Funded Projects

Hexosamine Biosynthetic Pathway in Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis

Awarded in 2022

Collaborative Health Sciences Program

Updated Sep 12, 2023

Collaborative Health Sciences Program

Grantee(s):

Principal investigator: Allan Brasier, MD, senior associate dean for clinical and translational research, UW School of Medicine and Public Health and executive director, UW Institute for Clinical and Translational Research Co-principal investigators: Nathan Sandbo, MD, PhD, associate professor, Department of Medicine; Paul Campagnola, PhD, professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering, UW–Madison College of Engineering

Amount Awarded: $600,000

Year Awarded: 2022

Start Date: August 1, 2022

End Date: July 31, 2025

At a Glance

This research team will investigate a novel potential mechanism underlying interstitial lung disease (ILD), a collection of diseases that produce progressive scarring, or fibrosis, of the lung. ILD, which remains largely untreatable and poorly understood, impacts more than 250,000 patients in the United States and causes a staggering 40,000 deaths each year. Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, incidence of ILD has risen sharply. Nearly all patients intubated for COVID-19 have evidence of ILD. This study focuses on understanding how epithelial injury remodels its extracellular matrix microenvironment through the hexosamine biosynthetic pathway. The findings have the potential to advance the mechanistic understanding of how lung injury triggers scarring and identify therapeutic targets for stabilizing this progressive and intractable disease.

More about the 2022 Collaborative Health Sciences Program grant recipients

More Funded Projects

research icon: microscope and stethoscope

COVID-19 Response Grant

Awarded in 2022

Using the COVID EHR Cohort at the University of Wisconsin (CEC-UW), this project aimed to analyze the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on racial and ethnic minority groups in Wisconsin, compare disease outcomes between UW Health and other health systems and test associations between risk factors, treatments and vaccine status with disease outcomes. CEC-UW has been collecting electronic health record (EHR) data from all COVID-19 patients across 21 participating health systems and, as of September 2021, has compiled more than 250 EHR elements from 1.1 million COVID-19 patients. This data has the potential to help target high-risk individuals, improve treatment, guide variant management and enhance response to future disease outbreaks. The results revealed that Black and Hispanic communities, along with low-income groups, faced significantly higher infection rates and more severe COVID-19 outcomes. Comparison of outcomes between health systems showed that UW Health patients had better recovery rates and lower mortality due to more effective health strategies, including advanced treatment protocols and higher vaccination rates. Finally, the project found that early treatments and full vaccination greatly improved outcomes, while those with underlying conditions or lack of vaccine access faced worse outcomes.

community icon: shaking hands and group of people

Maternal and Child Health

Awarded in 2022

St. Croix Regional Medical Center received a 2022 Maternal and Child Health Grant for the project Development of an OB Nurse Navigator Program in a Rural Critical Access Hospital (St. Croix and surrounding counties). The project was successful in creating a comprehensive program to address patients’ prenatal and postpartum needs and provided social supports and resources for underserved families in this six-county rural area.