SOUTH KINGSTOWN – University of Rhode Island College of Pharmacy assistant professor Nisanne Ghonem received a 2017 Mentored Research Award from Advance-CTR (Clinical Translational Research), according to a September statement by the state’s flagship research institute.
The award, a federally funded, statewide effort to support clinical research that can be translated into policies aimed at improving the health of Rhode Islanders, is managed by Brown University, will last for two years and covers 75 percent of the researcher’s salary up to $90,000, as well as any mentoring resources needed.
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Ghonem, one of three researchers in the state to receive the award, wants to know more about a universal problem in kidney transplant surgery that can result in failure of the organ graft. If found, a cure could mean saving the lives of nearly 2 million people across the globe, according to the URI statement.
“There is a great disparity in the number of patients waiting for transplants and organs available,” said Ghonem in a prepared statement. “The discovery of a drug to treat this injury would allow acceptance of more kidney grafts, which could dramatically increase the number of organs available for transplant and improve patient outcomes and survival.”
Her research will use a class of drugs, prostacyclins, to reduce what is called ischemia-reperfusion injury, or when blood flow is cut off to the organ (ischemia) then restarted (reperfusion) during the transplantation process.
The other two recipients are Carly Goldstein and Chrystal Vergara-Lopez, both assistant professors of psychiatry and human behavior at The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University.
Emily Gowdey-Backus is a staff writer for PBN. You can follow her on Twitter @FlashGowdey or contact her via email, gowdey-backus@pbn.com.
