At a time of diminished funding from government and other sources, biomedical research efforts at Albany Med remain vibrant.
Such cachet helped in recruiting nationally renowned researchers, including Deborah Fuller, Ph.D., who came to Albany Med from the University of Pittsburgh -- attracted by the College’s cutting edge vaccine research. Fuller and her team of scientists who are on the hunt for an Avian Flu vaccine – having recently received the second largest grant in Albany Med’s history ($5.4 million) from the government to continue their work.
Also on the vaccine front, Dennis Metzger, Ph.D., Director of the Center for Immunology and Microbial Disease received a $1.8 million, 5-year research grant from the National Institutes of Health/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID) for continued support of his research. Dr. Metzger has been researching more effective approaches for vaccination against bacterial and viral diseases with the goal of making safe, inhaled or oral vaccines that target areas where diseases enter the body.
The largest grant awarded to an individual investigator by NIAID went to James Drake, Ph.D. Drake received a $1.96 million, five-year grant focused on the role of cellular pathways in fighting infection with an eye toward the development of better vaccines.
Dorina Avram, Ph.D., received two grants totaling $2.9 million from the National Institutes of Health to further research studies into the role transcription factors may play in a wide variety of disease such as leukemia and autoimmune disorders like celiac disease, multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis.
Carlos de Noronha, Sc.D., received a $1.4 million, four-year grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to research the Vpr protein found in all HIV patients. Asks Dr. de Noronha: "What is the target of Vpr? If we can find out, perhaps we can help put a stop to HIV/AIDS."
A $1.8 million grant awarded by the NIH to Peter Vincent, PhD, will allow Albany Med researchers to explore the barrier function of blood vessels that could one day lead to preventing atherosclerosis, severe respiratory distress in trauma victims and even tumor growth in some cancer patients.
A new 5-year, $1.58 million grant from the NIH allows Dr. Yong-Xiao Wang to continue his investigation into understanding the molecular mechanisms that cause some patients to have high blood pressure in the arteries that supply the lungs.
Improgran is a powerful pain-relieving drug discovered by Albany Med researchers in the 1990s. This year, the NIH granted Lindsay Hough, PhD, and his research team more than $1 million to discover similar drugs for human use.
The American Cancer Society awarded Jihe Zhao, MD, PhD $720,000 to study the biological differences between cancerous and normal ovarian cells. Dr. Zhao expects the research will lead to early detection and prevention for patients.
