College of Medicine faculty brought in nearly $8.2 million in new funding during the month of September with 26 research awards. Here are this month's research highlights:
Surinder Batra, Ph.D., biochemistry & molecular biology, received a National Institutes of Health award for $1.6 million from the National Cancer Institute. His research seeks to understand the central mechanism(s) of the afatinib-induced enhanced chemotherapeutic efficacy of gemcitabine in lethal pancreatic cancer. It is hoped the overall results of this research will be helpful in initiating clinical trials consisting of a combination of the epidermal growth factor family (EGFR) member specific inhibitor afatinib with gemcitabine as a therapeutic tool in pancreatic cancer patients.
Rebecca Deegan, Ph.D., biochemistry & molecular biology, received a National Institutes of Health award for $1.6 million from the National Cancer Institute. Completion of the studies will provide an in-depth mechanistic understanding of the mechanisms by which MnTE-2-PyP inhibits normal tissue injury, while reducing prostate cancer growth during prostate cancer radiotherapy. Understanding how MnTE-2-PyP works as a radio-protector can lead to the development more targeted therapies to enhance treatment outcomes in prostate cancer radiotherapy.
Sarah Thayer, M.D., Ph.D., surgery – surgical oncology, received a National Institutes of Health award for $1.26 million from the National Cancer Institute. Dr. Thayer’s proposal is focused on characterizing the role of the pancreatic duct glands (PDG) compartment in epithelial regeneration and carcinogenesis. The experiments proposed in this research will determine the role of PDG as an epithelial progenitor stem cell niche responsible for epithelial renewal and regeneration.
Armen Petrosyan, Ph.D., biochemistry & molecular biology, received a National Institutes of Health award for $500,000 from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Dr. Petrosyan’s mentored training grant proposes to expand understanding of the regulation of cell death caused by ethanol abuse and help identify potential targets for developing therapy to treat alcoholic liver disease.
Harold Schultz, Ph.D., cellular and integrative physiology, received a National Institutes of Health R56 award for $0.56M from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Elevated sympathetic outflow and breathing disorders are hallmarks of chronic heart failure (CHF), and both have been implicated in impaired quality of life, poor prognosis, and increased mortality. The proposed studies are designed to determine the role of the carotid body chemoreflex on sympathetic and ventilatory function in two models of CHF contrasted by differences in systemic blood flow.
Moorthy Palanimuthu Ponnusamy, Ph.D., biochemistry & molecular biology, received a National Institutes of Health award for $400,000 from the National Cancer Institute. Dr. Palanimuthu Ponnusamy’s proposal seeks to investigate the role and mechanism of a novel molecule or pancreatic differentiation 2/polymerase association factor 1 (PD2/Paf1) in pancreatic cancer stem cells. The identification of the pancreatic cancer stem cell specific marker PD2/Paf1 and its role in cancer stem cell maintenance would provide extremely important information that is critical in advancing towards the long-term goal of developing novel therapeutic strategies for pancreatic cancer.
Ben Boedeker, M.D., anesthesiology, has received three task orders from the National Strategic Research Institute. Dr. Boedeker will receive more than $600,000 for projects involving remote rapid response mechanisms to improve access to care for military personnel in deployed regions.
Sasha Shillcutt, M.D., anesthesiology, received a National Institutes of Health award for $200,000 from the National Institute on Aging. Dr. Shilcutt’s project will use dynamic measurements of diastolic filling pressures by echocardiography for goal-directed fluid and drug management during surgery to determine whether this reduces serious cardiac events related to diastolic dysfunction after surgery in elderly surgical patients, a high-risk population.
Peter Pellegrino, cellular & integrative physiology, received a National Institutes of Health fellowship award for $100,000 from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Pellegrino’s award will fund his research program leading to a M.D./Ph.D. dual degree. His research project hypothesis is that activation of central rho-kinase by angiotensin II (Ang II) contributes to sympathoexcitation in disease states (like heart failure, hypertension) and that rho-kinase inhibition may be a therapeutic target in these diseases.
Industry-sponsored awards Information on clinical trials enrolling patients at UNMC can be found here.
Howard Gendelman, M.D., pharmacology & experimental neurosciences, is the UNMC lead for a $300,000 research program through the University of Rochester and the National Institutes of Health. The program is titled “Novel Kinase and Nanoformulated Protease Inhibitors for Eradication of CNS HIV-1.”
Daniel Murman, M.D., neurological sciences, is the UNMC lead for a multi-center, Phase II clinical trial to evaluate the efficacy and safety of a test drug in patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease. Quan Dong Nguyen, M.D., ophthalmology & visual sciences, is the UNMC lead for a multi-center, Phase III clinical trial to compare test drug combinations against single drug therapy in subjects with subfoveal choroidal neovascularization secondary to age-related macular degeneration.
William Rizzo, M.D., pediatrics – metabolism, will provide laboratory support for a clinical trial. Diana Do, M.D., ophthalmology & visual sciences, has received a contract for a pharmacokinetic study of a test drug on vitrectomized and non-vitrectomized eyes with wet age-related macular degeneration.
Heather Talbott, Ph.D., biochemistry & molecular biology, has received a USDA award to elucidate the formation and function of lipid droplets in the bovine corpus luteum.
Andjela Drincic, M.D., internal medicine – diabetes, endocrinology and metabolism, is the UNMC lead on a multi-center, Phase III clinical trial designed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of a long acting hGH product in adult subjects with growth hormone deficiency.
Pierre Fayad, M.D., neurological sciences, is the UNMC lead on a multi-center, Phase III clinical trial to prevent major vascular events with ticagrelor compared to aspirin (ASA) in patients with acute ischemic stroke or TIA (SOCRATES – acute stroke or transient ischemic attack treated with aspirin or ticagrelor and patient outcomes).
Rana Zabad, M.D., neurological sciences, is the UNMC lead on two multi-center Phase III clinical trials for the treatment of spasticity in patients with multiple sclerosis.
Carol Toris, Ph.D., ophthalmology & visual sciences, received a contract to test a novel product for K+-ATP channel activation in the glaucomatous eye.
Kari Simonsen, M.D., pediatrics – infectious diseases, is the UNMC lead on a multi-center Phase I dose-finding, pharmacokinetics, safety and tolerability study of a test drug in pediatric patients with suspected or confirmed bacterial infections.
Kaleb Michaud, Ph.D., internal medicine – rheumatology, has received an American College of Rheumatologists award for the establishment of a Rheumatology Informatics System for Effectiveness (RISE) Registry.
Peter Coccia, M.D., pediatrics – hematology/oncology, has received a Children’s Oncology Group Work Order from Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
Lori Maness Harris, M.D., internal medicine – oncology/hematology, is the UNMC lead on a National Marrow Donor Program award to compare objective comprehension scores on the Quality of Informed Consent (Part A) instrument between patients randomized to the easy-to-read informed consent (ETRIC) versus the standard consent arms. Assessments will be conducted for patient comprehension of the clinical trial and satisfaction and anxiety related to the consent process.