot of burning questions. If we could say this cell does this or
that, the patient could be saved a lot of trauma. Getting this grant has
been one of our goals. We have the right people. Thats exciting for the
future.
Dr. Wheelock has a long history of grant support from the National
Institutes of Health, significant peer review experience and is committed
to training and promoting junior investigators, said Tom Rosenquist, Ph.D.,
UNMC vice-chancellor for research. She has identified highly qualified
junior faculty members whose research focuses on cellular signaling and
has also gathered an experienced group of mentors whose expertise covers
a number of areas of cell signaling.
Cell signaling is a burgeoning area of national research, Dr. Rosenquist
said. This grant is extraordinarily valuable. This is where all the thinking
outside the box pays off.
This grant is representative of NIH’s confidence in the innovative
work conducted by UNMC and its partners in science,” said U.S. Sen. Ben
Nelson. “It is no surprise that UNMC has again been recognized as a preeminent
institution by its peers.
U.S. Sen. Chuck Hagel said the second NIH grant shows the outstanding
work being done in UNMC research. The cutting edge work happening at UNMC
will benefit greatly Nebraskans and the rest of our country.
U.S. Rep. Lee Terry, said the state can be proud of the milestone. UNMC
has established a national reputation as a leader in cutting-edge medical
research,” Rep. Terry said. “This grant is further proof of that. The entire
state of Nebraska can be proud. The fact that other local institutions
— such as Creighton University — will take part in the research spurred
by this grant spotlights the outstanding medical expertise in Nebraska.
This is by far the single largest research grant the UNMC College of
Dentistry has ever received, and is a major step in our research advancement,
said John Reinhardt, D.D.S., dean of the UNMC College of Dentistry. With
this financial support and the collaboration of senior and junior scientists
and clinicians, we will establish a strong program of excellence for the
study of oral cancer.
The goal is to develop researchers and produce research that may lead
to earlier diagnosis or new treatments for oral and other cancers. Dentists
are often on the front line of diagnosis for cancers of the head, mouth,
neck, and throat. Nearly 8,000 people in the U.S. die of oral and pharyngeal
cancers each year. Oral cancers are particularly aggressive; the
overall 5-year survival rate is only 52 percent, worse than cancers of
the breast, uterus, colon, and prostate, Dr. Reinhardt said.
Project leaders of the centers first five grants are: James Wahl, Ph.D.
and Sreenivas Koka, D.D.S., Ph.D., UNMC College of Dentistry Department
of Oral Biology; Melanie Simpson, Ph.D., University of Nebraska-Lincoln;
and Laura Hansen, Ph.D. and Bhakta Dey, Ph.D., Creighton School of Medicine
Department of Biomedical Sciences.