Five School of Medicine faculty-led research teams receive VCU Breakthroughs Fund grants
The university funding supports interdisciplinary investigations that address challenges laid out in the One VCU Strategic Research Priorities Plan.
VCU School of Medicine researchers are working alongside colleagues around the university to tackle issues from chemotherapy risk factors to chronic pain in sickle cell disease. Eight faculty, across five interdisciplinary teams, are among this year’s recipients of the VCU Breakthroughs Fund grants.
Since its inception in 2022, the VCU Breakthroughs Fund has provided nearly $6 million to more than 30 research projects across a wide range of disciplines, including biomedical sciences and health care. Arturo Saavedra, M.D., Ph.D., dean of the VCU School of Medicine, reflected on the value and impact of collaborating across disciplines to achieve a common goal.
“Our faculty continue to lead the way as creative and innovative researchers,” Saavedra said. “Team science is essential to progress in addressing the most pressing health challenges we face, and I am immensely proud to be part of an academic community that fosters such a collaborative environment across the university. I look forward to seeing the real-world impacts of these investigations.”
This year’s School of Medicine recipients include the following:
“The Role of Advanced Glycation End Products as a Risk Factor for Chemotherapy-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy”
- M. Imad Damaj, Ph.D., Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology
- A. Gordon Smith, M.D., Department of Neurology
- David Turner, Ph.D., Department of Surgery
- Nolan Wages, Ph.D., School of Population Health
“Lysophosphatidic Acid (LPA) Signaling in CNS Myelination and Myelin Repair”
- Babette Fuss, Ph.D., Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology
- Unsong Oh, M.D., Department of Neurology
- Yan Zhang, Ph.D., School of Pharmacy
- Gregory Walsh, Ph.D., College of Humanities and Sciences
“High-Speed Atomic Force Microscopy: A New Method for Precise Telomere Measurement”
- Elizabeth Krieger, M.D., Department of Pediatrics
- Jason Reed, Ph.D., College of Humanities and Sciences
“Lipid Nanoparticle Delivery of Alpha 1 Antitrypsin (A1AT) mRNA to CF and COPD Macrophages Reverses Neutrophil Elastase-induced Macrophage Dysfunction”
- Judith Voynow, M.D., Department of Pediatrics
- Douglas Sweet, Ph.D., School of Pharmacy
“Targeting Monoacylglycerol Lipase to Reduce Chronic Pain in Sickle Cell Disease”
- Aron Lichtman, Ph.D., Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology
- Wally Smith, M.D., Department of Internal Medicine
- Priyam Das, Ph.D., School of Public Health
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