Research highlights

UNMC College of Medicine faculty received 21 grant awards representing more than $3.4 million in new funding during the month of October.
 
Here’s a brief summary of two of the largest grants received:
 
Tony Wilson, PhD, neurological sciences, has received a National Institutes of Health award for $980,000 from the National Institute on Drug Abuse to uncover molecular and imaging signatures of cannabis abuse in patients with neuroHIV, a broad collection of neurodegenerative disorders found in HIV patients.
 
Gurudutt Pendyala, PhD, anesthesiology, has received a National Institutes of Health award for $407,000 from the National Institute on Drug Abuse to study gender-based differences in anti-inflammatory medications used in patients that have relapsed using methamphetamine.
 
Industry-sponsored grants:
 
The following industry-sponsored contracts and foundation grants were received. Information on clinical trials enrolling patients at UNMC can be found here.
 
Surinder Batra, PhD, biochemistry & molecular biology, has received support from the U.S. Army’s Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs to study the ability for a novel inhibitor to reduce cardiotoxicity induced by androgen deprivation therapy.
 
Stephen Obaro, MBBS, PhD, pediatrics – infectious disease, has received support through the Hellman Foundation to study community-acquired blood stream infections in Rwanda.
 
Derrick Eichele, MD, internal medicine – GI, is the UNMC lead on a longitudinal observational study of patients undergoing inflammatory bowel disease therapy.
 
Ted Mikuls, MD, internal medicine – rheumatology, is the UNMC lead on a clinical study of the disease burden of gout among U.S. veterans.
 
Nora Sarvetnick, PhD, surgery – transplant, has received support through the Cincinnati Children's Hospital & Medical Center to assist in a study assessing the use of gene regulation as a foundation for autoimmune disease prevention.
 
Brian Lowes, MD, PhD, internal medicine – cardiovascular medicine, has received support through the Ohio State University to assist with their dilated cardiomyopathy research project.
 
Andrew Goldsweig, MD, internal medicine – cardiology, is the UNMC lead on a study of a left atrial appendage closure device in patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation.
 
Rana Zabad, MD, neurological sciences, is the UNMC lead on a clinical study of the safety and efficacy of a novel, extended-release drug in multiple sclerosis patients with walking impairment.
 
Apar Ganti, MD, internal medicine – oncology/hematology, is the UNMC lead on a clinical study of the safety and efficacy of a novel, antibody-based combination therapy in patients with non-small cell lung cancer or metastatic melanoma. Dr. Ganti also serves as the UNMC lead on a real-world data study on sequential therapy of study drugs in patients with EGFR mutation positive advanced non-small cell lung cancer.
 
Maggie Bartlett, a PhD student in the department of pathology & microbiology, has received a National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship for her project titled, "The Egyptian fruit bat’s immunoglobulin repertoire."
 
Caitlin Murphy, PhD, pathology & microbiology, has received support for a prospective clinical evaluation of a novel bone and joint infection array panel.
 
Carol Toris, PhD, ophthalmology & visual sciences, has received a work order through the Nicox Research Institute.
 
Shannon Lynch, MD, ophthalmology & visual sciences, has received funding through the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai to assist with their study that will compare medical therapy with surgical therapies in patients with idiopathic intracranial hypertension.
 
Mathew Lunning, DO, pediatrics – oncology & hematology, is the UNMC lead on a compassionate use clinical trial of a novel combination therapy for patients with B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma or chronic lymphocytic leukemia.
 
Ronald Zolty, MD, PhD, internal medicine – cardiovascular medicine, is the UNMC lead on a clinical study that will create a patient registry to assess the real-world use of a study drug.
 
Zahi Zeidan, MD, pediatrics – newborn medicine, has received funding through the University of Colorado – Anschutz Medical Campus to assist in developing a prospective multi-center registry for preterm newborns with severe pulmonary hypertension.
 
Karina Bishop, MD, internal medicine – geriatrics, has received funding through the University of Nebraska at Omaha to assist with a study by using gait analysis to assess the likelihood of falls in at-risk populations.
 
Sachit Patel, MD, pediatrics – oncology & hematology, is the UNMC lead on a study of practice patterns and incidence of adenovirus infections in hematopoietic cell transplant patients.