Award Data

This Phase I proposal determines the feasibility of growing multiple species of macroalgae in commercial marine aquafarm environments. Marine aquaculture is a logical outgrowth of successful wild harvest seaweed businesses over the last several years. Developing a marine aquaculture prototype will foster the science of sea farming. Extending growing seasons for multi-species would provide year ...

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Over 34 million people are currently living with HIV/AIDS. Combination antiviral therapies have significantly reduced the morbidity and mortality of the disease; however, there is currently no cure for the disease. Discovery that a naturally occurring variant of CCR5, the delta32 mutation, renders cells resistant to HIV infection has led to efforts by several a ...

Abstract The ability of the immune system to recognize and initiate an immune response to foreign particles such as bacteria and viruses has generated interest in development of particulate vaccine technologies. We are developing an innovative approach toproduce particulate vaccines via layer-by-layer (LbL) fabrication of synthetic microparticles (MP). We have shown that LbL-MP loaded with epitope ...

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Human African trypanosomiasis (HAT) is an infectious disease with a large global health burden occurring primarily in Central and Eastern Africa. HAT is 100% fatal if untreated and the current drug therapies suffer frompoor safety profiles, difficult treatment regimens, limited effectiveness, and high costs. Furthermore, drugs that cross the blood brain barrier ...

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Cryopyrin-associated periodic syndromes (CAPS) are a family of rare autoinflammatory diseases of which neonatal-onset multisystem inflammatory disease (NOMID) is the most severe phenotype. NOMID is characterized by NLRP3 activating mutations resulting in excessive interleukin- 1?IL-1?and IL-18 production associated with recurrent fever, rash, skeletal lesions, ...

Project Summary We propose an instrument system for automated, multiplexed cell- and tissue-based experiments (i.e. tissue microarrays) called the Microfluidic Flow Cell Array (MFCA). The MFCA consists of a microfluidic flow cell array integrated with an inverted fluorescent microscope, allowing the observation of 48 flow chambers simultaneously or an individual chamber at higher magnification. Th ...

Project Summary Evasion of apoptosis is a hallmark of cancer and is associated with oncogenesis, tumor maintenance, and resistance to conventional chemotherapy. BCL-2 was the first identified anti-apoptotic factor and is a member of the BCL-2 family of proteins that cooperate in the regulation of programmed cell death. BCL-2 plays a dominant role in the survival of multiple lymphoid malignancies a ...

DESCRIPTION provided by applicant Dysregulation of apoptosis pathways and loss of Human Beta Defensin hBD are the common tactics adapted by cancer cells to circumvent the effects of chemotherapy Consequently high dose of chemotherapy is required to obtain a clinically relevant therapeutic index which in turn compromises safety and develops resistance to therapy The problem is acute p ...

PROJECT SUMMARY Biopsy capability is an absolute requirement for imaging facilities planning to provide breast cancer screening services. The limitations of mammography have ushered in several other imaging technologies, such as magnetic resonance (MR), positron emission mammography, and breast specific gamma, or molecular breast imaging. However, these are all relatively expensive modalities and ...

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Cancer is a significant health burden in the US and across the globe, representing the second leading cause of death in the US. Cancer cells have metabolic pathways that are altered significantly compared to normal cells. As a result, the pathways involved (lipid biosynthesis for example) are considered excellent targets for therapeutic intervention. The levels ...