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Notables Spring 2021

Monika Bambouskova, PhD has received the Pfizer-Showell Award from the American Association of Immunologists. The Pfizer-Showell Award recognizes the professional promise of an early career investigator by assisting the award recipient with registration for the AAI annual meeting to present their research. This award is supported through an endowment from Henry J. Showell and Pfizer, Inc.

Carlos Bernal-Mizrachi, MD was named the new Chief of Medicine at the Veterans Affairs St. Louis Health Care System. Dr. Bernal-Mizrachi is the Philip E. and Carolyn E. Cryer Professor of Medicine in the Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism and Lipid Research in the Department of Medicine, and Professor of Cell Biology and Physiology at Washington University School of Medicine.

Xuntian Jiang, PhD was awarded an NIH U01 titled, “Validation of analytical methods for quantification of a pentasaccharide biomarker in efficacy assessment of AVV treatment for GM1 gangliosidosis”. The main goal is to validate clinical assays for the pentasaccharide biomarker in human urine, plasma, and CSF, and use these assays for assessing the efficacy of gene therapy in a clinical trial. ($1M)

Max Petersen, MD, PhD was awarded the Endocrine Fellows Foundation’s Fellow Research Grant. His research project, titled “Muscle bioactive lipids in metabolically healthy and unhealthy obesity,” has been awarded a $5,000 grant.

Principal investigator Clay F. Semenkovich, MD and co-investigator Mohamed Zayed, MD, PhD (Department of Surgery) were awarded an NIH R01 research grant. The R01 grant will fund a new line of investigation on how lipid synthesis by arterial tissue can impact peripheral atherogenesis, or the formation of fatty plaques in the arteries, in the setting of diabetes. Peripheral artery disease, atherosclerotic occlusive disease of the lower extremities, occurs in nearly a quarter of a billion people, disproportionately affects women and individuals with diabetes, and commonly leads to amputations. This application is relevant to public health because it has the potential to discover new approaches to decrease the burden of peripheral artery disease in the United States. ($975K)