Meet the Grant Awardees
Karl Storz Research Award
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2019
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Filip Bednar, MD, PhD
VA Ann Arbor Health System Ann Arbor, MI Project Title: Regulation of Oncogenic Kras Signaling and Tumor Microenvironment in Pancreatic Cancer by Bmi1 Major Goals of the Project: Our long-term goal is to develop pancreatic cancer therapeutics that alter the epigenetic state of cancer cells and either destroy them directly or sensitize them to other forms of existing therapy including chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and immunotherapy. |
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2018
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Courtney Balentine, MD, MPH
North Texas VA Healthcare System Dallas, TX Project Title: Developing Tools to Measure and Improve Postoperative Outcomes for Older Veterans Major Goals of the Project: This project is designed to improve the quality of pre-, peri-, and postoperative care for older Veterans (≥65 years old) by increasing adherence to evidence-based geriatric care guidelines. |
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2017
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Jean Marie Ruddy, MD
Medical University of South Carolina Charleston, SC Project Title: IL6 Initiates Infrarenal Aortic Remodeling and Propagates Aneurysm Development Major Goals of the Project: To explore the mechanistic pathway through IL-6-STAT3 signaling in aortic medial cells that links inflammation and aneurysm disease, and this project hypothesizes that the IL-6-STAT3 pathway enables AA degenerative remodeling by initiating aortic inflammatory cell infiltration and protease production to propagate AAA formation. |
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2016
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Ryan Thomas, MD
North Florida/South Georgia Veterans Health System Gainesville, FL Project Title: Role of Gram negative bacterial lipopolysaccharide in CXCR4-mediated pancreatic carcinogenesis Major Goals of the Project: Based on preliminary work, the Karl Stortz AVAS research grant was based on the hypothesis that lipopolysaccharide (LPS) from Gram-negative bacteria can facilitate pancreatic cancer progression through upregulation and activation of the chemokine receptor, CXCR4. We sought to determine the effect of LPS on CXCR4 expression in pancreatic cancer in vitro using commercial human cell lines as well as to determine the effect of LPS on oncogenic phenotypes and PDAC signaling pathways in a CXCR4-dependent manner. |
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2015
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Susan Tsai, MD, MHS
Medical College of Wisconsin Milwaukee, WI Project Title: Utility of cfDNA as a therapeutic biomarker in pancreatic cancer Major Goals of the Project: The goal of the proposed research is to investigate the utility of monitoring changes in plasma circulating cell free DNA (cfDNA) in patients with pancreatic cancer. |
Resident Research Award
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2019
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James Barrett, MD
University of Wisconsin - Madison Madison, WI Project Title: Improving surgical outcomes through a patient and provider enhanced perioperative mobile technology platform Major Goals of the Project: Our hypothesis is that utilization of an innovative perioperative mobile technology platform will improve patient understanding, satisfaction and adherence to perioperative transitions of care, thereby optimizing patient outcomes and resource utilization. |
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2018
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Jolanta Gorecka, MD
Yale New Haven Hospital New Haven, CT Project Title: Delivery of activated mesenchymal stem cells accelerates diabetic wound healing Major Goals of the Project: To deliver a biomimetic matrix containing activated mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) to diabetic wounds in a murine model, the combination of which allows functional cells to survive in vivo to accelerate wound healing. |