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NEWS RELEASES
Researchers at Texas Children's Hospital to participate in all
four projects
HOUSTON – (Jan.22, 2009) -
The Virginia and L.E. Simmons Family Foundation Collaborative
Research Fund has awarded four research grants totaling $600,000 to
physician/researchers at Texas Children's Hospital, Rice University
and The Methodist Hospital Research Institute. The Simmons
Foundation, which will distribute a total of $3 million in funding
over the next few years, is seeking to promote collaborative
research among Texas Medical Center scientists, engineers and
doctors who might not otherwise work together. Physician researchers
at Texas Children's Hospital will take part in all four awards, in
concert with scientists at Rice University and The Methodist
Hospital Research Institute.
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Virginia and L.E. Simmons (left) of the
Virginia and L.E. Simmons Family Foundation;
David Leebron, president of Rice University;
Mark Wallace, president and CEO
of Texas Children's Hospital;
and Ron Girotto, president and CEO
of The Methodist Hospital System.
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Photo by
Jeff Fitlow
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The foundation requested
proposals for original, innovative work suited to a
multidisciplinary approach, especially those that focus on novel
solutions to difficult medical problems that would involve
researchers from at least two of the three institutions. Four
projects have been awarded one-year seed grants. These awards will
fund research related to finding cures for hearing loss, breast
cancer, childhood cancer and a way to identify people at risk for
tuberculosis.
“Our family is very pleased with, first and foremost, the
collaborations that are taking place among the three institutions,”
said L.E. Simmons, founder of SCF Partners, trustee of Rice
University and Texas Children’s Hospital and board member of The
Methodist Hospital Research Institute. “We are impressed with the
quality and depth of the proposals. A large number of them would
qualify for NIH funding in normal times. We are only sorry there
isn’t enough money there to fund more projects,” Simmons said.
“It is a great honor for our researchers – along with their
distinguished colleagues at Rice and Methodist – to be recognized
for their innovative ideas and outstanding contributions to the
advancement of pediatric knowledge,” said Mark A. Wallace, president
and CEO of Texas Children's Hospital. “The Simmons family has shown
remarkable foresight in recognizing and promoting the importance of
collaborative research, and I’d like to thank them for the vision
and generosity they’ve shown.”
The following novel collaborative research projects were chosen from
35 proposals submitted:
Lighting the way to hearing again
Electrical stimulation of nerves forms the basis for many of the
medical devices we rely on today, including cochlear implants for
the hearing impaired. While these devices are clinically useful,
their performance is limited because single neurons or small
clusters of neurons cannot be specifically targeted.
Dr. John Oghalai, clinic chief and director of
The Hearing Center at Texas Children’s Hospital and Dr. Robert
Raphael, an associate professor in bioengineering at Rice, received
$145,544 to research the use of lasers to stimulate auditory neurons
as an alternative to electrical stimulation. Light (lasers) can be
more tightly focused, and single neurons can be targeted. A direct
potential outcome of the research would be the development of a new
auditory prosthetic than can provide superior performance to that
currently available with a cochlear implant.
Targeting solid tumors and breast cancer
A major challenge in developing novel and more effective treatments
for breast cancer and other solid tumors is identifying the right
targets to thwart the development of malignant tumors.
Dr.
Debananda Pati of
Texas
Children’s Cancer Center and Dr. Yizhi Jane Tao, assistant
professor of biochemistry and cell biology at Rice, received
$178,241 to study ideal targets for a proposed therapy to attack
breast cancer and other solid tumors. They are confident that, by
the end of this project, they will have sufficient preliminary data
to take the next steps in developing and testing an effective drug.
Unlocking the key to treating tumors in children
Neuroblastoma is the most common extracranial solid tumor in
children and is responsible for 15 percent of pediatric cancer
deaths. Neuroblastoma cells are notoriously hard to penetrate, so
identifying effective intracellular drug delivery is of the utmost
importance in developing a drug and treating the disease.
Dr. Jianhua Yang,
assistant professor in
Baylor College of Medicine's Department of Pediatrics, which is
affiliated with Texas Children’s Hospital, and Dr. Andrew Barron,
the Charles W. Duncan Jr.-Welch Professor of Chemistry and professor
of Materials Science at Rice, were awarded $93,000 to study
intracellular delivery mechanisms and help identify a novel solution
to a major clinical problem.
Identifying those at risk for tuberculosis
Tuberculosis affects over 300 million people worldwide and kills two
million people annually. Curiously, the tuberculosis germ does not
cause disease in all the people it infects.
Drs.
Margaret Goodell,
Katherine King and
Catherine Bollard of Texas Children’s Hospital and Dr. Edward
Graviss of The Methodist Hospital Research Institute received a
grant of $183,215 to investigate why the tuberculosis germ causes
disease in some people and not in others.
The team believes that the answer lies in the different immune
responses that people have against tuberculosis infection.
Ultimately they will use this knowledge to identify and treat
patients at high risk for developing tuberculosis disease and its
complications, including bone marrow suppression.
“These four teams exemplify the excellence and collaborative spirit
that leads to the advancement of all medical science,” said Wallace.
“I extend my deepest gratitude to all the outstanding physicians,
scientists and researchers at Texas Children's Hospital who are
collectively helping us gain the long-deserved reputation as one of
the most pre-eminent pediatric research programs in the world.”
L.E. Simmons is president and founder of SCF Partners, an investment
firm that provides management expertise to energy service companies.
He is a trustee of Rice University and Texas Children’s Hospital and
a board member of The Methodist Hospital Research Institute.
Virginia Simmons is vice president of the Simmons Family Foundation,
which supports religious, art and cultural organizations, education,
and youth and medical associations.
For information on the Virginia and L.E. Simmons Family Foundation
Collaborative Research Fund, visit
www.collaborativeresearchfund.org
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