KU possesses strengths in research that spans pharmaceutical science and neurological studies, age-related health needs, speech and language, cancer therapies, and more. KU is well positioned to build upon these strengths and to increase the visibility and influence of the university while at the same time making a real difference in the lives of Kansans and people everywhere.
Opportunities
- Develop functional interdisciplinary teams focused on health and well-being composed of current and new faculty, particularly new faculty affiliated with interdisciplinary centers and units.
- Focus on supporting economic and entrepreneurial endeavors and broadening sources of multidisciplinary research funding.
- Develop infrastructure to facilitate interdisciplinary collaboration, including new tools for communication across traditional academic boundaries.
Current Activities Related to Theme:
COBRE: Center for the Molecular Analysis of Disease Pathways
This $11 million, five-year NIH grant is led by Susan Lunte and co-investigators Blake Peterson, and Erik Lundquist. The grant will enable KU researchers to better understand the molecular basis of diseases such as cancer and neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, and Huntington’s.
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Investigate the Use of R-ketorolac Against Ovarian Cancer
This $370,000, two-year National Cancer Institute grant, awarded to Jennifer Golden in collaboration with the University of New Mexico Cancer Center, comes from the NCI Provocative Questions Project. The grant will be used to investigate the use of R-ketoralac – a component of an already approved anti-inflammatory drug – against ovarian cancer.
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Completed Biodiversity Institute Renovation
The $3.5 million renovation to Dyche Hall, funded by the National Science Foundation, state funds, and private gifts, modernized laboratories for research in a wide variety of biodiversity sciences involving plants and animals, genetics, anatomy, and forecasting the potential spread of diseases and harmful invasive species.
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Assessing Eligibility for Care Planning
Rosemary Chapin, professor, and director of the Office of Aging and Long Term Care at KU’s School of Social Welfare, and Lawrence Memorial Hospital are partnering on a peer-to-peer intervention program that matches an older adult volunteer peer supporter with an older adult LMH patient at high risk of rehospitalization. The goal is to reduce rehospitalization rates, emergency room utilization, and depression and improve quality of life.
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NIH Grant for HIV Vaccine Research
Heather Desaire, a professor of chemistry, has received a $1.38 million grant from the National Institutes of Health for research that will seek ways to improve the process of creating HIV vaccines.
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Food Utopias: An Interdisciplinary Exploration of Ideal Food Systems
Paul Stock, assistant professor of sociology, was awarded a KU Commons Seed Grant for a new project, Food Utopias: An Interdisciplinary Exploration of Ideal Food Systems. Collaborators include KU faculty members and social scientists from New Zealand, Colorado, and Illinois.
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Cytochrome P450 17A1 – Improved Treatments for Prostate and Breast Cancer
With a new NIH grant, Emily Scott and Jeff Aubé of the Center of Biomedical Research Excellence in Protein Structure and Function are researching the structure and function of Cytochrome P450 17A1, an enzyme that makes hormones that promote the growth of prostate and breast cancer. By defining the shape of this enzyme, the research will enable the design of more effective drugs to stop undesirable hormone production in cancer patients. Future work will be funded by a pilot project from the KU Cancer Center.
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