Inside Stanford Medicine - February 27, 2012

Six biomedical teams from Stanford have received a total of $150,000 in pilot research grants through the Spectrum Innovation Awards program.

These grants typically are awarded to junior principal investigators with bold ideas, who aim to solve health-care problems through novel approaches and multidisciplinary teams.

While this round of grants focused on population sciences and medical devices, funding is also available for drug discovery, diagnostic innovations and academic-community partnerships.

The lead investigators and projects receiving funds this year include:

  • Julie Parsonnet, professor of medicine and of health research and policy, and Shripad Tuljapurkar, professor of population studies and biological sciences — “BMI in the United States: Integrating infectious diseases into birth cohort, period and age effects in population surveys.”
  • Stuart Kim, professor of developmental biology and of genetics — “Personalized genetic testing for Stanford varsity athletes to help reduce sports-related injuries for those at risk.”
  • Vinod Bhutani, MD, professor of pediatrics, and Sandeep Sabhlok, medical student — “Screening device for neonatal jaundice in India pilot clinical study.”
  • Daniel Palanker, PhD, associate professor of ophthalmology, and Yossi Mandel, MD, PhD, postdoctoral scholar — “Restoration of sight with photovoltaic retinal prosthesis, in-vivo testing of visual function.”
  • William Kennedy MD, associate chief of pediatric urology, and an interdisciplinary team of students from the medical, business and engineering schools — “A compact urinary catheter packaging for improved privacy, hygiene and compliance.”
  • Ashish Nimgaonkar, MD, biodesign fellow — “A minimally invasive method of treating patients with refractory ascites, excess fluid in the space between the abdomen and abdominal organs.”

These pilot grants are administered by Spectrum (the Stanford Center for Clinical and Translational Education and Research), the Stanford Prevention Research Center, Biodesign, SPARK and the Office of Community Health. Eight grants funds are awarded each calendar year, with proposals due on April 1, Sept. 1 and Dec. 1.

Details on the Spectrum Innovation Awards, which are supported through a Clinical and Translational Science Award from the NIH is posted at http://spectrum.stanford.edu/accordions/design-study/?ch2=3.

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED AT INSIDE STANFORD MEDICINE