Award Data

Project Summary Glaucoma is the leading cause of irreversible blindness worldwide and is expected to affect more than 110 million people worldwide within the next two decades. It is a degenerative disease that has a large impact both in terms of patient quality of life and in costs to the healthcare system. A critical need in glaucoma clinical management and research is the ability to accurately i ...

PROJECT SUMMARY Optic neuritis (ON) is an acute autoimmune disease caused by immune attack on the myelin that protects the optic nerve leading to vision loss. Steroid treatments accelerate recovery of visual acuity in some patients but have no effect on other visual functions such as contrast sensitivity that are important for activities of daily life. Even with steroid treatments, 13,000 ON patie ...

PROJECT SUMMARY Therapy for Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (AD/ADRD), slow-progressing neurodegenerative diseases, remains elusive. Therapeutic approaches focusing on beta amyloid (Aβ) removal from the brain or on targeting genes for which strong associations between their polymorphism and AD/ADRD are established, have had a mixed record of success. We propose a novel strategy to rev ...

Project SummaryTotal knee arthroplasty (TKA) is one of the most commonly performed orthopedic surgeries to relieve joint pain in patients with end-stage osteoarthritis or rheumatic arthritis. In the United States, over 700,000 TKA procedures are performed each year. Most patients experience significant pain after TKA. To manage this pain, patients are commonly prescribed opioids, contributing to a ...

Abstract The advance of biotechnology is dependent on approaches for rapidly iterating through genetically engineered enzymes and pathways. While computational and gene synthesis techniques have seen considerable innovation in the last few decades, screening variants for desired activities has lagged behind, with few notable advances. Indeed, microwell plates, a nearly 60-year-old technology, rema ...

Precise, customizable drug delivery remains a long-term goal, for HIV in particular, as such technologies would allow therapies tailored to a patient’s biological makeup and potentially improve adherence. Extended-release methods address part of the issue, but face limitations. A novel drug delivery system could offer better pediatric dosing, via both oral and new routes of administration. Exist ...

PROJECT SUMMARYThe Brimrose Technology Corporation and partner, The Johns Hopkins University, propose using non-invasive ultrasound neuromodulation to identify hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) in newborns to reduce death and lifelong brain injury. HIE is the leading cause of neonatal death and impacts 2-6 of every 1,000 live births in the developed world. Our goal is to investigate and demons ...

Project Abstract Over 7 million children in the U.S. receive support for a developmental delay or disability (DD). For caregivers of these children, behavior issues that often accompany their childandapos;s condition create high levels of stress leading to increased mental and physical health issues and impacts on caregiver-child interactions and family functioning. Although evidence-based practic ...

PROJECT SUMMARY Mechanical thrombectomy (MT) has recently gained impetus as a treatment for acute ischemic stroke (AIS). Although technical progress has been made, the efficacy of the current techniques remains sub-optimal and MT is still associated with significant complications. Current MT techniques, using stent retrievers or aspiration catheters, achieve successful revascularization after the ...

ABSTRACTAlpha-1 antitrypsin (A1AT) is well-established as a biotherapeutic used for the treatment of alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency, and shows promise for treating a variety of other diseases. However, A1AT augmentation therapy carries unnecessary risk since it relies upon the weekly transfusion of plasma-derived product, which presents supply chain and contaminant risks. This could be remedied wi ...