Rockefeller University's Center for Clinical and Translational Science funds 18 new pil...( The Rockefeller University Center fo...),Health

The Rockefeller University Center for Clinical and Translational Science (CCTS) has awarded 18 grants to university investigators in its third annual pilot-project grant program. The grants, which range from $2,000 to $25,000 each, will fund early studies in translational science that, if successful, might lead to improvements in human health. The CCTS, established through funds from a 2006 Clinical and Translational Science Award from the National Center for Research Resources of the National Institutes of Health, provided $365,000 for 17 projects over the first two years of the program.

The center's Pilot Project review committee vetted proposals in the fall. The 2009 grant recipients are:

• Donna Brassil, RN, CCRC, clinical research nurse facilitator, Hospital Program Direction, to compare the quality of blood samples obtained by two different methods of blood collection: intravenous catheters and venipuncture.

• Manu Capoor, M.D., visiting scientist, Vincent A. Fischetti's Laboratory of Bacterial Pathogenesis and Immunology, to devise a system to screen potential subjects for a clinical trial that will test the effectiveness of a particular lysin in reducing surgical site infections caused by Staphylococcus aureus.

• Jules Cohen, M.D., instructor in clinical investigation, Ralph M. Steinman's Laboratory of Cellular Physiology and Immunology, to assess the magnitude and quality of immune response to a novel vaccine against pancreatic cancer. Investigators will administer a monoclonal antibody, which targets dendritic cells, followed by a DNA plasmid that works as a booster.

• Ype de Jong, M.D., Ph.D., visiting fellow, Charles M. Rice's Laboratory of Virology and Infectious Disease, to define the feasibility of obtaining viable tumor cells from the blood of patients with metastatic liver cancer. Blood will be collected from patients and the samples used to identify tumor cells, which will then be cultur
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