UW News

February 26, 2009

Ignition Awards will support translational research

UW Health Sciences/UW Medicine

The UW School of Pharmacy is pleased to announce the first three recipients of its Ignition Awards — an award created in partnership with the UW Institute of Translational Health Sciences (ITHS). The recipients are Antonio Bedalov at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Christopher Goss in the UW School of Medicine, and Hai Zhang in the UW School of Dentistry.


Each of the winners will collaborate with a School of Pharmacy faculty member on their research project. This allows the scientists to work together to advance their translational research in areas of drug delivery, transport, metabolism, pharmacokinetics or pharmacogenetics.


The total funding allotted this year was $80,000. The money was awarded to projects that show promise of leading to new grant applications or future pre-clinical and clinical studies.


Bedalov, an assistant member of the FHCRC and assistant professor of medicine at the UW, is leading a study titled “Identification of Pharmacodynamic Biomarkers for Inhibitors of NAD-dependent Protein Deacetylases Using Mass Spectrometry.” He is collaborating with David Goodlett, associate professor of medicinal chemistry in the School of Pharmacy.


Goss, assistant professor of medicine in the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, is leading a project called “A Pharmacokinetic and Safety Study of IV Gallium Nitrate in Cystic Fibrosis Patients.” He is working with Gail Anderson, professor of pharmacy at the UW.


Zhang, assistant professor of restorative dentistry, is leading a study on “Differential Distribution of Biophosphonates in Mice Skeletal tissues.” Zhang is working with Sid Nelson, professor of medicinal chemistry and dean emeritus of the School of Pharmacy.


The UW School of Pharmacy’s contribution to the Ignition Awards was made possible by the Drug Metabolism, Transport and Pharmacogenomic Research (DMTPR) program. DMTPR is a partnership between the School of Pharmacy and corporate and industry constituents. Its goal is to respond to critical industry needs in the areas of drug metabolism, transport, pharmacogenomics, and related outcomes and policy research.


The partner funding institution, ITHS, is an interdisciplinary program funded by the National Institutes of Health to advance translational research. Its goal is to make a positive impact on human health locally and globally by instigating collaborations between many groups, including academia, industry and government.


The funding for these interdisciplinary research projects was distributed to the recipients in January.