Award Data

PROJECT SUMMARY Congenital Myasthenic Syndromes (CMS) are a group of clinically similar neuromuscular transmission disorders that differ in their underlying genetic mutation. While some phenotypical variation exists, CMS are commonly characterized by muscle weakness (myasthenia) that worsens with physical exertion. Defects in Collagen Q (ColQ), a multidomain functional protein of the Neuro Muscula ...

For more than a decade, our work has focused on development of therapeutic interventions for viral- and bacterial-induced acute lung injury (ALI) and the more severe acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Significantly, we identified the Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) signaling pathway as key to the host response to influenza and secondary bacterial infection following influenza. We also identif ...

Project Summary There are 24,000 stillbirths per year in the United States, and 2.6 million stillbirths per year worldwide, with no significant decrease in the last decade. Abnormal fetal heart rhythms, such as long QT syndrome, are thought to play an important role in these deaths, and may cause 3- 10% of unexplained stillbirths. This is in addition to known fetal arrhythmias, which affect 1-3% o ...

ABSTRACT Approximately 700,000 people in the United States are diagnosed with a primary brain tumor. Of these, malignant gliomas (MGs) account for approximately 40% of all intracranial tumors, with an overall survival rate of only ~34%. Surgical resection remains the cornerstone of therapy and the extent of resection correlates with survival. Fluorescence imaging has emerged as an adjunctive techn ...

Project Summary/Abstract for STTR Phase I Application: An immunotherapeutic IgY formulation against norovirus diarrhea Human norovirus (HuNoV) infects millions of people globally each year, causing diarrheal illness resulting in more than 200,000 deaths annually, particularly in the very young, the very old, and the immunocompromised. There is currently neither an effective vaccine nor effective t ...

ABSTRACT Continuous monitoring of neonatal brain development is crucial for effective management of brain injury and associated complications, thus reducing healthcare burden and costs. One rapidly developing method for early characterization of abnormal brain development is to map resting-state functional connectivity (rs-FC) across distinct regions of the brain. However, currently available neur ...

ABSTRACTGlobally, more than 71 million people are infected with Hepatitis C virus (HCV), with 1-2 million new infections occurring each year. This major health concern necessitates the development of an effective vaccine. Since HCV rapidly accumulates mutations, vaccines must elicit the production of broadly neutralizing antibodies (bnAbs) in a reproducible fashion. The viral envelope E1E2 glycopr ...

PROJECT SUMMARY Microinjection technologies underlie many research and clinical applications that require gene and cell delivery, including studies and emerging treatments of neurological conditions (e.g., neurodegenerative diseases, traumatic brain injury, and cancer). Unfortunately, challenges associated with the microinjection tools by which the viral vectors and cells inherent in these applica ...

Project Summary I-RED Southeast XLerator Network, powered by XLerateHealth, LLC in collaboration with the University of Kentucky as the lead academic partner institution, proposes to develop a suite of experience-based entrepreneurship education products and commercialization education tools to address the needs of academic institutions and their faculty, researchers, innovators, and graduate/unde ...

Modern pharmaceuticals have greatly improved the quality of life for many patients suffering a variety of illnesses. Unfortunately, among the 17 most commonly prescribed drugs, only 6 are highly effective for most patients, 5 have a modest effect, and 6 show little clinical effect. Worse still, unwanted illness and death from treatment of patients with the incorrect drug or dosage causes over 275, ...