Award Data

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Transplantation of insulin-producing cells in many diabetes patients potentially would restore normal glucose homeostasis and prevent the severe long-term complications of the disease. However, the scarcity of donated pancreata currently limits transplantation of the whole organ or of isolated pancreatic islets to a tiny fraction of those patients who might ben ...

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The overall goal of this project is to develop therapeutic antivirals to treat life-threatening flavivirus infections. Enfuvirtide, a clinically successful peptide HIV fusion inhibitor, is the prototype for a new class of antivirals that inhibit viral envelope protein structural rearrangements essential for viral entry into host cells. In preliminary experiment ...

PROJECT SUMMARYAminoglycosides are one of the cheapest and well-known antibiotics in clinical use for over 70 years, but one of the major limitations in their use is their ototoxicity. We are developing fast and low cost methods to develop aminoglycosides with anti- ribosomal activities and reduced toxicity. In this project, we will identify novel aminoglycoside antibacterials, that show reduced o ...

DESCRIPTION provided by applicant This Small Business Innovation Research SBIR Phase I project aims to develop a microfluidic based nitric oxide NO sensor as an early sepsis risk assessment device Sepsis causes significant strain on the U S healthcare system consuming over $ billion annually due to extended hospital stays and significant morbidity and mortality Rapid diagnosis and in ...

DESCRIPTION provided by applicant Leptospirosis a zoonotic disease is an important public health problem worldwide It is caused by spirochete bacteria belonging to nine species and more than serovars of the genus Leptospira In the US there is increasing awareness of the importance of leptospirosis as the cause of disease among inner city populations military personnel and individuals ...

PROJECT SUMMARY Over 25 million Americans have asthma, which places an economic burden on the U.S. of $81.9 billion. Airway mucus overproduction is a hallmark of asthma, and the quantity and tenacity of mucus are increased during airway exacerbations. Mucolytics degrade mucus, but do not reduce its production. Although corticosteroids and other anti-inflammatory therapies indirectly decrease mucus ...

DESCRIPTION provided by applicant This proposal seeks to develop a novel vaccine against Lyme disease by targeting Ixodes scapularis proteins critical for Borrelia burgdorferi transmission from the tick to mammalian host Earlier work has identified four tick proteins Salp TRE tHRF and TSLPI that facilitate different steps of spirochete transmission and immunity against these protein ...

ABSTRACTThis proposal seeks to develop a novel vaccine against pathogens transmitted by the blacklegged tick, Ixodes scapularis, by targeting tick salivary proteins (Salps) critical for tick feeding. I. scapularis Salps provide functions critical for evading host defense responses detrimental to the tick. Further, these salivary functions are also co-opted by tick-transmitted pathogens to ensure t ...

DESCRIPTION provided by applicant One of the challenges of research in infectious diseases is to find ways to use the increasing knowledge of the mechanisms underlying disease transformation and progression to develop novel therapeutic strategies for diseases such as increasing menace of bacterial infections Targeting specific RNA such as rRNA which are involved in proliferation and survival ...

PROJECT SUMMARYZika virus, an emerging flavivirus, is associated with severe clinical outcomes, including Guillain-Barré syndrome and birth defects. Transmission of Zika virus is primarily mosquito- borne. Mosquito salivary proteins are known to enhance infectivity and pathogenesis in Zika, dengue and West Nile viruses by modulating immune responses. This proposal seeks to develop a novel vaccine ...