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Charles E. Culpeper
Biomedical Pilot Initiative:
CULPEPER BIOMEDICAL PILOT GRANTS: PREVIOUS GRANTEES
CULPEPER PILOT GRANT PROPOSAL
GUIDELINES
The Goldman Philanthropic Partnerships
Culpeper Biomedical Pilot Initiative Grants
Charles E.
Culpeper Biomedical Pilot Grants and Resolutions:
January 2005
CITY OF HOPE: BECKMAN
RESEARCH INSTITUTE
FRED HUTCHINSON CANCER
RESEARCH CENTER
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO
UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO
UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER MEDICAL CENTER
$25,000 to City of Hope for the
research of Yanhong Shi, PhD, entitled “Neural Stem Cells
and Brain Tumors”, $25,000 to the Fred Hutchinson Cancer
Research Center, for the research of Randy O. Sigle, PhD,
entitled “Silk as a Model for Extra-cellular Matrix”,
$25,000 to the University of California, Berkeley, for the
research of Malcolm Potts, PhD, entitled “Cohort Study to
Examine the Safety of Lemons to Reduce HIV Transmission”,
$25,000 to the University of California, San Diego for the
research of Gabriel Silva, PhD, entitled “Differentiation of
Adult Stem Cells into the Photoreceptor Neurons”, $25,000 to
the University of Chicago for the research of Stephen Kron,
MD, PhD, entitled “Developing Small Molecule Inhibitors of
DNA Damage Repair to Eradicate Metastatic Disease”, $25,000
to the University of Rochester for the research of Dr. Peter
Rowley, MD, entitled “Development of Specific Therapy for
Multiple Myeloma”.
Traditional sources of funding for
scientific research, such as the National Institutes of
Health and the National Science Foundation, generally
require grantseeking investigators to submit substantial
preliminary data to support their hypotheses. The Biomedical
Pilot Initiative is intended to provide seed money to
researchers to enable them to achieve the momentum required
to secure longer-term support for their work.
PROGRAM
RELEVANCE:
Advances the Goldman Philanthropic
Partnerships’ interest in stimulating the development of
promising new approaches to contemporary health care
challenges.
No previous support given to City
of Hope, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, the
University of Chicago and the University of Rochester. We
supported the University of California, Berkeley, for the
research of Michael Marletta, PhD, and the Unniversity of
California, San Diego for the research of Joseph Vinetz, MD,
both are Culpeper Biomedical Pilot Grantees.
CITY OF HOPE
Stem cells
have the unique abilities to self-renew and to change into
other kinds of cells. Cancer cells have the same
characteristics. Dr. Shi and her colleagues believe that
many of the pathways that help stem cells self-renew and
change are the same pathways used by cancer cells,
especially brain tumor cells.
Dr. Shi has
discovered a compound called TLX which is critical to the
self-renewal process in adult brain stem cells. When cells
don’t have TLX, they can’t grow. If you give these cells
TLX, they will begin to multiply. These discoveries have
created this research, during which the Dr. Shi team will
determine whether brain tumor cells use TLX to help them
grow and multiply.
If they team
finds TLX is required for brain tumor growth, they will find
the genes that TLX affects in both brain stem cells and
brain tumor cells. Comparison of these two cell types will
allow researchers to create anti-tumor therapies that can
attack the TLX sensitive genes in brain tumor cells,
creating treatments for these devastating, incurable
cancers, and for other brain related diseases.
The search
is on to create a synthetic extra-cellular matrix that we
envision can be used for four purposes: research on how
changes in the extra-cellular matrix affect the body;
replacing damaged extra-cellular matrix in wound situations;
as a therapy when drugs are incorporated into the synthetic
extra-cellular matrix before it is placed into the body; and
as a scaffold for designing artificial body parts.
Silk from
silkworms is a compelling candidate for this synthetic
extra-cellular matrix. It is abundant, nearly pure, can be
made in both water soluble and non-water soluble forms.
Dr. Sigle and his team will begin to determine whether or
not the biological activities of the human extra-cellular
matrix can be incorporated into silk. If their hypotheses
are correct, this research could lead to the development of
new therapies for wound healing and cancer, as well as the
initiation of a new paradigm for tissue engineering.
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY
Sexual
transmission of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases
(STDs) continue at epidemic pace globally. HIV researchers
believe that microbicides, chemicals that can kill bacteria
and viruses, can reduce the transmission of HIV and other
STD pathogens when applied vaginally. Current academic and
pharmaceutical research is focusing on the lengthy and
expensive process of developing new microbicide drugs
Women around
the world have used diluted lemon or lime juice as a
microbicide in many countries. Lemons and limes are
inexpensive and locally available in nearly every country.
In lab studies, lemon/lime juice kills HIV on contact and
has been proven safe for use in the vagina’s of monkeys.
If lemon
juice is effective in reducing HIV transmission in humans,
the world will have and inexpensive and life saving
prevention for a catastrophic disease, and a benchmark of
safety and effectiveness for testing futures microbicides.
Dr. Potts and his team will test whether lemon juice is safe
when self-applied to a woman’s vagina.
If this test
proves that dilute lemon juice is safe, a human clinical
trial will begin to test whether lemon juice does reduce HIV
infections and other STD’s. Dr. Potts’ research has the
potential to introduce a safe, effective, available, and
inexpensive method years before a commercial microbicide
becomes available.
UNIVERSITY OF
CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO
More than 50
million people worldwide are going blind because the light
receptor cells in their eyes have broken down. There are
few treatments that can slow these diseases, and none that
can cure them. The most promising research is centering on
replacing the damaged light receptors cells. Researchers
have found certain blood cells found in the bone marrow can
be transformed into light receptor cells. These blood cells
are called adult stem cells because they can turn into a
wide variety of cells in the body. Other researchers have
made some of these blood stem cells look like light receptor
cells.
However,
while they look like light receptor cells, they don’t
function like light receptor cells. Dr. Silva and his team
have hypothesized two breakthroughs that may lead them to
rapidly develop new light receptor cells that can be
transplanted into the eye to restore the vision that these
patients have lost.
The first
breakthrough that Dr. Silva and his team believe is
necessary is to provide just the right mix of chemical and
other signals that natural light receptor cells would
receive as they are maturing.
More
importantly, a second breakthrough is needed, to create a
special three dimensional nano-environment on which these
cells can grow. This three dimensional structure mimics the
structure of the retina where light receptor cells normally
grow. In the end, Dr. Silva and his team are trying to
re-create the exact environment in which normal light
receptor cells grow, so these stem cells can grow into
functional light receptor cells.
If Dr. Silva
and his team are correct, these new “Supercells” will be
able to save the sight that so many people continue to
lose.
UNIVERSITY OF
CHICAGO
Most cancer
chemotherapy works by damaging the DNA of cancer cells.
When these cancer cells divide, the damaged DNA causes the
cell to die. All cells, especially cancer cells, have the
ability to repair the damaged DNA before the cell divides.
If the DNA is repaired before the cell divides, the cancer
cell will not die.
Dr. Kron and
his colleagues have discovered a key molecule in cancer
cells, HA2X, that is required to rapidly repair DNA damage.
This study will test over 20,000 small molecules that can
block the effectiveness of HA2X. A molecule that can block
HA2X will theoretically deliver the knock-out punch that
would allow chemotherapy to kill all cancer cells,
especially in cancers that have spread around the body. Dr.
Kron’s breakthrough research could have a significant impact
on survival and quality of life of all cancer patients.
UNIVERSITY OF
ROCHESTER MEDICAL CENTER
Multiple
myeloma is an incurable blood-bone cancer. The disease is
caused by two or more defective genes. One of the reasons
it is so hard to defeat is that these multiple gene defects
create a variety of pathways the disease uses to keep
growing. There are many therapies that can kill myeloma
cells, but other myeloma cells just keep growing using
alternative pathways, and eventually the patient succumbs to
the disease.
Dr. Rowley
and his team have developed a new technology that can stop
more than one defective gene at the same time. His team has
already shown that this therapy, a gene inhibitor called
peptide nucleic acid (PNA), can block one defective gene in
multiple myeloma cells.
This new
project will create a PNA to the other major gene defects,
so that myeloma cells will be killed without having an
alternative path around the therapy. If this project is
successful, there is hope that this incurable disease will
soon be conquered, and that other resistant, incurable
cancers can also benefit from this powerful therapy.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
RESOLVED,
that the sum of $25,000 be and it hereby is appropriated to
City of Hope, for the research of Yanhong Shi, PhD, entitled
“Neural Stem Cells and Brain Tumors”.
RESOLVED,
that the sum of $25,000 be and it hereby is appropriated to
the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, for the research
of Randy O. Sigle, PhD, entitled “Silk as a Model for
Extra-cellular Matrix”.
RESOLVED,
that the sum of $25,000 be and it hereby is appropriated to
the University of California, Berkeley, for the research of
Malcolm Potts, PhD, entitled “Cohort Study to Examine the
Safety of Lemons to reduce HIV Transmission”.
RESOLVED,
that the sum of $25,000 be and it hereby is appropriated to
the University of California, San Diego, for the research of
Gabriel Silva, PhD, entitled “Differentiation of Adult Stem
Cells into the Photoreceptor Neurons”.
RESOLVED,
that the sum of $25,000 be and it hereby is appropriated to
the University of Chicago, for the research of Stephen Kron,
MD, PhD, entitled “Developing Small Molecule Inhibitors of
DNA Damage Repair to Eradicate Metastatic Disease”.
RESOLVED,
that the sum of $25,000 be and it hereby is appropriated to
the University of Rochester, for the research of Peter
Rowley, MD, entitled “Development of Specific Therapy for
Multiple Myeloma”.
CULPEPER BIOMEDICAL PILOT GRANTS: PREVIOUS GRANTEES
CULPEPER PILOT GRANT PROPOSAL
GUIDELINES
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