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Joe Sisson, M.D. |
The MERIT award — which extends Dr. Sisson’s NIH R01 grant from 5 years to 9 years — allows him to focus on the science without the need to prepare competitive renewal applications. This increases his total grant award from $2.5 million to nearly $5 million dollars over the extended 9-year period.
Dr. Sisson, chief of UNMC’s Pulmonary, Critical Care, Sleep and Allergy Section in the Department of Internal Medicine, is only the fourth UNMC faculty member ever to receive the prestigious National Institutes of Health award behind Irving Zucker, Ph.D., (1992), Lynell Klassen, M.D., (2000) and Howard Gendelman, M.D., (2001).
The MERIT program — a symbol of scientific achievement in the research community — provides long-term, stable support to investigators for their superior research competence and productivity. It also lessens the administrative burdens associated with the preparation and submission of research grant applications.
“I was blown away when I heard the news,” Dr. Sisson said, noting the NIAAA has not given MERIT awards for several years because of declining budgets. “You just don’t expect something like this. Writing a good grant is time-consuming and when times are tough for funding agencies you’re just trying to survive, let alone get a great score and bonus.”
Dr. Sisson and his research team study the stimulation effects of alcohol on cilia, the finger-like lining inside the airway that propels mucus and particles out of the lungs. Chronic alcohol intake impairs the mucous clearance by interrupting enzymes that normally maintain the cilia, he said. As a result, heavy drinkers are more likely to get pneumonia than non-drinkers.
“I’m humbled by the award and grateful for the work of our entire team. I am especially appreciative of my primary collaborator, Todd Wyatt (Ph.D.), who has lent a whole new dimension to our research,” said Dr. Sisson, who joined UNMC in 1987 and has had continual NIH funding since 1991.
“Receiving an NIH MERIT award is a great honor for both Dr. Sisson and UNMC,” said Dr. Klassen, chairman of UNMC’s Internal Medicine Department. “Awardees are chosen by a group of internationally known investigators, so this honor demonstrates the innovativeness and the widespread excitement with Joe’s pioneering laboratory investigations.”
“Dr. Sisson is a shining example of how clinician/researchers can advance scientific knowledge and directly impact patient care,” said John Gollan, M.D., Ph.D., dean of the UNMC College of Medicine.
“The MERIT award, which is a great testament to Dr. Sisson’s strong research skills, will allow him to continue his pioneering work on the study of alcohol effects on airway clearance and the role of nitric oxide to alcohol tissue injury.”
Thomas Rosenquist, Ph.D., vice chancellor for research, agreed. “Dr. Sisson represents the ideal combination of health care professional and researcher, giving us a model for the kind of scientists who will be the keys in moving UNMC forward in the area of clinical research, our most important strategic research initiative for 2007-2008. His national and international reputation is stellar, and shows exactly what we mean by the UNMC ‘world-class scientist.’ ”
Approximately 15 years ago, Dr. Sisson was the first scientist to report that nitric oxide is a stimulatory regulator of cilia beating. He has applied his nitric oxide interest to the field of alcohol disease and has advanced the study of alcohol effects on airway clearance. Laboratories in several countries use the cilia analysis system software he and his colleagues developed.
Humans have about 200 cilia per airway epithelial cell, which, in a coordinated fashion, create waves to propel mucous and particles out of the lungs, much like an escalator carries people to new levels. Overall, there are millions of cilia within the trachea and bronchial tubes.
When cilia are stimulated by alcohol, their coordinated movements increase — similar to tall grasses blowing in the wind or the human “wave” at an athletic event — and they produce more nitric oxide. Short-term, low-dose use of alcohol stimulates the cilia, but long-term, high-dose use results in a loss of responsiveness among the cilia.
Once desensitized, or resistant to stimulation, the cilia are unable to remove mucous and particles from the lungs, thus increasing the risk of pneumonia or other lung diseases caused by inhalation such as cigarette smoking or exposure to dusts.
Dr. Sisson’s research team also is exploring whether cilia can be protected with medication and if the impact of alcohol in the cilia is reversible. “We have a clue that this defect is reversible,” he said.
His team has been studying the issue with in vitro bovine airway cells, in vivo using a mouse model and by taking cilia from bovine tracheas and making isolated cilia organelles. “We think nitric oxide is present at all levels, which means it’s intrinsic to the cilium itself,” Dr. Sisson said.
His research with nitric oxide also has prompted studies in the pulmonary research group on how the cystic fibrosis vests worn by patients work and whether the vest stimulates nitric oxide production.
Dr. Sisson’s project collaborators include faculty members Todd Wyatt, Ph.D., Deb Romberger, M.D., Stephen Rennard, M.D., Thomas Jerrells, Ph.D., Diane Allen-Gipson, Ph.D., and John Spurzem, M.D.; lab manager Jackie Pavlik; post doc fellows Peter Oldenburg, Becky Slager, Margaret Elliott and Sarah Stout; and project manager Lisa Chudomelka.
Researchers cannot apply for MERIT awards. Instead, research project grant (R01) applications are reviewed in the usual manner and NIAAA staff give further consideration to those applications that meet the criteria for a MERIT award.
Earlier this month, Dr. Sisson — whose publication record includes 54 peer-review articles, 15 book chapters and 98 abstracts — received UNMC’s 2007 Internal Medicine Career Excellence Research Award, which recognizes faculty members for remarkable research achievements that are recognized internationally.