Three School of Medicine faculty projects were selected for AMC21 2018-2019 Multi-PI Awards. The purpose of these grants is to enable School of Medicine faculty members to organize and integrate multidisciplinary teams of accomplished investigators who will compete successfully for long-term support from funding agencies.
The projects, chosen based on scientific merit, are eligible for up to $150,000 per year for a project period of up to two years, pending appropriate progress and achievement of benchmarks.
The awardees are:
Victor Thannickal, M.D., Ben Vaughan Branscomb Chair of Medicine in Respiratory Disease and director of the Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care, has received an award for his project “Cellular senescence, bioenergetics and fibrotic lung disease.”
Fran Lund, Ph.D., Charles H. McCauley Professor and Chair of the Department of Microbiology, has received an AMC21 Multi-PI award for her project “Tissue and organ-specific human B cell immunity.”
Kevin Harrod, Ph.D., Benjamin Monroe Carraway Endowed Chair and Professor in the Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, has received an award for his project “Pathogenesis and mechanisms of influenza-mediated secondary bacterial infections.”
“We believe these grants will further the outstanding research that each of these individuals are doing,” said Etty “Tika” Benveniste, Ph.D., senior vice dean for Basic Sciences. “All three of them have exceptional teams, and we look forward to seeing how their projects evolve over the coming years.”
In total, 19 letters of intent were submitted. The three winners were selected from seven full submissions.
“Since its inception, this program has already provided a significant return on investment with several large programmatic initiatives being funded through extramural sources,” said Anupam Agarwal, M.D., executive vice dean. “The School of Medicine looks forward to continued interest and enthusiasm for the program.”