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NIH awards total of $1.3m to Lipkin, Klimas, Hanson

Simon

Simon

Senior Member
Messages
3,789
Location
Monmouth, UK
Re Maureen Hanson (Cornell)
Maureen R. Hanson is Liberty Hyde Bailey Professor in the Department of Molecular Biology & Genetics. She received a B.S. degree at Duke University and a Ph.D. in Cell and Developmental Biology from Harvard University. After completing an NIH postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard, she joined the faculty of the Biology Department at University of Virginia. She moved to Cornell as Associate Professor and was promoted to Professor in 1991.
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Sasha said:
Bit of an odd combo of topics. I wonder if this is another case of a scientist having a loved one who is sick and deciding to apply their skills in a new area.
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Yes, odd combo indeed:
Dr. Hanson has two different research programs, related through their dependence on modern methods for examining genome sequences and gene expression. Her research in plant biology has always focused on the genome-containing organelles of plants, chloroplasts and mitochondria.
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A second research area is the pathophysiology of the human illness Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, also known as Myalgic Encephalomyelitis. Individuals with this illness often have gastrointestinal issues and evidence of immune system activation and dysfunction. One current project involves characterization of the gut and blood microbiome in healthy vs. ill subjects. Another project aims to identify differences in gene expression at baseline and following exercise in healthy and in subjects diagnosed with CFS/ME.
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beaker

beaker

ME/cfs 1986
Messages
773
Location
USA
viggster said:
This is great news. As for "chump change," ask any biomed lab researcher if they'd like $760,000 from NIH. Lipkin now has $1.5 million, about half from crowdfunding and half from NIH, to do a thorough study, and he'll be using the samples collected during the XMRV search a few years ago. This is a very wise thing to do - leverage this biobank. When Dr. Collins wrote to me a few weeks ago, he mentioned the biobank as a resource and implied it would be used again.
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RE my comment on "chump change"
In Aggregate, $1.3m for ME compared to what is spent on illnesses who have fewer citizens afflicted, like MS(100m) and Aids (3billion) and just about everything else, is abominably low. @jspotila has a nice blog on parity funding.
Here is the NIH page of all disease funding

It's great that these studies have been awarded grants.Fantastic. Yay. Good to be happy.
But this is taken out of the only $5m budgeted.(so far -- we need to keep pressure on)

These grants are only a start.
We are so used to getting nothing that when we are thrown a bone we are over the moon.
Again, I don't want to take away from these important studies receiving funding.
BUT as a community I hope we don't become complacent due to this funding. We need more much more. We deserve much more. We need to continue to demand much more.
 
beaker

beaker

ME/cfs 1986
Messages
773
Location
USA
Simon said:
Re Maureen Hanson (Cornell)



Yes, odd combo indeed:
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I know she worked w/ Bell before his retirement. He thinks she is top notch. We are lucky to have her working on this plague.

ETA she works w/ Besty Keller(sp -- I always goof up her name ) from Ithaca college on PEM
2 day exercise test studies, etc...
 
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H

Helen

Senior Member
Messages
2,243
Sasha said:
Klimas: "Genomic approach to find novel biomarkers and mechanisms of CFS/ME"
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke
$320,000
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Quote: ...to evaluate differences in the methylation patterns between CFS/ME patients and healthy controls.

I find it interesting that they will study methylation too. At last we may get an answer if impaired methylation is related and how, or not at all, to ME . I guess they should have to investigate other sick people too, not only compare to healthy controls if decreased methylation could be an effect of severe sickness itself.
 
snowathlete

snowathlete

Senior Member
Messages
5,374
Location
UK
Such great news. All three look like promising studies to me. We must thank people involved, especially the decision makers. Hope someone knows who we need to be thanking?
LipkinDance3_zpst19r7dno.gif
 
S

Sasha

Fine, thank you
Messages
17,863
Location
UK
snowathlete said:
Such great news. All three look like promising studies to me. We must thank people involved, especially the decision makers. Hope someone knows who we need to be thanking?
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Disturbing video! :eek:

Great idea about thanking. What about thanking Vicky Whittemore? Or saying to her that we don't know who to thank and would like her to pass on our thanks? It would be a nice way of welcoming her to her new job - I was impressed by her attitude at CFSAC.
 
beaker

beaker

ME/cfs 1986
Messages
773
Location
USA
Sasha said:
Disturbing video! :eek:

Great idea about thanking. What about thanking Vicky Whittemore? Or saying to her that we don't know who to thank and would like her to pass on our thanks? It would be a nice way of welcoming her to her new job - I was impressed by her attitude at CFSAC.
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Also perhaps thanks should go to the grant applicants/ reciprocants for taking the time to apply and doing the work on our behalf.
 
S

Sasha

Fine, thank you
Messages
17,863
Location
UK
beaker said:
Also perhaps thanks should go to the grant applicants/ reciprocants for taking the time to apply and doing the work on our behalf.
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Yes, indeed - thanks and congratulations.

In the past, individuals have sometimes bought a Groupcard e-card for everyone to sign (costs about $5, I think) but maybe it would be simpler just to start a thread on Phoenix Rising and then send the link to the applicants. Ditto for the NIH - but such a thread would probably need moderating, given the NIH's history with us and how they're regarded.

Would anyone like to do any of that?
 
jimells

jimells

Senior Member
Messages
2,009
Location
northern Maine
adreno said:
Great news! I'm especially pleased to see Lipkin finally getting some funding.
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We haven't "won" yet.

With all the fuss around the recent application denials, NIH would have to be extraordinarily deaf to turn him down again. I do see this as a sign the pressure on NIH is starting to bite. Now is the time to double down and keep after them until we have funding commensurate with disease burden.

As we saw at the CFSAC meeting, the NIH party line has yet to change. When they finally stop spouting their rubbish that there are only a few stupid scientists wanting to research the illness, I'll bring out the party hats and balloons.
 
S

Sasha

Fine, thank you
Messages
17,863
Location
UK
jimells said:
With all the fuss around the recent application denials, NIH would have to be extraordinarily deaf to turn him down again.
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And yet they have been extraordinarily deaf, for years - deaf to us, deaf to CFSAC.

I do see this as a sign the pressure on NIH is starting to bite. Now is the time to double down and keep after them until we have funding commensurate with disease burden.
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Agreed.

But nothing wrong with celebrating a good thing while planning the next phase of the campaign!
 
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