Recent grant awards

Summer, 2024

Liver disease

Drs. Han and Pullen have been awarded $378,000 from the National Institutes of Health to study the effects of cannabinoids on diet-induced non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.  Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD*) is one of the most common health disorders in the United States. It is estimated that 40% or more of American adults have this condition, with rapid growth in numbers. The most severe form, known as metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH) is a leading cause of liver failure and, ultimately, death. These diseases are a rapidly growing and significant burden on the American healthcare system, and it is predicted that unless this problem is addressed, it will become the leading cause of liver transplants (not alcohol, not hepatitis virus). Until March 2024 no approved therapies existed. The recently approved drug (resmetirom) can cost upwards of $4,000 per month. Our project seeks to better understand the pathology of MASLD and potential, more cost-effective therapies. Specifically, we will research an immune cell type, called mast cells, as a cause this disease. Mast cells are more famous for their part in causing seasonal allergies and asthma, however, they actually play much broader roles in inflammation and tissue damage like what is seen in MASLD/MASH. We will also test the effects of cannabidiol (CBD) and the closely related cannabigerol (CBG) as potential, cheaper, therapies for this liver disease. This has significant economic impact potential by reducing the cost of therapy as well as the economic burden of end-stage liver failure, such as the need for liver transplant.

Eye development

Drs. Andrea James (UNC Biology) and Tyler Engstrom (UNC Physics) have been awarded a $413,920 grant from the National Eye Institute of the National Institutes of Health for their interdisciplinary project, “Developing new biophysical models of choroid fissure closure in zebrafish and foveal pit formation across species.” This project will address a basic research need for quantitative eye morphogenesis models that are tested against experimental data and that can shed light on biophysical mechanisms during eye development. Such models will aid in treatment and prevention of colobomas, foveal hypoplasia, and other developmental diseases of the eye. UNC physics and biology majors will be recruited to work on all aspects of the proposed research, through twelve paid positions to be created over the next three years.