Award Data

Medium (6-8mm) and small (

There is no small-diameter vascular prosthesis that is capable of emulating the biologic and physical properties of the normal arterial wall. The goal of this proposal is to develop a small-diameter prosthetic vascular graft using nanofiber technology. Our hypothesis is creating a nanofibrous vascular graft by electrospinning an ionic polyurethane will result in a graft that possesses properties s ...

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Development of a new type of middle ear implant, a "middle ear balloon" is proposed. This implant is intended to restore hearing in non-aerated ears by creating and permanently maintaining an air or gas-filled space within the middle ear. Non-aerated middle ears resulting from eustachian tube dysfunction camonly occur in chronic otitis media (COM) and in otitis ...

DESCRIPTION (Provided by applicant): Insect-borne infectious diseases such as malaria affect at least 1 billion people worldwide, and over 1.5 million of these infected individuals die each year. Malarial parasites and many other vector-borne pathogens have developed resistance to current drugs, and vaccines are not available or feasible for many of these pathogens. Insect vector control programs ...

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Sickle cell disease (SCD) and beta-thalassemia are genetic disorders caused by molecular mutations affecting the genes for adult hemoglobin. With a world-wide birth prevalence of 2/1,000, hemoglobin disorders are the most common genetic diseases in the world (360,000 patients/year - 250,000 with sickling disorders and 110,000 with thalassemias. These conditions ...

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is associated with a number of human lymphoid malignancies and carcinomas for which there are presently few effective treatments. Each year in the U.S., there are approximately 27,000 people afflicted with diseases caused by the Epstein-Barr virus, and an additional 107,000 people afflicted with malignancies associated with the Epstein ...

LONG RANGE OBJECTIVES To develop products that enhance research methods and applications in animal research using magnetic resonance imaging to study mental illness. PHASE I The planar gradient coil, or PROTOTYPE we propose to develop will optimize the working area inside MR spectrometers expanding the experimental applications and the types of animals that can be studied in small bore ultra-high ...

DESCRIPTION (Provided by applicant): The objective of this Phase I and II fast track application is to develop a standardized milk thistle product and to assure a quality controlled and reliable source for future basic and clinical studies. Natural Pharmacia International, Inc, an established natural products laboratory, has established an excellent consortial team to establish a standardized milk ...

This project will develop sound recognition software to provide real-time visual reinforcement of vocalizations produced by infants or preschool children. This program is intended for children who are delayed in the frequency and variety of pre-speech vocalizations they produce and, hence, are at risk for being non-speaking. This will provide an automated training system to maintain and develop ch ...

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The broad and long-term objective of this project is to amplify the effectiveness of vaccines without the use of chemical or biological adjuvants. We will address this objective by demonstrating the feasibility for small laser- based devices to enhance responses to intradermal vaccination. A number of investigators have shown that a promising new way to make va ...