Looking back on the past academic year, a highlight was learning that The Herbert Wertheim UF Scripps Institute for Biomedical Innovation & Technology is a leader in faculty productivity. Our scientists are projected to attract an average of $1.5 million per principal investigator in FY 2025, which is an extraordinary accomplishment, one that is spread across all departments. It underscores the outsized impact the institute is having in emerging and exciting areas of biomedical research.
One in five of our faculty members holds a prestigious R35 Outstanding Investigator Award from the National Institutes of Health. These awards “provide long-term support to experienced investigators with an outstanding record of research productivity,” according to the NIH. A look at the work of these R35 scientists showcases the original thinking behind their explorations:
- James Burke, Ph.D., investigates an unexpected method that cells can use to defend organisms from viral invasion. With an enzyme called RNase L, they can completely halt gene transcription.
- Ronald Davis, Ph.D., has made foundational neuroscience discoveries, identifying genes required for active forgetting. His recent work focuses on protecting neurons’ energy production with “mitotherapeutics” as a strategy to treat neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer’s and ALS.
- Matthew Disney, Ph.D., is known as a pioneer in the field of small-molecule therapeutics for RNA mediated diseases. His discoveries have led to RNA-targeting medicines with potential for clinical development for many indications, including ALS, myotonic dystrophy type 1, triple-negative breast cancer, glioblastoma and Parkinson’s disease.
- Tina Izard, Ph.D., is a structural biologist whose intricate studies of the molecules that hold cells together, including talin, has informed our understanding of cancer metastasis and the structure of life itself.
- Thomas Kodadek, Ph.D., has developed technologies to find new chemical probes and potential medicines by using DNA molecules as barcodes. His current work applies this technology to understanding the cell’s recycling machinery, the ubiquitin proteasome system. It is believed to go awry in some degenerative and aging related diseases.
- Ciaran Seath, Ph.D., uses an advanced technique called proximity labeling to reveal previously unexplored aspects of cellular biology. His award is enabling him to study the regulation of chromatin, the vital biological molecule that packages DNA into chromosomes or readies genes for expression into proteins.
- Ben Shen, Ph.D., directs the Natural Products Discovery Center at The Wertheim UF Scripps Institute, where his team catalogs the sequences of thousands of natural products within one of the world’s largest collections of microbial strains. Shen has built a searchable database for the scientific community to mine, and discovered compounds with promising antibiotic and anticancer potential within it.
- Donna Zhang, Ph.D., is an expert on the role of a protein called NRF2. It is known for its ability to defend cells against toxins and reactive oxygen species. But if inappropriately activated, it also contributes to diabetes and cancer progression, she discovered. Zhang’s lab is currently pursuing small-molecule inhibitors of NRF2 as both research probes and possible therapeutics.
In addition, to these R35 grants, the associate vice president for research at the University of Florida, and director of our Center for Inflammation Science and Systems Medicine, Joe G.N. “Skip” Garcia, M.D., holds a P01 Research Program Project Grant.
This P01 award centers on Garcia’s important discovery of a fundamental driver of inflammation, eNAMPT, and its role in multiple diseases, including acute respiratory distress syndrome, a common cause of death during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Also, neroscientists Gavin Rumbaugh, Ph.D., and Courtney Miller, Ph.D., received an NIH U01 Cooperative Agreement Grant worth up to $9 million through 2029 to launch a preclinical drug candidate for individuals with SYNGAP1 developmental disorders, a cause of autism, epilepsy and dysregulated sensory processing.
Read More: See the latest science news from our labs
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