UNMC College of Medicine faculty received 17 grant awards representing more than $4 million in new funding during the month of January.
Continued support for UNMC’s INBRE program
Paul Sorgen, PhD, biochemistry & molecular biology, has received a National Institutes of Health award for $1.2 million from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences. This is a continuation of the Nebraska Research Network in Functional Genomics grant that supports the Institutional Development Award Program (IDeA) Networks of Biomedical Research Excellence (INBRE) program in Nebraska. This program, which has been continuously funded since 2001, has been used to create and support a biomedical research infrastructure that provides research opportunities for undergraduate students that aspire to continue into graduate research. While originally developed and maintained by James Turpen, PhD, upon his retirement, the reins to the INBRE program have been passed on to Dr. Sorgen.
Chlamydial mechanisms of pathogenesis
Elisabeth Rucks, PhD, pathology & microbiology, has received a National Institutes of Health award for $360,000 from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to study the mechanisms behind how chlamydia trachtomatis acquires host-derived lipids through the use of SNARE proteins, enhancing the pathogenesis of the chlamydial infection by allowing the pathogen to survive in the host.
Molecular signaling behind cholangiocarcinoma
Justin Mott, MD, PhD, biochemistry & molecular biology, has received a National Institutes of Health award for $340,000 from the National Cancer Institute to study molecular signaling of fibroblast growth factors that lead to the initiation and progression of a specific type of liver cancer that forms an aggressive tumor in bile ducts.
Metabolic events control ovarian progesterone synthesis
John Davis, PhD, obstetrics/gynecology, has received a National Institutes of Health award for $150,000 from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development to study the metabolic events that contribute to the generation of intracellular lipid droplets, which lead to the creation of progesterone in the ovaries.
Mechanisms of enterovirus infection
Steven Carson, PhD, pathology & microbiology, has received a National Institutes of Health award for $80,000 from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to study the underlying molecular mechanisms behind enterovirus infection of a cell.
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.
Cyrus Desouza, MBBS, internal medicine – diabetes, endocrinology and metabolism, has received support from George Washington University to continue his comparative effectiveness study of glycemic reduction approaches in diabetes (GRADE). Dr. Desouza is also the UNMC lead on a clinical study of the safety and efficacy of three dose levels of a novel treatment for patients with non-alcoholic steatohepatitis.
Matthew Lunning, DO, internal medicine – oncology/hematology, is the UNMC lead on a clinical study of a novel monotherapy in adult patients with relapsed or refractory non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
Kenneth Bayles, PhD, pathology & microbiology, has received support from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln to assist with a study through the National Strategic Research Institute focused on medical countermeasure drug discovery and development.
Matthew Rizzo, MD, neurological sciences, has received support from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Nebraska Transportation Center to conduct studies on driver safety under various conditions using a virtual driving simulator.
Benjamin Teply, MD, internal medicine – oncology/hematology, has received support from Johns Hopkins University to assist with a phase II clinical study of a targeted cancer therapy for men with high-risk, biochemically-recurrent prostate cancer following radical prostatectomy.
Diana Florescu, MD, internal medicine – infectious diseases, is the UNMC lead on a clinical study of the safety and benefit of using anti-influenza antibodies as a novel treatment against serious flu infections.
Trevor Vanschooneveld, MD, internal medicine – infectious diseases, is the UNMC lead on a study to evaluate the use of a combination antibiotic for the treatment of complicated intra-abdominal bacterial infections.
Teri Mauch, MD, PhD, pediatrics – pediatrics nephrology, is the UNMC lead on a phase III clinical study to assess the efficacy of a novel drug to control disease activity in children and adolescents with atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome, which is a rare disease affecting red blood cells, platelets, and kidney function.
Dmitry Oleynikov, MD, surgery – general surgery, has received fellowship support from the Foundation for Surgical Fellowships in the area of minimally invasive surgery.
Marisa Fisher, MD, pediatrics – pediatrics endocrine, is the UNMC lead on a clinical screening and monitoring study designed to provide a source of subjects for enrollment into type 1 diabetes prevention trials.
Hani Haider, PhD, orthopaedic surgery, has received support to use pin-on-disk testers to simulate and compare clinically relevant wear of different orthopedic metal alloys under abrasive conditions.