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WVU awarded $10.7 million CoBRE grant for stroke research

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The National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Institute for General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) has awarded the Center for Basic and Translational Stroke Research (CBTSR) a CoBRE grant in the amount of $10.7 million over the next five years. The CBTSR conducts basic and translational research on stroke, one of the leading causes of long-term disability – and the fourth highest killer – in the US.
 
In addition to researching ways to mitigate the devastating effects of stroke, this grant will also help bolster junior faculty research labs and core facilities at WVU. “The goal of the Stroke CoBRE is mentoring junior faculty to research independence, as well as enhancement of WVU Core activities,” said Jim Simpkins, PhD, Director of the CBTSR and professor of Physiology and Pharmacology.
 
This CoBRE grant will allow faculty and scientists at WVU to conduct innovative, cutting-edge research in order to help address the bench-to-bedside-to-community issues in stroke. The CoBRE grant will support five junior faculty research projects and three core facilities, with Dr. Simpkins as PI. Junior faculty projects are:

  • Paul Chantler, PhD, assistant professor in the Department of Exercise Physiology: The Impact of Cardiovascular Function on Stroke Outcome
  • Taura Barr, PhD, RN, assistant professor in the School of Nursing: A Genomic Bio-signature of Post Stroke Immune Dysfunction
  • Sergiy Yakovenko, PhD, assistant professor in the Department of Exercise Physiology: Corticospinal Control of Sensorymotor Synergies in Health and Disease
  • Valeriya Gritsenko, PhD, assistant professor in the Department of Physical Therapy: Corticospinal Control of Limb Dynamics in Health and After a Stroke
  • Stephanie Frisbee, PhD, assistant professor in the School of Public Health: Effect of Perfluoroalkyl Chemicals on Stroke Incidence and Mortality
     

The three core facilities supported by this grant are an Experimental Stroke Core, led by Xuefang “Sophie” Ren, MD, a research associate in the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology; a Biostatistics Core, led by Matthew Gurka, PhD, associate professor of biostatistics; and an Administrative Core, led by Dr. Simpkins.
 
The grant will also support a formal junior investigator mentoring program, which is critical to faculty development and research independence, according to Simpkins. Mentors of the junior faculty supported by this grant are: Jefferson Frisbee, PhD, professor of epidemiology (Paul Chantler); Dr. Jim Simpkins (Taura Barr); George Spirou, PhD, professor of otolaryngology and Director of the Center for Neuroscience (Sergiy Yakovenko); Robert Goodman, PhD, professor of physiology and pharmacology; and Cecil Burchfiel, PhD, MPH, of NIOSH (Stephanie Frisbee).
 
“The success of our Stroke CoBRE was the result of hard work and dedication of 26 WVU faculty members and a dozen hardworking staff,” said Simpkins. With this grant, WVU will have the resources and expertise that can change the future of stroke research for the benefit of those affected by this devastating neurological disease.
 
For more information, please visit http://wvuhealthcare.com/wvuh/Content/Media/News-Releases/2014/OCT/NIH-grants-WVU-$10-7-million-for-stroke-research. 


From left to right: Jim Simpkins, PhD; Sergiy Yakovenko, PhD; Xuefang "Sophie" Ren, MD; Stephanie Frisbee, PhD; Taura Barr, PhD, RN; Paul Chantler, PhD; Valeriya Gritsenko, PhD; and Elizabeth Engler-Chiurazzi, PhD.