Award Data

Project Summary Skin is the first line of defense against the outside environment. When the skin barrier is breached by UV irradiation (UVR) or toxic chemicals, living cell layers including epidermal keratinocytes, melanocytes and dermal fibroblasts are subjected to DNA damage. If unrepaired, this damage can lead to photoaging and cutaneous carcinogenesis. In fact, skin cancer is by far the most c ...

PROJECT SUMMARY Peptide therapeutics combine high potency and selectivity, and engender fewer side effects than traditional small molecules. This has fueled interest in peptides filling the gap between ‘biologics’ and small molecules, as peptide-based compounds have key desired properties that are distinct both of the other classes. A major challenge remains to extend the short half-life of na ...

ABSTRACT Antibiotic-resistant infections are a major public health threat in the U.S. and globally, with Pseudomonas aeruginosa (Pa) being one of the top pathogens of concern. Phage therapy is a promising approach to treat these infections, with benefits of species-targeted activity that spares the host microbiome, an ability to penetrate biofilms and kill metabolically-inactive persister cells, a ...

Project Summary/Abstract Lyme disease (LD) is the most common vector-borne illness in the United States and represents a considerable diagnostic challenge. 1-3 The current benchmark for LD diagnosis is the standard two-tiered test (STTT), although the modified two-tier test (MTTT) is rapidly becoming an acceptable alternative. 6 These assays are highly specific but have poor sensitivity, especiall ...

Project Abstract1.4 million people in the US (2021) have implanted cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) of which ~50% will require an MRI scan in their lifetime. All ICDs generate large artifacts in MRI such as signal-voids in cardiac MR (cMR) images, which frequently occur in important pathological (infarcted) regions. Reliable diagnosis of ventricular tachycardia, premature ventricular contraction ...

Internet-based TRAC (i-TRAC): Interactive Emotion Regulation Skills Training to Improve AdolescentSexual Health Adolescence is a critical developmental period during which behavioral patterns are formed that have powerful influences on current and future health. This is particularly true for sexual behavior, which is affected by the biological changes of puberty as well as normative developmental ...

Pancreatic cancer is soon to be the second leading cause of cancer-related death with an overall median survival of 8 - 11 months. For 70% of patients, systemic chemotherapy is the only option and this mainly relieves the symptoms and/or slightly extends survival, rather than cures the patients. One of the hallmarks of PDAC is extensive fibrosis that comprises up to 80% of the tumor. Cancer-associ ...

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 ...

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT Neonatal encephalopathy can arise from fetal hypoxia-ischemia during labor, chronic uteroplacental inflammation, and large cerebral artery embolization primarily arising from dislodgement of a placental thrombus. Because of overlapping clinical presentation, differential diagnosis is often delayed until seizures develop and MRI can be safely performed, a time at which most ...

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 ...