Contact: Ellen Bank
843.792.2626
Oct. 9, 2002
Charleston, SC -- Within the last two weeks, the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) received more research funding than it did for the entire year in 1993.
Five major projects, related to an extension of the human genome project, a new basic research center, oral health, a women's research center and a reduction of health disparities, garnered $42.9 million. That exceeds fiscal 1993's total by $1.5 million.
"Nine years ago notwithstanding, the increase just this year over last is astounding," said Dillard Marshall, director of research and sponsored programs. "Looking at the first quarter of this fiscal year, research dollars coming to the university were 45% above what they were the first quarter last fiscal year."
Total research funding for last fiscal year was $131 million.
The largest of the recent awards, a $15.2 million grant to develop a Cardiovascular Proteomics Center*, is being announced Wednesday, Oct. 9, by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The NHLBI is funding nine other centers across the United States, including Johns Hopkins, Stanford and Yale universities. The grant is the largest competitive grant or contract that MUSC has ever received from the National Institutes of Health.
The other new MUSC awards are:
• a $10.9 million grant to establish a Center in Lipidomics and Pathobiology
• an $8.7 million grant to develop a Center in Oral Health Research
• a $4.4 million grant to establish a Women's Research Center, and
• a $3.7 million grant to promote research to reduce health disparities.
"The receipt of this unprecedented quantity of competitive
funding is a stellar achievement and a reflection of the
caliber of our research faculty, " said John Raymond, M.D., associate provost
for research and interim provost. "The results of this funded research
will contribute towards the improvement of the health and well-being of our
citizens for generations to come."
Kenneth J. Roozen, Ph.D., director of MUSC's Foundation for Research Development said, "The receipt of these grants represents a milestone for the Medical University. Winning multi-investigator awards is a sign of maturity in terms of institutional reputation and quality. When we compete successfully for awards such as program or center grants, we receive awards that bring individual faculty together, and the funding is significantly greater than that under individual grants. Importantly, these awards also support multi-user facilities and/or equipment that cannot be afforded by single investigators. Investigators working under such awards tend to feed off each other, resulting in an intellectual synergy that explodes into a wealth of new information."
Proteomics is the new frontier of biomedical research following the sequencing of the human genome, explained Daniel R. Knapp, Ph.D., professor of Cell & Molecular Pharmacology & Experimental Therapeutics. Knapp is principal investigator on the seven-year, $15.2 million Cardiovascular Proteomics Center grant.
"Proteomics is the study of all of the proteins produced
in a living system from the information encoded in the genome," said Knapp.
"The availability of the genome sequence sets the stage for the larger
task of interpreting the biological significance of the information. Proteomics
will be key to this interpretation. The study of proteomics is expected to ultimately
lead to understanding cellular function at the molecular level and how the functions
go awry in
disease, providing a basis for design of new medical therapies."
MUSC will also compete for an additional contract to serve as the national coordinating center for the 10 NHLBI Proteomics Centers throughout the country.
The $10.9 million grant to establish a center in Lipidomics and Pathobiology will support MUSC investigators in their efforts to understand the role of a class of fatty molecules, known as sphingolipids in regulating cell growth, cell death and cell aging. The five-year Center of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) grant is funded by the National Institutes of Health. Lina Obeid, Boyle professor of medicine and professor of biochemistry, is principal investigator for the grant.
"With this grant, we hope to develop a premier center
that defines the function of these fatty acid molecules in human disease, especially
cancer, aging, neurologic disease and fungal pathogenesis," said Yusuf
Hannun, M.D., Ralph F. Hirschmann chair and professor of biomedical research,
deputy director of the Hollings Cancer Center and
co-investigator on the grant.
"The functions of this abundant class of molecules has
been an enigma," said Hannun, "and hence the name derived from the
Greek Sphinx. The members of the COBRE group at MUSC have been at the frontiers
of developing an understanding of how these molecules participate in regulating
several fundamental aspects of human cell
function."
The center will emphasize the mentoring of junior faculty and the development of specific shared research facilities for use by the entire MUSC research community.
The five-year, $8.7 million grant to develop a Center in Oral
Health Research at MUSC is the largest single award in the history of the Medical
University's College of Dental Medicine. . The Center of Biomedical Research
Excellence (COBRE) grant is funded by the National Institutes of Health.
"Our primary goal," said Steven D. London, DDS, Ph.D.,
director, Division of Oral and Community Health Science, associate dean for
research and basic sciences and principal investigator, "is to develop
a multidisciplinary and
interactive center in MUSC's College of Dental Medicine that advances knowledge
in oral health by supporting investigators from several different disciplines
and enhances their research competitiveness."
The research will concentrate on issues in which significant disparities exist nationally and in South Carolina, particularly among African Americans. Emphasis will be on oral cancer, oral health education, and the relationship between oral health and general health, with a focus on individuals with diabetes.
The $4.4 million, 5-year grant to establish a Women's Research
Center (WRC) at MUSC will promote cross-disciplinary research in issues relevant
to women's health. It is funded by the Office of Research on Women's Health
in partnership with NIH. Specifically, under the direction of Katheen Brady,
M.D. Ph.D., and Carrie Randall, Ph.D., the WRC will be comprised of four research
components, two clinical and two basic science, that will engage in interdisciplinary
and collaborative research to study relapse to drug abuse. Brady is professor
of psychiatry and behavioral sciences and director of clinical programs, Neurosciences
Institute, and Randall is professor of
psychiatry and director of the Charleston Alcohol Research Center.
The $3.7 million, five year grant to promote research to reduce health disparities supports a partnership between MUSC and South Carolina State University and focuses on disorders such as hypertension, diabetes, lipid abnormalities and obesity which are major contributors to health disparities. Sabra C. Slaughter, Ph.D., chief of staff, MUSC and James H. Walker Jr., Ph.D., acting executive director, 1890 Research and Extension Office, South Carolina State University are its principal investigators. Its goal is to build capacity for health disparity research in minority-serving institutions and promote participation in biomedical and behavioral research.
"Eliminating health disparities is a complex matter and will require collaborative approaches," said Slaughter. "The center grant is designed to foster multidisciplinary approaches to multifaceted problems." Support comes from NIH's National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities.
*The following statement concerning the Cardiovascular Proteomics
Center is required by the funding agency to included in all press releases:
This project is currently funded 100 percent by federal funds. The dollar amount
of federal funds for the project is $15,230,008. The percentage and dollar amount
of the project that will be financed by
nongovernmental sources is currently zero.
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