Press Release

For Immediate Release
Contact: Susan Preston
(973) 972-7265

At UMDNJ Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
Two Researchers Receive a Total of $13.1 Million From National Institutes of Health

The National Institutes of Health have awarded two grants totaling $13.1 million to the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ)-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.

Dr. Ira B. Black, of Skillman, N.J., professor and chair of the Department of Neuroscience and Cell Biology, will receive a $7.3 million five-year program grant to continue his research into the molecular mechanisms that govern the growth and development of the central nervous system.

A $5.8 million five-year grant has been awarded to Dr. Jeffrey L. Carson, of Belle Mead, N.J., Richard C. Reynolds Professor of Medicine and chief of the Division of General Internal Medicine. The grant will support a multi-site clinical trial that will look at functional outcomes in cardiovascular patients undergoing surgical hip fracture repair.

"The cutting-edge research being conducted by Dr. Black and Dr. Carson are excellent examples of why the medical school's external research awards growth for 2003 set a new record," said Dr. Harold L. Paz, dean of UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. "Our scientists have achieved a momentum that should drive future growth at a similar or even greater rate in 2004."

Dr. Black and his team have isolated genes critical for learning and memory, research that could lead to a revolution in treating degenerative and traumatic disorders of the brain.

The team also has discovered how to convert human and animal stem cells into healthy neurons that can be transplanted into human brains. The goal is to replace specific nerve cells that degenerate to produce diseases characterized by memory loss, dementia and depression.

Dr. Carson's study will involve 2,600 hip fracture patients with cardiovascular disease. The mean age of the patients is 80. The clinical trial will be performed at up to 30 clinical centers in the United States and Canada.

"Ten million units of blood transfused each year in the United States, yet we have very little information to guide doctors on how to optimally use blood," said Dr. Carson. "The goal of the study is to determine how to best use blood transfusion in patients undergoing surgery and to evaluate whether a more aggressive transfusion strategy is associated with improved functional recovery and decreased risk of adverse post-operative outcomes.

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