Award Data

Abstract Prostate cancer (CaP) is the most common non-skin cancer in men and third most common cause of cancer deaths in men. Black men experience a higher burden of incidence and mortality from CaP compared to White men. The Prostate-Specific Antigen (PSA) test, a commonly used biomarker for early diagnosis and management of CaP, cannot alone accurately predict the presence of CaP, its aggressive ...

PROJECT SUMMARY According to the CDC, 550,000 Healthcare Associated Infections (HAIs) occur per year in the US, costing ~$100 billion and killing tens of thousands of patients. Reducing HAIs is a top priority of the US DHHS and NIH and experts have called for novel strategies including vaccination to achieve this goal.ExBaq was founded by scientists and business colleagues who have spent years stu ...

Abstract Tuberculosis (TB), caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), is the biggest killer among infectious diseases. TB is also responsible for a quarter of all deaths associated with Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR). It is projected that by 2050, 75 million people, or one person every 12 seconds, will die due to AMR associated with TB. Long treatment times and increasing resistance to TB drugs ...

Project Summary: A Novel Polymeric Valve for Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement Minimally invasive transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) has emerged as an effective therapy for the unmet clinical need of inoperable patients with severe aortic stenosis (AS). Recent longitudinal follow-up studies of TAVR patients however indicate that this procedure and associated technology may result i ...

Abstract Influenza is the cause of considerable morbidity and mortality globally. Certain groups, i.e., infants, pregnant young women, and older adults are especially at risk for severe disease. Despite immunization being the most effective and economical prophylactic approach, vaccines often provide less than optimal defense against an influenza illness, with efficacies ranging from 10-60%. This ...

Summary Technology for studying the higher order structure (HOS) and interactions of biomolecules is a highlighted NIGMS SBIR/STTR research topic. Mass-spectrometric methods for studying HOS include hydroxyl radical footprinting as well as chemical methods to covalently label amino acid side-chain functional groups, and also hydrogen/deuterium exchange (HDX) on protein backbone amides. These metho ...

Open-angle glaucoma is the second leading cause of blindness worldwide, affecting nearly 70 million individuals. Nonsynonymous mutations in the myocilin gene lead to the most common hereditary form of open-angle glaucoma and account for 3-4% of all cases. Disease-causing mutations, localized to its olfactomedin domain (mOLF), destabilize the myocilin protein, leading to its misfolding and accumula ...

Project SummaryThe goal of this project is to further develop an existing smart stethoscope in order to be capable of monitoring pediatric patients at home who suffer from asthma as well as adults with COPD. Lung diseases impose a serious burden on healthcare systems, individuals and governments. The World Health Organization (WHO) found that chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and lower ...

Project Summary Genetic and pathologic evidence in andapos;pureandapos; tauopathies such as Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP), Corticobasilar Degeneration (CBD) and some cases of Fronto-temporal Dementia (FTD) directly implicate tau as causing neuronal cell death, while in Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) tau accumulation correlates with development and progression of cognitive impairment. Because of ...

Abstract The 90 kD heat shock proteins (Hsp90) are molecular chaperones that are responsible for the folding of select proteins, many of which are directly associated with cancer progression. Consequently, inhibition of the Hsp90 protein folding machinery results in a combinatorial attack on numerous oncogenic pathways. Seventeen small molecule inhibitors of Hsp90 have entered clinical trials for ...