Wisconsin Partnership Program funds health research projects

Researchers at the UW School of Medicine and Public Health are getting up to $3 million through the Wisconsin Partnership Program, which has grants for research projects.

 

The eight awarded projects are set to begin in 2019, with diverse subjects such as personalized cancer treatments, cardiac regeneration following heart disease, and stubborn wounds in diabetic patients.

 

The following four projects were each awarded up to $600,000 through the Partnership Program’s collaborative health sciences program. These three-year grants go to research teams led by professors, associate professors or scientists.

 

*Jacques Galipeau is exploring the use of B-cells, a type of white blood cell, to treat cancer in humans. A release shows this is the first study using these cells to treat cancer by creating an immune response against tumors. Galipeau aims to develop personalized therapies for adult prostate cancer, as well as pediatric neuroblastoma, a cancer of the body’s nerve tissues.

 

*Another project is being led by Anna Huttenlocher, from the department of pediatrics, and David Beebe, a biomedical engineering specialist who’s been involved with several Madison-area biotech startups. They are studying ways of regulating the human immune system, such as “mindfulness-based stress reduction techniques,” which can include things like meditation and breath control.  

 

*A third research effort, from the school’s departments of population health and medicine, focuses on improving health outcomes for people once they’re released from prison. Lead investigators Marguerite Burns and Ryan Westergaard have a long-term goal of reducing opioid overdoses and transmission of Hepatitis C in this population.

 

*The final project getting $600,000 relates to health education, building on a program that’s been active at UW Health clinics since 2016. The Community Resource Navigator Program connects patients with housing or food insecurity to students who help them find relevant community resources.

 

That fourth collaborative research project is being led by Sara Lindberg, from the department of population health sciences. She will explore how taking on this role affects the students themselves, as well as the impact of the program on involved patients.

 

The next four research projects are each getting $150,000 over two years, through the Partnership Program’s new investigator program. Principal researchers must be assistant professors at UWSMPH.

 

*One project, led by pediatrics specialist Jasmine Zapata, will seek to address Wisconsin’s high rate of black infant mortality with a multi-pronged approach. By combining community-based programs for doulas, or birth coaches, with pregnancy support groups and prenatal care groups, Zapata aims to “address the inequities in African American birth outcomes in Wisconsin.”

 

*Another project, from the department of medical microbiology and immunology, will evaluate options for treating diabetic foot ulcers, which can be extremely slow to heal. Lead investigator Lindsay Kalan hopes to predict if these wounds will become infected by studying local tissue interactions with microorganisms. Ultimately, this project aims to develop new therapies for diabetes patients.

 

*A third new investigator project is being led by Ahmed Mahmoud, to identify ways to regenerate human heart muscle following injury due to heart disease. He is looking specifically at a group of nerves which plays a role in regulating cardiac regeneration.

 

*The final awarded project, from oncology researcher Aussie Suzuki, focuses on the process of cell division to learn more about cancer and developmental diseases.

 

See more on how Wisconsin Partnership Program grants are administered:

http://www.med.wisc.edu/wisconsin-partnership-program/grant-resources/

 

Listen to a previous podcast featuring Zapata: http://wisbusiness.com/index.iml?Article=385676