UAMS Receives $2.9 Million NIH Grant to Study Virus that Can Trigger Cancers

By David Robinson

LITTLE ROCK — A discovery at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) that a viral protein helps a cancer-associated herpesvirus evade the immune system has led to a five-year, $2.9 million research grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Craig Forrest, Ph.D., will use the grant to help reveal functions of the viral protein known as latency-associated nuclear antigen (LANA). The research is focused on LANA’s roles during infection by the gamma herpesvirus known as Kaposi sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV).

Forrest, a professor in the College of Medicine Department of Microbiology and Immunology, hopes the work will someday lead to a vaccine for Kaposi sarcoma and other cancers caused by gamma herpesviruses.

UAMS Receives $2.9 Million NIH Grant to Study Virus that Can Trigger Cancers

UAMS researcher Craig Forrest, Ph.D. (center), and his lab team hope their work will ultimately lead to a cancer vaccine. With Forrest are (l-r) Sheldon Zeltner, Chandra Penthala, Shana Owens, Ph.D., and Steven Murdock, Jr. Image by Bryan Clifton

NIH awards Arkansas Children’s Research Institute $2.9 million for cystic fibrosis

by Talk Business & Politics staff (staff2@talkbusiness.net)

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded $2.9 million to Arkansas Children’s Research Institute (ACRI) to examine how a critical therapy for patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) might become even more effective at treating the genetic respiratory illness.

The five-year study will be led by Dr. Jennifer S. Guimbellot, chief of Pediatric Pulmonary and Sleep Medicine at Arkansas Children’s Hospital (ACH) and the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS), where she also serves as an associate professor of Pediatrics.

CF is a progressive disorder that severely damages the lungs, digestive system and other organs by affecting cells that produce mucus, sweat and digestive juices. For decades, CF therapies focused on reducing the problems the condition caused and made it easier to live with the symptoms. Improvements in screening and treatments helped people with CF live into their 40s and 50s.

NIH awards Arkansas Children’s Research Institute $2.9 million for cystic fibrosis