image: Scientists at The Wertheim UF Scripps Institute for Biomedical Innovation & Technology have been awarded new grants worth about $15.7 million over the next five years.
Credit: The Wertheim UF Scripps Institute
JUPITER, Fla. — Scientists at The Wertheim UF Scripps Institute for Biomedical Innovation & Technology who research a wide range of diseases have been awarded new state and federal grants recently worth about $15.7 million over the next five years, institute leaders announced Wednesday.
The grants advance projects that explore the biology of the brain, improve prevention and treatment of infectious and autoimmune diseases, and fight advanced cancers, said institute Scientific Director Patrick Griffin, Ph.D. Last year the institute’s research spending exceeded $101 million, contributing to the University of Florida’s record-breaking total $1.33 billion in research spending.
“These grants highlight The Wertheim UF Scripps Institute’s unique expertise in areas that include neuroscience, immunology, biochemistry, drug discovery and RNA therapeutics,” Griffin said. “Our focus is on bringing innovative new solutions to some of medicine’s most difficult challenges. These grants will ultimately benefit patients awaiting better options.”
Exploring Brain Connections
Ezgi Hacisuleyman, Ph.D., has received a grant from the National Institute of Generalized Medical Sciences worth $2.3 million over five years for her work exploring how neurons rapidly change in response to external cues.
By using advanced imaging tools and molecular labeling techniques, her research examines the remarkable process neurons employ to generate the energy and signaling surge needed to communicate and connect. The award is focused on the mechanisms and regulation of cellular function, including sending RNAs to extreme ends of neurons. Short for ribonucleic acid, RNAs carry out many cellular functions, including assembling proteins from their gene transcripts.
“A deeper understanding of how cells strategically localize and produce essential RNAs and proteins is crucial for developing targeted therapies for diseases caused by cellular miscommunication, such as genetic disorders, cancers, and neurological conditions,” wrote Hacisuleyman, an assistant professor in the chemistry department at The Wertheim UF Scripps Institute.
Protecting Children from HIV
Mauricio Martins, Ph.D., has been awarded a five-year grant from the National Institutes of Health worth up to $6 million for his innovative research into protecting young children from HIV infection. Each year, hundreds of thousands of babies contract HIV-1 infection, often during breastfeeding years. In areas with limited access to antiretroviral medications, long-lasting, accessible protection is needed for children during that vulnerable period, Martins says.
A recent study by the Martins group showed that delivery of HIV-1 broadly neutralizing antibody genes using adeno-associated virus vectors can protect infant rhesus macaques against simian-HIV infection for several years. However, if infants are not treated shortly after birth, the therapy can trigger an immune response that renders them ineffective. Martins’s recent study shows that this response can be prevented by exposure to the neutralizing antibodies in utero.
The grant will enable Martins and his team in the immunology and microbiology department at The Wertheim UF Scripps Institute to define the mechanisms underlying this in utero tolerization approach. It will also enable them to pursue related strategies for extending the period following birth when the therapy can be administered without eliciting detrimental immune responses. Their work to understand the mechanisms may also uncover new opportunities for treating autoimmune diseases and help prevent rejection of transplanted organs.
Preventing Cancer Relapse
Michalina Janiszewska, Ph.D. and Matthew Disney, Ph.D., have been awarded a $300,000 state grant from The William G. Bankhead and David Coley Cancer Research Program, administered by the Florida Department of Health. The program aims to advance progress toward cancer cures through grants awarded in a peer-reviewed, competitive process.
Glioblastoma is the most common malignant brain tumor. The standard of care, a combination of chemotherapy and radiation, hasn’t changed since 2005, yet it provides a survival benefit of only about four months. Targeting the hypoxic adaptation of glioblastoma cells is key to preventing tumor relapse and to improving patient survival, the scientists said. The research project combines research in brain tumor biology, chemistry and chemical biology, including expertise in designing small molecules that target messenger RNA, to optimize a new compound targeting a hypoxia-inducible gene transcription factor called HIF2-alpha.
Disney chairs the chemistry department at The Wertheim UF Scripps Institute, while Janiszewska is an assistant professor in the institute’s molecular medicine department. The team’s research intends to advance a possible new therapeutic strategy for glioblastoma. Since hypoxia is also linked to breast cancer and its metastasis, the study could pave the way to use this new class of compounds in other tumor types, as well, the scientists said.
Designing New Antivirals
Susana Valente, Ph.D., has been awarded a five-year grant worth more than $4.8 million from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for her work developing a new type of antiviral drug.
Valente’s laboratory is pioneering a new class of antivirals that shut HIV down at its source, turning off the virus’s own gene transcription. Her team targets Tat, the “trans-activator of transcription,” a viral protein that flips HIV from silent to active and drives both viral production and toxicity. Working with Wertheim UF Scripps medicinal chemists, she has identified three small molecules that trigger Tat’s destruction by the cell’s recycling machinery, called the ubiquitin–proteasome system. The strategy offers simpler, more scalable alternatives to earlier Tat inhibitors, Valente said. The grant will enable her team to refine these drug candidates, test them in primary human cells and humanized mouse models, and advance a block‑and‑lock strategy aimed at durable, treatment‑free control of HIV.
About The Wertheim UF Scripps Institute
The scientists of The Herbert Wertheim UF Scripps Institute for Biomedical Innovation & Technology advance human health through biomedical research, drug discovery, and clinical studies, while providing outstanding educational opportunities to inspire and train the next generation of scientists. Founded by Scripps Research, the Jupiter-based institute joined the University of Florida, a top public university, in 2022. Learn more at https://wertheim.scripps.ufl.edu/. To make a gift to support research, please contact The Wertheim UF Scripps Office of Advancement at (561) 228-2055, or click here.