Award Data

Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) causes more than 509,000 deaths per year worldwide, and over 80% of these cases occur in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). In the settings where it is available and affordable, ESCC diagnosis is made using the highly invasive and expensive procedure known as esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD, also referred to as upper endoscopy). However, citizens of ...

PROJECT SUMMARY / ABSTRACT Alzheimerandapos;s disease (AD) is the most widespread neurodegenerative disorder and has caused a major global health concern with the aging population. Early diagnosis of AD before irreversible brain damage or mental decline is critical for timely intervention, symptomatic treatment, and improved patient function. Accumulating studies indicate that neuron-derived extra ...

ABSTRACTLyme disease, the most common vector-borne illness in North America, is caused by the spirochete B. burgdorferi. Infection begins in the skin following an infected tick-bite and acute illness is characterized by headache, fever and myalgia. Currently, there is no human vaccine against Lyme disease and therapeutic administration of antibiotics remains the recommended treatment option. In th ...

Radical prostatectomy (RP) is a commonly used treatment option for localized prostate cancer, which carries a high risk for development of erectile dysfunction (ED) because of cavernous nerve (CN) injury. Even newer, nerve-sparing, robotic procedures do not convincingly improve erectile function (EF) outcomes after RP. In addition, ED resulting from RP is often refractory to treatment by orally ad ...

Physical activity (PA) is a modifiable risk factor for a number of preventable chronic diseases, including cardiovascular disease, strokes, obesity, and diabetes. These conditions constitute health disparities for African American men. Behavioral interventions have proven to be effective in promoting increases in physical activity. While behavior change programs have been shown to assist participa ...

Project Summary Morbidity associated with neuronal degeneration and dysfunction poses an increasing public health burden. Among the wide range of etiologies that result in neuronal dysfunction, including chronic conditions such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease and vascular dementias, one major cause that has been largely unnoticed but is increasingly recognized as a major concern is trau ...

Project Summary There is a world-wide “twin epidemic” of obesity and Type 2 Diabetes (T2D), with an urgent need to find effective new drug treatments for inducing weight loss. Stable derivatives of the endogenous glucoregulatory hormone, glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP1) are in clinical use for the treatment of T2D but are also of great interest as an emerging treatment of obesity. Another closel ...

Original Abstract A multimodal platform for Oral screening of COVID-19 The development of a rapid and reliable sensor system from readily available oral specimens is crucial for the screening and management of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Other than tests that require laboratory-scale instrumentation, the development of rapid tests can play a timely role in the management of an outbreak. Current rapid te ...

The United States is experiencing a public health crisis on a massive scale due to the number of people with dementia, lack of cures, and challenges associated with caregiving for this population.1,2 Until cures for the dementias are discovered, new technologies and interventions are imperative that can reduce the stress and emotional burden of Alzheimerandapos;s disease (AD) and Alzheimerandapos; ...

PROJECT SUMMARY Current therapy for ischemic stroke is limited and new treatment is needed since the mortality and morbidity of subjects with this condition remain high. Effort aimed at blocking immune cell- mediated inflammation represents a novel approach. The specific background for the proposed project is that we have identified the myeloid P2X4 receptor (P2X4R), which induces inflammation, as ...