CTSI Translational Pilot Studies Program awards 13 new grants for 2023

Pictured, in alphabetical order, are the principal investigators and co-investigators for projects awarded 2023 CTSI Translational Pilot Studies Program funding.

Published January 4, 2023

The University at Buffalo’s Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) Translational Pilot Studies Program annually provides seed money to investigators to assist them in developing promising new technologies and therapeutics from the conceptual stage to clinical studies. For 2023, 13 new grants have been awarded to support studies addressing complex and serious public health issues — adolescent obesity, long COVID, Parkinson’s disease, congenital dental anomalies, diabetes, neurodegenerative disorders, and many others.

“The awarded pilot studies grants for 2023 address important translational research questions,” says CTSI Pilot Studies Program Director Brahm Segal, MD, Chair, Department of Internal Medicine, Chief, Division of Infectious Diseases, and Professor of Oncology, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center. “These innovative projects will lead to new methods and technologies to impact health, while also fostering cross-disciplinary collaborations and mentoring relationships.”

Projects awarded 2023 CTSI Translational Pilot Studies Program funding are:

Exploring Neural Mechanisms Underlying Reinforcer Pathology Differences Among Obesity-discordant Adolescents (Principal Investigator: Myles S. Faith, PhD)
Comprehensive In Vitro Modeling of Retinal Pigmented Epithelium (RPE) Pathology in Smith-Lemli-Opitz Syndrome (Principal Investigator: Michael H. Farkas, PhD)
Effect of Low-dose Lithium Therapy on Long COVID Symptoms: A Randomized Controlled Trial (Principal Investigator: Thomas J. Guttuso Jr., MD)
Repurposing Lithium As a Disease-Modifying Therapy in Parkinson’s Disease: A Phase I Trial (Principal Investigator: Thomas J. Guttuso Jr., MD)
Identifying the Epigenetic Regulatory Mechanism Underlying the Pathogenesis of Congenital Dental Anomalies (Principal Investigator: Hyuk-Jae Edward Kwon, DDS, PhD)
Toward High-performance Liquid-metal Nanophotonic (LIMEN) Biosensors for COVID-19 and Lung Cancer Early Diagnostics (Principal Investigator: Peter Q. Liu, PhD)
Evaluating the Social Workers Addressing Firearm Risk (SAFR) Intervention: A Pilot Study (Principal Investigator: Patricia Logan-Greene, PhD, MSSW)
Video-based Educational Approach to Increase Cancer Screening Amongst People of Color and Low Health Literacy Populations (Principal Investigator: Ekaterina (Katia) Noyes, PhD, MPH)
Biomarkers to Assess Acute Kidney Injury Risk During Heat Strain (Principal Investigator: Riana R. Pryor, PhD, ATC)
A Family-based Approach to Treat Overweight and Its Co-morbidities in Youth With Type 1 Diabetes and Their Parents (Principal Investigator: Teresa Quattrin, MD)
Assessing the Efficacy of Alterations in Subcortical-cortical Functional Connectivity From Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation in Older Children After Mild Traumatic Brain Injury (Principal Investigator: Ghazala T. Saleem, EdD, MS)
Oral Microbiome-induced Inflammatory Response As a Pathway to Neurodegenerative Disorders (Principal Investigator: Michelle B. Visser, PhD)
Uremic Toxin p-Cresol Effects on Macrophages’ Modified LDL Uptake (Principal Investigator: Rabi Yacoub, MD)