Five-Year Grant Extension Supports Ongoing Vascular Disease Research; Longest Continuously Funded NIH Grant at Cleveland Clinic Totals 31 Years
5/28/09
Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute has received a five-year, $9.1 million renewal of an NIH grant that supports vascular disease research. The grant – which extends the research to 31 consecutive years – is one of the longest continuously funded program project grants issued by the National Institutes of Health’s National Heart Lung and Blood Institute and the longest continuously funded NIH grant at Cleveland Clinic.
“The longevity of the project is a result of the insights gained by our team and the novel directions that continue to develop over the years,” said Paul E. DiCorleto, Ph.D., Lerner Research Institute Chair and Principal Investigator for the program. “As a result, we’ve been able to make headway into understanding the biology of the blood vessel wall and the pathology of atherosclerosis, or the thickening of artery walls.”
Over its 26-year span, the grant has supported four vascular research projects at Lerner Research Institute. Paul DiCorleto, Ph.D., investigates the regulation of pro-inflammatory genes in endothelial cells. Xiaoxia Li, Ph.D., Immunology, studies how a “super family” of molecular receptors leads to pro-inflammatory or anti-inflammatory gene expression. Paul Fox, Ph.D., Cell Biology, studies a newly discovered post-transcriptional pathway that helps to resolve inflammation in macrophages. Jonathan Smith, Ph.D., Cell Biology, supervises the Atherosclerosis Core that provides quantitative analysis of disease progression.
Inflammation is an underlying cause of vascular disease such as plaque formation on blood vessel walls called atherosclerosis. The goal of the research program is to understand the basic cellular and molecular mechanisms that cause, sustain and resolve inflammation in two types of vascular cells – endothelial cells that line all blood vessels, and white blood cells called macrophages that enter blood vessels as part of the inflammatory response.
“Some of our seminal observations include understanding and explaining the role of oxidation [the effect oxygen has on other molecules] in atherosclerosis and the role of the cells that line blood vessels in causing diseases when the body is under stress or is injured,” Dr. DiCorleto said. “Understanding these pathways may lead to new targets for the development of novel anti-inflammatory therapies.”
The grant program, called “Vascular Cell Function and Atherosclerosis,” was first funded in 1983; this is its fifth renewal. The 26-year study has now attracted a total of $41.6 million, including the latest renewal.
About Lerner Research Institute
Lerner Research Institute is home to Cleveland Clinic’s laboratory-based, translational and clinical research. Its mission is to understand the causes of human diseases and to develop new treatments and cures. It received more than $82 million from the National Institutes of Health in 2007. Total research funding was $258 million in 2008. About 1,200 people, including nearly 160 principal investigators, pursue research programs focused on cardiovascular, cancer, neurologic, musculoskeletal, allergic and immunologic, eye, metabolic, and infectious diseases.
About the Cleveland Clinic
Cleveland Clinic, located in Cleveland, Ohio, is a not-for-profit multispecialty academic medical center that integrates clinical and hospital care with research and education. Cleveland Clinic was founded in 1921 by four renowned physicians with a vision of providing outstanding patient care based upon the principles of cooperation, compassion and innovation. U.S. News & World Report consistently names Cleveland Clinic as one of the nation’s best hospitals in its annual “America’s Best Hospitals” survey. Approximately 1,800 full-time salaried physicians and researchers at Cleveland Clinic and Cleveland Clinic Florida represent more than 100 medical specialties and subspecialties. In 2007, there were 3.5 million outpatient visits to Cleveland Clinic and 50,455 hospital admissions. Patients came for treatment from every state and from more than 80 countries. Cleveland Clinic’s Web site address is www.clevelandclinic.org/.
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