Award Data

Project Summary Immunoregulation, i.e., balanced expression of regulatory and effector T cells, is thought to be compromised in modern high-income settings due in part to reduced contact with commensal and environmentally derived bacteria, also known as “old friends”. Failed immunoregulation is thought to be one factor contributing to recent increases in stress-related and chronic inflammatory ...

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT Lack of exercise is a major cause of secondary health conditions, especially for people with paralysis, for whom participation in physical activity is especially difficult. Hybrid functional electrical stimulation (H- FES) exercise enables vigorous, total body physical activity for people with paralysis. However, existing H-FES devices are neither affordable nor accessible ...

PROJECT SUMMARY The ability of dying cells to activate antigen presenting cells (APCs) is carefully controlled to avoid unwarranted inflammatory responses. Thus, tumor cells avoid aggravating APCs by efficiently simulating regular dying cells which following phagocytosis do not trigger inflammatory responses required for efficient cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) priming. However, dying tumor cells co ...

Abstract Significance: Peritonitis remains a significant challenge in the management of end stage renal disease (ESRD) for patients on peritoneal dialysis (PD) and contributes significantly to morbidity and mortality. More than half of these infections result from bacteria originating on skin or mucous membranes, suggesting patient or caregiver contamination as the source of infections. Furthermor ...

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT Ten percent of the approximately four million infants born in the United States each year are born premature (andlt;37 weeks gestational age). Preterm birth prior to the maturation of critical neonatal body systems results in prolonged hospitalizations that impose an annual societal cost burden of $26 billion. Achievement of the ability to fully orally feed is often the la ...

Project Summary: The main goal of this research project is to develop a new line of new stereotaxic devices for small animal research that outperforms existing devices in terms of accuracy, reproducibility, and ease of use. Advancing a tool such as an electrode, injection pipette or optical fiber through a small hole in the cranium, sometimes over long distances, and placing it precisely in a part ...

In resource limited settings, rapid and accurate diagnosis of infections is critical for managing potential exposures to highly virulent pathogens, whether occurring from an act of bioterrorism or a natural event. This is especially important for hard to detect intracellular bacterial and alphavirus infections, that overlap symptomatically and often treated empirically due to a lack of reliable an ...

ABSTRACT Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a highly debilitating disease that affects about 1% of the global population, which increases up to 10% in individuals aged more than 65 years. The life expectancy for these patients is less than 10 years after diagnosis, and no specific drugs are available for pharmacologic treatment. Despite the introduction PDE5, prostacyclin analogs, and endothelin antag ...

PROJECT SUMMARYCarotid Artery Stenting (CAS) using embolic protection represents the current standard of care for patients with carotid artery stenosis considered at high risk for carotid endarterectomy. Distal filter devices are the most widely used protection devices, but these must be navigated through plaque prior to deployment, presenting a significant embolic risk. Strong evidence indicates ...

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT Early childhood mental health problems constitute a significant public health concern with wide-ranging impacts on functioning both concurrently and later in life. Although childhood mental health is influenced by a variety of factors, the quality of relationships with caregivers plays a critical role. Critical, coercive, and conflictual parent- child interactions have bee ...