Award Data

ABSTRACT The pathogenesis of Cystic FibrosisCFis caused by mutations in the gene for CFTRa cAMP activated chloride channel that regulates salt and water transport in epithelial tissuesespecially those in the airwaysRecent progress has resulted in small molecule therapeutic agents that partially correct defects in the CFTR protein due to certain mutationsHoweverin a substantial fraction of CF patie ...

Multi drug resistantMDRbacterial infections represent a significant threat to public healthIt is estimated that the impact of antibiotic resistance will continue to grow resulting in a global economic burden of $trillion and causingmillion deaths annuallyMany of the therapeutics currently under development represent traditional antibiotic approaches or next generation antibiotics that will likely ...

ABSTRACT Despite recent advances in targeting cancer cellschemotherapy remains a mainstay of oncologyextending survival and providing cures for many types of cancerHoweverchemotherapy that ablates or suppresses bone marrow cells can be debilitating even when combined with autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantationHSCTThe treatment causes severe side effects such as anemianeutropenia and th ...

PROJECT SUMMARY Genomic instabilityinduced by DNA damageand partly mitigated by DNA repair and antioxidantsplays a critical role in the pathogenesis of many major human diseasessuch as neurodegenerationcancer and cardiovascular diseasetogether with agingThere is a critical need for automated assays that can perform these assessmentsand bring them into greater routine usewhich will help advance our ...

Project SummaryGenome wide functional genetics has been recently made possible by pooled library based CRISPR Casgene editing technologyBy randomly knocking out thousands of geneslarge scale screens can be conducted for functional geneticsdrug sensitivity and other phenotypesCurrently howeverthis forward genetic approach is largely relegated to live dead screens in mammalian cellsImproving the sop ...

Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) affects an ever growing population. While this disease typically has been associated with juveniles, the disease in adult populations is rapidly increasing. The defining clinical component is insulin loss, which occurs because of sustained inflammation in the islets. At present there is no means to prevent or reverse insulin loss. A major inflammatory pathway in T1D that cont ...

PROJECT SUMMARY Glioblastoma (GBM) is an intractable cancer with an average survival time of 12 to 15 months. Treatment options are limited by the infiltration of tumor cells into healthy tissue and the difficulty of delivering effective chemotherapeutics across the blood brain barrier, but engineered neural stem cells (NSCs) hold great promise as GBM therapies because they selectively migrate to ...

PROJECT SUMMARY The for profit small business concernTricorder Array Technologies LLCwill developin partnership with the University of Alabama at BirminghamSIDECAReSensing and Integrating Data for Environmental Conditions in Animal ResearchThis device will automate collection of relevant data that will enhance consistency in animal models used to study human health treatment researchOur innovative ...

Aerosolized pathogenssuch as Influenza virusescan spread rapidly and silently throughout a populationcausing severe outbreaks that can be difficult to controlEarly detection of these airborne pathogens is key to controlling outbreaksespecially among vulnerable populations such as in hospitalstreatment centers or nursing homesYet available methods are neither rapidnor portableCurrent methods rely h ...

Project SummaryInfectious disease is the third leading cause of death in the United Statesand hospital acquired infectionsHAIsin particular affectmillion patients annuallyThe most common type of HAI is pneumoniaoften caused by multi drug resistantMDRpathogens such as Staphylococcus aureusPseudomonas aeruginosaKlebsiella pneumoniaeEscherichia coliand Acinetobacter baumanniiRates of antibiotic resis ...