Faculty awarded intramural grants for research

The Frederick P. Whiddon College of Medicine recently announced the recipients of the 2023 Faculty Intramural Grants Program Research Awards, which provide funds for basic science or translational research through an annual competitive program.

The awards allow faculty to develop new research ideas through seed funding, develop new critical preliminary data for revised extramural proposal submissions, or enable sustained research progress between extramural grant funding periods.

This year’s winners, who each received $50,000 in funding, are Luis del Pozo-Yauner, Ph.D., assistant professor of pathology; Jin H. Kim, D.V.M., Ph.D., assistant professor of microbiology and immunology; and Wito Richter, Ph.D., associate professor of biochemistry and molecular biology. 

Luis del Pozo-Yauner, Ph.D.

Del Pozo-Yauner is examining the role of polyploid giant cancer cells in therapy resistance and tumor recurrence in ovarian cancer. His team has identified a subpopulation of ovarian cancer cells that share some morphological features with polyploid giant cancer cells and overexpress a protein known as PERK. Scientists believe polyploid giant cancer cells play a central role in ovarian cancer development and progression. Moreover, PERK expression has been associated with chemotherapy resistance in some cancers. 

“Therefore, we hypothesize that the ovarian cancer cells that overexpress PERK protein constitute a subpopulation of polyploid giant cancer cells associated with a poor response to anti-tumor therapy and increased rate of tumor recurrence in ovarian cancer patients,” del Pozo-Yauner said. “Our research may help identify both new biomarkers and therapeutic targets that allow for better prognosis and therapy for ovarian cancer patients.”

Jin H. Kim, D.V.M., Ph.D.

Kim is studying combinational therapy for Influenza A infection to extend the treatment window. Currently, only one drug is available to treat the flu, but it has limitations and can only be used within two days of the onset of symptoms. When people are sick with the flu, they often begin treating themselves with over-the-counter medicines to alleviate the symptoms. However, this can cause them to miss the proper treatment window if they are severely ill and need to be treated by a doctor. 

New drugs are being developed that target different parts of the flu virus, but their effectiveness needs to be tested. “The aim of this research is to find a combination of drugs that can treat the flu and extend the treatment window beyond what is currently possible,” Kim said. “We will test various drug combinations in a mouse model using bioluminescent flu virus to track the effectiveness of the treatments. The ultimate goal is to develop a safe and effective combination therapy for the flu that can be used in future clinical trials.”

Wito Richter, Ph.D.

Richter is pursuing a novel therapeutic approach to reduce body weight and alleviate associated metabolic abnormalities, including insulin resistance, high cholesterol and systemic inflammation. The phosphodiesterase-4 (PDE4) family of enzymes comprises four genes, PDE4A, B, C and D, which are widely expressed throughout the body. Non-selective PDE4 inhibitors have established therapeutic benefits, weight-reducing and anti-inflammatory effects. However, adverse effects, including nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, have long limited the clinical utility of these drugs.  

“As each PDE4 isoform serves unique and non-overlapping physiological and pathophysiological roles, targeting individual PDE4 proteins can serve to dissect the therapeutically beneficial from the side effects associated with current non-selective PDE4 inhibitors,” Richter said. “To this end, we will identify the specific PDE4 isoforms that represent the most promising therapeutic targets in metabolic syndromes, paving the way for development of subtype-selective PDE4 inhibitors as novel therapeutics targeting obesity and associated metabolic syndromes.”