For the second year in a row, The Hartwell Foundation has named the University one of the Top 10 Centers of Biomedical Research.
This distinction continues to place the University biomedical department in league with institutions such as Cornell University, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and Johns Hopkins University. All 10 institutions selected last year maintained their place on the list in 2008.
In choosing the top 10 institutions, “The Hartwell Foundation takes into account the shared values the institution has with the Foundation relating to children’s health, the presence of an associated medical school and biomedical engineering program, and the quality and scope of ongoing biomedical research,” according to the Foundation’s Web site.
Being named to this list qualifies the University to nominate four applicants to receive the Hartwell Individual Biomedical Research Award and allows the University to “choose an individual to receive a Hartwell Fellowship,” the Web site stated.
Narrowing the field to four nominees involves an extensive application process. An application comes from Vice President for Research Thomas Skalak, which goes out to all faculty, said Cheryl Wagner, the University’s executive coordinator to the vice president for research. Interested researchers then submit their applications back for internal review, and interviews will be held Sept. 15 to narrow the field to four. Finally, the president of The Hartwell Foundation comes to interview the four eligible candidates for a grant, she said.
Last year, Biomedical Engineering Assoc. Prof. Richard Price received the Hartwell Individual Biomedical Research Award of $300,000 to pursue his research in juvenile brain development in relation to brain tumor treatments. Price said his continuing research centers on the fact that the use of a gamma knife, a form of radiation, can effectively treat adults’ brain tumors, yet in children, can lead to “deficits in cognitive abilities and learning disabilities.”
Instead of using radiation, Price is exploring the use of ultrasound to destroy tumors.
“Ultrasound can cause heating of tumor cells to a point where they can be ablated [or] destroyed,” Price said.
Price’s research is still in the early stages, a fact that attracted The Hartwell Foundation to his work. The foundation wants to support “very early stage, cutting edge ideas” — which are a risk to invest in because they are “projects that have a high chance of failing” — in the hope that, with funding, some of them will be successful, Price said.
In 2007, the University also selected Cynthia Grimsley-Meyers, a post-doctorate research associate in the department of cell biology, as the recipient of the University’s Hartwell Fellowship, worth $100,000 over a two-year period.
“Our lab looks at how cells develop before birth, during embryo genesis,” Meyers said, adding that they examine “proteins that are involved in development of those hair cells,” which detect sound waves and different frequencies within the inner ear, or cochlea.
Meyers is currently involved in the process of identifying “components of the cells that are involved with the normal development of the cells” to get an idea of “what to look at in terms of what may be causing deafness.”
The research of both Price and Meyers has intimate connections with the values of The Hartwell Foundation.
“Most of the people who received funding are pursuing research that would benefit children’s health,” explained Amy Karr, senior director of development at the University’s Health System Development office.
As many members of the University apply in the coming weeks for the 2008 grants and fellowships sponsored by The Hartwell Foundation, faculty and researchers can reflect on past and present accomplishments.
“This is really a continuation of the strengths — last year we were able to show that we fit with [The Hartwell Foundation’s] values, and their inclusion of us again builds on what we did last year,” Karr said.
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