In 2005, the UNM HSC reorganized its research efforts into Signature Programs in order to transform the environment for clinical/translational research and create a meaningful and effective academic home for clinical translational research at the institution. A major goal of this reorganization and creation of Signature Programs is to address important health problems affecting the state of New Mexico and to outline an idealized and complete translational agenda (bench to beside to community/practice) for each area of such strength. The Five “Signature Research Programs” are:

Brain and Behavorial Illnesses

Cancer Biology

Diabetes and Cadiovascular Disease

Environmental Health Science

Infectious Disease and Immunity

In addition to established research components, each Signature Program possesses a strong emphasis on training the next generation of clinical/translational researchers, and each Signature Program possesses at least one T32 postgraduate training award.

As stated in the NIH Roadmap Initiative, the future of Biomedical research requires trainees who will be able “to lead and/or engage in integrative and team approaches to solve complex biomedical and health problems”. Meeting this challenge necessitates a graduate education centered on interdisciplinary research. Bridges must be built between clinical and basic sciences programs so as to allow seamless application of basic discoveries in a clinical setting.

The Signature Research Programs at the UNM HSC are comprehensive research programs that have “bench to bedside” and community components and involve faculty and students with diverse interests and disciplines from many departments/divisions. Each of these Signature Programs incorporate basic, translational and outcomes research within the HSC and are actively supported by the Vice President of the Health Sciences Center and Deans of the Colleges of the HSC. The Signature Programs provide the framework for the UNM Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program (BSGP) to successfully integrate medical knowledge into graduate biomedical research education.

Signature Program in Brain and Behavioral Illness

The Signature Program in Brain and Behavioral Illnesses is a leading center for comprehensive, state-of-the-art research and training in the diagnosis and treatment of neurologic and behavioral health disorders. The program represents a diverse array of basic, clinical and computational research, with four relatively distinct subgroups:

Stroke and Cerebrovascular Disorders Research Subgroup
Schizophrenia and Behavioral Health Research Subgroup
Addiction Research Subgroup
Neuro-developmental Disorders Research Subgroup

Key activities within these subgroups cover the spectrum of translational processes from bench to bedside to community and population, as exemplified by work investigating prenatal ethanol exposure. This program obtained a COBRE grant in 2001 that has been recently renewed. The COBRE, as a career development grant for junior faculty, has successfully mentored several new faculty members into NIH-funded investigators. Our Career Development Core will exploit the success of this program. This program has secured a new NIAAA-funded T32 training grant entitled “Alcohol Research Training in Neurosciences” that supports students and fellows.

The vision of this Research Program is to form a “Neuroscience Institute” that becomes the leading center in the Southwestern and Rocky Mountain states for comprehensive state-of-the-art clinical care, research and training in the diagnosis and treatment of neurologic and behavioral health disorders.

Neuroscience Program Structure

Currently, there is no centralized organization to support, coordinate or advocate for neuroscience (NS) programs. The SOM NS community is composed of a relatively large number of investigators principally located in the Departments of Neurosciences, Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry, with participation by smaller numbers of faculty in Radiology, Cell Biology & Physiology, Biochemistry, Pediatrics, OB/GYN, Orthopedics, and Family & Community Medicine. Perhaps to a greater degree than the other three signature programs, the NS research community extends well beyond the SOM to include, most notably, the Department of Psychology and the MIND Institute, as well as collaborators in Pharmacy, Chemistry, Computer Science, Electrical & Computer Engineering, the UNM-MIND Center, the Center on Alcoholism, Substance Abuse & Addictions (CASAA), and the Center for High Technology Materials.

While an extremely diverse array of basic, clinical and computational research exists in the broader NS community, programmatic research activities have emerged in four relatively distinct “disease-oriented” areas within, but not limited to, SOM investigators. Each program area has a sufficient number of investigators to have either attained, or be competitive for NIH center-level funding. Each area has secondary programs, some with potential for developing program-project level support as well. Further, each area either has, or has the potential to pursue, NIH-funded training grants.

Program Strengths and 5 Year Goals

A. Stroke & Cerebrovascular Disorders Research Program

The current strength in this area is stroke and trauma research in the BRaIN imaging center and the Center for Stroke Research & Treatment (CSTR) conducted by investigators in the departments of Neurology, Neurosciences, and Neurosurgery. The BRaIN center, directed by Dr. Okada, is focused on the molecular mechanisms of brain injury in cerebrovascular diseases and is supported by a recently renewed five-year NCRR COBRE grant, along with four NINDS RO1 grants and American Heart Association funding. The CSTR, co-directed by Drs. Rosenberg and Yonas, consists of the clinical enterprise, clinical stroke studies, studies in the intensive care setting, and advanced resources for clinical neuroimaging. The recent arrival of Dr. Yonas to lead the new Department of Neurosurgery has added considerable strength and research capabilities in these areas. As the only level-one neurotrauma center for the state of New Mexico, a large population base that requires aggressive and complex care is available for involvement in clinical studies directed at improving outcome through a better understanding of disease mechanisms.

In addition to stroke and trauma related programs, a Multiple Sclerosis Treatment and Research Center directed by Dr. Ford is conducts clinical studies to advance new treatments for MS. This work is complemented by RO1-funded research of the mechanisms of demyelinating diseases conducted by Dr. Bizzozero (Cell Biology & Physiology).

Goals for the Next Five Years

Establish a comprehensive Stroke Center at the UNM Hospital. The goal is to recruit a team of stroke neurologists, interventional radiologists and vascular oriented surgeons capable of providing state of the art care while exploring new approaches guided by close interaction with experimentally focused neuroscientists. The goal is also to develop a team of neurotrauma-focused physicians and scientists that can minimize the sequelae of the large clinical population of cranial and spinal cord injured patients cared for at UNM.
Recruit an epileptologist to direct the Comprehensive Epilepsy Center (CEC). In addition, a neurosurgeon trained in epilepsy surgery is needed to provide the crucial surgical support to the center. The CEC is the only resource in New Mexico for comprehensive epilepsy care, including video monitoring and epilepsy surgery.
Enhance clinical services in the areas of stroke, neurotrauma, spine, pediatrics, movement disorders, pain and oncology, making the Neuroscience ICU (soon to be expanded to 24 dedicated neuroscience focused beds) and other neurology service units the premier center for the treatment of neurological diseases in the region.
Develop novel clinical monitoring systems for severely injured patients that will make the expanded neuroscience ICU (24 dedicated beds in the new hospital pavilion) as site for clinical research for better understanding the disease process and for monitoring the response to innovative therapies.
Secure a NINDS training grant on basic and clinical functional neuroimaging.
Take a leadership role in securing the acquisition of a cyclotron, and PET and SPECT imaging to enhance our neuroimaging research capabilities.
Secure an NINDS P-30 or P-50 center grant to extend the BRaIN Imaging research program at the end of the current five-year COBRE grant.
Lay the foundation for creating future centers for the care of patients with movement disorders and brain cancers. Each of the proposed centers will have expertise for the care of children and adults.

B. Schizophrenia / Behavioral Health Research Program

The lead topic and principal strength in this program area has been the clinical trials program for the treatment of schizophrenia and, more recently, clinical neuroimaging research, led by Dr. Lauriello. The Clinical Trials Program includes multi-center pharmaceutical trials, investigator-initiated single and multi-center studies and NIH-funded multi-center trials (e.g. Clinical Antipsychotic Trials of Intervention Effectiveness (CATIE) and Relapse Prevention in Schizophrenia. The clinical imaging includes NIH- and VA-funded research on schizophrenia being conducted at both the MIND Institute and the VA Medical Center. In addition to these two areas, there is NIMH- and MIND Institute-funded research on postmortem changes in synaptic proteins in schizophrenic patients as well as the development of several animal models that mimic elements of the neuropathology associated with schizophrenia. These projects are directed by Dr. Perrone-Bizzozero.

Goals for the Next Five Years

Secure the pending NCRR COBRE infrastructure grant on schizophrenia, which will help sustain the functional neuroimaging research emphasis of Psychiatry and Psychology investigators working with the MIND Institute.
Increase the communication and coordination of investigators working in schizophrenia research.
Develop a blueprint for services and outcomes research in psychiatric illnesses, partnering with the state and UNM prevention centers and the work of the outcomes group headed by Dr. Helitzer.
Increase the number of RO1 level grants in the Psychiatry, Psychology and Neurosciences in schizophrenia. Pilot project funding will be required to achieve this objective.
Establish a NIMH-sponsored training grant to support graduate and postdoctoral student training in schizophrenia and other behavioral health disorders.
Develop a program on Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) encompassing existing VA-funded functional neuroimaging research coupled with basic research on the long-term consequences of stress on brain function. New faculty hires and pilot project funding will be required in this area.
Lay the foundation to develop research programs on affective disorders, aging and child psychiatry. Recurring funds to support the targeted hire of additional clinical and basic research investigators and pilot project funding will be required to sustain these efforts.

C. Addiction Research Program

The strengths in this area lie in prevention, outreach and treatment research programs at UNM’s Category III Center for Alcoholism, Substance Abuse and Addictions (CASAA) along with treatment and clinical research programs in the Department of Psychiatry. The lead research topic in this area has been the behavioral and pharmacologic treatment of alcoholism, including a NIDA U10 Clinical Trials Network Node grant, research on 12-step programs, studies of mechanisms of behavioral change; DWI prevention, and development of assessment technology. In addition, several other investigators are funded to conduct basic research and functional neuroimaging research on the neural circuits implicated in the reinforcing effects of drugs of abuse.

Goals for the Next Five Years

Hire a new director of CASAA with the mission of building cross-campus interactions and broadening the multidisciplinary scope of substance abuse research and treatment at UNM.
Establish more effective integration of research collaborations between the Departments of Psychiatry, Psychology, Neurosciences, the VA Hospital, The MIND Institute, CASAA and the substance abuse cessation programs directed by Dr. Sally Davis.
Hire new investigators in the treatment of substance abuse disorders with an emphasis on investigators trained in functional neuroimaging research. Recurring funds to support the targeted hire of additional clinical and basic research investigators in this area and sufficient start-up funding to sustain these investigators for up to three years after hiring is required.
Strengthen the clinical trials program on medications for treating addiction.
Support for new basic research on the neural mechanisms and consequences of addiction.
Acquire NIAAA and/or NIDA grants to support the training of graduate, postdoctoral and resident trainees in addiction research.

D. Neurodevelopmental Disorders Research Program

The strengths of this area lie in the number of basic, clinical and epidemiological investigators studying prenatal ethanol exposure supported by number of RO1, UO1, R21, RO3 and T32 grants on Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD), primarily in the basic sciences (led by Dr. Savage) and epidemiological / prevention research (led by Dr. Phil May, Sociology). Further, there is considerable potential to develop at least program-project level research on prenatal exposure to nicotine, heavy metals and stress, given the overlapping interests with fetal alcohol investigators and that these are high-impact health issues in New Mexico.

Goals for the Next Five Years

Increase the number of NIAAA-funded RO1-level grants, particularly clinical FASD research involving neurobehavioral assessment, functional neuroimaging (MEG and/or high density EEG) and diagnostic markers for maternal drinking and adverse neurobehavioral outcomes in offspring. If this objective is achieved in the next two to three years, it will be possible to resubmit a more competitive P-50 center application to the NIAAA. The most critical resource to achieve this goal will be pilot project funding to investigators that will allow the generation of preliminary data to enable the submission of competitive NIAAA RO1 grants.
Acquire high density EEG imaging capabilities to complement existing MEG capabilities.
Secure RO1 level funding for multidisciplinary studies on the neurodevelopmental effects of nicotine (from NIDA), heavy metals (from NIEHS) and stress (from NIMH). These areas will require pilot project funding also. However, the targeted hiring and coordination of basic, clinical and epidemiologic investigators will also be required to bring these programs to program-project level organizations.
Establish more effective research collaborations with other UNM programs, namely, CASAA, UNM’s NIEHS center, and psychiatry/psychology investigators conducting PTSD research. Further, all of these research areas would benefit from interactions with the Center for Development & Disability and Dr. Sally Davis’ outreach and prevention programs.

Signature Program in Cancer Biology

The Signature Program in Cancer is part of the UNM Cancer Research and Treatment Center, a P30-funded NCI Cancer Center, with 140 externally funded research projects totaling $39,350,936 in funding as of May 2005. The CRTC has four Research Programs and nine Shared Facilities. Each Research Program has a matrix organization, with members from multiple departments in the UNM HSC, the School of Engineering, and the College of Arts and Sciences, as well as at partnering institutions such as the Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute (LRRI) and the two National Laboratories. Each of these Research Programs (in Cancer Biology, Cancer Epidemiology and Prevention, Hematologic Malignancies, and Women’s Cancers) has a clinical research arm that facilitates transfer of laboratory data to the clinic. Strong inter-programmatic collaborations in new technologies, informatics, and computational modeling draw physical scientists, mathematicians and engineers into bench to bedside research. Supporting the research programs are nine shared facilities (in Biostatistics, Biocomputing, Flow Cytometry, Microscopy, Imaging, Genomics, Proteomics, Protocol and Data Management, and Tissue Repository services) that are financially supported by the CRTC, and that provide essential core services for the Research Programs. The CRTC houses multiple interdisciplinary grants, including a NIGMS-funded Center for Systems Biology dedicated to understanding crosstalk between signaling pathways in cancer and a NCRR-funded Molecular Libraries Screening Center dedicated to the discovery of new cancer drugs. A T35 minority student asthma and leukemia research training grant from the NHLBI supports short term research training for students interested in the health professions and offers another mechanism for students to enter UNM research and training programs. The CRTC’s most recent training grant is an IGERT for Nanotechnology and Microsystems Research, co-funded by NSF and NCI and intended to accelerate the development and translation of new technologies to improved cancer diagnostics, prognostics and treatment. Major goals of the Signature Research Program in Cancer are:

To conduct outstanding multidisciplinary cancer research in collaborative research partnerships with the Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute and New Mexico’s National Laboratories.

To reduce cancer incidence and mortality by discovering the genetic, environmental, social, and behavioral factors that contribute to the distinct cancer patterns in the historically underserved multiethnic populations of New Mexico.

To reduce cancer health disparities in the historically underserved populations of New Mexico and the Southwest region through the development of collaborative community networks with the State Department of Health; New Mexico Pueblos, Tribes, and American Indian Nations; the Indian Health Service; and local communities by developing culturally appropriate cancer education, screening, and prevention programs.

To provide outstanding cancer treatment for all New Mexicans, by improving access to quality cancer care and innovative therapies through increased referrals and formal affiliations with community cancer care providers and healthcare systems.

To increase access to and participation of New Mexicans in cancer clinical investigations and cancer therapeutic and prevention clinical trials, facilitated by a joint UNM-community collaborative clinical trials network (The New Mexico Cancer Care Alliance).

Programmatic Structure

The Signature Program in Cancer is operated by the Cancer Research and Treatment Center of the University of New Mexico. The CRTC is directed by Dr. Cheryl Willman. She is assisted by Dr. Robert Hromas, who supervises the clinical affairs of the CRTC, including education, clinical research and patient care, and by Dr. Larry Sklar, who supervises the Shared Facilities and laboratory research of the CRTC. Additional leadership in the Program includes:

Cancer Epidemiology and Prevention Program
Drs. Marianne Berwick and Steve Belinsky.

Cancer Biology Program
Drs. Jac Nickoloff and Mary Anne Osley.

Hematologic Malignancies Program
Drs. Richard Larson and Bridget Wilson.

Women’s Cancer Program
Drs. Jeff Griffith and Kim Leslie.

The Shared Facilities of the CRTC are Biostatistics, Biocomputing, Flow Cytometry, Microscopy, Imaging, Genomics, Proteomics, Clinical Protocol and Data Management, and the Tissue Repository.

Strengths and Focus

Interactive nature of the Research Program through defined leadership, regular meetings, and multiple, co-authored publications.
Members have many national leadership positions.
The Cancer Biology Program vertically integrates its research efforts from laboratory to the clinic and includes Clinical Working Groups that not only contain all medical specialties required to treat specific cancers, but also scientists with laboratory interests in those diseases.

5 year goals

To fully develop Imaging and Proteomics as Shared Facilities. The CRTC has supported the recruitment of faculty to staff these facilities, and assisted in purchasing instrumentation for these Facilities.
To build new Research Programs in Lung Cancer and GI Malignancies. These new Research Programs will be generated out of the existing Cancer Epidemiology and Prevention Research Program. Critical new clinical investigators have been hired to complement the existing outstanding research in these areas.
To complete construction of a new clinical cancer building, termed the CRTC II. This 140,000 sf building has been programmed, and the architects’ plans are currently being generated. $42 million of the required $56 million has been raised, mainly from state support. The current cancer clinical facility is operating at three times its original planned capacity.
To place regional cancer clinics in Las Cruces, Sandoval county, and Santa Fe. These clinics will focus on women’s cancers, especially breast and ovarian cancer, and bring cutting edge care and clinical trials to underserved areas.
To recruit a new generation of young cancer laboratory investigators that will focus on translational research into the molecular basis of resistance to therapy. The goal would be to foster develop of these investigators into world renowned scientists, and ultimately train them for leadership in the CRTC. These laboratory investigators would also generate bridge relationships with clinicians and clinical trials.
Build a clinical research effort in prostate cancer. There is a funded epidemiology research effort in prostate cancer, and an active clinical program, but little clinical research in this area.
To build a hematopoietic stem cell transplantation program. Such a clinical program would enhance the Hematologic Malignancies Research Program by increasing patient accrual to clinical trials, and obtaining samples for hematopoiesis research.

Signature Program in Diabetes and Cardiovascular Disease

The Signature Program in Diabetes and Cardiovascular Disease includes basic, clinical, and translational research, as well as population based outcomes research and community outreach activities. The clinical/translational component includes studies on diabetes prevention and treatment, while the population/outcomes research and community outreach component includes innovative surveillance and prevention/intervention research, education and evaluation activities. The components of this Signature Program are supported by grants and contracts from the NIH, CDC, EPA, American Heart Association, American Diabetes Association, and various pharmaceutical companies. Many of these grants are interdisciplinary and offer collaborative support to faculty members from diverse departments and divisions within the Health Sciences Center. This program has recently renewed a longstanding NHLBI-funded minority T32 training grant in Cardiovascular Biology.

Diabetes ranks as one of the major health problems in New Mexico. The latest statistics report that 1 in 11 adults in New Mexico suffers from diabetes. Diabetes significantly increases the risk of cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, kidney disease and blindness and ranks as the 6th leading cause of death in New Mexico. Likewise, cardiovascular disease continues to be the leading cause of death in New Mexico accounting for up to 23% of all deaths. The direct and indirect costs related to these health problems in New Mexico are enormous.

The mission of the Signature Program in Diabetes and Vascular Disease is to develop and enhance collaborative cross-disciplinary interactions in research (basic, clinical, translational and outcomes), education and training focused on the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

Programmatic Structure

Both the diabetes and vascular disease components of this program will be structured to include basic research, clinical/translational research and population/outcomes research and community outreach activities.
The basic science component of the program in Diabetes Research focuses on the mechanisms and treatment of diabetic complications primarily affecting the eye, kidney and vasculature.
The clinical/translational component of the program in Diabetes Research includes studies on diabetes prevention and treatment and relies heavily on the General Clinical Research Center.
The population/outcomes research and community outreach component of the program in Diabetes Research includes surveillance and prevention/intervention, research and education, and evaluation activities. This component includes individual faculty and members of the Prevention Research Center and the Institute for Public Health.
The basic science component of the program in Cardiovascular Disease is a broad-range program which includes studies on vascular derangements in sleep apnea, endothelial and vascular smooth muscle physiology in pulmonary and systemic hypertension, the role of reactive oxygen species in models of cardiovascular disease, cardiovascular and pulmonary toxicology and the effects of hypoxic disorders on vascular gene expression.
The clinical/translational component of the program in Cardiovascular Disease is a developing area which focuses on studies related to vascular function and dysfunction in diabetes, aging and heart failure.
The population/outcomes research and community outreach component of the program in Diabetes Research includes surveillance and prevention/intervention, research and education, and evaluation activities. The component includes individual faculty and members of the Prevention Research Center and the Institute for Public Health.

Program Strengths and Focus

The various components of the program are supported by numerous individual grants and contracts from a variety of sources including the NIH, CDC, EPA, American Heart Assn., American Diabetes Assn, and various pharmaceutical companies. Many of these grants are interdisciplinary and involve numerous faculty members from diverse departments and divisions within and outside of the SOM.
The General Clinical Research Center (GCRC) and the Clinical Trials Center (CTC) support many of the clinical diabetes studies.
The Prevention Research Center is a long standing center at UNM with extensive outside support from NIH, CDC, USDA and other sources for conducting community-based intervention trials, surveillance and translational research addressing the prevention of diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Education and training includes community- and university-based activities.
The training activities of the basic science component of the program in Cardiovascular Disease are supported by a Cardiovascular training grant in it’s 11th consecutive year of funding and includes 19 faculty mentors from the SOM, COP and LRRI.

5 year goals

Hiring of new junior faculty who are actively engaged in any of the research programs described above. Initial emphasis will be on building basic diabetes research and clinical/translational research in the area of vascular disease.
Submission and funding of program project grants particularly in the area of intermittent hypoxia (sleep apnea) and vascular function.
Continued development and funding of the core facilities which support the program, particularly the GCRC.
Submission and funding of intervention grants for the prevention of obesity.
Identifying and securing recurring funding sources from outside the SOM and UNM.

Signature Program in Environmental Health Science

A key component of the Signature Program in Environmental Health Science is that it includes one of twenty-two NIEHS-funded P30 Centers in the U.S. The Center represents a partnership between the SOM Department of Internal Medicine, the UNM College of Pharmacy, the UNM Cancer and Research Center, and the Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute (LRRI). The mission of this program is to conduct basic and clinical science research that addresses environmental science, environmental medicine, and environmental public health issues that are of concern to people living in New Mexico, the Four Corners Region, and the U.S.-Mexico Border. The Center has an Administrative Core, a Research Core consisting of 57 funded principal investigators of grants with over $25M annual direct costs, and five Facility Cores. The Facility Cores support labs and services in Integrative Health Sciences, Environmental Assessment and Exposures, Oxidative Stress, Biotechnology, and Biostats/Biocomputing. The Center works with many Native American pueblos and the Navajo Nation and has a Community Outreach and Education Core. The P30 center grant is currently under competitive renewal as part of a new RFA that emphasizes clinical translational research, it will conduct four major clinical and epidemiologic projects through its Integrative Health Sciences Facility Core. These projects will partner with the CTSC and will fund clinician scientists through an environmental health sciences research fellowship. The New Mexico Center for Environmental Health Science (NMCEHS) will also participate in the Career Development and Training programs of the CTSC and will offer special training and research opportunities in environmental health sciences.

Signature Program in Infectious Diseases and Immunity

The Signature Program in Infectious Disease and Immunity comprises six major emphases:

basic immune mechanisms
pulmonary immunity and infectious disease
basic microbial pathogenesis and host-pathogen interaction
bio-defense
emerging infectious disease with an emphasis on tuberculosis and viruses that are associated with New Mexico’s population (e,g.- Hantavirus, West Nile)
infectious etiologies of cancer (HPV, Hepatitis B and C, and HTLV)

Current NIH-funded, multi-departmental and interdisciplinary programs include:

The Asthma Specialized Center of Research
The Hantavirus Ecology and Disease in Chile and Panama program
The Major Histocompatibility Program in Primates
The Pulmonary Response to Category A Bio-threats program
The Tularemia Vaccine Development Team
The Response to Vaccines and Infectious Diseases program
NIAID-funded T32 training grant for pre- and post-doctoral training

This program is emblematic of the collaborative links between UNM and the computational research activities of Sandia National Laboratories and the unique strengths in inhalational toxicology and primate research at the Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute.

The goal in this Research Program is to develop and enhance collaborative programs among researchers, physicians and businesses in New Mexico to address the threat of infectious and immunologically-mediated inflammatory diseases in New Mexican populations and the world by characterizing epidemiologic issues, studying basic host-pathogen mechanisms, developing new vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics, and testing the preventive, therapeutic and diagnostic efficacy of these discoveries in clinical trials.

Programmatic Structure

There are six major programmatic emphases:

Basic immune mechanisms
Pulmonary immunity and infectious disease
Basic microbial pathogenesis and host-pathogen interaction
Biodefense
Emerging infectious disease with an emphasis on tuberculosis and viruses that are associated with New Mexico’s population (hantavirus , West Nile)
Infectious etiology of cancer (HPV, Hepatitis B and C and HTLV - overlaps Cancer Signature Program)

Program Focus and Strengths

Current Large Project Strengths involving multi departmental/ multidisciplinary and multi-institutional programs are as follows:
Asthma Specialized Center of Research. NIH funded P50 consisting of 3 projects and 3 cores to study the basic mechanisms of the cause of asthma and the mechanisms by which anti IgE therapy reduces clinical disease in asthma volunteers. LRRI is partner.
ICIDR: Hantavirus Ecology and Disease in Chile and Panama. NIH-funded program that supports a collaboration between UNMHSC and Panama and Chile to improve surveillance, diagnostics and therapeutics for hantavirus infections in Chile and Panama.
Major Histocompatibility Program in Primates. NIH-funded contract to study the the major histocompatibility region of primates and develop tools that can be applied to these in order to enhance our ability to extrapolate immunologic studies in primates to humans.
Pulmonary response to Category A Biothreats. NIH-funded Program Project (PO1) to examine the basic pulmonary inflammatory and immune response to biothreats delivered via the lung, including anthrax, plague and poxviruses in order to identify targets for vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics . Lovelac, Azirona State University, and Duke University are partners.
Tularemia vaccine Development Team . NIH-funded contract consisting of a focused preclinical effort to develop the appropriate animal models and guidelines for developing a vaccine against tularemia and to identify potential vaccine candidates for a product. Another outcome for the studies will be to design an applicable model for developing vaccines against other low prevalence, high morbidity emerging infectionssuch as against hantavirus, SARS and avian flu. LLRI, Arizona State University, Cerus Inc, and UT San Antonio are partners.
Response to Vaccines and Infectious Diseases. NIH-funded contract that will examine the genetic basis for why different individuals within the same population have a greater susceptibility or resistance to specific infections and vaccines. DeCode Genetics and the National Center for Genome Resources are partners.

5 year goals

Education

1 new or expanded training grant with associated two new postdoctoral positions an two new graduate student positions; and /or obtain a COBRE for new faculty recruits.
Create a new basic microbiology course for Biomedical Sciences.

Clinical research and activity

Recruit at least two new faculty members with a research emphasis on vaccine prevention/ immunologically–mediated diseases / international health.
Two junior clinical researchers receive RO1s or equivalent to study some aspect of infectious diseases and/or immunity.
Two new clinical trials to study infections /vaccines/immune mediated disease in human populations

Research

2 new program projects or equivalent
1 new grant in collaboration with National labs
Recruitment of two basic scientist: a bacterial geneticist and an arbovirologist
Recruit an infectious disease epidemiologist