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2007 Grant Awards
[2006] [2007] [2008]
The following departmental faculty were awarded competitive and
non-competitive research grants during calendar year 2007.
Dr. G. Burkhard Mackensen of the Division
of Cardiothoracic and Critical Care
Medicine and Co-Director of the Cardiopulmonary
Bypass Research Laboratory (part
of the Multidisciplinary Neuroprotection
Laboratories) received a consortium award
($48,235) from NeurOp, Inc., a preclinical stage pharmaceutical
company that is developing innovative therapeutics for
CNS indications including, ischemia, pain and Parkinson’s
disease. The award is funded through a Small Business Innovation
Research Program (SBIR) funded by the National
Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) entitled “Neuroprotection of pH Sensitive NMDAR Antagonists
in Cardiopulmonary Bypass Surgery”. The main goal of this
phase 1 project is to determine whether NeurOp’s pH sensitive
NMDAR antagonists exert neuroprotective effects in
a rat model of cerebral injury induced by cerebral air emboli
(CAE) superimposed upon cardiopulmonary bypass
(CPB).
Dr. W. Daniel Tracey of the Division of Basic Sciences
and Director of the Molecular Genetics of Pain
Signaling Laboratory received a 5-year $1,702,577
award from the National Institute of Neurological
Disorders and Stroke (NINDS/NIH) to conduct a
study entitled “Genetic Analysis of Nociception in
Drosophila”. This study will provide insight into molecular
and cellular mechanisms of nociception that
will assist in developing therapeutic interventions
for the treatment of pain.
Dr. David S. Warner of the Basic Sciences Division
and Director of the Multidisciplinary Neuroprotection
Laboratories received a Sponsored Research
Agreement ($356,363) from Air Products and
Chemicals, Inc., one of the world’s largest industrial
gas producers. The research entitled “Critical
Outcome Effects of Xenon Neuroprotection Against
Stroke” aims to perform essential preclinical longterm
outcome efficacy assessment of post-ischemic
xenon therapy in a physiologically regulated rodent stroke model as an
antecedent for planning clinical trials.
Dr. T.J. Gan of the General, Vascular,
High-Risk Transplant & Critical Care
Medicine Division received a 2-year
clinical research agreement from Merck & Company, Inc., to conduct a trial entitled “Post-operative Study to Investigate
Emesis (POSTIVE)”. The major goals
of this trial are to document the burden
of post-operative nausea and vomiting
(PONV) and practice patterns in the outpatient
surgery setting.
Dr. T.J. Gan of the General, Vascular,
High-Risk Transplant & Critical Care Medicine Division received
a 2-year clinical research agreement ($77,362) from Progenics Pharmaceuticals, Inc., to conduct a trial entitled “A Phase 3,
Double-Blind, Randomized, Parallel-Group, Placebo-Controlled
Study of Intravenous (IV) Methylnaltrexone Bromide (MNTX) in
the Treatment of Post-Operative Ileus (POI)”. The major goals
of this trial are to test an investigational drug after colon or intestinal
surgery to aid in reducing the length/severity of Post
Operative Ileus.
Dr. T.J. Gan of the General, Vascular, High-Risk Transplant &
Critical Care Medicine Division received a 1-year clinical research
agreement ($58,128) from MGI Pharma, Inc., entitled “A Phase 3 Open-Label, Single Arm Study to Assess the Safety
of Aquavan® (Fospropofol Disodium) Injection for Minimal-to-Moderate Sedation in Patients Undergoing Minor Surgical Procedures”.
The major goals of this proposal are to demonstrate
the optimal AQUAVAN dose for providing minimal-to-moderate
sedation in patients undergoing minor surgical procedures.
Dr. G. Burkhard Mackensen of the Division of Cardiothoracic and Critical Care Medicine received $55,159 in grant support from Regado Biosciences. The grant is entitled “Efficacy of RB006 as a sole anticoagulant in human cardiopulmonary bypass circuits.” The grant will allow the investigators to study the relative efficacy and safety of a protein-binding oligonucleotide (aptamer) to factor IXa as the solitary anticoagulant in comparison to heparin in human blood in an ex-vivo CPB circuit. The data is intended to assist in the design and support of a phase II clinical study in which to test the utility of selective, actively reversible anticoagulant drugs in the context of cardiopulmonary bypass as employed during cardiac surgery. The results of this study may be used to further the argument that effective antidote-controlled alternatives to heparin allow for safe and effective anticoagulation during CPB.
Dr. Jonathan B. Mark, Chief of Anesthesiology
Services at the Veterans Affairs
Medical Center, and his colleagues
(Rebecca Schroeder, MD; Atilio Barbeito,
MD; Melanie Wright, PhD; Jeffrey
Taekman, MD; Noa Segall, PhD; Deborah
Fisher, MD [Department of Medicine,
Division of Gastroenterology]) were
awarded $575,000 from the VA National
Center for Patient Safety to establish a VA Patient Safety Center of
Inquiry at the Durham VAMC to conduct a study entitled “Improving
Patient Safety during Moderate Sedation Procedures through Point of
Care Simulation Training of Physician-Nurse Teams.” The long term
goal of this project is to enhance the safety of invasive diagnostic and
therapeutic procedures at all VA hospitals using a novel tool, “point of
care” simulation training of physician-nurse provider teams administering
moderate sedation.
Dr. Mihai V. Podgoreanu of the Division
of Cardiothoracic Anesthesia and
Critical Care Medicine and Director of
the Systems Modeling of Perioperative
Cardiovascular Injury & Adaptation Laboratory
received a 4-year $1,941,052
award from the National Heart, Lung,
and Blood Institute (NHLBI/NIH) to conduct
a study entitled “Cross-Species
Analysis of Myocardial Susceptibility to
Perioperative Stress”.
This study proposes to use functional genomic and systems biology
approaches to identify evolutionarily conserved genes contributing to
perioperative myocardial infarction (PMI) in two animal models of cardiac
surgery (rat and pig) and tissue samples collected from cardiac
surgical patients and then investigate the relevance of DNA sequence
variation in these candidate genes to susceptibility for PMI in a large
population-based study. The experimental design derives power from
its comparative nature and allows differentiating the contributing effects
of two main injurious mechanisms associated with clinical cardiac surgery:
cardiopulmonary bypass and myocardial ischemia-reperfusion.
Using coordinated efforts from personnel in cardiac surgery, anesthesiology
and critical care, evolutionary biology, computational analysis,
and statistical genetics and epidemiology, this project is novel for its
ability to translate unique animal model research findings to understanding
the genetic architecture of myocardial susceptibility to the
robust environmental stressors associated with clinical surgery, with
implications in perioperative risk stratification and identification of novel
therapeutic targets.
Terri G. Monk, MD, MS, of the Division of Veterans
Affairs Anesthesiology Service was recently
awarded a National Library of Medicine Special
Emphasis Panel G08 Knowledge Management
and Applied Informatics research proposal titled “Plan for Extracting Intraoperative Anesthesia
Data to the ACS NSQIP Database”. Dr. Monk is
a Co-Principal Investigator representing the Anesthesia
Patient Safety Foundation (APSF) with
Dr. Clifford Ko, the Director of the Division of Research and Optimal
Patient Care at the American College of Surgery (ACS). These NLM
grant mechanisms are awarded to help organizations use information
technology to optimize the utility of clinical and research information. In this project, members from the ACS and the APSF are collaborating
to expand the ACS National Surgery Quality Improvement Program
(NSQIP) data repository to include anesthesia-related intra-operative
data. The ACS NSQIP program is already capturing information on
preoperative patient risk factors, surgical factors, and adverse events
following surgery. However, the effects of anesthetic management on
postoperative outcomes remain unclear because the ACS NSQIP database
contains no information on anesthetic management or physiologic
variables during surgery. This project will assess the technical
feasibility of structuring intra-operative anesthesia and physiologic data
and mapping these data into the ACS NSQIP database. The system
prototype will be developed using the Anesthesia Information System
at the Massachusetts General Hospital.
Clinical Research Award Recipients
The department is pleased to announce the awardees of the 2007 Clinical Research Awards. Richard D'Alonzo, MD, Frederick W. Lombard, MD and David B. MacLeod, MD will each receive $20,000 to conduct their 2 year research projects, listed below. We congratulate them.
Richard D'Alonzo, MD - “Ketamine in Thoracic Surgery (KITS) Trial”
Frederick W. Lombard, MD - “The Clinical Significance of Silent Thromboembolic Events following Endovascular Coiling of Unruptured Cerebral Aneurysms - A Pilot Study”
David B. MacLeod, MD - “The Role of Dexemedetomidine in Restorative Sleep and Recovery in Post-Operative Total Knee Arthroplasty Patients”
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