News on the money and policy behind biomedical research. Covers foundation and career-development awards, endocrine and neuroscience funding, and university royalties.
The Cardinal Health Foundation awarded Virginia R. Litle, MD, a Thoracic Surgeon at Boston Medical Center, grant funding to study the efficacy of a Caprini Risk Assessment Model and implement an efficient anticoagulation compliance protocol. The initiative aims to reduce venous thromboembolism complications after thoracic surgery.
An AIBS analysis of peer review found correlations between scores and citation impact, but not funding amounts. This study offers insights into increasing research productivity through peer review models.
LSU Health New Orleans will enhance its cancer data on children and young adults by linkages with secondary data sets, providing a more robust research resource. The award aims to better understand why survival rates for adolescents and young adults have not improved over the last two decades.
A recent study published in PLOS Medicine found that children who regularly consumed a healthy breakfast had lower levels of known diabetes risk factors, including fasting insulin and glucose. The researchers also discovered that consuming high-fiber cereal for breakfast was particularly protective against insulin resistance.
The Life Sciences Discovery Fund awarded nearly $750,000 in Proof of Concept grants to Washington state organizations to translate health-related technologies from the lab to the marketplace. Funding supports development of products for lupus treatment and at-home lung function monitoring.
A prospective intervention study in Niger found that combining supplementary food with a cash transfer reduced rates of child malnutrition. The study compared the effectiveness of seven preventative strategies and found that the combination of food supplements plus cash was most effective in preventing acute malnutrition.
The Center for Theoretical Biological Physics at Rice University has received a five-year, $11.75 million grant from the NSF to support its work on applying physical science to new aspects of the natural world. Researchers will develop concepts, models and methods that quantitatively describe processes in living systems.
The University of Houston Graduate College of Social Work has received a $1.25 million NIH grant to study the long-term impact of heroin use on health and behavior. The grant will support innovative virtual reality research, as well as programs to promote underrepresented researchers and provide prevention services.
CPRIT awards UT Southwestern $26 million to expand cancer screenings, investigate therapy effectiveness, and conduct cancer biology research. The grants also support recruitment efforts and innovative approaches to improve treatment and prevention of cancer.
The NIH has issued a final policy on genomic data sharing to promote the acceleration of biomedical research. The policy, which applies to all NIH-funded large-scale human and non-human projects, requires researchers to obtain informed consent from study participants for future use of their de-identified data.
A new grant will test a suite of videos to enhance conversations about advance care planning in nursing homes, aiming to reduce hospitalizations among elderly residents with specific conditions. The study aims to establish a methodology for conducting large pragmatic trials in complex healthcare systems.
A study found that India's Total Sanitation campaign increased latrine availability and reduced open defecation, but did not improve child health outcomes. Despite limitations, the results highlight the need for continued efforts to expand global understanding of sanitation's impact on child health.
Researchers aim to create efficient statistical machine learning techniques for distributed computing systems, enabling industry and research to analyze massive data sets without the need for radical new programming models. The project focuses on extending Rice's SimSQL platform for stochastic analytics and will be open-source.
The FASEB MARC Program has announced travel awards for postdoctorates and research scientists from underrepresented groups to attend a grant writing seminar and practical exercises workshop. This year, 11 awards totaling $20,350 were conferred.
The LSU Health New Orleans School of Nursing received a $700,000 Advanced Education Nursing Traineeship grant to increase access to advanced nursing education and patient care. The program will provide funding for up to 50 PCFNP students from disadvantaged groups.
Researchers at University of Waterloo are investigating factors impacting food intake in long-term care settings, with a focus on improving nutrition for older adults. The study, funded by $1.5 million in grants, aims to understand the complex relationships between meal quality, food access, and mealtime experience.
Researchers are leveraging parallel computing in the cloud to accelerate discovery and innovation in personalized medicine. By harnessing supercomputer powers, scientists can tackle previously infeasible problems and make groundbreaking discoveries.
The Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation has received a five-year, $14.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to continue its research on anthrax and its effects on humans. The project aims to identify new vaccines and drug targets by studying the human immune response to anthrax bacteria.
The VCU Alcohol Research Center will investigate the genetic systems contributing to alcoholism using advanced statistical and bioinformatic methods. Researchers will focus on gene networks influencing alcohol behaviors in humans and animals.
A study of 56,666 patients with stroke found that weekend nurse staffing was strongly associated with mortality outcomes, regardless of the day of admission. Patients admitted to hospitals with lower nurse-to-patient bed ratios had a higher risk of death, highlighting the importance of adequate staffing levels on weekends.
A study found that hospital admission blood glucose levels can predict the risk of developing type 2 diabetes over three years. The risk increases linearly with increasing blood glucose level at admission, with a 1% risk for patients with low glucose and up to 15% for those with high glucose.
The NIH grant funds four collaborative projects, including those led by Dr. Robert Callender and Dr. Vern Schramm, who are working to understand the physics of atomic motions in enzymes. By doing so, they aim to design new classes of pharmaceuticals that can alleviate disease by targeting specific enzyme-substrate interactions.
The University of Houston's Comprehensive Student Success Program has been recognized for its success in improving grades and retaining students in introductory biology courses. The program includes curricular enhancement, peer-led recitation sessions, and field trips, resulting in a 14% increase in successful completion rates.
The San Antonio Life Sciences Institute has awarded over $750,000 in grants to researchers studying the intersection of immunity, microorganisms, and cancer. These collaborations aim to address public health issues and diseases with global impact, such as diabetes and cancer.
Researchers, led by UC Santa Cruz's Seth Rubin, are developing a new class of drugs to treat breast cancer by targeting the inactivated retinoblastoma tumor suppressor protein. The innovative approach may have fewer toxic side effects and be less vulnerable to drug resistance.
Karl Klose, a UTSA microbiologist, has received a $1 million contract from the US Department of Defense to develop a vaccine against tularemia. The bacteria can be deadly and has been developed as a bioweapon by several countries.
The University of Alaska Fairbanks has received a $18.8 million award from the National Institutes of Health to fund statewide biomedical research and student training in Alaska. The five-year award will support research networks across three university campuses, focusing on health, disease, and environmental factors.
A systematic review found that heart failure is a substantial health burden in low- and middle-income countries, with significant variation in presentation, causes, and management across different regions. The study also highlights the need for more research attention to address this public health issue.
Cognitive research by Kessler Foundation scientists reveals that unexpected task constraint following self-generated task choice impairs task-switching performance. The study shows that individuals struggle to undo preparation for a task, leading to negative effects on multitasking ability.
The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston has received over $6 million to develop experimental drugs against Ebola and Marburg viruses. The research aims to understand how these viruses disable the immune system and create effective treatments for patients infected with filoviruses.
A study led by Drs. Nir Barzilai and Joe Verghese aims to identify gene variants that prevent frailty in older adults. By building on previous research, the team hopes to develop drugs that mimic these genes' effects. The grant will explore biological pathways leading to frailty and investigate the role of exceptional longevity genotypes.
Researchers at Mount Sinai School of Medicine developed an effective treatment for the rare disorder, which causes continuous feelings of swaying or rocking. The treatment re-adapts the vestibulo-ocular reflex, a mechanism in the inner ear that maintains balance, and achieves significant recovery rates in patients.
The LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans has received a $5.6 million NCI grant to build a regional cancer clinical trials network, focusing on minority and underserved patients who die at higher rates from cancer. The program aims to provide access to state-of-the-art treatments and create jobs in the biomedical workforce.
Two research projects receive grants to develop tools to control Pseudogymnoascus destructans, the fungus causing White-Nose Syndrome. A naturally produced treatment using native soil bacteria and gene silencing technology are being tested.
A study found that bioluminescent sharks possess higher rod densities in their eyes compared to non-bioluminescent sharks. This adaptation allows them to capture and process bioluminescent light more efficiently, which is crucial for communication, prey detection, and camouflage.
Researchers from Monash University discovered that graphene oxide sheets can change structure to become liquid crystal droplets spontaneously. This opens up possibilities for its use in drug delivery and disease detection, potentially paving the way for new methods of detecting toxins.
A new SUNY research project aims to understand the connection between frailty and dementia, with the goal of maximizing patient outcomes and enhancing quality of life. The project will develop tools to assess frailty risk factors and determine their correlation with cognitive assessments.
Researchers at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health found that nearly 14% of reserve soldiers returning from deployment experience alcohol abuse, almost double the civilian population rate. The study highlights the important role civilian life and stress play in cases of alcohol use disorder among National Guard members.
Researchers found that even small-scale increases in urbanicity levels were associated with higher prevalence of unhealthy behaviors among rural residents. Lifestyle risk factors such as physical inactivity, low fruit and vegetable consumption, and high body mass index increased in more urbanized villages.
Crohn's and Colitis Canada funds 9 promising research projects exploring genetic, environmental causes, symptoms, and treatment options for these debilitating diseases. The organization aims to improve patient care and quality of life for over 233,000 Canadians affected by Crohn's and colitis.
The University of Maryland Schools of Dentistry and Medicine have received a five-year $10.7 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to study the causes, prevention, and treatment of sexually-transmitted diseases. The study aims to identify novel molecular biomarkers of susceptibility to STIs and disease severity.
The Brain & Behavior Research Foundation recognized six exceptional young scientists with the 2014 Klerman and Freedman Prizes for their innovative research on mental health. The winners were awarded for their work using neuroimaging to identify the biological roots of major mental illness, as well as their discoveries on the genetic m...
George Washington University researcher Anthony-Samuel LaMantia will investigate the link between autism and brain development using a valid animal model with a genetic mutation highly associated with autism. The research team will examine connectivity, behaviors related to autism, and their relationship during development.
A new study published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases found that less than 1% of UK public and charitable funding was allocated to bacteriology projects, with only around 0.7% dedicated to antibiotic research. This inadequate funding poses a significant threat to tackling the growing crisis of antibiotic resistance.
Researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine are developing a drug discovery project targeting Parkinson's disease using a newly identified target and chaperone-mediated autophagy. The goal is to develop a prototype drug that can treat the underlying cause of the disease.
A 15-year study reveals that blue whales consistently return to specific feeding grounds along the US West Coast, despite busy shipping lanes. The findings highlight the need for modifications in ship routing to reduce human threats to the endangered species.
A $600,000 grant will study the effects of climate change on water quality in the Chesapeake Bay. The research team aims to clarify the implications of continued threats from agricultural lands, urban sprawl, and climate change.
A nationwide study in Denmark, Sweden, and Finland found that children who lost a parent during childhood had a 50% higher risk of mortality in early adulthood. The increased risk persisted regardless of the child's age at parental death or the cause of parental death.
A UT Arlington big data team has won a three-year $600,000 NSF grant to develop an interactive database of fruit fly gene expressions, which are commonly found in humans and other species. The project aims to yield methods of analyzing data that will aid in biomedical science and engineering.
The Medical College of Georgia's psychology residency training program has received federal funding for five consecutive cycles, focusing on interdisciplinary training and care for the underserved. The program trains nine psychologists annually, with plans to expand to ten next year, and provides special emphasis areas in working with ...
The National Psoriasis Foundation has awarded $1.05 million in research grants to 13 scientists studying new treatments and a cure for psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis. The grants will support projects focused on translating laboratory findings into improved treatments and methods for managing the diseases.
A start-up company at NJIT has developed a spray-on gel that can control bleeding during brain surgery, shortening procedure times by 30-45 minutes. The gel is made from natural materials and biocompatible, reducing the risk of infection and morbidity rates.
Researchers at Penn Medicine will conduct a clinical trial on patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma to test the efficacy of photodynamic light therapy (PDT). The study aims to understand how PDT works in the body and what can be done to improve its response.
Researchers used brain structure and function, personality, life experiences, and genetics to predict binge drinking with 70% accuracy. The study identified factors such as impulsivity, hopelessness, and a family history of drug use as key contributors.
The University of Nevada, Reno has won a $10 million COBRE grant to study brain and neurological disorders. Researchers are using visual illusions like the Dynamic Ebbinghaus illusion to gain insights into sensory perception and the visual brain.
Researchers will analyze data from 6,000 patients with Alzheimer's and 5,000 elderly individuals without the disease to identify rare genetic variants that may protect or contribute to risk. The project aims to develop novel approaches to delay or prevent Alzheimer's disease.
Researchers found US-based scientists are underrepresented in studies on innate variation's role in athletic performance due to lack of government funding and ideological opposition. This gap affects the scientific study of sport and its biological and environmental correlates.
The American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine (AOSSM) will present ten research awards and seven grants during its Annual Meeting. The highlights include the Young Investigator Grant to Perry R. Altman, MD, for new treatment options for knee injuries, and the O'Donoghue Sports Injury Research Award to Rick W. Wright MD and colle...
The ASN Foundation for Kidney Research has awarded $2.8 million in research grants to advance the understanding and treatment of kidney diseases. The grants support basic, translational, and clinical research to improve patient outcomes.
The NIH awards grants for analyzing genome sequence data to identify rare genetic variants that protect against or contribute to Alzheimer's disease. The projects will also explore differences in data from different racial/ethnic groups and examine the association between brain images and genome sequences.