August 8, 2007

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – UAB has received nearly $6 million to help lead the fight against cystic fibrosis.

UAB’s (University of Alabama at Birmingham) Gregory Fleming James Cystic Fibrosis Research Center received nearly $4 million over five years from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestion and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) to establish the UAB CF Research and Translation Core Center. The grant will facilitate collaborative efforts among numerous CF investigators at UAB and outside institutions. UAB serves as one of four CF Centers selected nationally for this funding and designation.

“The NIDDK Core Center will advance CF science towards improved understanding of the disease, and ways this information can be applied to experimental therapeutics” said Eric Sorscher, M.D., professor of medicine and director of the UAB CF Center.

The new project will feature three cores; a cell model and assay core under the direction of Kevin Kirk, Ph.D., professor of physiology and biophysics; a mouse models core, led by David Bedwell, Ph.D., professor of microbiology; and a clinical core, directed by J.P. Clancy, M.D., professor of pediatrics-pulmonary medicine. Each core will provide leading edge assays, specialized reagents and sound experimental expertise.

“Beyond providing a platform from which new junior and senior scientists can be brought into the field, the UAB Core Center will serve as a means of rapidly testing exciting advances, particularly from the perspective of clinical translation,” said Sorscher.

The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation awarded $1.8 million over the next four years to continue the UAB CF Center’s Research Development Program (RDP). The program forms the foundation for a cystic fibrosis research initiative at UAB, designed to promote training, pilot and feasibility projects and new recruitment within the Center.

Jeong Hong, Ph.D., assistant professor of cell biology and Dale Benos, Ph.D., professor and chair of physiology and biophysics will direct key components of the CFF RDP. The RDP has traditionally made important contributions to improve the basic understanding and treatment of cystic fibrosis.