The University of Texas at Arlington
Office of Media Relations

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media contact: Roger Tuttle, Engineering Public Relations, (817) 272-3682, tuttle@uta.edu

ARLINGTON—Thirteen interdisciplinary research teams of faculty from UT Southwestern Medical Center, UT Arlington and UT Dallas have received grants totaling about $1.3 million to pursue collaborative projects, combining expertise from the three area University of Texas campuses in biomedical science, engineering and physical sciences on projects aimed at solving real-world medical problems.

Each team includes faculty from UT Southwestern and either UT Arlington or UT Dallas. Funding for the projects comes from state and philanthropic sources. Teams receive up to $100,000 for their respective projects, which program leaders say will allow the researchers to attract additional external funding from conventional sources, such as federal agencies.

“These projects have the potential to have enormous impact on the science and practice of medicine,” said Dr. Alfred Gilman, executive vice president for academic affairs, provost and dean of UT Southwestern Medical School. “This program is another step forward in expanding collaborations among the UT institutions in the Metroplex and exploring the interdisciplinary topics that are driving advances in medical care.”
UT Arlington and UT Southwestern Medical School jointly submitted 45 projects for consideration and a panel of 11 officials representing both institutions reviewed the submissions. Seven were chosen for funding.

“These are immensely promising projects,” said Dr. Ron Elsenbaumer, vice president for research at UT Arlington. “They will create new approaches to managing pain, heart disease and cancer. The social benefit is simply immeasurable.”

Funded projects involving faculty from the College of Engineering are:
·“Development of a Novel Biodegradable Stent” – Dr. Jian Yang, Bioengineering, and Dr. Panos Shiakolas, Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering (with Drs. Emmanouil Brilakis and Subhash Banerjee at UTSW). The goal of this project is to design and test non-inflammatory, antithrombotic, biodegradable coronary artery stents composed of nanocomposite materials and fabricated using femtosecond pulse laser ablation.
· “Quantification of in vivo protein dynamics at the single molecule level” – Dr. Georgios Alexandrakis, assistant professor of bioengineering at UTA, and Dr. David Chen, professor of radiation oncology at UT Southwestern. This study will examine the proteins and enzymes involved in DNA repair, leading to a better understanding of cancer onset and progression.
· “Toward a model of the average heart with the normal and abnormal variations” – Dr. Heng Huang, assistant professor of computer science and engineering at UTA, and Dr. Roderick McColl, associate professor of radiology at UT Southwestern. This study will compare mathematical models of the heart with data from thousands of participants in the Dallas Heart Study in order to determine risk factors for heart disease and evaluate potential therapies.

Funded projects involving faculty from the College of Science are:
· “Neuropathic pain mechanisms in myelination disorders” – Dr. Perry Fuchs, associate professor of pathology at UTA, and Dr. Qing Lu, assistant professor of developmental biology at UT Southwestern. This project examines new approaches to the prevention and treatment of pain in multiple sclerosis patients.
· “Adjustment to lung cancer” – Dr. Angela Liegey Dougall, assistant professor of psychology at UTA, and Dr. Joan Schiller, professor of internal medicine at UT Southwestern. This study examines the links between depression and other negative emotions felt by patients with lung cancer and their treatment outcomes.
· “Genetic, molecular and neurological bases of sexual discrimination in Drosophila” – Dr. Pawel Michalak, assistant professor of biology at UTA, and Dr. Dean Smith, associate professor of pharmacology at UT Southwestern. This project focuses on understanding how genes influence sexuality and mating preference.
· “DNA methytransferases in neuronal signaling and resulting behavioral output” – Dr. Lisa Monteggia, assistant professor of psychiatry at UT Southwestern, and Dr. Linda Perrotti, senior research scientist in psychology at UTA. This study investigates how changes in DNA expression can result in behavioral alterations mimicking debilitating diseases such as schizophrenia and autism spectrum disorder.

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