{"461821":{"#nid":"461821","#data":{"type":"news","title":"ImmunoEngineering Seed Grants Announced","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003ECutting edge research is not a solo act. Successful results are acquired through an ensemble effort, like the Georgia ImmunoEngineering Consortium, a collaborative partnership of multidisciplinary researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003EBut even the best collaborations require nurturing if they are to blossom into world-changing discoveries. That\u2019s where the ImmunoEngineering Seed Grant program comes in.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003E\u201cThese seed grants allow us to pilot new ideas, gather data and be more competitive for large federal grants,\u201d says Krish Roy, director of the ImmunoEngineering Research Center at Georgia Tech. \u201cIt also builds new bridges \u2013 collaborations across Georgia Tech and Emory, by providing ways to work together and generate new ideas, gather new data.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003EFive new \u201cbridges\u201d \u2013 teams of Georgia Tech\/Emory researchers \u2013 have just received important foundational support through the seed grant program for 2015-2016. These research proposals, each receiving a $50,000 award, are:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003E\u2022 \u201cDNA-barcoded peptide-MHC tetramers for profiling antigen-specific T cells.\u201d Researchers: Gabe Kwong (Georgia Tech), John Altman (Emory).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003E\u2022 \u201cModulation of early inflammatory response to prevent muscle degeneration in massive rotator cuff tears.\u201d Researchers: Claudius Jarrett (Emory), Johnna Temenoff (Georgia Tech).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u2022 \u201cDevelopment of novel immune enhancing microparticle-conjugated RIG-I agonist.\u201d Researchers: Mehul Suthar (Emory), Krish Roy (Georgia Tech).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003E\u2022 \u201cEngineered mesenchymal stromal cells for enhancing lymphangiogenesis as a therapeutic for osteoarthritis.\u201d Researchers: Nick Willet (Emory\/Georgia Tech), J. Brandon Dixon (Georgia Tech), Rebecca Levit (Emory).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003E\u2022 Human mesenchymal stem cell-driven immunomodulation for enhanced engraftment of human pluripotent stem cell derived cardiomyocytes.\u201d Researchers: Young-Sup Yoon (Emory), Satish Kumar (Georgia Tech).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003E\u201cWe congratulate this year\u2019s class of ImmunoEngineering Seed Grant recipients,\u201d says C. Michael Cassidy, president and CEO of the Georgia Research Alliance (GRA), the lead granting agency for the program. \u201cThe collaborative work of Georgia Tech and Emory researchers is developing innovative approaches for groundbreaking research.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003EThe Georgia ImmunoEngineering Consortium brings together engineers, chemists, physicists, computational scientists, immunologists and clinicians to collaboratively explore the inner workings of the immune system in a quest for breakthrough solutions to improve the lives of people suffering from cancer, infectious diseases, autoimmune and inflammatory disorders (such as diabetes, lupus, multiple sclerosis, arthritis, fibrosis, asthma, inflammatory bowel disease, etc.), as well as those individuals undergoing regenerative therapies (think of transplantation, spinal cord injury, bone and cartilage repair, etc.).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003E\u201cIn addition to fundamental immunology studies, the program also supports studies aimed at improving our ability to predict, measure and manipulate the intensity, quality and durability of the immune response,\u201d notes Ignacio Sanz, a GRA Eminent Scholar and director of the Lowance Center for Human Immunology at Emory, where he also serves as chief of the Division of Rheumatology.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003EWhile GRA provides most of the funding for the seed grant program additional funding is provided by Emory and Georgia Tech. Roy likens the program to an early stage venture investment.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003E\u201cIf you find ten really good ideas that are already pre-screened and peer-reviewed, the chances are, when those apply for large federal grants the success rates will be high,\u201d says Roy, professor in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, a joint department of Emory and Georgia Tech. \u201cEven if only two or three of those 10 gets funded and becomes successful, that represents a manifold return on investment.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003EIn other words, the ImmunoEngineering Seed Grant program and the winning proposals are a research community example of smart money aimed at a good bet.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECONTACTS:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/node\/jerry.grillo@ibb.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EJerry Grillo\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ECommunications Officer II\u003Cbr \/\u003EParker H. Petit Institute for\u003Cbr \/\u003EBioengineering and Bioscience\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Five teams of Georgia Tech-Emory researchers awarded $50,000 each"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003EFive teams of Georgia Tech-Emory researchers awarded $50,000 each\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Five teams of Georgia Tech-Emory researchers awarded $50,000 each"}],"uid":"28153","created_gmt":"2015-10-23 09:46:07","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:19:47","author":"Jerry Grillo","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2015-10-23T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2015-10-23T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"461811":{"id":"461811","type":"image","title":"ImmunoEngineering","body":null,"created":"1449256373","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 19:12:53","changed":"1475895206","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:53:26","alt":"ImmunoEngineering","file":{"fid":"203618","name":"bigstock-immunological-research-in-the--70206184.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/bigstock-immunological-research-in-the--70206184.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/bigstock-immunological-research-in-the--70206184.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":3604411,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/bigstock-immunological-research-in-the--70206184.jpg?itok=TV8wq2n7"}}},"media_ids":["461811"],"groups":[{"id":"1254","name":"Wallace H. Coulter Dept. of Biomedical Engineering"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"126221","name":"go-immuno"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/node\/jerry.grillo@ibb.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EJerry Grillo\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ECommunications Officer II\u003Cbr \/\u003EParker H. Petit Institute for\u003Cbr \/\u003EBioengineering and Bioscience\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jerry.grillo@ibb.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}