The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded $11.5 million to the Arkansas Children’s Research Institute (ACRI) to develop the Center for Translational Pediatric Research (CTPR). The award is the largest-ever grant award that ACRI has received from NIH. Under the direction of Alan Tackett, PhD, the center will develop new treatments and therapies specifically for children.
Dr. Tackett, an ACRI expert in systems biology, is the Scharlau Family Endowed Professor of Cancer Research and a professor of Biochemistry, Pediatrics, and Pathology at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS).
The Center for Translational Pediatric Research at ACRI will use state-of-the-art technology and a systems biology approach to study how pediatric diseases develop, with the ultimate goal of identifying points in the intersection of disease and development that will produce targets for therapeutic intervention, and the development of new treatments for children.
Systems biology is a holistic approach that enables researchers to simultaneously study all of the events occurring in a cell that lead to a particular outcome or disease.
"Historically, science has answered one question at a time," Dr. Tackett said. "By employing a more comprehensive systems biology approach, we can ask many questions at the same time, which allows us to more quickly understand the fundamental reasons that a disease is occurring, and how to more specifically develop treatments.
"To my knowledge, there is not a pediatric research center in the U.S., and probably in the world, that focuses on utilizing these specific approaches. In that way, we are uniquely positioned to develop ways to improve children's health in Arkansas, and our nation."
The NIH Institutional Development Award (IDeA) program will fund the CTPR as one of NIH's prestigious Centers of Biological Research Excellence (COBRE). These grants create world-class research environments for young faculty who are identified as the next generation of excellence in research. The awards focus on building research in states that have historically had low levels of NIH funding. This first phase of COBRE funding will start in July of 2017 and last five years. A total of 15 years of funding is available through this federal program, and Tackett’s award is the second COBRE grant ACRI has received from NIH in the last year.
"This award is a promise to the children of Arkansas that we will create a healthier tomorrow specifically for them," said Gregory Kearns, PharmD, PhD, FAAP, president of ACRI and Arkansas Children's senior vice president/chief research officer. He is also the Ross & Mary Whipple Family Distinguished Research Scientist Endowed Chair, and a professor of Pediatrics at UAMS. "NIH sees that we have the potential to create a transformational center that will improve children's lives directly where they live, learn and play."
Dr. Tackett will serve as director of the CTPR and Sonet Weed, MS, will oversee the administration of the grant. The junior faculty, that were selected to seed this center, include Jason Farrar, UAMS assistant professor of Pediatrics; Xiawei Ou, PhD, UAMS assistant professor of Radiology and Pediatrics; Laxmi Yeruva, PhD, UAMS assistant professor of Pediatrics; and Boris Zybailov, PhD, UAMS assistant professor of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology. Their research focuses on pediatric blood disorders, infant brain development in obese mothers, immune system development in breastfed infants, and pediatric chronic kidney disease, respectively.
The Center for Translational Pediatric Research will support 30 faculty, making the facility one of the largest centers of its kind. Located at ACRI, the CTPR will also partner with the Arkansas Children’s Nutrition Center and UAMS and its Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute. The cutting-edge research technology investment will create discoveries in proteomics, genomics, and bioinformatics. The research will be overseen by Rick Emondson, PhD, UAMS associate professor of Medicine; Samuel Mackintosh, PhD, UAMS research assistant professor of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology; Stewart MacLeod, PhD, UAMS assistant professor of Pediatrics; Stephanie Byrum, PhD, UAMS research assistant professor of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology; and Galina Glazko, PhD, UAMS assistant professor of Biomedical Informatics.