Big Grant Money for UTHSCT Researchers

TYLER — Four biomedical investigators at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Tyler recently were awarded a total of more than $2.1 million in grants despite intense competition for research dollars. Officials say the UTHSCT researchers will use those funds to:
* examine ways to prevent the rejection of transplanted insulin-producing cells that could cure diabetes;
* develop new strategies to protect lung cells against damage caused by tobacco smoke, including the development of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), the fourth leading cause of death in the United States;
* explore how to boost the immune system so that it can fight off deadly microbes, such as the H1N1 flu virus; and
* study how changes in the thymus gland may contribute to the development of autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and type 1 diabetes.

Almost $1.8 million of the $2.1 million came from the National Institutes of Health, the premier funding agency in the United States for biomedical research. Each NIH grant is evaluated by other scientists in the same field of study, in a process known as peer review. Grants are awarded based on the scores they receive, and officials say the competition is fierce.

“To receive significant NIH funding now is a remarkable achievement that speaks to the high quality of the scientific work our investigators are conducting. They compete against the leading scientists from top-tier institutions,” said UTHSCT Vice President for Research Dr. Steven Idell, MD, Ph.D. “On average, only the top 15 percent of the proposals submitted to NIH are funded. In some areas of research, the percentage funded is even less,” Dr. Idell said. “More investigators are applying for NIH funding, while the annual NIH budget has remained about the same. In addition, the cost of research has gone up.” It has also become harder for researchers to acquire private, non-governmental funding, he said.

“Grant applications to foundations and other research sponsors have become almost as competitive – sometimes even more so – than applying to the NIH. While this is a very exciting time to be in biomedical science, researchers face great challenges in acquiring and retaining outside funding to support their work,” Dr. Idell said. “The fact that UTHSCT investigators continue to be funded shows the high quality and importance of the science being done within the UTHSCT biomedical research community.”

One of the members of this community, Zhenhua Dai, Ph.D., MD, an associate professor of immunology, recently was awarded a $1.4 million, five-year grant from the National Institutes of Health. These funds will support Dr. Dai’s ongoing study into how to prevent the immune system from rejecting transplanted organs. Sreerama Shetty, Ph.D., a professor of medicine, received a two-year grant for $387,750 from the NIH to examine the roles of two crucial proteins in protecting the lungs from the harm caused by tobacco smoke.

Amir Shams, Ph.D., an associate professor of microbiology and immunology, was awarded a three-year, $325,000 grant from the Flight Attendants Medical Research Institute. He is studying how an innovative technique that boosts the immune system could help people with COPD and other lung diseases to fight infections of influenza. Dongming Su, Ph.D., an associate professor of biochemistry, received an additional award of $71,854 to fund his ongoing research into the thymus, a gland located behind the top of the breastbone.