CHRB Announces Awards Totaling $799,746
CHRB Announces Awards Totaling $799,746 to eight medical and health researchers
in Virginia
Chairman of the Commonwealth Health Research Board, Dr. Robert S. Call today
announced awards totaling $799,746 to eight medical and health researchers in
Virginia. The researchers are from Carilion Medical Center, Eastern Virginia
Medical School, George Mason University, University of Virginia, Virginia
Commonwealth University, and Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State
University.
“The Commonwealth Health Research Board [CHRB] provides great opportunities for
researchers to improve the health of Virginia’s citizens,” said Dr. Call. “Virginia’s own CHRB is also a unique resource dedicated to help Virginia’s scientists achieve their dreams.”
The six new grants funded this year include: designing chemicals that will
prevent tumor growth, studying genetic derangements in lung cancer tissue
samples, development of broad spectrum therapeutics for treating bacterial
infections, therapeutic treatment of spinal cord injury, studying drugs that
may treat/prevent Alzheimer’s Disease, and research on a blinding disease in premature infants (retinopathy
of prematurity).
Two investigators have received a second year of funding to enable them to
continue studies in the following areas: exploring new treatment of multi-drug
resistant bacteria and developing improved HIV therapy.
“It is always difficult, but fascinating, to choose those to be funded - - doubly
so this year with lots of quality papers and less cash to distribute. We have a
prime selection of researchers,” added CHRB Vice Chairman Dr. George E. Broman.
The list of researchers, their respective research institutions, the amounts of
their awards, the matching funds supplied by the recipient institutions, and
the titles of the projects are attached.
The Board was established in 1997 by the Virginia General Assembly using funds
provided from the conversion of Trigon from a mutual company to a stock
company. The Board awards grants for traditional medical and biomedical
research as well as research related to health services and the delivery of
health care. Since its inception in 1999 the CHRB has funded 149 research
grants totaling over $11.5 million. CHRB grant recipients have leveraged $14.2
million in additional private and federal grant funds to further their research
studies.
