University Park, Pa. -- Johnson & Johnson and Penn State are expanding their collaborative research partnership through two gifts made by Johnson & Johnson totaling $400,000, and matched by the University.
A gift of $100,000 from Johnson & Johnson Consumer Products Worldwide has been matched by the College of Health and Human Development to establish the Health Behaviours and the Quality of Life: Research Innovation Grants 2006.
The highest priority in awarding the Research Innovation grants was given to proposals representing novel directions of science for the advancement of health care across the lifespan. Specifically targeted was research to help improve the quality of life, including diagnostics, therapy or standards that improve the practice of disease prevention and medical care.
In addition, a $300,000 gift from the Johnson & Johnson Corporate Offices of Science and Technology, matched by the University, will expand the Innovative Technology Research Seed Grant Program, now in its second year. For this program, J&J is partnering with Penn State's Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, the Materials Research Institute, and Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center and College of Medicine.
Funds from the Technology Seed Grant program encourage faculty in the materials and life sciences to explore new ideas and opportunities focusing on aging, cancer, cardiovascular, diabetes, genomics, proteomics and bioinformatics, neuroscience, and drug design and delivery.
"The partnership between Penn State and Johnson & Johnson is just the beginning of more established, formal connections between researchers at both institutions, as we both seek to expand the boundaries of scientific discovery that lead to new and innovative technologies," said Channa Reddy, director of the Huck Institutes. "Johnson & Johnson, through its commitment to this collaborative endeavor, has been and continues to be a strong partner in the research efforts of the University."
"Our developing relationship with Penn State exemplifies what we want to accomplish with our funding of university research," said Donald Bone, in Johnson & Johnson's Corporate Office of Science and Technology. "With these matching funds, innovative university research programs are supported, research collaborations are strengthened between the Hershey and University Park campuses, and we get a glimpse into these and other exciting R&D activities at Penn State. We are delighted with this partnership and look forward to seeing it grow and prosper."
Bone cited as an example of these research collaborations, a 2005 seed grant award that leveraged significant funding from the Army. The Army Idea Awards are a highly competitive initiative that fund innovative peer-reviewed research into treatments and cures for breast cancer. The faculty team of Andrea Mastro (microbiology and cell biology), Erwin Vogler (materials science), and Carol Gay (cell biology) explored an in vitro model of breast cancer metastasis, using a cell culture device called a bioreactor invented by Vogler. This Penn State team was awarded nearly $500,000 to pursue the study of breast cancer in bone using the bioreactor.
"Theoretically, research collaborations at universities should know no boundaries; in practice there are often institutional impediments to interdisciplinary research," said Eva Pell, senior vice president for research and dean of the Graduate School at Penn State. "Penn State is proud of the research environment that actively promotes and facilitates cross-disciplinary research. Based on this unique environment, the University is in a position to truly foster innovation."
Penn State and Johnson & Johnson have teamed together on many projects that support research in health-related and medical fields. Additionally, Penn State is the number one university from which J&J recruits, and the company employs nearly 600 Penn State alumni. Penn State and J&J also have partnered on more than $4 million in contract research agreements.
Johnson & Johnson, through its operating companies, is among the world's most comprehensive and broadly based manufacturers of health care products, as well as a provider of related services, for the consumer, pharmaceutical, and medical devices and diagnostics markets. J&J has more than 230 operating companies worldwide, with approximately 116,000 employees in 57 countries.
The proposals selected for the two grants highlight Penn State's research strengths in these areas, while showcasing the innovative and transformative possibilities of the research. The following faculty teams were selected for the two awards.
Health Behaviours and the Quality of Life: Research Innovation Grants 2006 award recipients are:
--Kim Kopenhaver Haidet (nursing), Charles Palmer (neonatology) and Elizabeth J. Susman (biobehavioral health): "Autonomic and Behavioral Stress Responses in LBW Preterm Infants;"
--Laura Cousino Klein (biobehavioral health), David M. Almeida (human development and family studies) and Ann C. Crouter (human development and family studies): "Dehydroepiandrosterone-Sulfate and Gender: A Hormonal Buffer to the Health Consequences of Daily Social Stress Among Couples?"
--Roger McCarter (biobehavioral health), Gerald E. McClearn (biobehavioral health) and J.T. Stout (biobehavioral health/genetics): "Retardation of Aging by Low Methionine Diet;"
--Cynthia A. Stifter (human development and family studies), Leann Birch (human development and family studies) and Ian Paul (pediatrics): "Feeding, Sleeping, and Soothing: Promoting Self Regulation in Infancy to Prevent Childhood Obesity."
Innovative Technology Research Seed Grant Program award recipients for 2006 include:
--Curtis Omiecinski (veterinary and biomedical sciences), Kent Vrana (pharmacology) and Harry Allcock (chemistry): "Use of Synthetic Nanofibrillar Surfaces for Optimized Propagation and Differentiation of Human Embryonic Stem Cells;"
--Jong-in Hahm (chemical engineering) and Philip Lazarus (pharmacology): "Advanced Cancer Detection using Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes;"
--Craig Cameron (biochemstry and molecular biology): "Influenza Virus RNA-dependent RNA Polymerase;"
--Gong Chen (biology), Bernhard Luscher (biochemistry and molecular biology), Ahmed Heikal (bioengineering) and Robert Levenson (pharmacology): "Molecular Function of Neuroligins in Synapse Formation;"
--Christopher Siedlecki (surgery, bioengineering), Alan Snyder (surgery, bioengineering), Conrad Zapanta (surgery) and Jeff Catchmark (engineering science and mechanics): "Integral Nanotexturing of Non-Planar Biomaterials;"
--Yanming Wang (biochemistry and molecular biology) and Laura Carrel (biochemistry and molecular biology): "Function of PAD4 and Histone Arg Methylation in Cell Differentiation and Cancer;"
--John Coupland (food science), Rebecca Corwin (nutritional sciences) and Patricia Grigson (neural behavioral sciences): "What makes Fatty Food 'Irresistible'?"
--Timothy Beischlag (Center for Molecular Toxicology and Carcinogenesis) and Shantu Amin (pharmacology): "Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor-Estrogen Receptor Cross-Talk and Carcinogenesis;"
--Barbara Shaw (engineering science and mechanics) and Ian Gilchrist (medicine): "An Engineered Materials Approach to Developing a Bioabsorbable Drug-eluting."