UAMS Translational Research Institute Awards $300,000 for Six Promising Pilot Research Studies

By David Robinson

| LITTLE ROCK – The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) Translational Research Institute has awarded six researchers $300,000 for pilot studies.

The annual awards of $50,000 each are made to studies that have the strongest likelihood of success. Results of the pilot studies will be used to pursue larger research grants.

“The Translational Research Institute is providing our talented scientists the resources they need to make meaningful discoveries that will benefit the people of Arkansas and the United States,” said Curtis Lowery, M.D., director of the Translational Research Institute. “We’re excited about each of our 2013 recipients and the work they’re doing.”

The researchers and their project titles are:

  • Gunnar Boysen, Ph.D., UAMS Fay W. Boozman College of Public Health, Department of Environmental & Occupational Health, Systems Biology Based Diagnosis of Lung Cancer

 

  • Ricardo Caceda, M.D., Ph.D., UAMS College of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, Neural Substrates of Decision Making in Acutely Suicidal Depressed Patients

 

  • Matthew Hardee, M.D., Ph.D., UAMS College of Medicine, Department of Radiation Oncology, Glutamine for the Prevention of Radiation Toxicity in Patient Undergoing Breast Conserving Therapy

 

  • Sara Jones, Ph.D., B.S.N., UAMS College of Nursing, Department of Nursing Science, Exploring Brain-Behavior Relationships to Disrupt the Trans-Generational Cycle of Sexual Abuse

 

  • Angus MacNicol, Ph.D., UAMS College of Medicine, Department of Neurobiology & Developmental Sciences, Small Molecule Chemical Screening for Musashi Inhibitors

 

  • Mark Mennemeier, Ph.D., UAMS College of Medicine, Department of Neurobiology & Developmental Sciences, Using fMRI to Predict an rTMS-Induced Treatment Response in Patients with Tinnitus

The UAMS Translational Research Institute’s mission is to help accelerate research that will improve the health and health care of people in Arkansas and across the country. It was established with major funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in 2009 and is one of 60 NIH Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) recipients. The institute’s funding from NIH flows through the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS).