Award Data

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Genital herpes is one of the most prevalent sexually transmitted infections worldwide and is associated with substantial morbidity. The impact of genital herpes as a public health threat is amplified because of its epidemiologic synergy with HIV. Epidemiological studies consistently demonstrate that HSV infection increases the risk of HIV transmission and acqu ...

Cigarette smoking is the leading cause of mortality in the U Sresulting in overdeaths every year and costing more than $billion in loss of productivitySmoking is also the leading cause of cancer and of deaths from cancerAlthough the prevalence of smoking has declined over the pastyearslarge disparities in tobacco use remain across a number of groupsLatino a smokers represent a major health dispari ...

Abstract E cigarettes (E-cigs) are increasingly popular worldwide, in particular, among youths. E-cigs may contribute to nicotine addiction and are unlikely to discourage conventional cigarette smoking. Mainstream and second-hand E-cig aerosols contain, in addition to nicotine, detectable levels of toxins including carcinogens and heavy metals such as formaldehyde, benzene, nitrosamines, cadmium a ...

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 ...

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Increasing evidence indicates that systemic inflammation and the blood-brain barrier (BBB), which becomes the target of overreacting or misguided immune cells that determine BBB failure and immune extravasations into the brain parenchyma, are involved in the pathogenesis of neurological diseases such as meningitis, inflammation, Alzheimer's disease, and multipl ...

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Human prion diseases are infectious and invariably fatal forms of neurodegenerative diseases, including sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (sCJD), the most common form, and variant CJD (vCJD) which is associated to consumption of cattle meat infected by bovine spongiform encephalopathy. Currently there is not sensitive, objective and non-invasive biochemical di ...

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Sleep deprivation (SD) occurs universally in modern societies and causes significant social and financial harm. Numerous human and animal studies indicate that various forms of SD are deleterious to mental and physicalhealth. Therefore, SD has been recognized as an unmet challenge to public health. There is increased need to study the effects of different forms ...

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The most common artificial voice source for post-laryngectomy speech rehabilitation is the hand-held buzzer or electrolarynx (EL). This device is relatively easy to use and enables most laryngectomees to verbally communicate, but with reduced intelligibility and markedly degraded naturalness. In addition, EL speech is often described as robotic and monotone, at ...

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The most common artificial voice source for post-laryngectomy speech rehabilitation is the hand-held buzzer or electrolarynx (EL). This device is relatively easy to use and enables most laryngectomees to verbally communicate, but with reduced intelligibility and markedly degraded naturalness. In addition, EL speech is often described as robotic and monotone, at ...

PROJECT SUMMARY Multiple SclerosisMSis the most common neurological disease of early adulthood and is mediated by autoimmune mechanisms that lead to demyelination and neuronal damage in the central nervous systemresulting in progressive neurological dysfunctionUp to datethere is no cure for the disease and current available treatments focus on preventing future immunological attacksprimarily by su ...