SYNERGY Announces 2017 Translational Pilot Grant Awards

The SYNERGY Translational Pilot Program seeks to fund innovative interdisciplinary research proposals that have clear potential for translation into patient-oriented care and improved population health. The goal is to facilitate collaborative translational research studies within all Dartmouth institutions and affiliated health centers, and to accelerate the process of clinical and translational research.

2017 SYNERGY Translational Pilot Grant Awards

Following a review of 35 letters of intent, SYNERGY invited 14 full applications from which six awardees were selected:

• John Batsis, MD (Associate Professor, Medicine and TDI) and David Kotz, PhD (Professor, Computer Science) — A Pilot Study of an eHealth-delivered Health Coaching Intervention
• Scott Davis, PhD (Assistant Research Professor, Engineering/Thayer) and Kimberley Samkoe, PhD (Assistant Research Professor, Surgery; Adjunct Assistant Professor, Engineering/Thayer) — Bio-slice: Whole-body, High-resolution 3-D Biodistribution Imaging of Multiple Agents
• Jibran Khokhar, PhD (Instructor, Psychiatry) and Kyle Smith, PhD (Assistant Professor, Psychological and Brain Sciences) — Does a Brain Reward Circuit Dysfunction Underlie Substance use in Schizophrenia? Toward a Novel Avenue for Treatment Development
• Geoffrey Luke, PhD (Assistant Professor, Engineering/Thayer) and Lesley Jarvis, MD, PhD (Associate Professor, Medicine) — Ultrasound Image-Guided Delivery of Oxygen-Carrying Nanoparticles for Radiation Therapy
• Charles Sentman, PhD (Professor, Microbiology and Immunology) and Margaret Ackerman, PhD (Assistant Professor, Engineering/Thayer) — Engineering Human Regulatory T Cells to Target the Extracellular Fibrils ThatForm in Neural Tissue in Parkinson’s Disease
• Craig Tomlinson, PhD (Associate Professor, Medicine) and Shodeinde Coker, MD (Instructor, Medicine, Hematology-Oncology) — Preclinical Study of the Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor and Other Biomarkers in Human Adipose Tissue and their Potential Links Among Obesity and Breast Cancer