Award Data

Project Summary/Abstract (30 lines) In the United States, 15 million children and adolescents need psychological services; yet only one-third receive psychological services of any kind. Even fewer receive care that is consistent with evidence-based guidelines for best practices. This gap has widened dramatically with the negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of children, 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 ...

Project Summary/AbstractMutant forms of KRAS are a key driver in human tumors but remain partially refractory to therapeutic intervention. After over three decades of research, only a single inhibitor (sotorasib) targeting a single mutation (KRASG12C) have reached market. The difficulty for developing small molecule KRAS inhibitors has heightened the importance of alternative methods targeting the ...

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACTHealthcare systems around the world, including within the United States, have long-established shortages of trained caregivers (WHO, 2016; Jones, Liu, Murfield, andamp; Moyle, 2020). The American Health Care Association (2019) states that “the health care system has experienced a shortage of trained caregivers for critical roles for some time.” This scarcity directly im ...

This project will establish proof-of-concept for CCR5 immunotoxins as HIV reservoir-depletion agents for use in cure strategies. HIV cure and remission strategies require elimination or reduction of the HIV reservoir. Approaches to reservoir reduction pursued by other groups include gene editing, i.e., direct removal of integrated provirus; latency reversal and an accompanying “kill” strategy; ...

Abstract There is a significant need for new treatments for opioid use disorder (OUD) to manage patients abusing heroin, fentanyl, oxycodone and related drugs. Buprenorphine and methadone are both effective medications for OUD but are agonists with potential for abuse and diversion, and with methadone the risk of respiratory depression and overdose death. Moreover, these compounds are not effectiv ...

Project Summary We have developed a candidate product that induces colon epithelial repair in ulcerative colitis (UC) models. UC comprises a major type of inflammatory bowel disease and is characterized by chronic and relapsing inflammation in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. UC develops in the innermost mucosal layer of the distal GI tract in a continuous manner, usually starting at the rectum an ...

Project Summary/Abstract Low oxygen (hypoxic) environments are known to be important for maintaining the small number of adult stem cells in the human body, such as in bone marrow. These conditions are also believed to enable dormant cancer cells to survive and metastasize years or decades after the original tumor has been destroyed and the reason why bone marrow is one of the most common sites of ...

PROJECT SUMMARY Shift workers experience profound circadian disruption, which can have deleterious long term effects on their health and quality of life. Mood, fatigue, and performance can be improved in shift workers by moving the timing of their peak circadian drive to sleep outside the hours they are expected to work. This can be achieved with a targeted lighting intervention, as light is the p ...

Opioids, especially synthetic opioids, are a constant threat to the safety of civilian first responders; there are now serious concerns about their use in modern chemical warfare. Fentanyl and its many analogues (carfentanil, remifentanil, lofentanil, mefentanil, sufentanil, etc.) are extremely hazardous—if ingested or inhaled, many synthetic opioids cause lethal intoxication with only a few gra ...