NOVEMBER 2008
The Kansas City Area Life Sciences Institute provides this news brief for civic, corporate, political and scientific leaders to update you on the progress of the life sciences initiative in the Kansas City area. To unsubscribe, please contact Terri Bogina at 816-753-7700.
KCALSI announces research development
grant awards
KCALSI has awarded two research development grants. Da-Ming Zhu, Ph.D., was awarded $50,000 for his proposal entitled “Development Raman-Atomic Force Microscope for Biomedical Research Applications.” Kenneth Ratzlaff, Ph.D, was awarded $47,797 for his research “Millimeter-Resolution Mouse Force Tracker.”
Dr. Zhu’s research involves extending the technological capabilities of Raman-Atomic Force Microscopy by using phase sensitive detection. Raman Atomic Force Microscopy has tremendous potential for measuring surface structure of cultured cells and allows visualizing images of live cells submerged in liquids in addition to fixed dry cells. Da-Ming Zhu, Ph.D., is a physics professor at UMKC.
Dr. Ratzlaff’s research will develop a new instrument to track the motor behavior of normal and genetically-altered mice. The impact to the field of neuroscience could be significant, as biobehavioral assessment of motor and cognitive function in genetically-altered mice has become essential for understanding gene function. Such studies provide key insights for developing new therapies aimed at neurological diseases such as Huntington’s Disease or ALS. Kenneth Ratzlaff, Ph.D, is senior scientist and director Instrument Design Laboratory at the University of Kansas Center for Research.
Children’s Mercy Hospital research shows obese children have plaque of 40-somethings
Children’s Mercy Hospital’s Dr. Geetha Raghuveer and her colleagues looked at the neck arteries of 70 obese children with high cholesterol levels. The findings were presented at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions 2008 and subsequently made international news, citing that obese children have artery plaque similar to that of middle-aged adults. Geetha Raghuveer, M.D., M.P.H. is associate professor of pediatrics at UMKC School of Medicine and cardiologist at Children’s Mercy Hospitals and Clinics.
>> More info
St. Luke’s receives grant to fund outcomes research
for heart disease and stroke
Saint Luke’s Mid America Heart Institute is one of four recipients of an American Heart Association Pharmaceutical Roundtable (PRT) grant totaling $14.5 million for the Outcomes Research Centers initiative. Over the next four years, Saint Luke’s and three other centers—Stanford, Duke, and UCLA will conduct research to determine what interventions, environments, patient factors and other issue most influence improvements in healthcare outcomes for heart disease and stroke patients. Center investigators will meet regularly and share information with each other, and provide training for research fellows. The results of the collaborative will ultimately contribute to informed practice and policy decisions by patients, providers, payers and legislators. The awards are effective Oct. 1, 2008, and will be funded through Sept. 30, 2012. The American Heart Association PRT is a strategic coalition of ten leading Pharmaceutical companies that support the American Heart Association’s mission.
>> For more information, contact Kerry O’Connor at
816-932-8646.
KU Med receives $1.25M NIH grant for
educational programs
The University of Kansas Medical Center has received a five-year grant of $1.25 million to finance innovative educational programs that pair researchers, schools and other community organizations. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant is part of the Science Education Partnership Awards, a $17 million program to encourage science education.
MRI establishes Center for Integrated Algal Research
Midwest Research Institute (MRI) has established a new center to research the use of algae to reduce greenhouse gases and produce biofuel. The Center for Integrated Algal Research, headquartered in Kansas City, will conduct a broad range of research on systems for using algae to take in carbon dioxide and produce biofuel.
>> For more information, contact Linda Cook at
816-753-7600, ext 1202.
Saint Luke’s to open area’s first public cord
blood donation center
A new association between Saint Luke’s Hospital and the St. Louis Cord Blood Bank, a program of SSM Cardinal Glennon Children's Medical Center, will soon give women who give birth at Saint Luke’s the option of donating blood from their umbilical cords for use in treatments for leukemia, sickle cell anemia, and dozens of other diseases and disorders. Saint Luke’s is the first and only public cord blood donation program in the Kansas City area. There is no charge to the donor to participate. Umbilical cord blood is rich in adult stem cells useful in the treatment of many conditions.
>> For information call 816-932-2246.
Kansas voters approve tax for Johnson County Education Research Triangle
Kansas voters approved a one-eighth cent sales tax supporting the Johnson County Education Research Triangle. The tax is expected to generate about $15 million a year as base money for the KU-Edwards Campus, for the KU Med School, and for the K-State Olathe Innovation Campus. Each campus will receive $5 million in the base in perpetuity. The economic impact has been projected to include $150 million in public and private investment and 3,000 new jobs.
UMKC awarded research grants
University of Missouri Kansas City announced
two research awards.
Anil Kumar, Ph.D., Professor and Chair of the Division of Pharmacology in the School of Pharmacy received a $2,294,705 award from the National Institutes of Health for a project entitled, “Methamphetamine & AIDS in a Non-Human Primate Model.” Dr. Kumar’s research study in the animal model of HIV/AIDS, will help conclude the effect of methamphetamine on the lentivirus pathogenesis, neurological disorder and disease progression in relatively short time, through testing and analysis, as well as determine whether virus evolution is different in methamphetamine-exposed animals compared to that in the control animals.
J. David Eick, M.S., Ph.D. Curators’ Professor, Chair of the Department of Oral Biology and Director Graduate Programs in the School of Dentistry received a $1,699,000 award from the Department of Defense for a project entitled, “Consortium for Bone and Tissue Repair and Regeneration.” Building upon the considerable strengths of UMKC in biomaterials, biological systems, and clinical expertise at Missouri Science & Technology in biomaterials, materials science and engineering, and the engineering disciplines, this Consortium will provide a seamless mechanism for designing and developing new biomaterials and biosensors far exceeding the capacity of the individual groups at each campus. The development of new biomaterials will be a joint effort, bringing together life scientists and materials engineers in the development and testing of new biomaterials.
Children’s Mercy to participate in task force on best practices for pediatric weight management programs
Children’s Mercy Hospitals and Clinics is one of 16 hospitals chosen by The National Association of Children’s Hospitals and Related Institutions (NACHRI) to participate in a task force to identify best practices of hospital-based clinical pediatric weight management programs. The participating hospitals will help examine and refine successful components of the weight management programs at their collective hospitals. The task force, known as the NACHRI FOCUS Group on Obesity, is supported through an exploratory grant provided by the Mattel Children’s Foundation. The final findings will be published in January 2010.
Children’s Mercy also is one of only 17 health systems nationwide chosen to be part of the American Hospital Association’s Youth Obesity Learning Collaborative funded by the Centers for Disease Control to develop best practices and national guidelines aimed at preventing and reducing youth obesity. The hospital has partnered with University of Kansas to establish the Don Chisholm Center for Childhood Obesity, where Children’s Mercy will lead research initiatives addressing childhood obesity.
>> For more information, contact Jessica Salazar at
816-346-1346.
Animal health headquarters relocating from
Arizona to St. Joseph, MO
Imulan BioTherapeutics, an animal health company that develops immune-regulating compounds for veterinary medicine, has announced plans to relocate its headquarters from Prescott, AZ to the new Christopher “Kit” Bond Science and Technology Incubator in St. Joseph. Imulan commercialized Lymphocyte T-Cell Immunomodulator, a conditionally licensed treatment for cats infected with the feline leukemia and immunodeficiency virus.
Heritage Labs announces certification for home
blood glucose test
Heritage Labs International LLC, has received certification of their hemoglobin A1c testing methods by the National Glycohemoglobin Standardization Program (NGSP). Heritage Labs launched its Appraise Home A1C Kit in August for a convenient and affordable way to track personal blood glucose level averages.
>> For more information, contact Roy Bubbs at
908-766-5000.
Dr. Peter Koulen named Sabates Chair in Vision Research at UMKC Med School
The University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC) School of Medicine, in conjunction with the UMKC Vision Research Center and Truman Medical Center, appointed Peter Koulen, Ph.D., to serve as the Felix and Carmen Sabates Missouri Endowed Chair in Vision Research. Dr. Koulen comes to UMKC from the University of North Texas, where he served as a professor in the Department of Pharmacology and Neuroscience and director of the North Texas Eye Institute. Dr. Koulen’s current research interests have focused on the underlying mechanisms of action and development of pharmacological and molecular biological treatments for disorders of the renal and visual system and for cognitive decline during aging and Alzheimer’s disease.
>> For more information, contact: John Austin at
816-235-5251.
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