WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – The Lipid Sciences Research Program at Wake Forest University School of Medicine has been awarded a grant renewal of more than $9 million to define aspects of blood lipoproteins, such as cholesterol, that may be critical in prevention of coronary heart disease – the leading cause of death across the civilized world.
The information gained from the research promises to help define aspects of good nutrition and pathways of metabolism that can lead to the prevention of heart attacks. It features the development of genetically engineered mouse models that allow definition of molecular events regulating cholesterol transport in blood.
The $9.3 million grant is from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, of the National Institutes of Health. Renewed for its 16th through 20th years, the research program is the longest continuously funded program project at Wake Forest. Rudel's coinvestigators are Gregory S. Shelness, Ph.D., professor, John S. Parks, Ph.D., professor, Kylie Kavanagh, Ph.D., instructor, and Mary G. Sorci-Thomas, Ph.D. professor, all with the Section on Comparative Medicine in the Department of Pathology.
"At a time when NIH funding is contracting, our success in renewing the program project again speaks well for the high quality of work we are doing and the accomplishments we have made," said Lawrence L. Rudel, Ph.D., lead investigator, professor of pathology and biochemistry and head of the Lipid Sciences Research Program. "In the years to come, we hope to continue to provide important new information that will further promote heart disease prevention."
Media Relations Contacts: Jessica Guenzel, jguenzel@wfubmc.edu, (336) 716-3487; Bonnie Davis, bdavis@wfubmc.edu, (336) 716-4977, or Shannon Koontz, shkoontz@wfubmc.edu, (336) 716-2415.
Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center (www.wfubmc.edu) is an academic health system comprised of North Carolina Baptist Hospital, Brenner Children's Hospital, Wake Forest University Physicians, and Wake Forest University Health Sciences, which operates the university's School of Medicine and Piedmont Triad Research Park. The system comprises 1,154 acute care, rehabilitation and long-term care beds and has been ranked as one of "America's Best Hospitals" by U.S. News & World Report since 1993. Wake Forest Baptist is ranked 32nd in the nation by America's Top Doctors for the number of its doctors considered best by their peers. The institution ranks in the top third in funding by the National Institutes of Health and fourth in the Southeast in revenues from its licensed intellectual property.