Congratulations to our department-affiliated investigators on their new awards:
Drs. Ming Gong and Zhenheng Guo in June 2022 for their new multi-PI NIH R01 award entitled “Targeting GLP-1 receptor as a new chronotherapy against nondipping blood pressure in diabetes”. This project is funded thru NHLBI. Blood pressure typically dips during sleep, however, in diabetes BP often remains elevated during the nocturnal period and can adversely affect the cardiovascular system over time. This project aims to identify therapies to restore the typical circadian rhythm in blood pressure during the sleep cycle in diabetes.
Dr. Shuxia Wang and colleagues in July 2022 for their new award from the NIDDK entitled “Role of SMPDL3B in obesity-associated non-alcoholic fatty liver disease”. This project will study the underlying mechanisms by which certain immune cells called macrophages contribute to the development and progression of fatty liver disease, a disease on the rise due to the current epidemic of obesity.
Dr. Barbara Nikolajczyk and colleagues in August 2022 for their new NIH R01 award entitled “The impact of insulin sensitivity on the potential of metformin to delay age-related inflammation”. This National Institute on Aging award will test whether a mainstay therapy for Type 2 diabetes can mitigate inflammatory signaling typical of aging.
Dr. Pradoldej Sompol in August 2022 for his new NIH R21 “Oxidative stress-induced vascular pathology and dysfunction in Alzheimer’s disease”. This National Institute on Aging grant will determine how oxidative damage to cerebral microvessels contributes to pathological brain aging. Dr. Sompol is also the Core/Project Leader (Animal Vascular-Metabolic-Neural Network Core) for the new NIH P01 Program Project “Strategies for targeting astrocyte reactivity in Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias” (Norris, Chris-PI)
Dr. Chris Norris and colleagues in September 2022 for their new P01 (Program Project Grant-PPG) from the National Institute on Aging entitled “Strategies for targeting astrocyte reactivity in Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias”. Dr. Norris says the role of the astrocyte in brain pathology has been underappreciated for some time. Along with multiple projects led by colleagues including Drs. Wilcock, Nelson, Thibault, Sompol, Yang and Katsumata, Dr. Norris will work to better understand the role of astrocytes in dementia and to identify therapeutic targets for intervention.
Dr. Olivier Thibault and colleagues in September 2022 for his NIH project entitled “Astrocytic insulin signaling and AD”. This project is one of several on Dr. Norris’ newly awarded PPG from the NIA and will examine whether facilitating insulin signaling in the brain can mitigate markers of pathology in a mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease. Alzheimer’s disease may result in brain insulin resistance and, thus, strategies, as proposed in this project, may very well help overcome aspects of the disease.
Dr. Ren Xu and colleagues in September 2022 for renewing their NIH R01 entitled “Roles of Hsp47 in Breast Cancer Progression”. This grant was funded by the National Cancer Institute and holds promise for identifying strategies to halt cancer cell metastasis and disease progression.
Dr. Cassandra Gipson-Reichardt and colleagues in September 2022 for their NIH R21 entitled “Contributions of Progestins Independently and Interactively with Contraceptive Estrogen to Nicotine Use”. This grant was funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse and will examine how contraceptives affect smoking risk.
Dr. Simon Fisher and colleagues in September 2022 for their NIH U01 entitled “Restoration of Impaired Awareness of Hypoglycemia U01 Consortium: University of Kentucky”. UK will be part of a consortium of universities and diabetes centers in the US and other parts of the world to examine factors that contribute to hypoglycemia unawareness, a condition that can be life-threatening in people with diabetes.