U. neuroscience researchers get $5.7M in grants

Researchers at the University of Utah Clinical Neurosciences Center were awarded $5.7 million in grants to study neurodegenerative diseases and disorders that cause physical and mental disabilities, cause foot ulcers that may lead to amputation, and influence tumor growth.

Professor and chair of neurology at the U.'s School of Medicine Stefan M. Pulst received a $1.8 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to continue his research on degenerative ataxias (a loss of muscle control) and the role of ion channels and Parkinson's disease-related proteins in neurodegenerative disease.

Two associate professors of neurology, Dr. Gordon Smith and J. Robinson Singleton, received a $588,000 grant from the American Diabetes Association and a $1.9 million grant to study neuropathy — nerve damage caused by diabetes and obesity. They will use the ADA grant to compare the abilities of nerves to regenerate under certain conditions, and with the NIH money they will study diabetic patients with no complaints of neuropathy to see if an aggressive diet and exercise program can slow or reverse injury of certain nerve fibers.

The National Cancer Institute gave Dr. L. Eric Haung, professor of neurosurgery, $1.5 million to investigate how an oxygen-responsive protein that is activated when the body lacks oxygen is involved with tumor growth and progression.