Research
Supporting pioneering translational research
The Foundation supports pioneering translational “bench to bedside” research, converting pure research to results through research grants, endowed professorships, and other research projects.
Professorships
- Damiano Rondelli, MD Michael Reese Professor of Hematology
- Gail Prins, PhD Michael Reese Professor of Urology
- Stephen Roth, MD Michael Reese Professor of Anesthesiology
- Alan Schwartz, MS, PhD Michael Reese Professor of Medical Education
- Edith Nutescu PharmD, MS CTS, FCCP Michael Reese Professor of Pharmcotherapy
Damiano Rondelli, MD
Michael Reese Professor of Hematology
Dr. Rondelli received his medical degree and fellowship training at the University of Bologna, Italy. He pursued further research in immunology of stem cell transplantation at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle, WA before joining the UIH staff. His work in stem cell research has resulted in cure of patients with sickle cell disease using state of the art advances in transplant research.
Stem Cell Transplantation for Sickle Cell Disease
1 out of 500 African-American children are born with sickle cell disease (SCD). SCD is treatable, but still results in a lifetime of pain, infection and other disabling symptoms shortening life expectancy to 53 for men and 58 for women. It is curable in children through hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT); however, patients with advanced symptoms are not candidates for this cure. Stem cell transplantations with reduced intensity conditioning regimes have so far been done on a handful of adult patients nationwide. This form of stem cell transplant shows great promise for curing SCD in adults.
Gail Prins, PhD
Michael Reese Professor of Urology
Dr. Prins received her Ph.D. in physiology and biophysics from the University of Illinois. She was a Postdoctoral Fellow in Urology and Reproductive Science at the Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University. For many years she pursued research in Reproductive Biology at Michael Reese before moving to the University of Illinois where Dr Prins is a Professor in the departments of Urology and Biophysics, and Director of the Andrology Laboratories. Her ground-braking work in the biology of prostate cancer resulted in the FDA banning bisphenols from use in baby bottles and infant formula packaging.
Urology
Prostate cancer afflicts men of all races and backgrounds, but in the U.S., African American men have highest incidence and mortality rates for this disease. In Illinois, these rates are 48% higher in African American men than in European American men, and nearly 3 times as high as Asian or Hispanic American men. Dr. Prins developed an innovative model to demonstrate the connection in humans using embryonic and adult prostate stem cells, resulting in the discovery that human prostate stem cells are indeed highly responsive to estrogens, both natural and environmental. To reduce the morbidity and mortality rates for prostate cancer, especially among African Americans, this cutting-edge research needs to continue, and it will with the support of this endowment.
Stephen Roth, MD
Michael Reese Professor of Anesthesiology
Steven Roth MD. FARVO received his medical education at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, residency in anesthesia at New York University Medical Center and fellowship training in neuroanesthesia at the Cleveland Clinic. With almost three decades of NIH funding for research in perioperative visual loss and numerous academic awards, he is also focusing on the complications of surgery in the elderly and immunocompromised patient.
Anesthesiology
Long-term consequences of anesthesia and surgery were not considered until 1996. “Preventable anesthetic mortality” has declined in the last 30 years to less than 1 in 100,000, but only in the context of generally healthy patients under the age of 65 having routine operations from which they do not die during or immediately after the surgery due to anesthetic causes. Are there complications that anesthesia causes for elderly, immuno-compromised or cancer patients, increasing their risk of one-year mortality after surgery? Are there safer ways to anesthetize these patients during surgery to reduce those risks? Through the department of anesthesiology at UIC College of Medicine Chicago, this endowment will push research into these overlooked areas of anesthesiology safety with the goal of reducing unnecessary one-year deaths after surgery for the elderly and seriously ill.
Alan Schwartz, MS, PhD
Michael Reese Professor of Medical Education
Alan Schwartz PhD joined the department of medicine in 1997 after receiving his PhD in cognitive psychology and a master’s degree in organizational behavior and industrial relations from the University of California, Berkley. His research interests include the psychology of decision making in both patient’s and clinicians. His work has focused on contextual errors in decision making and updating of beliefs when exposed to new evidence. He has received numerous teaching awards including the Excellence in Teaching award, the UIC highest recognition for teaching.
Medical Education
In order for patients to ultimately benefit from medical research with new treatments, it is necessary to train the practitioners who will deliver those treatments. To fulfill the vision of excellent medical care for all, it is also essential to ensure widespread availability of practitioners with advanced training. The Department of Medical Education (DME) at the University of Illinois College of Medicine, founded in 1959, is one of the first and longest continuously functioning centers for collaboration, education and leadership development available to health professionals all over the world. This endowment will help develop the pipeline of knowledge between the DME and the global community to ensure widespread training and availability of highly trained medical practitioners world-wide.
Edith Nutescu PharmD, MS CTS, FCCP
Michael Reese Professor of Pharmcotherapy
Edith Nutescu PharmD, MS CTS, FCCP is a clinical pharmacist and clinician-scientist. She received her education at the University of Illinois. Her research focuses on comparative effectiveness and safety of cardiovascular pharmacotherapy and thromboembolic diseases. For over 2 decades she has contributed to the development of patient-centered models of care which have contributed to improvement in clinical outcomes in patients with cardiovascular and embolic disorders.
College of Pharmacy
The Michael Reese endowed professorship in Cardiovascular Pharmacotherapy will have a lasting impact by supporting an outstanding professor working in cardiovascular pharmacotherapy research. Dr Glen Schumock, dean of the UIC College of Pharmacy stated “This valuable support furthers our ability to discover novel therapies and treatments for patients, and impacts the education we provide to promising young pharmacists. This endowed professorship provides significant support to our research mission and our campaign goals” The gift builds on the College’s long history of excellence in cardiovascular drug research and practice innovations. To date, the college’s practice innovations include interdisciplinary programs shown to improve patient outcomes and reduce emergency room visits and hospitalizations due to medication-related complications. Associated research has led to high-impact publications and national consensus statements and practice guidelines for the treatment and prevention of venous thrombosis, safe use of direct oral anticoagulants, and the delivery of optimized inpatient and outpatient anticoagulation therapy.
Research Projects Funded
Research Grants & Projects
Translational Research Grants Awarded by the Michael Reese Research & Education Foundation
The Foundation has awarded over $3 Million to 32 investigators at 5 institutions since 2014 for translational research or “bench to bedside” projects aimed at converting pure research into results that directly benefit people. These projects span a variety of health topics including cancer treatments, viral studies, heart disease, transplantation, diabetes, sickle cell disease, and many other issues and fund original patient centered studies, but not clinical trials.
These include the Pioneer in Research Award at the University of Illinois at Chicago, which funds grant applications that NIH study sections deemed to have “outstanding potential” to produce significant new treatments. Our investment in these projects has successfully furthered the project quality and resulted in more than a $21 million return in NIH funding for the investigators we supported.
In addition, the Foundation has endowed a Bench to Bedside Translational Research Award at the University of Chicago which is awarded annually to one or two new young investigators as selected from applications submitted to the University of Chicago research review committee.
ATP Sensitive Potassium Channel
A Novel target to prevent atrial fibrillation in heart failure.
Cevher Ozcan, PhD
University of Chicago
Treating nerve damage
Mechanisms of axonal degeneration in hereditary spastic paraplegia neurons
Xuejun Li, PhD
Associate Professor, Biomedical Sciences
University of Illinois at Chicago
Understanding liver disease
Protective role of OPN-High macrophages in NASH
Natilia Nieto, PharmD, MSc, PhD
Professor, Pathology
University of Illinois at Chicago
Treating the Ebola virus
Optimizing ridaifen-B analogs as potential therapeutics for Ebola viruses
Lijun Rong, PhD
Professor, Microbiology and Immunology
University of Illinois at Chicago
Muscle cells and wasting diseases
The role of skeletal muscle endothelial dysfunction in cachexia
Young-Mee Kim, PhD
Research Assistant Professor, Medicine Cardiology
University of Illinois at Chicago
Monitoring breast cancer
Mechanosurveillance in breast cancer metastasis
Ekreen Emrah Er, PhD
Associate Professor, Physiology and Biophysics
University of Illinois at Chicago
Preventing the spread of eye cancer
Role of VEGFR2 trafficking in the metastasis of uveal melanoma
Kaori Yamada, PhD
Assistant Professor, Pharmacology
University of Illinois at Chicago
Predicting ovarian cancer outcomes
Predicting ovarian cancer outcome by elucidating myeloid derived suppressor cell function
Maureen L. Drakes, PhD
Research Associate Professor, Medicine
Loyola University
Using stem cells for reconstructive surgery
Engineered adipose therapeutics for reconstruction (EASTR)
Summer Hanson, MD
Associate Professor, Surgery
University of Chicago
Relationship between gut bacteria and heart disease
Gut dysbiosis and insulin resistance in heart failure
Ann B. Nguyễn, MD
Assistant Professor, Medicine Cardiology
University of Chicago
Managing blood cancers
Modeling and treating high-risk clonal hematopoiesis in hereditary hematopoietic malignancies
Ann B. Nguyễn, MD
Assistant Professor, Medicine
University of Chicago
Treating lung disease
Exosomal miRNA of Acute Chest Syndrome
Gabrielle Lapping-Carr, MD
Assistant Professor, Pediatrics
University of Chicago
Understanding diabetic eye disease
Evaluation of the inhibition of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in the pathogenesis of diabetic retinopathy
Andrius Kazlauskas, PhD
Professor, Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences
University of Illinois at Chicago
Understanding pancreatic cancer
Elucidation of the role of MLK4 in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma and strategies to prevent oncogenic signals from mutant KRAS
Ajay Rana, PhD
Endowed Professor, Surgical Oncology
Jesse Brown VA, UIC College of Medicine
Treating lung cancer
Evaluation of inhibition of endothelin-1/endothelin receptor axis in relieving vasoconstriction preventing drug penetrance in non-small cell lung carcinoma
Takeshi Shimamura, PhD
Visiting Associate Professor, Cancer Center
University of Illinois at Chicago
Treating cancer with immunotherapy
Oncolytic herpes simplex virus (HSV) in cancer immunotherapy
Bin He, PhD
Associate Professor, Microbiology and Immunology
University of Illinois at Chicago
Probing RNA epigenetics-mediated drug-resistant chromatin structures for more effective treatment of hematologic malignancies
Jason Cheng, MD, PhD
Associate Professor, Pathology
University of Chicago
Improving treatment for blood cancers
Probing RNA epgenetics-mediated drug-resistant chromatin structures for more effective treatment of hematologic malignancies
Dr. Jason Cheng
Assistant Professor, Medicine
University of Chicago
Understanding diarrhea after kidney transplants
Gut microbial markers of post-kidney transplantation diarrhea
Pratik Shah, MD
University of Chicago
High cholesterol’s effects on heart function
Impact of dyslipidemia on endothelial biomechanics
Irena Levitan, PhD
Professor, Medicine
University of Chicago
New ways to develop diabetes treatments
Development of novel assays to identify new Type 2 diabetes drug leads
Brian Layden, MD PhD
Associate Professor, Endocrinology
University of Illinois at Chicago
Preventing brain injury from tapeworms
Neurocysticerocosis: A natural human model of epilepotogenesis
Jessica Herrick
Attending Physician, Infectious Diseases
University of Illinois at Chicago
Drugs to improve heart rhythm
A Pharmacogenomic approach to treating atrial fibrillation
Dawood Darbar, MD
Professor, Medicine Cardiology
University of Illinois at Chicago
FSH and IGF1 Receptor signaling crosstalk in ovarian GCs
Carlos Stocco, PhD
Associate Professor, Cancer Center
University of Illinois at Chicago
Recovery from lung injury
Regulation of type II cells in the repair of alveolar epithelial injury
Yuru Liu, PhD
Associate Professor, Pharmacology
University of Illinois at Chicago
Better imaging during breast cancer surgery
Development of a new fluorescent agent for intraoperative image-guided breast cancer surgery
Tohru Yamada, PhD
Associate Professor, Surgery
University of Illinois at Chicago
Risks to vision during surgery
Risk factor analysis of perioperative visual loss
Steven Roth, MD
Endowed Professor, Anesthesiology
University of Illinois at Chicago
Improving our understanding of ovarian cells
FSH and IGF1 R signaling crosstalk in ovarian GCs
Dr. Carlos Stocco
University of Illinois at Chicago
Pediatric Sickle Cell Program
Lewis Hsu, MD, PhD
Professor, Pediatric Oncology
University of Illinois at Chicago
Treating Sickle Cell Disease in Children
Expansion of insulin-producing beta cells for diabetes therapy.
Jose Oberholzer, MD; Solomon Afelik, PhD
University of Illinois at Chicago
Cellular treatment for diabetes
Expansion of insulin-producing beta cells for diabetes therapy.
Jose Oberholzer, MD; Solomon Afelik, PhD
Endowed Professor, Surgery
University of Illinois at Chicago
New approaches to treating lung disease
Nrf2 activators to treat idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.
Terry Moore, PhD; Sekhar Reddy, PhD
Associate Professor, Pharmaceutical Sciences
University of Illinois at Chicago
Preventing blood clots from sickle cell disease
Novel Strategy for Preventing Microvascular Thrombosis in Sickle Cell Disease.
Richard D Minshall, PhD; Roberto Molokie, MD
Professor, Anesthesiology
University of Illinois at Chicago
New ways to treat multiple myeloma
Inhibitors of DNA repair as new treatments for multiple myeloma.
Pritseh Patel, MD; Damiano Rondelli, MD
Associate Professor, Radiology
University of Chicago
Treating prostate cancer
Identification of estrogen targets in human prostate cancer stem cells.
Gail S Prins, PhD; Wen-Yang Hu MD
Endowed Professor, Medicine Urology
University of Illinois at Chicago
A prospective study of breast cancer patients with abnormal myocardial deformation treated with anthracycline and trastuzumab-based chemotherapies
Nausheen Akhter, MD
Attending Physician, Medicine Cardiology
Northwestern University Medical School
Improving cell transplants for sickle cell disease
Preclinical model to prevent stem cell rejection in haploidentical transplant of selected CD34+ cells in sickle cell patients.
Damiano Rondelli, MD; Annie Oh, MD
Endowed Professor, Medicine Hematology
University of Illinois at Chicago
Chemotherapy for breast cancer patients with heart conditions
Chemotherapy for breast cancer patients with heart conditions
Nausheen Akhter, MD; Kameswari Maganti, MD; Vera Rigolin, MD; William Gradishar, MD
Northwestern University
Preventing drug-resistant brain cancer
Effects of glycolysis inhibition in the development of drug resistance of neuroblastoma.
Fei Chu, MD, PhD; Mary Beth Madonna, MD
Research Assistant Professor, Pediatrics
Children’s Memorial Hospital