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December 14, 2007 - NRFTD Announces 2007 Grant Recipients
The National Research Fund for Tick Borne Diseases, Inc. (NRFTD), a non-profit organization dedicated to the promotion and funding of research in the field of tick-borne diseases, today announced the winners of its 2007 grant awards. A total of $344,107 has been awarded to four investigators whose projects met our strict scientific standards and demonstrated the most potential to attract long-term funding by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the National Science Foundation (NSF), or other biomedical agencies. The NRFTD is guided by its desire to transform scientific discoveries into tangible results, such as publication in peer-reviewed medical journals and presentations at scientific conferences. The 2007 recipients and their projects are listed below.
NRFTD GRANT WINNERS 2007
R. Mark Wooten,
Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
College of Medicine/Medical Microbiology and Immunology
University of Toledo, Ohio
Project Cost: $120,000 Project Duration: 2 Years
Project title: Intravital assessment of interactions between Borrelia burgdorferi and immune cells in skin
Borrelia burgdorferi is transmitted by tick-bite to host skin tissues, where it resides for several days before disseminating to cause Lyme disease. Little is known about how these bacteria can evade capture and clearance by immune cells that reside in skin tissues.
Because these bacteria are specifically adapted to live within either tick or vertebrate hosts, studies performed in “test tubes” do not accurately reflect how these bacteria evade host defenses.
Dr. Wooten and his colleagues have recently developed techniques that allow them to directly assess interactions between B. burgdorferi and immune cells directly in mouse skin. This should accurately reflect how these pathogens truly act during the development of Lyme disease. Dr. Wooten’s studies will use novel fluorescent (“glowing”) mouse strains, fluorescent bacteria, and powerful microscopy techniques to visualize how these bacteria interact with host immune cells directly within the skin tissues of living mice and in real-time.
These studies will help identify critical events that allow B. burgdorferi to escape immune clearance, and which then may be targeted for curative treatments. By perfecting these techniques, they may subsequently be used to more accurately study other tick-borne pathogens that must also evade host immune cells that reside in the skin.
Expected Date of Completion: December 2009
Alan G. Barbour,
M.D.
Professor of Microbiology & Molecular Genetics and Medicine
University of California, Irvine
Project Cost: $60,000 Project Duration: 1 Year
Project Title: Proteomics of ticks for identification of pathogen reservoirs
One way to control infections by tick-borne bacteria and viruses is to prevent transmission of the microbe from ticks to humans. Examples are repellents and vaccination of people at risk. While this could be effective for reducing vector-borne diseases such as malaria and dengue fever, which are largely maintained in nature by humans themselves, it could have limited efficacy against infections for which wildlife are the major sources.
A complementary approach would be to direct control efforts toward the wildlife reservoirs. For Lyme disease, there are several types of animals, including different rodents, shrews, and birds that are reservoirs of Borrelia burgdorferi.
Identification of the source of the infection for a tick provides for an assessment of the relative contributions of each species. Dr. Barbour and his colleagues identified a method for identifying what a tick had fed on months earlier. This is accomplished by detecting blood components in the tick and then determining where they came from. With this method and a means to determine whether ticks are infected with Borrelia burgdorferi or other pathogens, field studies can be carried out to assess which are the critical sources of the agent of Lyme disease in a given area.
Expected Date of Completion: December 2008
Linden T. Hu, M.D.
Assistant Professor
Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases
New England Medical Center
Project Cost: $60,000 Project Duration: 1 Year
Project title: Recognition of host molecules in environment adaptation by Borrelia burgdorferi
The mechanisms by which Borrelia burgdorferi recognizes its environment and prepares for transition from a mouse to a tick are poorly understood.
The identification of host hormones as signaling molecules important in this process offers important insight into how the organism may accomplish its adaptation to different hosts. Understanding the elements that are critical to host adaptation may lead to new strategies for disrupting the ability of Lyme bacteria to survive in its natural hosts, thus reducing transmission to humans.
Expected Date of Completion: December 2008
Dennis Grab, Ph. D.
Associate Professor
Medicine/Pediatrics
Johns Hopkins University
Project Cost: $104,107 Project Duration: 1 Year
Project Title: Borrelia burgdorferi interactions with endothelium
In order for Borrelia burgdorferi, the agent of Lyme disease to enter the central nervous system, it must first cross the brain’s first line of defense against pathogen entry: specialized capillaries called the blood-brain barrier. This barrier is made up of a special kind of blood vessel cell (endothelial cell) called a brain microvascular endothelial cell (BMEC).
Dr.Grab and his colleagues have evidence that spirochetes cause the BMEC to release enzymes that break down the connections that hold the endothelial cells together to form a barrier. They will explore which enzymes are released and the role of these enzymes in helping the spirochetes cross capillaries to enter the brain.
Expected Date of Completion: December 2008
(see more on past grant winners)
About The NRFTD
The NRFTD was
founded in 1999 to address the critical research needs of persons
afflicted by emerging tick-borne diseases, including those caused by
Lyme disease and relapsing fever Borrelia, Anaplasma, Babesia,
Bartonella and Ehrlichia species. Such needs have grown considerably in
recent years as Lyme disease has spread throughout the country and as
other tick-borne infections have been recognized as public health
threats.
The NRFTD is organized exclusively to promote the
advancement of scientific knowledge regarding tick-borne diseases and to
facilitate the translation of these advances into improved health for
patients. NRFTD is dedicated to sponsoring only the most scientifically
rigorous research at pre-eminent research institutions throughout the
world, adhering to the norms and standards of research projects
currently funded by domestic science agencies such as the National
Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation.
The mission of the NRFTD is entirely research-oriented,
with the exclusive goal of raising and disbursing funds for scientific
studies. The NRFTD does not engage in patient advocacy issues, nor does
it offer opinions on matters of clinical policy.
Accomplishments
With the generous support of our benefactors,
the NRFTD has raised more than $1.2 million. Our initial efforts focused
on funding research locally. Innovative studies at Columbia University,
including adjunct projects to the National Institutes of Health-funded
Study of Chronic Lyme Disease, were our first accomplishments.
To broaden the scope of our research effort and to make pilot project funding available to researchers at academic centers throughout the United States and worldwide, we established a Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) in 2005. The SAB, which includes investigators from multiple institutions, assisted the NRFTD in the establishment of an application and review process that would allow for rapid distribution of annual research awards.
Board of Directors
The NRFTD is served by a highly competent Board of Directors who possess
demonstrable experience in the business and professional worlds.
Determined to achieve increased national awareness and to accelerate
scientific understanding, the board intends to establish and develop a
coordinated national research effort. The NRFTD is committed to
expanding its fundraising base to include major donors, foundations and
corporations. This expansion will allow the NRFTD to entertain a wide
array of scientific proposals and to fund multiple research projects.
Scientific Advisory Board
The
institution of both the NRFTD Scientific Advisory Board and a
rigorous scientific review process in 2005 confirms the NRFTD's
commitment to excellence. The Scientific Advisory Board
(SAB), comprised of nationally known researchers in the field of
tick-borne diseases and related areas, advises the NRFTD on a wide
variety of matters concerning overall scientific objectives. The SAB
maintains the highest standards in the selection of the most promising
grants. In addition, the SAB ensures that broad segments of the
scientific community become aware of the NRFTD's activities and goals.
Research Grants
The NRFTD will provide grants of varying
project lengths and monetary levels. A Request for Applications (RFA),
in which project length and funding level are specified, will be issued
by the Scientific Advisory Board before each funding cycle. Applicants
are required in their applications to elucidate the potential for their
work to lead to long term funding by NIH, NSF or other scientific or
biomedical agencies. Emphasis is placed on the transformation of
discoveries into tangible results, such as publication in peer-reviewed
medical journals and presentations at scientific conferences.
NRFTD
P.O. Box 643
Wilton, CT 06897
(800) 728- 7147
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