UAMS Bone Research Center Secures Second NIH Grant of Over $11 Million

By David Robinson

LITTLE ROCK — A federal grant of more than $11 million will provide five additional years of support to the Center for Musculoskeletal Disease Research led by Charles O’Brien, Ph.D., at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS).

The $11.5 million Centers of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) Phase 2 grant from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) branch of the NIH follows a 2018 Phase 1 award of $11.3 million to establish the bone research center.

COBRE funding aims to help establish multidisciplinary, collaborative and synergistic research centers in states with lower rates of federal research funding.

https://news.uams.edu/2023/06/27/uams-bone-research-center-secures-second-nih-grant-of-over-11-million/

Team members of the UAMS Center for Musculoskeletal Disease Research include:, front row: Jinhu Xiong M.D., Ph.D., Amy Sato, Ph.D., Jesus Delgado-Calle, Ph.D.; second row: Janeelle Whitfield, Melda Onal, Ph.D., Qiang Fu, M.D., Ph.D.; third row: Charles O’Brien, Ph.D., Maria Almeida, Ph.D., Roy Morello, Ph.D.; back row: Intawat Nookaew, Ph.D., Ha-neui Kim, Ph.D., and Elena Ambrogini, M.D., Ph.D.

UAMS Infectious Disease Researchers Awarded $5.7 Million COBRE Grant Extension

By Linda Satter

The National Institute of General Medical Sciences within the National Institutes of Health awarded an additional $5.7 million, five-year grant to fund the third and final phase of a University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences program that supports infectious disease research.

This final phase of the Centers for Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) grant is for the 11th through 15th years of the program, which since 2012 has now received more than $26 million in federal funding.

https://news.uams.edu/2022/05/16/uams-infectious-disease-researchers-awarded-5-7-million-cobre-grant-extension/

UAMS’ Mark Smeltzer, Ph.D., first secured a Centers for Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) program grant in 2012 and will lead the program through its final phase.

UAMS Research Team Upends Understanding of How Blood Clots Form; NIH Awards $2.5 Million for Further Study

By David Robinson

Sept. 29, 2021 | LITTLE ROCK — A UAMS-led research team has found that blood clots form in puncture wounds similar to a skyscraper, with rooms and furnishings that scientists can now see. Published in Communications Biology, the discovery of the vaulted thrombus (blood clot) structure surprised researchers and is a big change from a long-held hypothesis.

The Sept. 16 Communications Biology publication follows a $2.5 million National Institutes of Health (NIH) award in August to expand on the research by UAMS’ Brian Storrie, Ph.D., lead author and principal investigator. The findings could affect drug development for bleeding regulation, which is one area he will explore as part of the grant.

Collaborators outside of UAMS include researchers from the University of Kentucky and the NIH National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB).

https://news.uams.edu/2021/09/29/uams-research-team-upends-understanding-of-how-blood-clots-form-nih-awards-2-5-million-for-further-study/

Brian Storrie, Ph.D., with members of the research team (standing, l-r), Kelly Ball, M.S., Sung Rhee, Ph.D., and Irina Pokrovskaya, M.S., displays images of blood platelets that have combined to seal a puncture wound.

$10.8 Million NIH Grant to Establish Metabolic Research Center

A $10.8 million grant from the National Institutes of Health will enable an interdisciplinary team of researchers at the U of A and University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences to address the role of cell and tissue metabolism in rare and common diseases such as cancer, diabetes, obesity and mitochondrial disorders.

The five-year award, funded by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, establishes the Arkansas Integrative Metabolic Research Center as an NIH-designated Center of Biomedical Research Excellence. The award recognizes the university’s unique combination of expertise in advanced imaging techniques, bioenergetics and data science.

“Our center will support important scientific contributions not only in specific biomedical fields associated with metabolic diseases, but also broader contemporary research on metabolism, exploring issues such as the sensitivity of mitochondrial biomarkers to explain the onset and progression of rare and common diseases,” said Kyle Quinn, associate professor of biomedical engineering. “Ultimately, the center will help cultivate a critical mass of researchers determined to solve multiple human health problems with metabolic underpinnings that have been particularly devastating in Arkansas and the southeastern United States, such as cancer, diabetes and obesity.”

https://biochemistry.uams.edu/2021/04/07/10-8-million-nih-grant-to-establish-metabolic-research-center/

Top row, from left: Kyle Quinn, director of Arkansas Integrative Metabolic Research Center and associate professor of biomedical engineering; Chenguang Fan, assistant professor of biochemistry; Shilpa Iyer, assistant professor of biological sciences; and Isabelle Racine Miousse, assistant professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. Bottom row: Adam Paré, assistant professor of biological sciences; Narasimhan Rajaram, associate professor of biomedical engineering; Young Hye Song, assistant professor of biomedical engineering; and Justin Zhan, professor of computer science and computer engineering.

UA, UAMS Researchers Awarded $10.8 Million Grant to Establish Metabolic Research Center

by Talk Business & Politics staff

A $10.8 million grant from the National Institutes of Health will enable an interdisciplinary team of researchers at the University of Arkansas and University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences to address the role of cell and tissue metabolism in rare and common diseases such as cancer, diabetes, obesity and mitochondrial disorders.

The five-year award, funded by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, establishes the Arkansas Integrative Metabolic Research Center as an NIH-designated Center of Biomedical Research Excellence. The award recognizes the university’s combination of expertise in advanced imaging techniques, bioenergetics and data science.

https://talkbusiness.net/2021/04/ua-uams-researchers-awarded-10-8-million-grant-to-establish-metabolic-research-center/