$37M in federal stimulus for Tennessee could yield cures

PRINT  SHARE

By Christina Sanchez

August 31, 2009

Middle Tennessee's biomedical researchers are getting a two-year financial boost as they seek cures for HIV, autism and cancer.

More than $37 million in federal stimulus money is flowing into the state through the National Institutes of Health. Vanderbilt University claimed the most in the first year — $22 million for research and job creation, compared with $1.8 million for Meharry Medical College and the same for Middle Tennessee State University.

…

Meharry graduate student Ebony M. Coleman, who is spending 70 hours a week researching a cure for HIV, said the cash infusion was just what she needed to keep going. Her study, which tracks cholesterol's role in allowing HIV cells to replicate, is one of 152 research projects in the state getting help.

"The grant came at a very critical time for me," said Coleman, who has been working on HIV research for three years. "For me, the two years is perfect. I intend on finishing up my research in that time."

…

Dr. Kendal Broadie, Vanderbilt professor of biological sciences, is using fruit flies to understand fragile X syndrome, a genetic condition that is the most common cause of mental retardation and of autism. He received $532,000 for his first year of research. The brain in a person with fragile X does not produce a needed protein to develop fully.

…

Dr. Xiao Ou Shu, a professor of medicine at Vanderbilt, knows from experience there are no guarantees for funding. Since 2001, she has been studying how soy and tea can prevent endometrial cancer in women. She had funding through 2007 but did not get re-funded before the stimulus money. Her allotment is $476,000 for the first year.

All the women who participate in the study live in Shanghai, where women have a much lower incidence of endometrial cancer. In the United States, 23 women out of 100,000 get the disease compared with five out 100,000 women in China, where soy is a common part of the diet.