Liana Apostolova, MD, MSc, FAAN, and Apoorva Sanjay Bharthur
At Indiana University School of Medicine, the 2019 fiscal year set another record for NIH-funded research, with the school’s faculty attracting federal support for research targeting Alzheimer’s disease, pediatric health, global research and more. Here are the projects that were awarded the largest grants:
1. Longitudinal Early-Onset Alzheimer’s Disease Study, led by Liana Apostolova, MD, MSc, FAAN – $14,470,241
This is a two-year observational study designed to look at disease progression in adults with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease (between ages 40-64). Researchers are also recruiting cognitively normal volunteers for a one-year comparison.
2. National Cell Repository for Alzheimer’s Disease, led by Tatiana Foroud, PhD – $11,163,442
This is a program where researchers store and provide biological materials (like DNA, plasma and brain tissue) which enable Alzheimer’s disease research locally and nationwide.
3. Indiana Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute, led by Anantha Shekhar, MD, PhD – $6,615,062
This institute works to accelerate research, grow talent and improve health by bringing together Indiana’s brightest minds to solve the state’s most pressing health challenges.
4. Indiana University/ Jackson Laboratory Model Organism Development & Evaluation for Late-Onset Alzheimer’s Disease, led by Bruce Lamb, PhD – $6,508,146
This consortium is working to develop the next generation of in vivo Alzheimer’s disease models based on human data for researchers across the country.
5. Alzheimer’s Disease Drug Discovery Center, led by Alan Palkowitz, PhD – $5,774,436
Researchers at this center are working to improve, diversify and reinvigorate the Alzheimer’s disease drug development pipeline.
6. International epidemiology Databases to Evaluate AIDS, led by Kara Kay Wools-Kaloustian, MD – $3,729,014
This international research consortium works to collect, consolidate and analyze data about treatment of HIV and evaluates outcomes of people living with HIV/AIDS.
7. Indiana Alzheimer’s Disease Center, led by Andrew Saykin, PSYD – $2,870,314
This is one of 32 Alzheimer’s disease research centers that are national hubs for clinical trials and patient support programs.
8. Implementing Genomics in Practice, led by Todd Skaar, PhD – $2,795,541
The goals of this project are to recruit minority and underserved patients and test effects of genotype-guided opioid therapy on pain control and opioid-related adverse events.
9. Indiana University Simon Cancer Center, led by Pat Loehrer, MD – $2,759,704
This grant supports basic and translational research being done at the IU Simon Cancer Center.
10. Morphogenesis and growth of the ventricular wall in development and disease, led by Anthony Firulli, PhD – $2,386,125
Pediatric researchers are working to understand the role certain proteins play during heart development, as they strive to minimize congenital heart defects, which are the most common birth defect.
