The University of Nebraska Medical Center received $9.7 million in federal
research grants during the second quarter of fiscal year 2003-2004. The
second quarter included the months of October, November and December.
As of February 2004, the universitys annual funding from the National
Institutes of Health is $44.3 million, said Thomas Rosenquist, Ph.D.,
vice chancellor for research. In the past two years, our NIH funding has
increased by more than 40 percent, going from $30 million to $44.3 million.
This is an exciting trend for UNMC since NIH funding is considered the
gold standard for research funding. UNMC is fortunate to have a growing
corps of investigators whose work attracts this prestigious funding. This
puts us on pace to meet our goal of $50 million in annual NIH funding by
the end of fiscal year 2004-2005.
In addition, our record-breaking pace for extramural funding continues,
following our $26 million first quarter for this fiscal year. The second
quarter is similar to last years but we anticipate an excellent third
quarter, based upon the large number of new research grant proposals that
were submitted by our energized research force.
Dr. Rosenquist said the new $77 million Durham Research Center is now
open and many investigators have moved into the lower levels. The new facility
will allow researchers to better collaborate on research projects and should
greatly enhance UNMCs research efforts, he said.
Some of UNMCs research highlights during the second quarter included:
Kristine McVea, M.D., associate professor in the department of family
medicine, received $485,550 to train teen peer group counselors for smoking
cessation. Teen smoking is a significant cancer control problem that is
currently not being addressed adequately, Dr. McVea said. Although 75 percent
of high school smokers have tried to quit, almost all interventions designed
to help teens break their habit have failed simply because teens do not
seek help.
In preliminary studies, peer counseling intervention has shown great
promise. Project staff members give four hours of training to teen peer
counselors who then deliver supportive, respectful smoking cessation messages
to their friends at school. The project goal is to do a randomized,
controlled trial to test teen counseling effectiveness in 24 schools in
eastern Nebraska and western Iowa over the next three years.
Surinder Batra, Ph.D., professor, department of biochemistry and molecular
biology, received $310,000 to study how the bodily absorption, distribution,
metabolism and excretion of drugs with genetically-engineered antibodies
are affected when the drugs are used to increase the penetration of cancer
fighting antibodies into tumors. The use of surgery, radiation and chemotherapy
either alone or in combination has met with only modest success for advanced
cancer, Dr. Batra said. Radio immunotherapy (RAIT) is a smart way of
delivering radiation to cancer cells and is independent of drug toxicity
and/or hormone resistance. But even targeted RAIT has met with limited
success against advanced tumors. One form of therapy has been demonstrated
to improve the efficiency of RAIT, but its use is limited by its high systemic
toxicity. Dr. Batras study explores how to enhance vascular and tumor
penetration while minimizing the harmful potential from toxicity.
Bela Toth, DVM, professor at the Eppley Institute, received $220,000
to study the use of extract from the CV mushroom in the treatment of gastrointestinal
cancer a therapy already approved in Japan. Recently, hot water extracts
from the CV mushroom have been used as nutritional supplements by cancer
patients in the United States. Dr. Toths study will compare the bioactivity
of the clinical preparation to the nutritional supplement to better understand
the CV mushrooms ability to boost the immune system. His project
seeks to prove that the extract can enhance the immune system and lead
to preventative and therapeutic activity in mice with colorectal cancer.
John Davis, Ph.D., professor in the department of obstetrics and gynecology,
and director of research and development for the Olson Center for Womens
Health, received $121,074 to study how primary cells will provide information
on the cellular events that control survival and proliferation of ovarian
cells. This information is expected to translate into more effective treatments
for enhancing reproductive potential in domestic farm animals. This research
may also provide insight into abnormal conditions such as premature ovarian
failure, ovarian disease and cell tumors of the ovary.
Gloria Borgstahl, Ph.D., associate professor at the Eppley Institute,
received $104,964 to develop a picture of what protein machines look like
in order to understand how they work and how to fix them when they are
broken. DNA the biological molecule that holds the genetic code encodes
all the proteins used by the cell. When the DNA becomes damaged, the resulting
proteins are abolished or become nonfunctional. Disease can result when
proteins responsible for repairing damaged DNA are not working properly.
The pathway of DNA repair studied in this project is thought to be of particular
relevance to breast cancer.