Innovation News Out of UAMS, UALR
By Mark Carter
Some innovation news out of Little Rock's two research universities.
First off, UAMS researchers are reaching for the stars.
A team of UAMS scientists, in collaboration with researchers from Arizona and California, has been awarded a $4.4 million grant for space radiation health research.
The three-year grant was awarded by the National Space Biomedical Research Institute. Here's more from UAMS:
Marjan Boerma, Ph.D., associate professor of pharmaceutical sciences in the UAMS College of Pharmacy Division of Radiation Health, will lead the research team and serve as its principal investigator.
Compared to the general population, people exposed to radiation in different scenarios on Earth have shown higher incidences of cardiovascular diseases like hypertension, ischemic heart disease and stroke. The cardiovascular system seems more sensitive to ionizing radiation than previously believed, Boerma said. Hence, the researchers will seek to determine if radiation encountered during space travel has similar negative long-term consequences for cardiovascular health. They also will look for ways to reduce the health risks from radiation exposure in space.
“One of the countermeasures against radiation injury that we’re interested in is tocotrienol, in the vitamin E family,” Boerma said. “We will use and test gamma-tocotrienol because it has been shown to be very effective in protecting against radiation injury. Now, since tocotrienols also have several other benefits for heart and blood vessels, we’re going to test to see if it reduces cardiovascular effects from space radiation.”
In addition to Boerma, other UAMS scientists and faculty at the center include: Martin Hauer-Jensen, M.D., Ph.D., associate dean for research and director of the Division of Radiation Health in the UAMS College of Pharmacy; Alan Tackett, Ph.D., professor in the UAMS College of Medicine Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology; and Igor Koturbash, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health in the UAMS Fay W. Boozman College of Public Health. Hauer-Jensen will serve as co-director of the center, while Tackett and Koturbash are co-investigators.
Researchers at Loma Linda University in Loma Linda, California, Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., and the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona, will share in the NSBRI grant funding and will collaborate with the UAMS team through the center.
UAMS, of course, produces tech-based startups including several IA client firms out of its BioVentures incubator.
Meanwhile, across (mid)town
UALR is hiring a vice provost of research, innovation and economic development, and has narrowed its search to three finalists.
Here's more from Arkansas Business.
According to the school, the position will serve as head of department-based research projects and several research centers, including the Center for Integrative Nanotechnology Sciences, Emerging Analytics Center and TechLaunch.
TechLaunch helps UALR students, faculty and staff protect their IP and get their tech ventures off the ground.
Finalists hail from Oak Ridge National Lab, Purdue and Pittsburg State in Kansas. Again, read more about 'em at AB.