UTHSC Announces Six Grant Awards Totaling $402,000

The UT Institute for Research, Innovation, Synergy and Health Equity at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC) has announced the latest round of grant recipients from its Pilot Translational and Clinical Studies (PTCS) Program. Six UTHSC researchers were chosen from a field of 28 submissions. The PTCS Program provides funding and support to promoting clinical and translational science, bringing health care discoveries from “bench to bedside” and from “bedside to community.”

Beyond financial support, PTCS award recipients are also provided with program and business management support, and mentoring to navigate the process of establishing sustainable funding. The program prioritizes support for junior investigators, multidisciplinary teams and projects focusing specifically on health disparities.

Each of the six current award recipients will perform and complete their research within a one-year period.

Ilana Graetz, PhD, assistant professor, Department of Preventive Medicine, will receive $75,000 for a project that uses a mobile application to track adverse effects of endocrine therapy for breast cancer treatment.
Shalini Narayana, PhD, assistant professor, Department of Pediatrics, will receive $80,000 for her project using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to reduce the effects of seizures in patients with refractory epilepsy.
Brooke Sanford, PhD, assistant professor, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Biomedical Engineering, will receive $47,000 to develop new clinical guidelines for patients to return to unrestricted activity following ACL surgery.
Thomas J. Schroeppel, MD, associate professor, Department of Surgery, will receive $50,000 for his project exploring the use of beta-adrenergic blockade to lessen the catecholamine surge (a surge of stress hormones which impair cardiac function) following traumatic brain injuries (TBI) to lower mortality
Nhu Quynh T. Tran, PhD, assistant professor, Department of Preventive Medicine, will receive $75,000 for her project to identify genetic mutations and clinical risk factors associated with recurrent non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) in patients undergoing liver transplantation.
Dahui You, PhD, assistant professor, Department of Pediatrics, will receive $75,000 for her project exploring the pathogenesis of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).