Dolores Hambardzumyan, PhD, Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, is interested in primary brain tumors. The brain tumors that she focuses on are called "gliomas," as they are derived from glial cells, which are special cells that support and protect neurons. One particular glial cell type, astrocytes, reside in stem cell niches and along the tumor's border. These cells are of interest to her, since her research has shown that the formation of gliomas causes them to activate a signaling pathway called "sonic hedgehog". Therefore, activation of this pathway may give clues regarding how the tumor's surroundings impact tumor growth – and how to stop it. This is the type of information needed for developing new treatments for this devastating disease that currently has no cure. Dr. Hambardzumyan comes to Cleveland Clinic from Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York.
Anand Ramamurthi, PhD, Biomedical Engineering, is interested in developing treatments for abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs) that lead to viable repair and regression. AAAs are typically characterized by thinning and weakening of the wall of the aorta, leading to catastrophic rupture. Current treatments include replacing the damaged area surgically with a graft, and drugs that prevent the breakdown of the aorta's wall; both treatments, however, only slow further deterioration and do not actually reverse the condition. One goal of Dr. Ramamurthi, who has extensive experience in engineering heart valve tissue, is to develop ways to induce and assemble the elastic matrix that constitutes the aorta's wall, thereby helping to not only fix the AAA, but actually reverse the disease. One challenge is inducing diseased adult cells to produce the protein elastin, which, as its name implies, makes the vessel wall stretchy. Although elastin is an essential component of this elastic matrix, it is typically produced only neonatally (during development). In addition to promoting the formation of elastic fibers, other challenges include orienting these fibers as in a healthy aorta, and stabilizing these structures against further breakdown at the site of the aneurysm. Dr. Ramamurthi currently has several exciting working models to overcome these challenges. He received his initial training, Postdoctoral Fellow through Project Staff, here at the Lerner Research Institute; he returns as an Associate Staff to the Cleveland Clinic from Clemson University, where he was a tenured Associate Professor of Bioengineering.
Takuya Sakaguchi, PhD, Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, is interested in liver development and regeneration, using the zebrafish model for his studies. Zebrafish embryos are transparent, making them an ideal model with which to study organ development, including that of the liver. Dr. Sakaguchi's studies involve identifying different genes that play critical roles in organ development, thereby contributing to understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying liver development and regeneration. His overarching goal is to find new treatments for human liver disorders based on insight gained from this model system. In his previous work, Dr. Sakaguchi identified novel roles for cells called vascular endothelial cells on liver development, especially on the liver's bile duct system, which provides transport of bile to the gut to aid in digestion. Dr. Sakaguchi comes to Cleveland Clinic from the University of California, San Francisco.
Researchers bring in over $19M in recently awarded grants
Margot Damaser, PhD, and Co-PI Jay Alberts, PhD, of Biomedical Engineering, will lead a 3-year, $3M grant "Clinically applied rehabilitation engineering (CARE)" awarded by the Ohio Third Frontier's Wright Projects Program. The grant will fund a consortium consisting of Cleveland Clinic, Case Western Reserve University, the Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center, Bertec Corporation, and Parker Hannifin. The major piece of equipment, the CAREN rehabilitation system by Motek Medical and Bertec Corporation, will be housed at Cleveland Clinic.
Robert L. Fairchild, PhD, was awarded a five-year, $8.6M NIH grant, "Acute humoral rejection and renal allografts." This P01 includes three projects, "Antibody-induced neutrophil tissue pathology in renal allografts" (Dr. Fairchild); "Complement and platelets in antibody-mediated rejection" (William Baldwin, III, MD, PhD); and " Memory CD4 T cell driven antibody responses to renal allografts" (Anna Valujskikh, PhD), all from the Department of Immunology. This research will address the problem of renal transplant rejection due to antibodies binding the graft. Mouse models will be used to investigate the mechanisms behind kidney graft injury and rejection induced by a graft-reactive antibody, and preventive strategies will be developed.
Stanley L Hazen, MD, PhD, Section Head of Preventative Cardiology of the Heart and Vascular Institute (HVI) and Staff in Lerner Research Institute (LRI)/Cell Biology, was awarded a 5-year $3.8M NIH grant, "Gut flora metabolism of dietary phospholipids and cardiovascular disease," along with colleagues Joseph A DiDonato, PhD, LRI/Cell Biology; W H Wilson Tang, MD, HVI/Cardiovascular Medicine; Zeneng Wang, PhD, LRI/Cell Biology; Steve Nicholls, MD, PhD, HVI/Cardiovascular Medicine, LRI/Cell Biology; and Steve Nissen, MD, HVL/Cardiovascular Medicine, LRI/Molecular Cardiology.
Jane Hoover-Plow, PhD, Molecular Cardiology, was awarded a 4-year, $1.4M grant, "Regulation of leukocyte migration by plasminogen."
Vinod Labhasetwar, PhD, Biomedical Engineering, a 5-year $2.2M grant, "Drug Resistance in Cancer Therapy" (new R01 award), National Cancer Institute/NIH.
Anna Valujskikh, PhD, Immunology, was awarded a 1-year, $157K supplement to "CD4 memory T cells and allograft rejection" from the NIH through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA; "Stimulus Grant") mechanism.