Three faculty members from the School of Medicine Basic Sciences have won funding from university grants to propel their early-stage research.
Sean Davies, associate professor of pharmacology, and Rebecca Ihrie, associate professor of cell and developmental biology, won Spring 2024 Scaling Success grants for their research projects, which have already demonstrated potential and have received interest from external sponsors. Scaling Success Grants are administered by Research Development and Support in the Office of the Vice Provost for Research and Innovation.
Davies’ project, “Development of Small Molecule NAPE-PLD Activators,” will support medicinal chemistry work to identify compounds with potential to treat inflammatory and cardiometabolic diseases. Ihrie is focusing on tumor growth and progression through her funded project, “Mapping Preferential Translation in Neural Development.”
Tina Iverson, Louise B. McGavock Chair and professor of pharmacology, received an Innovation Catalyst Fund award for the February 2024 cycle. This award accelerates the maturation of faculty research ideas for market and community impact and is sponsored by Chancellor Daniel Diermeier, Provost C. Cybele Raver, and Vice Chancellor for Finance and Information Technology Brett Sweet.
Iverson’s project, “Inhibition of Bacterial Chemotaxis as an Antibiotic Potentiator,” focuses on chemotaxis—a versatile process that allows bacteria to swim toward energy-rich molecules, find preferred niches for infection, avoid harmful species, change speeds, and form biofilms—as a potential target for new therapeutics. A recent publication from her lab describes how that process works in detail.
“The university’s investment of the university to provide pilot funding for new projects is an enormously helpful investment and a first step toward exciting new scientific projects and major federal, foundation, or venture funding,” said Charles Sanders, the Aileen M. Lange and Annie Mary Lyle Professor of Cardiovascular Research, vice dean of Basic Sciences, and professor of biochemistry. “We are truly grateful for the commitment to basic and applied research that that these university programs represent!”
The Scaling Success Grant accepts applications quarterly, encouraging faculty to refine and resubmit their proposals if not funded initially. Upcoming application deadlines:
- Aug. 16, 2024
- Sept. 20, 2024
- Oct. 18, 2024
- Nov. 15, 2024
The next application cycle for the Innovation Catalyst Fund will close in October with subsequent cycles in February and June. All full-time faculty at Vanderbilt University and the Vanderbilt University Medical Center are eligible to apply, ensuring broad participation across all colleges and disciplines. For more information about the Innovation Catalyst Fund and to stay updated on future initiatives, visit the Innovation Catalyst Fund website or email CatalystFunding@vanderbilt.edu.