Scientists & Research
Externally Funded Research
In addition to its core funding from the American Chemistry Council, The Hamner Institutes for Health Sciences receives research funding from federal grants, industry contracts, and awards from nonprofit organizations. Sponsors, project titles, and principal investigators of recent externally funded research are listed below.
Hamner Principal Investigator: Dr. Wenhong Cao, Assistant Investigator, Division of Translational Biology
Sponsor: National Institutes of Health
Award: $1.6 million (5 year)
Purpose: Dr. Cao is studying novel biochemical pathways of how the body maintains sugar balance and its relationship to weight regulation. This research is part of the Hamner's expanding program in metabolic (diabetes) and cardiovascular disease.
Hamner Principal Investigator: Dr. Harvey Clewell, Director of the Center for Human Health Assessment
Sponsor: Formaldehyde Council:
Award: $750 thousand (15 month study)
Purpose: Dr. Clewell and the Hamner Inhalation team are conducting a 90 day exposure of formaldehyde in rodents to develop new models for sensitivity analysis relevant to informing the assessment of potential health risks in humans.
Hamner Principal Investigator: Dr. Harvey Clewell, Director of the Center for Human Health Assessment (CHHA)
Sponsor: US Environmental Protection Agency
Award: $750 (3 years)
Purpose: Dr. Clewell and the Center for Human Health Assessment scientists will develop kinetic models for interpreting biomonitoring data on selected environmental chemicals. These studies are key early steps for developing relevant research models to assess the potential health impacts of chemicals found in blood and other human tissues as part of the biomonitoring programs of the Center for Disease Control.
Dr. Clewell has been awarded a second grant from the EPA ($220, 3 years) to expand the CHHA studies on perfluorinated compounds relevant to understanding how these chemicals distribute in the body at exposure levels that might occur in humans. Perfluorinated compounds are family of chemicals that can make materials stain (e.g., Scotchgard) and stick (e.g., Teflon) resistant.
Hamner Principal Investigator: Dr. Jingbo Pi, Research Investigator, Division of Computational Biology
Sponsor: National Institutes of Health
Award: $415 thousand (3 years)
Purpose: Dr. Pi is elucidating the impact of oxidative stress on cellular pathways in target cells in the pancreas. Damage to these cells can lead to diseases such as diabetes. The cellular pathways under study represent potential new targets for therapeutic approaches.
Hamner Principal Investigator: Dr. Sheela Sharma, Senior Research Investigator, Division of Toxicology and Preclinical Studies
Sponsor: National Cancer Institutes and the University of Alabama, Birmingham
Award: $450 (18 months)
Purpose: Dr. Sharma is working with collaborators at the University of Alabama, Birmingham on a project to identify new cancer chemoprevention agents. She has developed a cell culture systems that allows for broad scale toxicity screening.