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UTMB OAIC Accomplishments-Grants

UTMB Pepper investigators hold a number of externally funded grants that support interdisciplinary translational research on muscle function in older persons. These are listed below:

PI: Glenn Ostir, PhD
Period: 08/01/08-06/30/13
Source: NIH/NIA
Grant#: R01 AG031178
Title: Psychological well being and recovery among older hospitalized adults
Goal: Specifically, we address the National Institute on Aging (NIA) interest in exploring associations between psychological well-being and functional ability in older adults hospitalized for acute illness.

PI: Kenneth Ottenbacher, PhD
Period: 09/25/07 – 08/31/13
Source: National Center for Medical Rehabilitation, NIH
Grant#: NIH K12 HD055929
Title: Rehabilitation Research Career Development Program
Goal: The RRCD Program will recruit and train rehabilitation scientists who are occupational and physical therapists. Program activities will provide trainees with the skills necessary to become independent investigators and future leaders and mentors in rehabilitation.

PI: Elizabeth Protas, PhD, PT
Period: 10/1/06 –6/31/12
Source: NCMRR/NIH
Grant#: RO1 HDO51844
Title: Gait and step training to reduce falls in Parkinson’s disease
Goal: Test the outcomes of a clinical gait and balance training program on individuals with Parkinson’s disease.

PI: Blake Rasmussen, PhD
Period: 09/15/08-08/31/13
Source: NIAMS
Grant#: R01 AR049877
Title: Nutritional and contractile regulation of muscle growth
Goal: The major focus of this project is to examine physiological and cellular mechanisms that regulate human skeletal muscle growth. Muscle wasting is common in many conditions, such as cancer, AIDS, trauma, kidney failure, sepsis, and is also particularly prevalent in the elderly. The general hypothesis is that anabolic nutrients, metabolic stress/reactive hyperemia, and age are independent factors that can regulate key anabolic pathways in skeletal muscle following a bout of resistance exercise.

PI: Taylor Riall, MD. PhD
Period: 09/15/08-08/31/13
Source: NCI
Grant#: K07 CA130983
Title: Underutilization of Surgical Resection in Patients with Pancreatic Cancer
Goal: The objective of this career development award is to provide Taylor S. Riall, M.D., Ph.D. formal postdoctoral training in healthcare policy, quality improvement, and leadership. This training will be coupled with mentored research on practice patterns, the utilization of surgical resection in patients with pancreatic cancer, and regionalization of care for this complex disease. This will enable Dr. Riall to make the full transition to independent investigator and leader in the field of health services research and health policy. A highly qualified team of mentors will supervise her training and ensure that she meets her goals. Dr. Riall will have resources available at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, and the University of Texas School of Public Health.

PI: Gulshan Sharma, MD
Period: 08/01/08-07/31/13
Source: NIH/NIA
Grant#: K08 AG031583
Title: Continuity of care and end of life in ICU use
Goal: His immediate goals are 1) to study the impact of continuity of care on end of life ICU use in older adults with terminal illnesses, 2) to obtain additional training in conducting health services research with formal coursework, and 3) to participate in the care of critically ill patients. Dr Sharma's long-term goal is to develop a career as an independent investigator in patient-oriented research, with older critically ill patients.

PI: Douglas Paddon-Jones, PhD
Period: 06/09-06/13
Source: NSBRI
Grant#: NNJ08ZSA002N
Title: An integrated low-volume nutritional countermeasure to maintain muscle mass and function during space exploration.
Goal: The goal of this project is to determine if enriching daily meals with a low-volume leucine
supplement will reduce the deleterious effects of microgravity on skeletal muscle.

PI: Melinda Sheffield-Moore, PhD
Period: 04/01/08-03/31/13
Source: NIH/NCI
Grant#: R01 CA127971
Title: Nutrition and Anabolic Interventions in Cancer Cachexia
Goal: The major goal is to determine if nutritional and/or anabolic interventions with testosterone can improve muscle protein turnover, reduce muscle loss and improve quality of life in patients with cancer cachexia.

PI: Elena Volpi, MD, PhD
Period: 09/15/00-08/31/1
Source: NIH/NIA
Grant#: R01 AG18311
Title: Insulin and sarcopenia in the elderly
Goal: The major goal is to determine the metabolic, vascular and molecular mechanisms underlying the insulin resistance of muscle proteins in older adults
Our previous studies indicate that the response of muscle proteins to the anabolic action of insulin is impaired in healthy older adults as compared to younger controls, which hampers the anabolic effect of mixed feeding on muscle proteins. These changes are associated with an age-related reduction in the vasodilatory response to insulin, which, from our data, appears to be a potentially important mediator of the physiological anabolic effect of insulin on muscle proteins. Preliminary data from our laboratory also suggest that in older subjects a single bout of aerobic exercise may restore the normal response of blood flow, muscle protein synthesis and anabolism to insulin.

PI: Elena Volpi, MD, PhD
Period: 08/01/08-05/31/14
Source: NIH/NIA
Grant#: R01 AG030070
Title: Nutrition exercise to improve protein metabolism and prevent sarcopenia in aging
Goals: The major goal is to determine if nutritional and/or aerobic exercise interventions can stimulate muscle protein anabolism and increase muscle mass, strength and function in older sedentary subjects.