U.Va.-Coulter Research Partnership Enters New Stage
Posted 06/13/07
Shayn Peirce-Cottler, Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering, and Brad Kesser, Assistant Professor of Otolaryngology, oversee undergraduate design team members Isi Azeke and Trevor Royce (clockwise from top). The U.Va.-Coulter Partnership funded development of the team's novel ear-tube insertion device in 2006-07. This project has already attracted substantial corporate interest.
Photo by Tom Cogill
When the Wallace H. Coulter Foundation awarded the Department of Biomedical Engineering one of its highly coveted Translational Research Partnership Awards in November 2005, its intention was not simply to support promising medical research that could be readily translated into better tools for diagnosis and treatment. Its goal was to challenge the Department to create a model to encourage and sustain translational research on a broad scale—mobilizing the institutions and resources at the University and in the surrounding community and effecting a true change in culture.
The announcement of the projects funded for 2007-08 demonstrates that the Partnership has made progress on both fronts. This year, the Coulter Oversight Committee--consisting of representatives from the School of Medicine, the Darden School, the U.Va. Patent Foundation, and the Coulter Foundation as well as from industry and the investment community—selected seven projects from a field of 16. Four projects were funded at the $100,000 level while three were funded at $50,000.
The projects covered a range of technologies, ranging from real-time cardiac stress testing using MRI to the evaluation of cardiovascular biomarkers in patients with abdominal aortic aneurysms. In one of the projects, led by Brent French and Dr. Chris Kramer, researchers have been using cardiac MRI and knockout mice to identify genes that play important roles in heart failure. These studies, in turn, led to the discovery of a drug that is extremely effective in preventing left ventricle remodeling after myocardial infarction. In another, led by Brian Helmke and Dr. Paul Read, researchers are looking for a way to combine standard X-ray radiation therapy with photodynamic therapy to attack deep lung and liver tumors. They are developing a novel radiosensitizer drug using chemically modified quantum dot nanoparticles that converts therapeutic X-ray energy to light energy. This dual approach may increase the likelihood of remission and patient quality of life.
Building a Community for Translational Research
From a cultural point of view, the number of projects funded represents an advance from last year, when the Partnership funded four projects from 18 proposals. “The impression of the Oversight Committee was that the quality of the applications reflects our community’s growth,” said Thomas Skalak, chair of the Department of Biomedical Engineering.
Equally significant was the fate of the proposals funded in 2006-2007. One project attracted substantial interest from corporations during its year of support. Two other proposals were included among the seven funded for the coming year. “The Oversight Committee determined that these two projects had made great progress—but required additional funding to bring them to the point where they were ripe for development,” said David Chen, Coulter project director.
The Translational Research Partnership Award covers a five-year period. Each successive year provides the Department with a variety of opportunities to engage participants from the research, business, and investment communities in a joint initiative to accelerate the flow of research from laboratory to the bedside. “We are conducting an experiment,” says Skalak. “We are trying to identify the steps that can be taken to build a healthy community dedicated to translational research.”
- Heart rate monitoring enabling closed-loop control in people with type 1 diabetes (J. Milton Adams, BME; Boris Kovatchev, Psychiatric Medicine; Gene Barrett, Diabetes Center)
- Primary evaluation of cardiovascular biomarkers in patients with abdominal aortic aneurysm (Klaus Ley, BME; Nancy Harthun, Surgery)
- Enhanced radiation therapy using quantum dot photosensitizer conjugates (Brian Helmke, BME; Paul Read, Radiation Oncology)
- Adipose derived stem cells for the healing of chronic wounds
(Shayn Peirce-Cottler, BME; Adam Katz, Plastic Surgery) - Novel treatment regimens for the prevention and reversal of heart failure (Brent French, BME; Chris Kramer, Radiology)
- Bioengineering a novel contact lens for human dry eye
(Ed Botchwey, BME; Gordon Laurie, Cell Biology; Roy Ogle, Medicine; Brian Conway, Ophthalmology) - Real-time cardiac stress testing using MRI
(Craig Meyer, BME; Chris Kramer, Radiology)
Contact: David Chen, Coulter Project Director
or 434-243-7357
