Award Data

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): A bioterrorist arsenal is likely to include a broad spectrum of bacterial species including the Category A pathogens Yersinia pestis (plague), a Gram-negative species, and Bacillus anthracis (anthrax), a Gram- positive species. Broad-spectrum antibiotics are potentially the most valuable for biodefense because these agents can be used quickly even in the absenc ...

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Pancreatic adenocarcinoma is the fourth leading cause of cancer deaths in the US; with less than one-year median survival, it accounts for approximately 30,000 diagnoses and deaths per year. Multimodality therapy, including surgery, radiation and chemotherapy, have not made a significant impact on the outcome and serve mostly as palliation. Thus, new treatment ...

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Ebola virus (EBOV) causes periodic outbreaks of severe viral hemorrhagic fevers in Africa with high mortality rates in infected patients. EBOV can be used in acts of bio-terrorism because of its highly infectious nature and stability in aerosolized form. It is classified as a Category A bioweapons agent by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). C ...

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a common and extremely virulent cause of serious infections in immune- compromised/suppressed patients (e.g., HIV and cancer), cystic fibrosis patients, and those on mechanical ventilation or with burn wounds. Frequent antibiotic resistance and the highly virulent nature of P. aeruginosa make it deadlier than most other bacteria. New c ...

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): We intend to develop antibacterials that are different from previous chemical classes and that act on entirely new targets. In prior work we identified a series of tetrahydro-a-carbolines that are potent inhibitors of a novel, broad-spectrum antibacterial target from E. coli, phosphopantetheine adenyl transferease (PPAT). PPAT catalyzes a rate-limiting step in ...

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The goal of this proposal is the discovery and development of novel drugs to be used in a disease intervention strategy for influenza (flu) infection that comprise short interfering RNAs (siRNAs), the molecules that induce RNA interference. To achieve this goal we will design, synthesize and test a pool of chemically optimized siRNAs targeting highly conserved ...

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Approximately 1 out of every 5 Americans is infected with herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2). Localized genital infection by HSV-2 results in painful recurring genital lesions while disseminated infection can involve multiple visceral organs and lethal encephalitis. We have developed a new heterologous immunization protocol composed of a DNA vaccine follow ...

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): New antibiotics based on novel chemical scaffolds against new bacterial targets are vital to reducing the tide of tuberculosis (TB) infection worldwide. Due to the lengthy treatment requirements and the difficulty in achieving treatment compliance, there is an increasing rate of development of multi-drug resistant TB. In addition, the coinfection of TB with HIV ...

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The goal of the proposed work is to develop a substantially improved technique of preserving the human pancreas in order to improve the quality of the isolated human islets that are harvested from it for use in human islet transplantation for Type 1 diabetes. Currently, human pancreata are transported with the two layer method (TLM) of storage (8xC), which uses ...

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Our aim is to develop an inexpensive and portable nanotechnology-based immunosensor and instrument platform for rapid detection of presence or exposure to bioterror agents in air, water, contaminated surfaces, forensic samples, food and body fluids through identification of protein toxins and microorganisms. The proposed approach employs single or multiple coni ...