Bioscience Discovery Grants Fund Promising NJ Research
Five researchers at National Jewish Medical and Research Center have received funding from the state of Colorado intended to accelerate the translation of scientific discoveries into marketable healthcare products and services.
The Bioscience Discovery Evaluation Grant Program distributed $2 million to researchers throughout Colorado in this first-of-its-kind program. Recipient institutions are required to match the grants awarded to their researchers. The state awarded National Jewish researchers $196,000. National Jewish will match this amount with operating funds and charitable donations so that the five researchers will receive a total of $392,000.
“We are excited by the prospect of using the bioscience grants to further the development of these research discoveries into potential therapies for respiratory and immunological diseases,” said Brad Brockbank, Manager of Intellectual Property and Technology Commercialization at National Jewish. “Research of this kind is critical and difficult to fund using traditional sources such as NIH and foundations.”
National Jewish grants and investigators are:
- Inhaled antibodies for the treatment of airway hyperresponsiveness and inflammation. The antibodies cause particularly troublesome T cells in the lungs to commit suicide. Willi Born, Ph.D.
- Novel antioxidant therapies to treat chronic lung disease. Compounds increase production of protective antioxidants in lung cells. Brian Day, PhD
- Heat-shock proteins to modify immune/inflammatory responses. The proteins shift the immune system away from allergic Th2 responses. Erwin Gelfand, MD
- A method for the prevention and treatment of pseudomonas biofilm infections in cystic fibrosis and contact lens. Compounds break up biofilms, which make bacterial infections difficult to treat. Jerry Nick, MD
- Use of soluble T-cell receptors to reduce inflammatory damage. Decoy receptors prevent inflammatory T cells from becoming activated. Rebecca O’Brien, PhD
