Award Data

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a devastating neurodegenerative disorder. One of the few drugs used to treat AD is memantine, which inhibits N-methyl-d-aspartate receptors (NMDARs), glutamate receptor subtypes found at nearly all vertebrate excitatory synapses. NMDARs are critically involved in many aspects of nervous system function, including learning and me ...

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The broad and long-term objective of this project is to amplify the effectiveness of vaccines without the use of chemical or biological adjuvants. We will address this objective by demonstrating the feasibility for small laser- based devices to enhance responses to intradermal vaccination. A number of investigators have shown that a promising new way to make va ...

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): While minimally invasive surgery has transformed the practice of surgery, access to implants for removal or alteration still requires surgery which generates risk and high cost. A next-generation approach is non-invasive, where implants are adjusted without an incision. There are clear applications in all fields of surgery, but particulary in orthopaedics wher ...

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The major barriers limiting the application of MRI to detect small liver lesions and metastasis at the early stage and patient selection for targeted therapy based on molecular imaging of disease biomarkers, are due tothe lack of desired MRI contrast agents capable of enhancing the contrast between normal liver tissues and tumors with high relaxivity, tumor tar ...

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Cisplatin is a cornerstone therapy for a number of cancers including testicular, bladder, ovarian and lung. It is also used to treat cancers in children. In all cases there is a high incidence of acute kidney injury (AKI) that can also lead to later stage kidney damage. This risk limits its use. We have found in pilot studies that renalase, or peptide fragment ...

Project Summary / Abstract Although standard MRI techniques provide valuable structural insight, a related technique known as magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) adds powerful real-time metabolic information about the tissues under study. MRS provides early detection of disease, monitoring treatment efficacy, and, in the case of cancer, a dramatic reduction in unnecessary biopsies. However, bro ...

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Type 2 diabetes (T2D) has reached epidemic proportions in the United States, affecting an estimated 8.3% of the population. Unfortunately, the majority of individuals with diabetes continue to have suboptimal control ofglucose, therefore new and improved approaches to prevention and treatment are sorely needed. Dr. Mary Elizabeth Patti's laboratory at the ...

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Driving while intoxicated (DWI) remains a substantial and preventable source of morbidity and mortality in the United States. A variety of sanctions and interventions have been attempted to reduce DWI in the U.S., including enhanced DWI enforcement efforts, stricter drunk driving laws, responsible alcohol beverage service training, and alcohol treatment. The Ig ...

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The longterm goal of this project is to utilize cytomegalovirus (CMV) vectors in the development of a therapeutic vaccine against herpes simplex virus 2 (HSV-2), the causative agent of genital herpes. HSV-2 is widely prevalent in the population causing recurrent genital lesions and significantly increasing the risk for other sexually transmitted diseases such a ...

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Chronic skin wounds associated with various diseases (e.g., diabetes) and aberrant healing from acute wounding (e.g., hypertrophic scarring) is a major health care burden, which need scientific discovery-based therapeutic interventions. Our previous studies show that Smad7, a TGFb signaling antagonist, accelerates skin wound healing. We have developed a Smad7 f ...