Award Data

Recent foodborne illness outbreaks traced to contaminated field harvesting equipment have highlighted the need for incorporating improved sanitization practices at the time of harvest. Field- harvested specialty crops represent 50% of the top ten foods linked to major recalls and outbreaks over the past five years. Proper sanitization of outdoor harvest equipment is made complicated by operational ...

ABSTRACT We are developing and sensor, the X-VISUAL (X-ray Visualized Indicator for Screw bending Under Applied Load), to track fracture healing in canulated screws used to treat hip fractures. Hip fractures are a major public health concern with high in-hospital mortality rate. Approximately 330,000 hip fixation procedures are performed annually in the US. The average hip fixation hardware failur ...

ABSTRACT Background: In the U.S., over 200,000 girls and women age 0-49 are diagnosed with cancer annually. While improved diagnosis and treatment have led to increased survival rates (75% in premenopausal and 85% in childhood cancer patients), devastating side effects of cancer therapies include premature ovarian failure, infertility and menopause-related health risks. The current industrial stan ...

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT This project proposes the development of technologies to provide low-cost monitoring of phenylalanine (Phe) levels in the blood by a simple, noninvasive, at-home urine test, in order to enable daily monitoring by individuals with phenylketonuria (PKU). Also known as phenylalanine hydroxylase deficiency, PKU is a rare inborn error of metabolism that occurs in the US at a fr ...

7. Project Summary/Abstract Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the most common liver disease in North America (1). Hepatic steatosis (HS) is the hallmark of NAFLD (2). NAFLD may transition in sub-groups to chronic inflammation (non- alcoholic steatohepatitis, NASH), and ultimately to cirrhosis. HS is prevalent in all stages of NAFLD. 3-10% of all children in the US and 40-70% of obese ch ...

ABSTRACT: Limited availability of fresh viable donor meniscal grafts reduces size-matching efficiency for meniscal allograft transplantation, restricting surgical accessibility and patient outcomes. Current preservation methods with retention of meniscal viability are inadequate. Fibrochondrocyte viability of transplanted menisci is accepted as one of the determinants of outcome following allograf ...

ABSTRACT The kidney transplant waitlist comprises 83% of the U.S. organ transplant waitlist. Yet, for every 5 patients who die or become too sick for transplantation, 3 kidneys are discarded. Organ preservation quality is linked to graft lifespan with kidneys having only 50% graft survival after 10 years. Extending preservation to a week, or longer, would enable nationwide (theoretically global) d ...

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 ...

ABSTRACT Advances in molecular biology and genetic engineering have led to the design and use of modified T cells recognize tumors to achieve significant tumor control upon adoptive cell transfer (ACT) to patients. These T cells are either transduced with tumor antigen reactive T cell receptors (TCR), or chimeric antigen receptors (CARs). Recently, a surge in studies with neo-antigen reactive T ce ...

Project Summary About 750,000 Americans and approx. 4.5 million patients worldwide have End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD)1– 3. Aging population as well as rise in ESRD-related comorbidities are key factors in the anticipated rate of increase in patients with ESRD4. One of the primary causes for this high morbidity and mortality are the complications associated with maintaining a functioning vascula ...