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Funding research efforts
Six teams receive grants in latest round of IRDF awards
By SUE WUETCHER
Reporter Editor
Six research teams have been awarded seed grants in the latest round of funding from the UB 2020 Interdisciplinary Research Development Fund (IRDF).
The IRDF is one of several programs created by Jorge V. José, vice president for research, to encourage and enable increased research and scholarly activity among university faculty and staff.
The goal of the IRDF is to encourage collaboration among faculty across disciplines for new research projects that ultimately will attract external grant support. Proposals must be within the areas of strategic strength identified by the UB 2020 strategic planning process.
The projects receiving funding during the November funding cycle are:
“Defining Cytokine Signaling by Mass Spectrometry”: Sarah Gaffen, Oral Biology, School of Dental Medicine, corresponding investigator; Troy Wood, Chemistry, College of Arts and Sciences, co-investigator. New advances in the field of immunology have identified a new cytokine—interleukin-17 (IL-17)—that appears to play a major role in autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis. Blocking IL-17 or its receptor (IL-17RA) dramatically reduces symptoms in animal models of autoimmunity. However, little is known about the molecular mechanisms by which IL-17 causes inflammatory pathology. Gaffen’s lab recently demonstrated that IL-17 turns on inflammatory genes by activating a cellular transcription factor protein termed C/EBPbeta. Wood’s lab has used mass spectrometry to show that IL-17 rapidly triggers a chemical modification of C/EBPbeta in which a phosphate group is added to a specific amino-acid residue on the protein. The goal of this project is to detail the biochemistry and kinetics of C/EBPbeta phosphorylation and to identify the cellular enzymes that mediate this modification. Understanding precisely how IL-17 controls gene expression through C/EBPbeta may lead to new therapies for treating autoimmunity.
“Determining Best Practices for Treating Ankle Sprains”: John Leddy, Orthopaedics, School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, corresponding investigator; John Marzo, Orthopaedics; and Dale Fish, Rehabilitation Science, and Albert Vexler, Biostatistics, both in the School of Public Health and Health Professions, co-investigators. This project proposes to determine whether current management practices for ankle sprains—among the most common orthopaedic injuries to athletes, military personnel and the general population—improve recovery to function in a military population. Determining whether current management practices for ankle sprains actually work is important because these same practices are applied to all joints—including knees, shoulders and wrists—that sustain sprains and strains.
“Identification of Novel Antimicrobial Targets in Acinetobacter”: Thomas Russo, Medicine, School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, corresponding investigator; Timothy Umland, George DeTitta and L. Wayne Schultz, all of Structural Biology, School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, co-investigators
The bacterium Acinetobacter has been identified as the cause of a new series of infections reported in U.S. service members injured in Iraq and Afghanistan. Some of these strains of Acinetobacter are resistant to all commonly used antibiotics, and there are virtually no new agents active against bacteria such as Acinetobacter in the pharmaceutical antibiotic discovery pipeline. The goal of this project is to use a novel approach to identify new, conserved antibiotic targets in Acinetobacter. Subsequently, compounds that interact with these targets will be identified and will serve as the basis for developing new antibiotics active against Acinetobacter.
“Renal Stem Cells for Regenerative Therapy”: Mary L. Taub, Biochemistry, School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, corresponding investigator; James Springate, Pediatrics, School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, co-investigator. This project will determine whether renal stem cells from a rabbit kidney can be selectively cultured in hormonally defined serum free medium, and used to restore normal function to cystinotic tubules in human kidneys, which are affected in a number of inherited and acquired renal diseases.
“Multilayer Polymer-Clay Nanoassemblies”: Marina Tsianou, Chemical and Biological Engineering, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, corresponding investigator; Rossman F. Giese, Geology, CAS, co-investigator. In this project, the researchers will use nontoxic, biocompatible and/or biodegradable polymers and clays as building blocks to generate new nanostructures. Successful completion of this project will enable the fabrication of unique bionanomaterials that can be suitable for such biomedical applications as scaffolds for protein adhesion, cell growth and delivery.
“Neurophysiological and Behavioral Characteristics of Heavy Drinkers and Aggressive Drivers”: Changxu Wu, Industrial and Systems Engineering, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, corresponding investigator; Rebecca Houston, Research Institute on Addictions, co-investigator. Aggressive driving and drinking and driving are two major factors in traffic accidents. Current intervention and treatment programs for problem drivers likely focus on these factors as state conditions—behaviors conducted “in the moment”—as opposed to trait-like aspects of the individual. Studies of individuals with a pattern of heavy drinking have repeatedly demonstrated deficits in neurocognitive domains, some of which may be relevant for driving behavior. Individuals with a history of aggressive behavior have shown similar impairments. This study is designed to examine the potentially interactive effects of these two factors on neurophysiological and behavioral measures during a driving simulation task.