{"id":74920,"date":"2013-03-28T12:00:37","date_gmt":"2013-03-28T16:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=74920"},"modified":"2013-03-28T16:08:06","modified_gmt":"2013-03-28T20:08:06","slug":"two-health-center-researchers-awarded-biomedical-research-grants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2013\/03\/two-health-center-researchers-awarded-biomedical-research-grants\/","title":{"rendered":"Two Health Center Researchers Awarded Biomedical Research Grants"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Kevin<\/a>
Kevin Claffey and Irina Bezsonova are studying diseases associated with tobacco use. (William Gerrish\/Connecticut Department of Public Health Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Two Health Center researchers have been awarded state grants for their study of diseases and chronic illnesses associated with tobacco use.<\/p>\n

Kevin Claffey<\/a> with the Center for Vascular Biology has been awarded $341,572 for his lab\u2019s research into cardiovascular disease.<\/p>\n

Irina Bezsonova<\/a>, assistant professor in the Department of Molecular, Microbial and Structural Biology, received $300,000 for her research into developing anti-cancer drugs.<\/p>\n

The grants are part of a total of $3,010,611 awarded this year by the Department of Public Health (DPH) from the state\u2019s Biomedical Research Trust Fund. These funds will support nine research projects conducted by researchers from the Health Center and Yale University.<\/p>\n

Claffey says his projects purpose is \u201cto prove that novel inhibitors, the phospholipase C-beta 2 (PLC-\u00df2) enzyme, can significantly reduce pathological vascular permeability and thus limit cardiac muscle damage and risk of heart failure that occurs after standard of care treatment for cardiac infarction or heart attack.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bezsonova describes her research as \u201cfocusing on a potential target for anti-cancer therapies, USP7; specifically, the project seeks to uncover the molecular mechanism of this enzyme\u2019s specificity towards its substrates, which will provide basis for development of highly specific anti-cancer drugs.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThese projects were selected from a field of highly competitive applications,\u201d stated DPH Deputy Commissioner Lisa Davis. \u201cThe funds made available through the Biomedical Research Trust Fund represent an investment in Connecticut-based research that is providing new insight into how to treat and prevent leading causes of death and disability.\u201d<\/p>\n

The fund was established by the Connecticut General Assembly in 2000 to back research into tobacco-related illness and funded in part by the state\u2019s share of Tobacco Settlement Fund proceeds.<\/p>\n

With this eighth round of proposals funded by DPH, nearly $14.5 million dollars have been awarded to Connecticut research institutions for the purpose of funding biomedical research into tobacco-related diseases, Alzheimer\u2019s disease and diabetes.<\/p>\n

\n

Follow\u00a0the UConn Health Center<\/a> on\u00a0Facebook<\/a>,\u00a0Twitter<\/a> and\u00a0YouTube<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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