The University of Nebraska Medical Center received $12 million in federal
research grants during the third quarter of fiscal year 2002-03. The third
quarter includes the months of January, February and March. Total research
funding for the year is now $38.8 million a 9 percent increase over last
years record-breaking $35.7 million after three quarters.
It is very gratifying to see the continuing outstanding success of
venerable UNMC investigators such as Ercole Cavalieri and Tim Baxter; and
the impressive development of newer UNMC investigators like Keith Johnson
and Dhirendra Singh, said Thomas Rosenquist, Ph.D., vice chancellor for
research for UNMC. This kind of mix will assure the success of the Research
Strategic Plan for growth of the UNMC research enterprise.
Twenty-five investigators received grants worth $100,000 or more in
the third quarter. Among the highlights:
Ercole Cavalieri, Ph.D., professor and director of the University of
Nebraska Center for Environmental Toxocology, received $1,538,505 for breast
cancer research. His investigation has discovered that breast cancer
is initiated by the reaction of one specific estrogen derivative with DNA.
This important finding has led the research team to devise strategies for
preventing breast cancer initiation by preventing this reaction.
In addition, the project deals with the identification of biomarkers that
reveal susceptibility to cancer initiation.
Keith Johnson, Ph.D., professor in the department of oral biology in
the College of Dentistry, received $341,775 to study aspects of oral squamous
cell carcinoma, a type of head and neck cancer. Cancers of the head and
neck often result in patient morbidity because treatment frequently causes
obvious cosmetic changes or negatively impacts basic functions such as
swallowing or speech. Oral squamous cell carcinomas are invasive, and the
research is trying to understand why the cells become invasive. Alterations
in how a cell recognizes and adheres to its neighbors contribute to the
cells ability to migrate through underlying tissue. The research focuses
on cadherins, a family of proteins that mediate cell to cell adhesion.
Lani Zimmerman, Ph.D., chairperson of the department of adult health
and illness in the College of Nursing, received $338,100 to test the effectiveness
of a home health device in improving the management of symptoms in older
patients following coronary artery bypass graft surgery. The experimental
group uses the Health Buddy, a small communication device that attaches
to the phone line, like a telephone answering machine. The device delivers
personalized health care information and questions to patients. Patients
use the device for six weeks. Researchers are testing the effectiveness
of the Health Buddy to monitor and manage symptoms, as well as potential
complications, by comparing each groups physical and social functioning,
and problems encountered after surgery. They also will measure the number
of visits to seek health care, including re-hospitalization, as well as
patient satisfaction.
Dhirendra Singh, Ph.D., associate professor in the department of ophthalmology,
received $294,000 to study the eye lens. Dr. Singh studies the eye
lens because it represents one of the best biological systems, with its
unique structural and metabolic features, to study the mechanism of aging.
The epithelial cells covering the anterior region of the lens survive a
lifetime, but the survival mechanism isnt understood. Human bodies
are exposed routinely to oxidizing chemicals and radiation from the environment,
as well as metabolic by-products, that can damage DNA and proteins over
the life span of the cell. Such damage may contribute to cell death,
tissue injury, promote aging and is implicated in many chronic degenerative
human diseases, including age-related cataracts a very important disease
of the aging population in the U.S. and worldwide. His investigation has
discovered two proteins, Lens Epithelium-Derived Growth Factor (LEDGF)
and Antioxidant Protein 2 (AOP2). This important finding may lead to develop
strategies in postponing the aging or age related degenerative disorders.
Yuri Persidsky, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor in the department of
pathology/microbiology, received $294,000 to study the role of brain microvascular
cells (cells at the interface between blood and brain tissue) in the infiltration
of the brain by white blood cells (leukocytes). It is believed that the
accumulation of HIV-1 infected leukocytes in the brain and their production
of neurotoxic substances are responsible for the HIV-1 associated dementia
seen in patients with AIDS. The final goal of these studies is to develop
new treatments for HIV-1 brain infection, targeting leukocyte migration
into the brain.
Tim Baxter, M.D., professor in the department of surgery, received $203,523
to investigate the factors that lead to formation and progression of aortic
aneurysms. Aortic aneurysms are a ballooning of the main artery in the
abdomen. Rupture and bleeding from aneurysms is the 13th leading cause
of death in the United States. Aneurysms are very common affecting 2
percent of individuals over age 65 but they are a silent killer as there
are no symptoms present until the rupture occurs. Aortic aneurysms run
in families and are usually detected by X-rays taken for other medical
conditions. Research has shown that doxycycline, the well-known antibiotic,
inhibits aneurysm development in an animal model. Doxycycline has the unusual
property of blocking two enzymes important to aneurysm development and
may be a possible medication to inhibit the growth of small aneurysms in
patients.