NC TraCS Award Announcements

The NC TraCS Institute is pleased to announce awardees for 5 programs:

• TraCS $2K pilot grants
• TraCS $2K Stakeholder Engagement vouchers
• $5K - $50K Pilot Grants
• FastTraCS Commercialization Grants
• Duke/UNC CTSA Consortium Grants

In February, TraCS received seven $2K proposals. Three were funded:

TraCS $2K Pilot Grant Program

• Caroline Lisee, PhD, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Exercise and Sports Science (Mentor: Brian Pietrosimone, Associate Professor, Exercise & Sports Science)
  February 2021
  Project Title: Preventing Posttraumatic Osteoarthritis with Physical Activity Promotion
• Johanna Quist-Nelson MD, Assistant Professor, Obstetrics & Gynecology and Kristin Tully, PhD, Assistant Research Professor, Obstetrics & Gynecology (Resubmission)
  February 2021
  Project Title: Implementation of perinatal emergency checklists into clinical practice: Insights from three healthcare institutions for translation to UNC Health practice
• Elissa Scherer, BS, Public Health Analyst, Center for Health Analytics and Media Policy, RTI (Mentor: Kelly Evenson, Professor of Epidemiology, Gillings School of Global Public Health)
  February 2021
  Project Title: Evaluating Best Practices for Sensor-Based Data Collection (Resubmission)

In March, TraCS received eight $2K proposals (5 resubmissions) and one Stakeholder Engagement voucher. Four $2Ks and the Stakeholder voucher were funded:

TraCS $2K Pilot Grant Program

• Mary Kate Christiansen, MD/MPH Student, Mentor: Saif Khairat, School of Nursing
  March 2021
  Project Title: The Impact of Telemedicine Expansion for Office-Based Opioid Treatment on Health Disparities in North Carolina (Resubmission)
• Victoria Dunsmore, Graduate Student, Psychology, NC State, Mentor and Co-PI: Shevaun Neupert, Professor, Department of Psychology, NC State
  March 2021
  Project Title: Coping with Lung Cancer "Scanxiety" (Resubmission)
• Kimberly Jenkins, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow, Dept of Allied Health Sciences, Mentor: Karen Erickson, Professor, Allied Health
  March 2021
  Project Title: The Longitudinal Development of English and Spanish Grammatical Skill in Dual Language Learners (Resubmission)
• Amanda Wylie, MSPH Graduate student, Psychology & Neurosciences, Julia Rager, PhD, Assistant Professor, Environmental Science & Engineering, Gillings School of Public Health and Cathi Propper PhD, Senior Scientist, FPG Child Development Institute (mentor and co-PI)
  March 2021
  Project Title: Testing the feasibility of using silicone bands to ascertain exposure to environmental contaminants in children younger than 3. (Resubmission)

TraCS $2K Stakeholder Engagement Voucher Program

• Alan Rosenbaum, MD, MSCR, Clinical Fellow, OB/GYN
  March 2021
  Project Title: Dyspareunia Diagnosis and Management System for Female Cancer Survivors

In February, TraCS received 41 pilot grant applications for three programs. Eight $5-50K (6 resubmissions), 1 Duke/UNC and 1 FastTraCS applications were recommended for funding:

$5-50K Translational Research Matched Pilot Program

• Jacquelyn Bower, PhD (Research Assistant Professor, Ophthalmology & Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center)
  February 2021
  Project Title: A novel gene therapy-based approach for uveal melanoma
  Match: Dept of Ophthalmology
• Jessica Girault, PhD (Asst Professor, Psychiatry/Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities) and Jason Stein, PhD (Asst Professor, Genetics & Neuroscience Center)
  February 2021
  Project Title: Determining the role of neural progenitor proliferation in explaining interindividual differences in autism-related behaviors
  Resubmission; Match: UNC Autism Research Center & UNC Neuroscience Center
• Rebeca Grzadzinski, PhD (Asst Professor, Psychiatry/Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities) and Jose Rodriguez-Romaguera, PhD (Assistant Professor, Psychiatry; Neuroscience Center)
  February 2021
  Project Title: Atypical Social Arousal as an Early Marker of ASD
  Resubmission; Match: UNC Autism Research Center & UNC Neuroscience Center
• Meghan Hegarty-Craver, PhD (Research Biomedical Engineer, RTI) and Jane Fan, MD (Professor, Neurology)
  February 2021
  Project Title: Using Wearable Devices to Detect Nonepileptic Myoclonus in Individuals with Angelman Syndrome
  Resubmission; Match: RTI
• Patricia Miguez, DDS, MS, PhD (Asst Professor, Comprehensive Oral Health, Adams School of Dentistry) and Jian Liu, PhD (Professor, Chemical Biology & Medicinal Chemistry, Eshelman School of Pharmacy) Resubmission
  February 2021
  Project Title: Generating Recombinant Biglycan Forms to Explore Their Function and Potential Therapeutic Implications in Osteoporosis
  Resubmission; Match: Adams School of Dentistry
• Yen-Yu Ian Shih, PhD (Associate Professor, Neurology)
  February 2021
  Project Title: A new fMRI method with superior sensitivity, no geometric distortion, and negligible acoustic noise
  Resubmission; Match: Dept of Neurology
• Natalia Villegas Rodriguez, PhD, MSN, RN, IBCLC (Associate Professor, School of Nursing)
  February 2021
  Project Title: Infección de Amor (Love Infection): Online delivery and pilot testing of a dramatized story intervention (telenovela/soap opera) for HIV prevention among Latinas in North Carolina
  Resubmission; Match: School of Nursing
• Hyejung Won, PhD (Assistant Professor, Genetics)
  February 2021
  Project Title: Chromosomal disorganization in Down Syndrome
  Match: Dept of Genetics

FastTraCS

• Richard Loeser, PhD (Joseph P. Archie, Jr. Eminent Professor of Medicine, Thurston Arthritis Research Center) and Kenneth Pearce, PhD, Research Professor, Division of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry, Eshelman School of Pharmacy
  February 2021
  Project Title: Discovering New Therapeutics for Osteoarthritis
  Match: Thurston Arthritis Research Center

Duke/UNC CTSA Joint Pilot Award

• Johanna Quist-Nelson, MD (Assistant Professor, Obstetrics & Gynecology, UNC School of Medicine) and Marie-Louise Meng, MD (Assistant Professor, Anesthesiology, Duke School of Medicine)
  February 2021
  Project Title: Maternal Morbidity at Duke and UNC: a multicenter examination of risks factors and trends of pregnancy related morbidity

View a complete list of Pilot awardees at tracs.unc.edu/pilot.