RESEARCH
NIH Funding
The Feinberg School of Medicine received a seven-year $32 million contract from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. Principal investigator Dr. Jane Holl and her team hope to improve the health and well-being of our nation’s youth by participating in the Children’s Health Study—one of the largest U.S. studies of child health ever conducted. The study will follow, from birth to age 21, 100,000 children around the country and monitor the many factors that affect their health.
This year, the Feinberg School experienced 21 percent growth in National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding—a remarkable achievement in light of the flat NIH budget.
Research Projects that Received Significant NIH Grants during the Year:
- NU CATS ($30 million)
- Lurie Cancer Center ($25.3 million)
- Center for Structural Genomics of Infectious Diseases ($31 million)
- National Children’s Study ($32 million)
- Center for Reproductive Research ($6.5 million)
- 7T MRI Scanner for Small Animal Imaging ($2 million)
- Multidisciplinary Clinical Research Center in Rheumatology ($5.9 million)
- Genes, Androgens and Intrauterine Environment in PCOS ($5.9 million)
- Medical Scientist Training Program ($4.1 million)
- Genome-wide Studies from the NUgene Biorepository
($3.6 million)
Molecular Cause for Primary Progressive Aphasia (PPA)
M.-Marsel Mesulam, MD, the Ruth and Evelyn Dunbar Professor of Neurology and Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, has discovered a molecular cause for the word-finding disease, Primary Progressive Aphasia (PPA). “We have a five-year NIH grant to study this disease,” explains Dr. Mesulam. “In the course of our research, we found two families: in one, three siblings had PPA, in another, two siblings had it. We realized that there must be a gene mutation present. Then, the whole picture became more complicated. We found that the same mutation could cause other behavioral problems. We also realized that there is an increased incidence of learning disabilities in relatives of patients with PPA.
“We are now a national center for the study of patients and families affected by this disease. Our challenge and our hope is to understand the underlying genetic mechanisms at work and move closer to a treatment.”
Drs. Gökhan Mutlu (left) and Scott Budinger are studying in mice how the air we breathe can lead to cardiovascular disease.
Research on Long-term Exposure to Pollution
Lead author Gökhan M. Mutlu, MD, and co-author Scott Budinger, MD, both associate professors of medicine in the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, have published a study in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, identifying how air pollutants cause inflammation in the lungs, which can lead to death from cardiovascular disease. Their research showed that microscopic air pollutant particles inflame the lungs, causing them to secrete a protein, interleukin-6, that increases clotting in the blood. The increased clotting can lead to heart attack or stroke in people with cardiovascular diseases. The doctors now have begun research on long-term exposure to pollution; they are piping air from the street in downtown Chicago into a chamber and studying the effects on the cardiovascular health of mice.
Isradipine to Treat Parkinson’s Disease
D. James Surmeier, PhD, Nathan Smith Davis Professor and chair of the Department of Physiology, is the principal investigator of a study exploring the use of isradipine to treat Parkinson’s Disease. Israpidine, a generic FDA-approved drug, is used to treat stroke and hypertension.
Parkinson’s is caused by the death of dopamine-secreting neurons. Dr. Surmeier, an electrophysiologist, examined the way that these neurons generate electricity and found that younger cells use sodium ions to generate activity but older neurons use calcium to create electrical impulses. This creates problems for older neurons because calcium ions stress neurons, impair their functions, and increase their susceptibility to toxins and inflammation. Dr. Surmeier hypothesized that he could use isradipine to block the calcium channels in adult neurons, forcing them to behave like young neurons again. Early laboratory studies with mice proved this theory to be correct.
Dr. Surmeier is now working with co-investigators on a clinical trial with early stage Parkinson’s disease patients to determine whether they can tolerate isradipine treatment. “We believe a drug like isradipine has the potential to slow or stop the progression of Parkinson’s symptoms,” explains Dr. Surmeier. “If given early enough, it might even prevent the development of this disease.”