UNMC Researchers Receive Major NIH Grant
To Study Cause of Chronic Heart Failure
A team of cardiovascular researchers at the University of Nebraska Medical
Center has received a five-year grant worth more than $8 million from the
National Institutes of Health to study the cause of chronic heart failure.
The grant — called a program project grant — was awarded by the National
Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, one of the institutes which make up the
NIH in Bethesda, Md. Irving H. Zucker, Ph.D., professor and chairman of
the Physiology and Biophysics Department in the College of Medicine, is
the principal investigator of the grant.
Program project grants are typically larger than grants awarded to individual
scientists, as they bring together a group of researchers who collaborate
to study a narrow theme. Due to the large value of program project grants,
they are extremely competitive.
The UNMC research project selected for the grant includes more than
20 scientists and involved 2½ years of work in preparing the
grant for submission.
Dr. Zucker, who has been on the UNMC faculty for 27 years, said the
recruiting he has been doing over the past 10 years as department chairman
has been specifically targeted at finding experts who would be able to
work together on a major research project such as this.
The grant is divided into three separate projects with Dr. Zucker, Harold
D. Schultz, Ph.D and Kaushik P. Patel, Ph.D heading the projects. Both
Drs. Schultz and Patel are professors in the Physiology and Biophysics
Department.
Dr. Zucker heads the administrative core of the grant, while Kurtis
G. Cornish, Ph.D. is in charge of the animal model core and Shyamal K.
Roy, Ph.D. directs the molecular biology and histology core. Dr. Cornish
is an associate professor in the Physiology and Biophysics Department,
and Dr. Roy is associate rofessor in the Department of Obstetrics &
Gynecology. Cindy Norton is administrator of the grant.
“This is exciting news for our medical center,” said Harold M. Maurer,
M.D., UNMC chancellor. “I congratulate Dr. Zucker and his colleagues for
all their diligence in making this grant happen. I would encourage all
researchers on campus to look for opportunities to collaborate with other
scientists to pursue program project grants. This is the sort of resourcefulness
that will be invaluable in helping us meet our goal of doubling our research
funding over the next five years.”
Dr. Zucker echoed Dr. Maurer’s sentiments concerning program project
grants. “You definitely get a much bigger bang for your buck,” Dr. Zucker
said. “This sets a precedent for the College of Medicine. I’d definitely
like to see more of these interactive grants at UNMC. Hopefully, this will
help get the ball rolling.”
The only other program project grant at UNMC is for cancer research
and is under the direction of Ercole Cavalieri, D.Sc., professor in the
Eppley Institute for Research in Cancer and Allied Diseases.
Dr. Zucker’s grant was effective July 5 and runs through June 30, 2004.
It provides $1,072,409 the first year with slightly higher amounts the
next four years culminating with $1,176,856 in the final year of the grant.
In addition, the grant includes $2.7 million to cover indirect costs such
as laboratory expenses and overhead. With a program project grant, progress
is reviewed once a year by external and internal review committees.
The UNMC researchers will be investigating the adjustments that occur
in the body when chronic heart failure occurs. They will specifically be
looking at the sympathetic nervous system and the role it plays. Two different
animal models the rat and the rabbit will be studied.
“No one knows how the sympathetic nervous system is activated,” Dr.
Zucker said. “However, we know that it plays a key role in helping the
body maintain blood pressure and blood flow. Over time, the adjustments
made by the body become counter productive and contribute to the downward
spiral of cardiovascular deterioration that is characteristic of severe
chronic heart failure.
“Understanding the mechanisms which trigger activation of the sympathetic
nervous system is crucial to the development of useful strategies for the
treatment of patients with chronic heart failure. We’re optimistic this
study will provide important new information in the battle against heart
disease.”
Death and disability from cardiovascular disease remains the number
one health care concern in the United States, and Dr. Zucker said Nebraska
has a higher than average incidence of heart disease and stroke. This year,
an estimated 1.1 million Americans will have a new or recurrent heart attack,
and about one-third of them will die.
Dr. Zucker recognized Dr. Maurer for being a driving force in allowing
him to get the program project grant. When Dr. Maurer was dean of the UNMC
College of Medicine, he initiated an indirect cost return program three
years ago. Under this program, a percentage of all indirect cost funding
was kept by the dean’s office to serve as seed money to assist investigators
in initiating new research projects.
“We received $100,000 in seed money for our program project grant,”
Dr. Zucker said. “It’s a prime example of how the College of Medicine can
invest in projects which have a long-term payoff. For a relatively small
investment, significant returns can be realized.”
This marks the second major grant for Dr. Zucker in the past two years.
He received a $383,600 cardiovascular research training grant in 1998 from
National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. This five-year grant is designed
to provide research opportunities for students and graduate fellows to
study coronary heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure and other heart
conditions.
UNMC is the only public academic health science center in the state.
Through its commitment to research, education, outreach and patient care,
UNMC has established itself as one of the country’s leading centers for
cancer research and treatment and solid organ transplantation. More than
$34 million in research grants and contracts are awarded to UNMC scientists
annually. In addition, UNMC’s educational programs are responsible for
training more health professionals practicing in Nebraska than any other
institution.