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Clinical and Translational Pilot Grant Awards

Clinical and Translational Pilot Grant Awards

December 18, 2006

To: All Faculty and Staff

From: Eric A. Gislason, Vice Chancellor for Research

Theodore Mazzone, Principal Investigator, CTSA Planning Grant

Re: Clinical and Translational Pilot Grant Awards

This past summer the Office of the Provost, the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research, and the Health Science Colleges launched a Clinical and Translational Pilot Grant Program to support the transformative aims of the NIH CTSA initiative, namely to encourage new clinical and translational research efforts on the campus as well as to demonstrate UIC’s capacity to start a new translational research program. The specific purpose of this initiative is to facilitate NIH funding of an Institutional Clinical and Translational Science Award at UIC.

A total of 85 proposals were submitted by the October 16 deadline. A panel of 17 reviewers met on November 11 to assess both the scientific merit as well as the strategic fit of each proposal within the broader pilot grant objectives. The panel’s recommendations were forwarded to the CTSA Steering Committee who made final recommendations to the Vice Chancellor for Research.

We are pleased to announce the following pilot grant awards:

A Translational Study of the Role of Akt/mTORC1 Pathway in Hepatocarcinogenesis. Principal Investigator: Grace Guzman, Assistant Professor, Pathology; Co-Investigators: Scott Cotler, Associate Professor, Medicine; Nissim Hay, Professor, Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics; Hui Xie, Assistant Professor, Epidemiology and Biostatistics. Award: $98,284
Effects of Cytochrome P450 2 D6 Genotype on Pain Management with Codeine in Sickle Cell Disease. Principle Investigator: Stacy Shord, Assistant Professor, Pharmacy Practice; Co-Investigators: Robert Molokie, Assistant Professor, Hematology and Oncology; Larisa Cavallari, Assistant Professor, Pharmacy Practice; Susan Labbott, Associate Professor, Psychiatry. Award: $49,685
Intracoronary Injection of Autologous Bone Marrow Derived Stem Cells for the Treatment of Ischemic Cardiomyopathy with or without Refractory Angina Pectoris. Principal Investigator: David Geenen, Assistant Professor, Cardiology; Co-Principal Investigator: John Kao, Assistant Professor, Cardiology; Co-Investigator: Adhir Shroff, Assistant Professor, Cardiology; Nadim Mahmud, Assistant Professor, Hematology and Oncology. Award: $100,000
Predictors of Oral Mucositis. Principal Investigator: Phillip T. Marucha, Professor, Periodontics; Co-Investigators: Damiano Rondelli, Associate Professor, Hematology; Joel Epstein, Professor, Oral Medicine and Diagnostic Sciences; Craig Beam, Professor, Epidemiology and Biostatistics; Xiafeng Zhou, Assistant Professor, Center for Molecular Biology of Oral Diseases; Christopher Engeland, Research Assistant Professor, Periodontics; Luisa Ann DiPietro, Professor, Periodontics. Award: $100,000
A Clinical Trial of Early Physical Therapy to Promote Locomotion in Infants with White Matter Injury. Principal Investigator: Suzann K. Campbell, Professor, Physical Therapy; Co-Investigators: Xiaohong Joe Zhou, Associate Professor, Center for Magnetic Resonance Research; Rose Campise-Luther, Assistant Professor, Anesthesiology. Award: $86,320
A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Diagnosis and Treatment of Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease. Principal Investigator: Scott Cotler, Associate Professor, Medicine; Co-Investigators: Xiaohong Joe Zhou, Associate Professor, Magnetic Resonance Research Center; Grace Guzman, Assistant Professor, Pathology. Award: $99,883
Image-Based Patient Specific Predictive Modeling of Cerebral Circulation. Principal Investigator: Meide Zhao, Visiting Research Assistant Professor, Neurosurgery; ME Clark, Professor Emeritus, Theoretical and Applied Mechanics, UIUC; Sepideh Amin-Hanjani, Assistant Professor, Neurosurgery; Fady T. Charbel, Professor, Neurosurgery; Francis Loth, Associate Professor, Mechanical and Industrial Engineering.. Award: $53,139

Questions concerning the pilot grant awards can be directed to either Dr. Ted Mazzone at tmazzone@uic.edu or Mr. Anthony Halford at 312-996-7036 or ahalford@uic.edu.