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Thursday, Jul. 02, 2009

Cal Poly’s grant money aids medical research

The school received about $27M in awards from various sources, says dean of research program

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Cal Poly has received more than half a million dollars in funding through the federal stimulus package — money that is currently being used toward various innovative projects that include the potential creation of a new oral vaccine for hepatitis B.

Rep. Lois Capps, D-Santa Barbara, visited the university Thursday to meet with professors and students to learn more about how they’re taking advantage of some of the funding dollars that she voted in support of.

“Investment in health-care research will continue to play a role in curing and preventing disease and providing jobs,” Capps said. “I’m pleased that Cal Poly continues to play an important role in medical and healthcare research.”

The Cal Poly projects are funded by grant allocations from the National Institute of Health and the National Science Foundation.

The government agencies received the money from federal stimulus dollars and don’t consider political influence in deciding which projects to fund, Cal Poly officials said.

Biology professor Kenneth Hillers received the largest of the grants with a $210,000 award, and the second largest grant of $110,000 was given to biology professor Pat Fidopiastis. Both faculty members are leading projects in genetic research.

Hillers is studying specifically how chromosomes are transmitted from parents to their children to better understand the source of disorders such as Down syndrome.

The grant funding helps with purchasing equipment for lab research and by providing financial aid to students.

“We train undergraduates to do biomedical research so that when they graduate they can get good jobs,” Hillers said.

Another project led by John Howard, which received $26,000 in stimulus funds, is aiming to create an oral vaccine for Hepatitis B. That money is paying for two student-summer interns.

Hepatitis B currently has a vaccine that’s injected, Howard said, but an oral medication would save money because medical staff wouldn’t need to administer the drug.

People in foreign countries where medical staff members aren’t available also could take the vaccine orally without having to receive an injection.

Another project undertaken through the federal grant funding aims to create tissue engineering strategies to repair and replace arthritic tissue cartilage. That project received a $33,824 award.

Professors say that arthritis is a major health detriment that costs the nation billions in health care expenses each year.

Cal Poly received a total of about $27 million in grant funding awards from various sources this year, said Susan Opava, the dean of research and graduate programs.