Research funding at the University of Pennsylvania will increase in 2014 thanks to the grants from the NIH and several other organizations.
In March, researchers from the Scheie Eye Institute at the University of Pennsylvania received a five-year NIH grant of $11.2 million to develop their research on the genetic risk factors of African-Americans for developing primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG).
POAG is a leading cause of irreversible blindness in the African-American population. About two million Americans suffer from POAG, but researchers have a poor understanding of its cause. This research will involve about 13,000 patients, including 4,400 with POAG. By collecting and analyzing the data in this under-studied population, researchers will create a risk model of POAG in African-Americans and aim to elucidate its genetic causes.
In 2013, the University of Pennsylvania has received a total of $451 million in grants from the NIH and $111 million so far in 2014.
Penn medicine researchers, John Trojanowski, MD, PHD, and Virginia M. Y. Lee, PHD, MBA, have received a total of $1.45 million in grants from CurePSP, the Foundation for PSP and CBD and related brain diseases. These grants will help researchers to continue their study on development of treatments of Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP) and Corticobasal Degeneration (CBD).
PSP and CBD are rare neurogenerative disorders that cause motor, balance, and cognitive impairment. They have affected about 30,000 Americans and are the most common causes of degenerative Parkinsonism after Parkinson’s disease.
Dr. Trojanowski and Dr. Lee have discovered how Tau, an essential protein of nerve cell structure, becomes toxic and spreads from cell-to-cell in diseased brains. Using this discovery, researchers aim to develop disease-modifying Tau immune therapies for PSP and CBD.
The state of Pennsylvania is also an important source of research funding for the University of Pennsylvania. The state’s General Assembly passed a bill of $28.26 million in funding to the school of Veterinary Medicine and the Center for Infectious Disease at the University of Pennsylvania in 2014. The bill is about 0.5% higher than the one of 2013.
In 2014, the University of Pennsylvania is also the first academic institution to have two recipients honored by the Clinical Research Forum in one year. Researchers, Stephen E. Kimmel, MD, MSCE and Daniel J. Rader, MD, from the Perelman School of Medicine and the Penn Cardiovascular Institute received the prestigious Clinical Research Achievement Award.
The Clinical Research Forum supports nurturing environments and comprehensive research capabilities for talented clinical investigators within academic institutions. It is the nation’s most prestigious and acclaimed academic medical organization.
The well-funded and cutting edge research programs at the University of Pennsylvania have long attracted laboratory supply companies. For the past 14 years, the annual BioResearch Product Faire™ Event, organized by Biotechnology Calendar, Inc., has brought 40 lab supply companies to meet with over 400 life science professionals per year. Of the attendees in 2013, 130 were Professors, Post docs, Purchasing agents, and 64 were lab managers. The remainder were active UPenn research professionals. These attendees came from 40 different research buildings and 62 on-campus departments.
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The BioResearch Product Faire™ Event is an effective way to connect with researchers and industry professionals. If you are a lab supply company and would like to know more about the BioResearch Product Faire™ Event at the University of Pennsylvania on May 14th 2014, please click the button:
If you would like to know more about the BioResearch Product Faire™ Events at different academic institutions cross the nation, please view the National Show Schedule for 2014.