Research highlights

UNMC College of Medicine faculty received 16 grant awards representing more than $2.9 million in new funding during the month of February.
 
Here’s a quick summary of one of the major research awards:
 
Wallace Thoreson, PhD, ophthalmology & visual sciences, received a renewal of his National Institutes of Health award for $436,000 from the National Eye Institute to study the proteins involved in synapse neurotransmission between photoreceptors and neurons to understand the consequences of retinal damage.
 
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.
 
Matthew Lunning, DO, internal medicine – oncology/hematology, is the UNMC lead on a phase II clinical study of a novel drug in patients with relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma.
 
Julie Vose, MD, internal medicine – oncology/hematology, is the UNMC lead on a phase I/II clinical study to determine the safety and efficacy of a novel treatment for relapsed or refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia and small lymphocytic lymphoma.
 
Daniel Murman, MD, neurological sciences, is the UNMC lead on a phase III study of a novel antibody therapy in patients with early stage Alzheimer’s disease.
 
Ronald Zolty, MD, PhD, internal medicine – cardiovascular medicine, is the UNMC lead on study of patient-reported outcomes of a specific treatment for heart failure with a preserved ejection fraction.
 
Hana Niebur, MD, pediatrics – allergy, has received support through the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences to assist with the Data Coordinating and Operations Center as part of the IDeA States Pediatric Clinical Trials Network.
 
Hani Haider, PhD, orthopaedic surgery, has received a work order to conduct contact area, stress, range-of-motion, constraint, interlock strength, and wear testing of a novel total knee replacement system.
 
James Talmadge, PhD, pathology & microbiology, has received funding for a research collaboration agreement.
 
Kaustubh Datta, PhD, biochemistry & molecular biology, has received support to study the role and interactions of a protein in myeloid cell biology.
 
Joshua Santarpia, PhD, pathology & microbiology, has received a task order through the National Strategic Research Institute.
 
Ashley Deschamp, MD, pediatrics – pulmonology, has received support from the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation to study the association of the stool microbiome to the airway in infants with cystic fibrosis.
 
Carol Gilbert, MS, pediatrics – child health, has received support from St. Louis University to assess the validity, efficiency, and generalizability of the Perinatal Periods of Risk approach, which is used to investigate fetal-infant mortality problems.
 
Kai Fu, MD, PhD, pathology & microbiology, has received support to study the heterogeneity of cell surface marker reactivity in the tumor cells of peripheral T-cell lymphomas.
 
Richard MacDonald, PhD, biochemistry & molecular biology, has received a work order, titled "Evaluation of resins and purification of mannose 6-phosphate/insulin-like growth factor 2 receptor (M6PR)."
 
Tony Wilson, PhD, neurological sciences, has received a NASA-sponsored Nebraska Space Grant Fellowship.
 
J. Americo Fernandes, MD, neurological sciences, has received support through Augusta University to assist with a study characterizing myasthenia gravis.