CTSI Translational Pilot Studies Program awards 11 new grants for 2018-19

BUFFALO, N.Y. – The University at Buffalo’s Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI), with local institutional support and an award from the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), National Institutes of Health, has awarded 11 new grants to support promising translational research projects in Western New York.

The pilot studies program provides seed money to help advance new technologies and therapeutics from the conceptual stage to clinical studies. Having preliminary, proof-of-concept studies in hand greatly enhances a proposal’s chance of attracting outside funding for further testing. A total of $550,000 in funding was distributed among the 11 translational pilot study projects chosen.

“In addition to supporting innovative, high-impact, clinical-translational science, the program looks for projects that foster cross-disciplinary collaborations and mentoring relationships,” said Steven J. Fliesler, PhD, UB Distinguished Professor in the Department of Ophthalmology and co-director of the Translational Pilot Studies Program. “Priority is given to projects that address health care disparities in underserved populations in Western New York and allow applicants to generate sufficient preliminary data to secure future extramural funding.”

Recipients of the 2018-19 CTSI Translational Pilot Studies Program awards are:

Hospital Observation Upon Reversal (HOUR) with Naloxone: A multicenter decision rule validation
Principal investigator: Brian Clemency, DO, Department of Emergency Medicine, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences

Nivolumab-augmented vaccination against decitabine-induced NY-ESO-1 in MDS/AML
Co-principal investigators: Elizabeth Griffiths, MD, departments of Medicine, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center and Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, and Michael Nemeth, PhD, Department of Medicine, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center

Development of biomarkers for circadian rhythm of radio-sensitivity using non-invasive collected samples of oral mucosa of healthy individuals
Principal investigator: Fangyi Gu, MD, ScD, Department of Cancer Prevention and Control, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center

Is there a lead diet? Harnessing population-based evidence for translatable public health messages on lowering childhood lead exposure
Principal investigator: Katarzyna Kordas, PhD, Department of Epidemiology and Environmental Health, School of Public Health and Health Professions

Aligning Schools to Help Manage Asthma (Project ASTHMA)
Principal investigator: Lucy Holmes, MD, MPH, Department of Pediatrics, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences

Biomarkers of ischemic stroke subtype to aid post-thrombectomy workup
Co-principal investigators: Adnan Siddiqui, MD, PhD, Department of Neurosurgery, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, and Hui Meng, PhD, Departments of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and Biomedical Engineering, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, and Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences

Linking New York State databases to identify risk factors for health disparities in lung cancer
Principal investigator: Darryl Somayaji, PhD, RN, School of Nursing

Assessment of phosphodiesterase-4D as a novel target for neuropsychiatric indications in treatment of memory-related disorders using a translational mouse-model approach
Principal investigator: Ying Xu, MD, PhD, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences

Pre-clinical evaluation of a novel antibody-based therapy to improve cardiac repair after acute myocardial infarction
Principal investigator: Brian Weil, PhD, Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences

Chronic kidney disease associated dysbiosis effects on cardiovascular diseases
Principal investigator: Rabi Yacoub, MD, Department of Medicine, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences

Detection of cancer mutations in circulating tumor DNA using CRISPR-Cas13a
Principal investigator: Edwin Yau, MD, PhD, departments of Medicine and of Cancer Genetics and Genomics, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center

Funding for the CTSI Translational Science Pilot Studies Program is provided by UB’s Office of the Provost, Office of the Vice President for Research and Economic Development, and Office of the Vice President for Health Sciences; Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center; and the deans of UB’s Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, School of Dental Medicine, School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, School of Public Health and Health Professions and School of Nursing. Increased funding from the NIH Clinical and Translational Science Award has expanded the number of pilot study awards in recent years.

Investigators who received CTSI pilot study awards in 2016-17 will present their findings at a colloquium to be held in the Clinical and Translational Research Center in October. The Request for Applications (RFA) for the 2019-20 round of studies is scheduled to be released this summer. More information will be posted to the CTSI Pilot Translational Studies Program webpage as it becomes available.

The UB CTSI seeks to improve health and reduce health disparities in the Western New York community through innovative clinical and translational research. The program is supported by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences of the National Institutes of Health under award number UL1TR001412 to the University at Buffalo.