TTUHSC Research News - 2018

Funding Agency:  NIH
Grant Type: 1 U01 AA027401-01
PI: BACKUS, BRITTANY; BERGESON, SUSAN E. (Contact); Reid, Ted W
Grant Title: Chemically modified minocycline for treatment of alcohol use disorder
Institution: TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES CENTER
Department: Pharmacology and Neuroscience
Award Issue Date: 09/21/2018
Total Amount of Funding:  $824,59

Funding Agency: NIH Grant MPI RO1
Grant Type: 1 R01 NS106879-01A1
PI:  Karamyan, Vardan T. (Contact); Abbruscato, Thomas J; Trippier, Paul Charles 
Grant Title: Development and characterization of peptidomimetic small molecule activators of peptidase neurolysin for stroke therapy.
Institution: TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES CENTER - School of Pharmacy
Award Issue Date: 09/11/2018

Sanjay Awasthi, M.D. – Chief of Hematology and Medical Oncology Division, Department of Internal Medicine, TTUHSC

• Funding Agency: DoD
  Grant Title: Prevention of Breast Cancer by Haploinsufficiency of RALBP1
  Total Amount of Funding: $1,147,500 for 8/15/2018-8/14/2021
• Funding Agency: DOD Breast Cancer Research Program Breakthrough Level 2 Grant
  Total Amount of Funding: $1.13M

Luis Cuello, Ph.D. – Associate Professor, Department of Cell Physiology and Molecular Biophysics, TTUHSC

• Funding Agency: NIH
  Grant Type: R01
  Grant Title: High-resolution crystallographic and functional studies of K+ channel function
  Start Date and End Date: 9/1/2018-6/30/2019
  Remaining 4 years funding contingent on availability of funding
  Renewal of previous project which lasted 5 years
  Funding: $311,967 

Hongjun Liang, Ph.D. – Associate Professor, Department of Cell Physiology and Molecular Biophysics, TTUHSC

• Funding Agency: CPRIT High-Impact/High-Risk
  Grant Title: Polymer Nanodiscs: Novel Lipoprotein-Mimicking Nanocarriers with High Stability and Long Circulation Time for Enhanced Anticancer Drug Delivery
  Start Date and End Date: Over a 2 year period, dates pending
  Total Amount of Funding: $200,000

Patrick Reynolds, M.D., Ph.D. – Director, Cancer Center, School of Medicine, TTUHSC

• Funding Agency: NIH
  Grant Type: R01
  Grant Title: Alternate telomere maintenance in high-risk neuroblastoma as prognostic indicators and therapeutic targets 
  Start Date and End Date: 8/29/2018-7/31/2019
  Remaining 4 years of funding is contingent on availability of funding
  Total Amount of Funding: $349,988

• Dr. Sanjay Awasthi publishes "Rlip Depletion Prevents Spontaneous Neoplasia in TP53 Null Mice" in the March 2018 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS).  Click here for article.

• Deborah Molehin, Isabel Castro-Piedras, Monica Sharma, and Souad R. Sennoune, Daphne Arena, Pulak R. Manna, and Kevin Pruitt “Aromatase Acetylation Patterns and Altered Activity in Response to Sirtuin Inhibition” Molecular Cancer Research (In Press)

• McDaniel B, Grisham MB. Humanizing the mouse immune system to study splanchnic organ inflammation. J Physiol. 2018 (In Press)
• Reinoso Webb C, den Bakker H, Koboziev I, Jones-Hall Y, Rao Kottapalli K, Ostanin D, et al. Differential Susceptibility to T Cell-Induced Colitis in Mice: Role of the Intestinal Microbiota. Inflamm Bowel Dis. 2018;24(2):361-79

Kevin Pruitt, Ph.D., Associate Professor in the Department of Immunology and Molecular Microbiology, TTUHSC accepted the following seminar invitations:

• University of Minnesota School of Medicine, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Duluth, MN (Jan 2018)
• Oregon State University, College of Pharmacy, Dept. of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Corvallis, OR (Mar 2018)
• University of Georgia, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (Fall 2018)

A Keynote Presentation by P. Hemachandra Reddy, Ph.D. at Second International Conference on Neurology and Brain Disorders 

Dr. P. Hemachandra Reddy, Executive Director and Chief Scientific Officer of Garrison Institute on Aging and a Professor Cell Biology and Biochemistry and Neuroscience/Pharmacology and Neurology Departments of School of Medicine was invited to give a keynote talk at the  2nd International Neurology and Brain Disorders (INBC), held at Rome, Italy June 4-6, 2018.  Dr. Reddy presented a talk entitled ‘Abnormal Mitochondrial Dynamics and Defective Synapses: Protective Role of Reduced Dynamin-related protein 1 in Alzheimer’s Disease’ on June 5th. Dr. Reddy was honored with a certificate of recognition for his contributions to neurology and brain disorders at the conference.

Dr. Reddy explained how amyloid beta and phosphorylated tau damages mitochondria and synapses in neurons from patients with Alzheimer’s disease. He also presented compelling evidence that reduced levels of mitochondrial division protein ‘dynamin-related protein 1’ protects synapses and mitochondria in Alzheimer’s disease neurons. Currently, Dr. Reddy and his lab members are actively working on to develop drugs that can enhance synaptic sprouting and maintain mitochondrial ATP levels at synapses of Alzheimer’s disease neurons. 

The INBC 2018 will bring together a collection of investigators who are at the forefront of their field and will provide opportunities for junior scientists and graduate students to interactively present their work and exchange ideas with established senior scientists. The Neurology and Brain Disorders conference explores the entire breadth of Neurology with earlier and contemporary work and provides a critical review of the present state of the subject. INBC 2018 provides an international forum to intensify the information exchange and is an excellent opportunity for Researchers and Scientists in the domain of Neurology from around the world and to promote/present innovative ideas that will influence and foster continued research. The speakers and delegates come from academia, private and government laboratories across the world.