BRI Award Winners: Current News & Activities

In April 2004, the USC Office of Research and Health Sciences awarded five seed grants totaling $1 million as part of the first USC Biomedical Research Initiative (BRI) award solicitation program. The solicitation was established in the fall of 2003 as part of the BRISC (biomedical research initiative steering committee) effort to increase USC's biomedical research productivity by supporting the development of competitive applications for a program project or center-level research grants. Twelve (12) Letters of Intent were submitted by USC faculty in November 2003. Of these, eight (8) were selected to move to the full proposal stage (March 1, 2004). The following five applications were awarded grants in April 2004 to assist them with moving forward with a P01 or center grant application. Below are links to the abstracts for each of these collaborative programs and a listing of current faculty and staff involved in the efforts. You can also click on the PI name to go to their home page for more details on their work.

Frank Berger (PI)
“Program in Cell/Molecular Biology of Colorectal Cancer”

In order to reach its long term goals of becoming a self-standing research center and earning a national reputation for research on colorectal cancer, the Center for Colon Cancer Research (CCCR), which is currently supported by a COBRE grant from the NIH, proposes to develop a program grant (P01) application in the area of the Cell/Molecular Biology of Colorectal Cancer. To do so, the CCCR must increase its critical mass of faculty who can join an existing group of investigators in sculpting a compelling research theme for a P01 application. In the current proposal, the CCCR requests funds that will be used in conjunction with support from other sources (the Provost's Office, the Department of Biological Science, the College of Science and Math, the Department of Cell & Developmental Biology & Anatomy, and the COBRE grant itself), to accomplish the following two aims:

Aim 1. To recruit two new investigators in the area of the Cell/Molecular Biology of Colorectal Cancer. A senior person will be recruited into the Department of Biological Sciences, while a more junior associate will be added to the Department of Cell & Developmental Biology & Anatomy.

Aim 2. To develop a program project grant in the Cell/Molecular Biology of Colorectal Cancer. Once the individuals recruited in Aim 1 are identified and on campus, they will join existing USC investigators (Drs. F. Berger, T. Borg, A. Waldman, and M. Wyatt) in the development of a P01 application to the NIH

Rose Booze (PI)
“South Carolina COBRE in Neurodevelopment Disorders”

Neurodevelopmental disorders are a diverse set of physical, psychological, sensory and speech disorders that impact not only the individual, but also families and society as a whole. It is estimated that approximately 14% of school-aged children have disabilities, many of neurodevelopmental origin. Research concerning neurodevelopmental disorders integrates information regarding development in both humans and other species to determine the relationship between the developing brain and emergence of psychological abilities during infancy and childhood. The number of children taking psychotropic medications has tripled over the last decade, and there is an urgent need for new investigators in this rapidly expanding research area. The overriding goal of this COBRE application is to increase the quality and numbers of NIH-funded researchers and the availability of research infrastructure dedicated to neurodevelopmental disorders. The specific aims of this proposal are 1) to deepen our scientific understanding of the origins and outcomes of neurodevelopmental disorders; 2) to provide scientific expertise and facilities for the support of research projects concerning neurodevelopmental disorders at the University of South Carolina; and 3) to mentor a cohort of targeted junior faculty in attaining R01-level NIH grant support. Collectively, these aims will enhance the research base for funding at USC through supporting a multidisciplinary Center for Neurodevelopmental Disorders Research. Initially four highly promising junior faculty members will have an individualized mentoring plan and the resources needed to attain NIH R01-level funding in the area of neurodevelopmental disorders. These research projects will be supported by scientific core resources for animal testing and model development, analysis and manipulation of gene expression in brain, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and computational neurosciences/statistics. Access to a 3T Phillips MRI machine will be provided through a consortium agreement with the Center for Advanced Imaging Research (CAIR) at the Medical University of South Carolina. An administrative core will provide structured activities for mentoring for the target faculty, including workshops, seminars, journal clubs and retreats. There will be regular program evaluation progress report with critical feedback provided by an external advisory committee of distinguished scientists with expertise in neurodevelopmental disorders.

Tom Borg (PI)
“Regulation of Fibroblasts in Heart Development and Disease”

Cardiovascular disease is the leading causes of death in the United States. Many of the cardiovascular diseases initially begin as an adaptation of the heart to stress such as in myocardial infarction and hypertension. These adaptations can eventually lead to myocardial dysfunction and heart failure. The myocardium of the heart is composed of muscle cells (myocytes), non-muscle cells and an elaborate extracellular matrix that surrounds and inter-connects the heart cells. The predominant non-myocyte cell type in the heart is the fibroblast. These cells are found throughout the myocardium and play important roles in normal heart development and in the adaptation of the heart to pathological processes. It has been appreciated for some time that fibroblasts produce the bulk of the myocardial extracellular matrix. In this capacity, fibroblasts are critical to the structural integrity of the heart. Fibroblasts also play important mechanosensory roles within the myocardium. These cells detect changes in the mechanical environment and secrete growth factors that regulate gene expression in other cells. Many questions remain regarding the regulation and function of the cardiac fibroblasts in heart development and disease.

A group of investigators at the U.S.C. School of Medicine are collaborating to address questions related to the cardiac fibroblast. The overall goals of this research are 1) to understand how fibroblast behavior and gene expression are regulated during heart development and disease, 2) to determine the contribution of these cells to the progression of heart disease and ultimately 3) to identify aspects of these cells that could be used as therapeutic targets to treat heart disease. Five integrative projects listed below have been developed to address these overall goals. Together these projects will add greatly to our current understanding of the role of fibroblasts in heart development and disease.

The investigators leading these projects have a long history of collaborative interactions. During the past year, this group of investigators has been meeting weekly to discuss the directions and objectives of this research. Essential preliminary data has been collected that support the overall approach and this group is now in position to submit a P20 or Program Project proposal to the National Institutes of Health focused on the regulation of the cardiac fibroblast.

Kim Creek (PI)
“Development of a Cooperative Planning Grant for Comprehensive Minority Institution/Cancer Center Partnership (U56) Application to the National Cancer Institute”

The overall objective of this University of South Carolina Biomedical Research Initiative proposal is to strengthen and solidify specific project areas that will allow us to submit a highly competitive proposal to the National Cancer Institute (NCI) for a Cooperative Planning Grant for Comprehensive Minority Institution/Cancer Center Partnership (U56). The U56 cooperative agreement is a direct and obvious follow-up to our current P20 award: “Training of Claflin Minorities at USC Cancer Center” recently funded by the Minority Institution/Cancer Center Partnership Program of the NCI. Our current P20, constitutes a first step in the process that allows a Minority-Serving Institution (MSI)/Cancer Center Partnership to become competitive for the more lucrative U56 award. The maximum combined direct cost for the program, between a MSI (Claflin University, CU) and a Cancer Center (South Carolina Cancer Center, SCCC), is $500,000/year together, for a period not to exceed 5 years of support. We have identified four target areas, not supported by the P20, that are in need of further development/strengthening prior to submitting the U56. These four target areas are: (1) to increase our collaborative research base between CU and the SCCC by developing four new research projects between the institutions. Two of these projects involve new faculty hires at CU. (2) To strengthen two research core facilities that are critical for the success of the collaborative research projects between CU and the SCCC. (3) To facilitate research and instructional activities between the SCCC and CU, we propose to connect CU to the “Video Communications Corridor” currently linking Greenville-Columbia-Charleston. (4) To initiate a community outreach program for cancer prevention and control. In summary, the single goal of this BRI application is to strengthen these four specific target areas of our developing collaborative cancer research program with CU that will allow for us to submit a highly competitive U56 application to the NCI in mid-2005.

Click here for Power Point Presentation

List of Specific Projects and Investigators

Aim 1. To expand our collaborative research base between the MSI (CU) and the Cancer Center (SCCC)

Project 1. Factors that determine human papillomavirus (HPV) persistence among female college students at USC and CU.

Kim E. Creek School of Medicine
Lucia Pirisi-Creek School of Medicine
Carolyn Banister School of Medicine
Kathy Luchok School of Public Health
William R. Hill Thomson Student Health Center
William C. Boggs Thomson Student Health Center
Terry A King Thomson Student Health Center
Michelle Zager Thomson Student Health Center

Project 2. Development, testing and validation of a novel DNA microarray-based method for cervical cancer screening.

Kim E. Creek School of Medicine
Lucia Pirisi-Creek School of Medicine
Fang Wan School of Medicine
Diego Altomare School of Medicine
Iram Quraishi Microarray Facility
Homayoun Valafar Department of Computer Science and Engineering
Xiang Miao Department of Computer Science and Engineering
Jianguo Chen Claflin University
Omar Bagasra Claflin University

Project 3. Viral and host cell determinants of human papillomavirus (HPV) type 16 integration and HPV-mediated transformation.

Jianguo Chen Claflin University
Omar Bagasra Claflin University
Lucia Pirisi-Creek School of Medicine

Project 4. Role of bacterial colonic flora and antimicrobial peptides (APs) in colon cancer development.

Randall H. Harris Claflin University
Cindy Woods South Carolina Cancer Center
Michael Wargovich School of Medicine

Kim E. Creek School of Medicine
Iram Quraishi Microarray Facility
Jianguo Chen Claflin University

Stanley D. Fowler School of Medicine
Kim E. Creek School of Medicine

Lucia Pirisi-Creek School of Medicine
Terrance Henderson Vibrations Dance Company