Weekly Report Narrative 7272009

							UW Weekly Recovery Act Report
SUMMARY
During the week ending July 26th, 2009 the University of Washington researchers
received 19 awards from the National Institutes of Health, the National Science
Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts. Awards for the week were for
$4,201,257 million bringing the total ARRA awards to $27,991,544 million.


BIOMEDICAL HIGHLIGHTS

Ultra-low fouling Peptide-Based Thin Films, Nanoparticles, and Polymers(NSF)
This program will develop non-fouling synthetic peptides composed of natural amino
acid residues for biomedical applications. For example, these peptides can be used as
artificial skins to prevent the immune response from a patient’s body when new materials
are implanted as a result of burns or other injuries. These synthetic peptide-based
materials are better than those based on silk proteins, collagens from non-human sources
or others processes currently being explored as artificial skins. Since these peptides are
synthesized from natural amino acids, they can be slowly degraded and metabolized
without generating any potential harmful by-products, making them more body friendly
than synthetic materials such as polyethylene glycol.

Mitochondrial Catalase as a Treatment for Metastatic Breast Cancer(NIH):
The chance of developing invasive breast cancer during a woman’s lifetime is
approximately 1 in 8 and more that 40,000 women die of metastatic disease each year.
An important goal is the development of novel non-toxic therapeutic agents that are
active against this deadly disease. Mitochondrial catalase (mCAT) reduces metastatic
progression of primary breast cancer in mice, suggesting that targeting mitochondria with
catalase could be a potential strategy to treat or prevent metastatic breast cancer in
women.

A Scalable, Monolithic, DOI,TOT,MR Compatible PET Detector: (NIH):
This proposal focuses on the design and development of a scalable PET detector with
depth-of-interaction (DOI) positioning capability. The basic module design will be
suitable for high resolution, small animal PET imaging and clinical, time-of-flight (TOF),
whole body PET imaging.

Nasal Trubinate Reduction and CPAP Outcomes for Sleep Apnea(NIH)
Obstructive sleep apnea occurs in 2-4% of middle age adults and results in significant
morbidity and mortality. The first line therapy is use of Continuous Positive Airway
Pressure (CPAP) via a nasal mask chronically. Nasal resistance related to nasal turbinate
enlargement may compromise CPAP treatment. This trial tests the hypothesis that nasal
turbinate reduction improves the nasal passage, CPAP use. Quality of life newly
diagnosed sleep apnea patients who are recommended CPAP therapy should improve.


Pixel-accurate oncologic therapy using a scanning fiber endoscope (NIH)
Because a majority of cancers originate in the epithelium, the development of a
minimally-invasive laser therapy endoscope is proposed for the treatment of early cancer
and precancerous lesions. During treatment for bladder cancer, many early cancers go
undiagnosed, resulting in the highest recurrence rate of any cancer. A new scanning fiber
endoscope will be developed for integrated laser imaging, early tumor identification,
staging, and treatment, using topically applied photo-sensitizer dyes. To provide accurate
control of the laser treatment, the same micro-optical fiber scanner is used for both in
vivo imaging and laser therapy. Furthermore, there is broad application of this technology
to earlier treatments among lung, colorectal, esophageal, pancreatic, and bile duct
cancers.


THE ARTS HIGHLIGHTS:

National Endowment for the Arts:
This award will provide additional support for the Director of Education/Associate
Programs Manager. The Director will be creating and implementing arts education
programming for the public and college and K-12 students. This position alone is
responsible for leading our community outreach and education efforts.