Two Johns Hopkins researchers — a physician
whose squirrel hibernation studies may lead to new
treatments for muscle-wasting diseases, and an engineer who
is building medical tools smaller than a
speck of dust — have received prestigious 2008 New
Innovator Awards, the National Institutes of
Health announced today.
The NIH grants, each covering $1.5 million in direct
costs over five years, were awarded to
Ronald Cohn, assistant professor of pediatrics and
neurology in the School of Medicine's
McKusick-
Nathans Institute of Genetic Medicine, and David
Gracias, assistant professor of chemical and
biomolecular engineering in the Whiting School of
Engineering.
Following a rigorous review process, the two Johns
Hopkins faculty members were among 31
scientists from universities and institutes throughout the
United States selected to receive this
year's New Innovator grants, designed to support novel
research projects.
"Nothing is more important to me than stimulating and
sustaining deep innovation, especially for
early career investigators and despite challenging
budgetary times," said NIH Director Elias A.
Zerhouni in announcing the recipients. "These highly
creative researchers are tackling important
scientific challenges with bold ideas and inventive
technologies that promise to break through barriers
and radically shift our understanding."
Ronald Cohn, School of
Medicine
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Kristina M. Johnson, provost and senior vice president
for academic affairs at Johns Hopkins,
said, "There is keen competition for major awards such as
these. We are extremely pleased that the
NIH has recognized the fine research being conducted by
Ronald Cohn and David Gracias. This
financial support will help move them closer to their goals
of producing important new medical
treatments and tools."
Cohn, who studies muscle-wasting diseases, including
muscular dystrophy, will focus on
investigating the molecular mechanisms of preserving muscle
mass and function in hibernating ground
squirrels.
"I have been interested in muscle biology for many
years, but the fascinating phenomenon of
hibernation enables us to approach maintenance of muscle
mass in a completely new way," said Cohn,
whose goal is to characterize the biological pathways
crucial for the function of so-called satellite
cells — muscle cells that repair muscle damaged by
trauma or genetic disorders. "The animals I'm going
to study don't move for months during hibernation, and
don't even breathe more than four times a
minute. How do they jump up and run around after they wake
up, having maintained their muscle?"
Cohn plans to examine how satellite cells behave
during hibernation and prolonged disuse. In
particular, he hopes to determine whether satellite cells
display an increased tendency to replenish
and maintain the satellite cell pool during the period of
hibernation. Understanding satellite cell
behavior in the hibernating animal may lead to a better
understanding of how to treat and possibly
stop muscle wasting in acquired conditions such as aging
and disuse, as well as in a variety of inherited
muscle disorders.
Cohn joined the Johns Hopkins faculty in 2006 after
completing a combined pediatrics/genetic
medicine residency here. He recently launched the Johns
Hopkins Center for Hypotonia, which
identifies, supports and treats patients with various
conditions associated with low muscle tone. As a
clinician and researcher, Cohn has been the recipient of
numerous awards, most notably the David M.
Kamsler Award for outstanding, compassionate and expert
care of pediatric patients, the Helen B.
Taussig Award for young Johns Hopkins investigators and the
inaugural Harvard-Partners Center for
Genetics and Genomics Award.
Regarding Cohn's latest recognition, David Valle,
director of the Institute of Genetic Medicine,
said, "We are thrilled that Ronni was selected as a
recipient of a New Innovator Award. This support
will enable him to apply his considerable creativity and
medical know-how to innovative basic research
that will increase our understanding of muscle biology and
eventually may lead to important clinical
applications for treating muscle diseases."
David Gracias, School of
Engineering
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David Gracias will use his New Innovator Award to
continue to develop minimally invasive micro-
and nanoscale tools and devices for medicine. Microscale
tools are designed to perform procedures
such as biopsies or to deliver medication at the cellular
level; nanoscale tools operate in the realm of
proteins and viruses.
A key advantage of the tiny containers and grippers
already developed in Gracias' lab is that
they can release drugs and grasp tissue without requiring
batteries or a wire connected to an outside
power source. Instead, Gracias' miniaturized tools are
moved from afar by magnets and are activated
by chemicals or temperature changes.
"Tomorrow's medical devices will be smart," Gracias
said. "We want to get rid of the wires and
build an entire mobile, miniaturized surgical toolbox,
including devices that can access diseased areas
that are difficult to reach with the currently available,
tethered, minimally invasive tools."
Gracias has already demonstrated that his prototypes
work in lab experiments, and animal
testing is under way. With the New Innovators grant, he
hopes to advance this research and move
closer to the day when physicians will be able to use his
tiny tools on patients. "We have some
ambitious goals, and there is a lot of work to be done,"
Gracias said. "But if we succeed, the payoff
could be enormous. It could give doctors important new
tools to help them diagnose and treat medical
problems."
Gracias was raised in Mumbai, India, and earned his
undergraduate and master's degrees in
chemistry at the Indian Institute of Technology at
Kharagpur. He received his doctorate in physical
chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley and was
a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard
University before joining the Johns Hopkins faculty in
2003. He is affiliated with the Institute for
NanoBioTechnology at Johns Hopkins.
Regarding Gracias' New Innovator Award, Nick Jones,
dean of the Whiting School of
Engineering, said, "We're thrilled that David has received
this well-deserved recognition. The award
acknowledges more than his pioneering work in micro- to
nanoscale tools and devices for medicine. It is
also a confirmation of his role as an exceptionally
innovative engineer and recognition of the
tremendous potential his research holds."
The New Innovator Award program was launched by NIH in
2007 to support a small group of
new investigators who propose bold new approaches that have
the potential to produce a major impact
on a broad area of biomedical or behavioral research. The
program currently supports 61
investigators, 30 selected last year and 31 this year.