Christopher C. Dascher, PhD, of the Division of Rheumatolgy, Immunology and Allergy, received a grant from The Sequella Global Tuberculosis Foundation. The grant will further Dascher’s research to create a novel approach to vaccinate people against tuberculosis, an infectious disease that kills over two million people a year worldwide.
The 2001 Connors Seed Grants in Gender Biology went to Louise Wilkins-Haug, MD, PhD’s study “Maternal and fetal inherited thrombophilias and preeclampsia,” and Richard T. Lee, MD’s study “The molecular basis for gender differences in cardiac hypertrophy.” These projects were chosen from 14 applications from a variety of disciplines and are funded up to two years. In addition to giving momentum to new clinical investigations involving conditions specific to women, the annual seed grants potentially secure additional, external funding.
David W. Bates, MD, was inducted as a new fellow to the American College of Medical Informatics (ACMI). Founded in 1984, the ACMI recognizes the contributions of leaders in the science and application of medical informatics. Existing fellows nominate new fellows from around the world for membership every year.
Paul M. Ridker, MD, MPH, of the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, received a $1.5 million grant from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. Ridker is recognized for leading the BWH team that found that a simple, inexpensive blood test for inflammation can predict heart attack risk even in individuals without elevated cholesterol levels or other standard risk factor. Ridker plans to analyze population-based studies to determine what relationship genetics has with heart disease, and what methods can be used to determine risk.