Award Data

Abstract Radiation induced keratopathy results in significant ocular surface disease, stem cell deficiency, vision loss, discomfort, and subsequent poor quality of life, affecting up to 23% of patients receiving radiation therapy for head and neck malignancies [1]. Studies have pointed out functional roles of corneal neurons and secretory cells of the lacrimal gland in the etiology of radiation in ...

ABSTRACT Long-term survival rates for children diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) currently exceed 90%. However, prolonged ALL chemotherapy, which lasts two to three years on average, is associated with significant fatigue and sleep disturbances in both children and their caregivers. In fact, patients and caregivers often identify excess fatigue and sleep disturbances as the most di ...

Project Summary Choroidal neovascularization (CNV) occurs in both age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and diabetic retinopathy (DR). While anti-VEGF treatment has improved the visual outcome considerably, they are far from achieving a 100% success rate (non-responsiveness between 8 and 50%). Inherited retinal degenerations (IRDs) are a group of heterogeneous, progressive, visually debilitating ...

ABSTRACT Developing drugs that target the central nervous system (CNS) is hampered by an inability to perform direct in vivo preclinical measurements. Here, we propose to identify an optimal smoking cessation drug candidate by monitoring how our newly synthesized prodrugs alter real-time brain dopamine responses to nicotine. Varenicline (CHANTIX®) is the leading FDA-approved oral medication for s ...

Lupus nephritis (LN), an immune complex-mediated glomerulonephritis, affects up to two-thirds of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus. Despite standard treatment protocols, progression of the most aggressive forms of LN (class III and IV) to end-stage renal failure remains high. Thus, there is a need for biomarkers of therapeutic response that would allow physicians to make better-informed t ...

Project Summary: Alcoholic Cardiomyopathy (ACM) is the most prevalent form of ethanol-induced heart damage. Alcohol dose-dependently induces ACM, characterized by progressive reduction in myocardial contractility and ventricular dilatation, culminating in heart failure. At the cellular level, chronic alcohol consumption results in cardiomyocyte death, cardiac inflammation, and cardiac fibrosis. Th ...

Abstract Our long-term objective is to fill the unmet need for treatments for heart failure (HF). Caveolin-1 is a promising therapeutic target in fibrotic diseases. The profibrotic effects of caveolin-1 deficiency in cells and in mouse models is suppressed by a peptide equivalent to its active site (caveolin-1 scaffolding domain, CSD). We have shown the beneficial effects of CSD in two independent ...

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a progressive interstitial lung disease with a median survival of only 3 - 5 years from diagnosis. Although two FDA-approved drugs, pirfenidone and nintedanib, may slow the rate of decline of lung function in some IPF patients, neither drug significantly alters the course of this lethal disease. There is a great need for new drugs with greater efficacy and le ...

PROJECT SUMMARY Colorectal cancer is still a major cause of cancer-related death in the world and only a small subset of patients benefits from therapy by immune checkpoint inhibitors. Antibody–drug conjugates (ADCs) are monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) that are covalently linked to cell-killing drugs and have emerged as a major modality in anti-cancer treatment. This approach combines high specific ...

PROJECT SUMMARY Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) is the most aggressive breast cancer subtype. It accounts for ~15% of all breast cancer yet is responsible for 30% of breast cancer deaths. TNBC is treated primarily by conventional chemotherapy; however, resistance to therapy is common, leading to high mortality rates. Importantly, the benefit of current therapeutic strategies used in chemoresi ...