Award Data

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The goal of this project is to synthesize, based on genomic sequence information, a human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) strain with demonstrated ability to establish persistent infection in sero-positive individuals. The resulting synthetic product will form the basis for the development of attenuated HCMV vaccines. Innovative synthetic biology methods will overcome ...

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Highly Active Anti-Retroviral Therapy (HAART) used to treat HIV/AIDS has serious side-effects, including metabolic complications from mitochondrial toxicities that can be life-threatening, and limit effectiveness and patient compliance. Adverse metabolic effects are now managed by adept clinicians who monitor patients closely for clinical symptoms and adjust t ...

PROJECT SUMMARY Asthma, characterized by airways obstruction with symptoms of wheezing, shortness of breath, chest tightness and consequently cough, remains a significant health problem. While advances in bronchodilator, corticosteroid and Th2-targeting therapy allow for well-controlled asthma in a large population of patients, subjects with severe, corticosteroid resistant asthma require frequent ...

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): An increasing variety of diseases are being shown to be due to immunological processes, including diabetes, and now Alzheimer's disease (AD). AD is the most prevalent age-associated disease and growing evidence suggeststhat aspects of the innate immune system play a major role its progression. Based on this evidence, we propose a new approach to the treatm ...

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Over 150 million people worldwide are infected with the hepatitis C virus (HCV), which is an important cause of chronic liver disease. Current therapies are inadequate. Our long-term objective is to bring a new class of anti-HCV drugs to the clinic. We recently discovered and genetically validated a new target within the HCV non-structural protein NS4B, consist ...

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): In this proposal we lay out a comprehensive research plan to evaluate our passive vaccination strategies targeting Staphylococcus aureus/MRSA to prevent or treat infections associated with S. aureus/MRSA. With the emergence of highly antibiotic-resistant bacterial strains, most notably MRSA, new approaches for combating bacterial infections are desperately nee ...

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Invasive candidiasis (IC) is one of the most serious threats to patients in a critical setting. With as many as 60,000 cases per year in the U.S., the total cost associated with IC in the U.S. may be as high as 2-4 billion/year. One of the most critical factors influencing patient outcome is early diagnosis. The goal of this project is a rapi and inexpensive i ...

Project Summary AbstractUpwards ofmillion individuals are afflicted by chronic pain in the US alonewithmillion of these individuals suffering from neuropathic painOn a global scalechronic pain affectsbillion individualswithwho endure lower back painFrom a clinical perspectivethe International Association for the Study of Pain approximates thatinpatients present with painand on an annual basisinpat ...

DESCRIPTION provided by applicant Complete achromatopsia is an autosomal recessive inherited congenital disorder of retinal cone photoreceptors Patients with complete achromatopsia experience extreme light sensitivity and daytime blindness and best visual acuity under non bright light conditions is usually or worse and generally stable over time In addition to poor acuity hypersensit ...

PROJECT SUMMARY Migraine is a highly prevalent condition with an extraordinarily negative impact on quality of life and represents a heavy socioeconomic burden to the societyprimarily because of decreased working efficiency and workdays lostManagement of migraine has become increasingly pharmacological during recent yearsWhile several therapeutic options existmost of the prophylactic drugs current ...