CHRB Awards Totaling $509,806 to
Eight Medical & Health Researchers in Virginia
RICHMOND —Chairman of the Commonwealth Health Research Board, Dr. Robert P. McBride, III
today announced awards totaling $509,806 to eight medical and health
researchers in Virginia. The researchers are from the Eastern Virginia Medical
School, Virginia Tech, Virginia Commonwealth University and the University of
Virginia.
“The citizens of Virginia will no doubt benefit from the long-term results of
this research,” said Chairman McBride. Research funded will support: studies on Head and Neck
Cancer; toxic strains of human intestinal bacteria, E. Coli; new treatments of
scoliosis (curvature of the spine); pelvic disorders in rural Virginia women;
measurements in renal arterial disease; new therapy for prostate cancer;
childhood obesity; and improving influenza vaccination in the elderly. “These diseases and disorders have significant consequences for hundreds of
thousands of Virginians, and we hope the research will lead to significant
advances in diagnosis and treatment in each of these areas.”
“It is extremely gratifying to see the success of our competitive grant program
this year,“ added CHRB Vice Chairman S. Lawrence Kocot. “The Board received 36 grant applications. Many of these were excellent
proposals. The proposals selected for funding have a tremendous potential to
enhance the health and well being of Virginia citizens.”
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 is 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.
As a result of work funded by the CHRB, two past CHRB grant recipients, Dr.
Cynthia S. Kelly and Dr. Paul H. Ratz, of Eastern Virginia Medical School, were
successful in obtaining additional grant funds for their research projects. Dr.
Kelly was successful in obtaining one of eight awards for an “Allies Against Asthma” program funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, in a competition of 250
investigators. The grant is in an amount of $1.5 million over four years. Dr.
Ratz was recently funded for four years at $730,000 by the National Institute
of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases at the National Institutes of
Health.
The members of the Board are: Robert P. McBride, III, Chairman, Richmond; S.
Lawrence Kocot, Vice Chairman, Alexandria; Hunter B. Andrews, Hampton; David L.
Bernd, Norfolk; Kamlesh N. Dave, Hopewell; Edward G. Murphy, Roanoke; Alson
Smith, Jr., Winchester.
