Department of Medicine research faculty and staff will lead seven new research projects recently funded by the 2019 UW Institute for Clinical and Translational Research Pilot Awards program.

The program encourages early-stage investigators to pursue preliminary data for larger studies, supports innovative directions in clinical and translational research, and promotes research that addresses health disparities and advances health equity. This year, the program distributed 26 pilot awards for a total of $1.3 million.

The seven awards to Department of Medicine faculty and staff (who appear in bold) are listed below. 

ROMKs Role in Cardio-Protection and Ischemic Heart Disease 

• PI: Mohun Ramratnam, MD, assistant professor (CHS), Cardiovascular Medicine
• Collaborators: Jon Makielski, MD, professor, Cardiovascular Medicine; Timothy Hacker, PhD, director, UW Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine Center Cardiovascular Physiology Core Facility; Ravi Vaidyanathan, PhD, associate scientist, Cardiovascular Medicine

Co-targeting PRMT5 and AKT in diffuse large B cell lymphoma

• PI: Lixin Rui, PhD, associate professor, Hematology, Medical Oncology and Palliative Care
• Collaborator: Wei Xu, PhD, professor, McArdle Laboratory for Cancer Research 
• *Co-Funding: University of Wisconsin Carbone Cancer Center

Transient Reprogramming to Activate Cardiomyocyte Proliferation

• PIs: Timothy Kamp, MD, PhD, professor, Cardiovascular Medicine, and director, UW Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine Center; Patrick Hsieh, MD, PhD, visiting professor, Cardiovascular Medicine
• *Co-Funding: UW–Madison Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine Center

A Single-Cell Protein Quantification Method for Immunotherapy Biomarkers

• PI: Joshua Lang, MD, MS, associate professor, Hematology, Medical Oncology and Palliative Care

Steppin’ for Balance – A Falls Risk Reduction Program

• PIs: Maria Mora Pinzon, MD, MS, assistant scientist, Geriatrics and Gerontology; Jane Mahoney, MD,professor, Geriatrics and Gerontology
• Academic Collaborators: Kristy Hallisy, PT, DSC, assistant professor, Physical Therapy; Ronald Gangnon, PhD, professor, Population Health Sciences and Biostatistics and Medical Informatics
• UW Program Partners: Community Academic Aging Research Network 
• Community Collaborators: Safe Communities of Dane County

Investigating the Impact of Incarceration on Cancer: A Novel Collaboration Between the Institute for Research on Poverty and the UW School of Medicine and Public Health

• PI: Farah Kaiksow, MD, MPP, assistant professor, Hospital Medicine
• Academic Collaborators:Noelle LoConte, MD, associate professor, Hematology, Medical Oncology and Palliative Care; Amy Trentham-Dietz, PhD, professor, Population Health Sciences; Lawrence Berger, MSW, PhD, professor, Social Work, and director, Institute for Research on Poverty
• UW Program Partners: Institute for Research on Poverty 
• Community Collaborators: Nehemiah Center for Urban Leadership Development

Evaluation of Reach, Implementation, and Maintenance of Wisconsin Tobacco Quit Line eReferral

• PI: Danielle McCarthy, PhD, associate professor, General Internal Medicine, and associate director of research, UW Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention 
• Academic Collaborators: Michael Fiore, MD, MPH, MBA, professor, General Internal Medicine, and director, UW Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention; Nayoung Kim, research associate, General Internal Medicine and UW Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention
• UW Program Partner: UW Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention 
• Community Collaborators: Gundersen Health System, LaCrosse; Ascension Wisconsin, Milwaukee Co