Award Data

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This proposal addresses PHS 2012-02 Omnibus Solicitation of the NIH for Small Business Technology Transfer Grant Applications (Parent STTR [R41/R42]). More than 20 million American adults (1 in 10) have some level of chronic kidney disease (CDC), with a growing incidence in the aging population. Nearly 400,000 ESRD patients receive some form of dialysis, with t ...

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The broad long-term of this project is to develop methods for evaluation of adherence to intravaginal microbicide therapy for the prevention of HIV transmission. Correct determination of adherence to preventative therapies in clinical trials is essential to accurate evaluation of efficacy. A better understanding of the true adherence to a preventative therapy w ...

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive and invariably fatal degenerative dementia and the most common form of dementia that currently affects over 5 million Americans. The quality of life and economic costs are significant with estimated U.S. health care payments of over 200 billion in 2012, plus unpaid care by over 15 million Americans that is valued ...

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Despite advances in surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy, the average life span of a patient with glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is about 15-months from time of diagnosis. Integrins are heterodimeric receptors found on the surface of GBM cells and angiogenic vasculature; they facilitate invasion into adjacent tissue. Normal brain tissue does not display ...

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): In today's device world, products must address soaring healthcare costs under the increased scrutiny of quality and safety. By addressing patient safety, we believe costs can be reduced and quality improved. Non-infectious urethral catheter related complications are one such patient safety problem the US and worldwide health care industry faces. Urethral c ...

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Neuron-cell culture is widely used for studies in basic research, drug discovery, and toxicity testing. Traditional random cultures allow limited access to subcellular compartments (axons, dendrites, synapses) due to extensive and haphazard growth of neurons. Our long-term goal is to provide robust, user-friendly, and cost effective culture platforms that can o ...

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Bacterial interference creates an ecological competition between commensal bacteria and pathogenic species. Like microbial competition via fermentation in a ripening fruit, bacterial interference via fermentation has been found in the deep-seated skin abscesses where is an anaerobic microenvironment, allowing bacteria to ferment carbohydrates to short-chain fa ...

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Activation of hepatic stellate cells (HSC) is responsible for the development of liver fibrosis in chronic liver diseases of all causes and remarkably, HSC clearance by apoptosis may allow recovery from liver injury andreversal of liver fibrosis. There is full agreement among liver fibrosis experts that inhibiting o reversing HS activation (the therapeutic targ ...

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Sleep deprivation (SD) occurs universally in modern societies and causes significant social and financial harm. Numerous human and animal studies indicate that various forms of SD are deleterious to mental and physicalhealth. Therefore, SD has been recognized as an unmet challenge to public health. There is increased need to study the effects of different forms ...

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The most common artificial voice source for post-laryngectomy speech rehabilitation is the hand-held buzzer or electrolarynx (EL). This device is relatively easy to use and enables most laryngectomees to verbally communicate, but with reduced intelligibility and markedly degraded naturalness. In addition, EL speech is often described as robotic and monotone, at ...