Presidential Clinical Research Partnership Grants Fund Six Research Projects
July 20, 2020
Interdisciplinary projects selected for the PCRP program are awarded up to $200,000 each.
By Research and Communications and Public Relations
COLLEGE STATION–Six (6) Presidential Clinical Research Partnership Grants (PCRP) were selected for funding in the first year of the program. This program, part of the President’s Excellence Fund, supports the development of long-term partnerships between Texas A&M University and its clinical affiliates and partners. Announced in Texas A&M’s President Michael K. Young’s 2019 State of the University address, these grants total $1 million per year for the remaining eight years of the President’s Excellence Fund. This additional $8 million in funding is on top of the $100 million already committed to date for the Excellence Fund.
President Young stated, “These interdisciplinary research programs will improve health, health care and health equity in Texas and across the nation by advancing novel translational, clinical or educational research that will lead to the highest level of health for all Texans.”
Clinical Research Partnership Grants must be co-led by faculty or faculty-equivalent research positions at Texas A&M, Texas A&M University at Galveston, Texas A&M University at Qatar, Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station (TEES), Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service (TEEX), Texas A&M AgriLife Research, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, or the Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI), and clinical practitioners at healthcare facilities with established affiliation or clinical research collaboration agreements. Designed to stimulate new collaborations between Texas A&M researchers and clinical partners, Clinical Research Partnership Grant awards are available for up to $200,000 for a two-year period. These proposals undergo a merit-based review process.
“Research facilitated by this first round of the PCRP program will advance heart failure and heart disease treatments; improve diagnostics in lung cancer screening, as well as mitigate side-effects of radiation therapy; develop novel therapies for chronic diseases; and improve maternal health equity and decrease racial disparities—thereby addressing some of the state’s most vital health issues,” said Vice President of Research, Mark A. Barteau. “These and future projects to be funded by PCRP grants will also help strengthen our capabilities to carry out ‘bench-to-bedside’ research that can address health challenges from chronic diseases to future pandemics.”
2020 PCRP awards:
- “Combining Low Dose Computerized Tomography and Blood Based Biomarkers of Genetic Stability to Improve the Diagnostic Precision of Lung Cancer Screening,” Kenneth Ramos, Institute for Biosciences and Technology, College of Medicine, Texas A&M University, in affiliation with Randa El-Zein, Houston Methodist Hospital and Research Institute.
- “Engineering Optimal Care for Patients with Heart Disease,” Michael Moreno, Department of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering, Texas A&M University, in affiliation with Mahwash Kassi, Houston Methodist Hospital and Research Institute.
- “Improving Maternal Health Equity and Decreasing Racial Disparities through Transdisciplinary Research and Collaboration in the Brazos Valley,” Theresa Morris, Department of Sociology, College of Liberal Arts, Texas A&M University, in association with Hector Chapa, CHI St. Joseph Health Regional Hospital.
- “Nanozyme Therapy for Chronic Venous Stasis Dermatitis: New Approach for a Major Unmet Clinical Need,” Thomas A. Kent, Institute for Bioscience and Technology, College of Medicine, Texas A&M University, in affiliation with John Cooke, Houston Methodist Hospital and Research Institute.
- “New Tools for Prevention and Treatment of Heart Failure,” Carl Tong, Department of Medical Physiology, College of Medicine, Texas A&M University, in affiliation with Arvind Bhimaraj, Houston Methodist Hospital and Research Institute.
- “Roles of Salivary Macrophage-related Soluble Factors in Radiotherapy-induced Dry Mouth,” Fei Liu, Department of Molecular and Cellular Medicine, College of Medicine, Texas A&M University, in affiliation with Scott Goble, CHI St. Joseph Health Regional Hospital.
Fifty proposals were submitted during this first year of the program. Twenty-three proposals were submitted for the final round and six proposals were chosen for funding.