(Photo, l-r: Coleen McNamara, MD, and Angela Taylor, MD; Jeffrey Elias, MD; Jason Druzgal, MD; Ira Hall, PhD; and Chris Kramer, MD.)
March 20, 2013
"The University of Virginia Health System has selected five ambitious proposals that could create transformative advances in medicine as the inaugural recipients of its new clinical research grants.
Funded by the UVA Medical Center, the grants program aims to nourish innovative ideas at UVA that will shape the healthcare of the future. The projects selected for the first round of grants, totaling almost $2.4 million over three years:
- An evaluation of mild traumatic brain injury (TBI) in student athletes, determining the correlation between head impacts and physiological changes in the brain. Principal investigator: Jason Druzgal, MD.
- An investigation of focused ultrasound technology to manage/control the motor symptoms other than tremor in Parkinson’s disease. Principal investigator: Jeffrey Elias, MD.
- An effort to detect mutations in children’s cancers that could lead to novel, personalized treatments. Principal investigator: Ira Hall, PhD.
- A study using MRI to determine the prevalence of microvascular (small vessel) disease, a heart condition that may cause angina in patients with normal coronary arteries (larger vessels). Principal investigator: Chris Kramer, MD.
- Rapid advancement to human testing of novel genetic and cellular factors discovered to regulate artery plaque buildup, potentially leading to a blood test for early coronary artery disease — and possibly suggesting new treatment strategies. Principal investigators: Coleen McNamara, MD, and Angela Taylor, MD."
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