A bout with hepatitis C can become a lifelong affliction
leading to a shortened life.
More than half of the people who contract the disease suffer
chronically from hepatitis C. The disease also has been blamed
for causing liver cancer and cirrhosis of the liver.
Grants from the Schering-Plough Research Institute now are
enabling scientists at the University of Nebraska Medical Center
to test strategies for combatting hepatitis C. Jeremiah Donovan,
M.D., associate professor of internal medicine-gastrointestinal
at UNMC, is the primary investigator of the more than $650,000 in
grant awards.
Dr. Donovan’s research was among projects at UNMC that
received more than $13.2 million in grants and contracts during
the first quarter of the 1997-98 fiscal year. The first quarter
total was nearly double the amount received by UNMC researchers
during the same period last year.
The research funding received by UNMC in July, August and
September breaks down as follows:
$7,127,365
• Industry
sources — $2,779,949
• State sources —
$1,637,516
• Other sources —
$1,772,003
Another grant, this one awarded by several government health
agencies, will fund research
into the changes in nervous control of heart rate, blood
pressure and various hormones wrought by heart failure. An animal
model will be used in the study headed by Irving Zucker, Ph.D.,
professor and chairman of physiology/biophysics. The grant award
came to $233,001.
Three UNMC grant awards during the third quarter totaled more
$1 million each. Two were renewals of grants intended to provide
a financial base for the research and educational activities of
the Eppley Institute for Research in Cancer and Allied Diseases.
The other funds the continuation of a study investigating ways to
promote healthier eating habits among the African-American
population.
UNMC is the only public academic health science center in the
state. Through its commitment to research, education 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 $25 million in research grants and
contracts are consistently 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.