Congressman Cohen Announces $2.5 Million in NIH Grants to UTHSC and St. Jude

WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-9) today announced four grants totaling $2,525,665 from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to the University of Tennessee Health Science Center and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

Congressman Cohen made the following statement:

“I am pleased to see these substantial investments in our world-renown medical research institutions. The work undertaken with this funding will lead to new discoveries and potentially save lives.”

One grant to St. Jude, from the National Cancer Institute for Dr. Asya Agulnik for $665,701. This grant is to better understand how capacity at clinics, and the resources needed for a clinical intervention, like certain surgeries or medications, impact Pediatric Early Warning Systems which help detect worsening symptoms in children with cancer. More than 90 percent of children with cancer live in areas with low access to resources and survival there is only around 20 percent. A second grant to St. Jude, for $614,231, is for diabetes and kidney disease research for work directed by Dr. Jian Xu. The grant is from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases,  Dr. Xu’s work seeks to better understand an underappreciated and under-studied portion of the genetic code, called retrotransposons – a portion of our genetic code which can move to different parts of the chromosomes and regulate other genes. A certain type of these retrotransposons, called the L1 are required for the propagation of acute myeloid leukemia cells. Better understanding how these elements function will help in the development of new drugs for this type of cancer.  

UTHSC will receive a grant of $642,758 from the National Institute on Drug Abuse for research into the social environment-associated effects of nicotine which encourages use. Dr. Chen’s work specifically examines a portion of the brain, called the amygdala, which plays a central role in fear responses, amongst other functions. This project will study a certain gene, and its network of other biochemical reactions, which are associated with a greater likelihood for a person to continue using nicotine. The research is under the direction of Dr. Hao Chen. A second grant to UTHSC, for $602,975, is from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases for research on kidney function and blood pressure in aging. It is under the direction of Dr. Zhongjie Sun, director of the UT-Methodist Cardiovascular Institute. Dr. Sun’s team will study whether the release of exosomes – a ‘package’ of proteins, DNA, RNA, and lipids used to ‘communicate’ from one cell to another – released by a type of kidney cells, play a role in the regulation of kidney function and blood pressure. Dr. Sun’s group will also investigate how the reduced release of these exosomes contribute to age-related kidney dysfunction and hypertension. This project will further our understanding of kidney disease and is essential for the development of novel therapeutics. 

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