• Nursing Researchers Herr, Titler Receive $2.8 Million Grant
• Engelhardt Receives Extended NIH Funding for Lung Stem Cell Study

Nursing Researchers Herr, Titler Receive $2.8 Million Grant
Keela Herr, Ph.D., professor in The University of Iowa College of Nursing and principal investigator, and, Marita G. Titler, Ph.D., director of Research, Quality and Outcomes Management in the Department of Nursing and Patient Care Services at UI Hospitals and Clinics and co-principal investigator, are recipients of a $2.8 million National Cancer Institute grant to study ways to improve cancer pain management in older adults.

"Pain is a significant concern for elders with advanced cancer in all practice settings, including hospices," Herr noted. "Though pain outcomes are better in hospice than non-hospice settings, there is considerable variation, and many patients still die in unresolved pain." Barriers to improving quality of pain care exist and impact consistent use of evidence-based practices for assessing and treating pain in these patients.

The project, "Cancer Pain in Elders: Promoting Evidence-Based Practices in Hospices," builds on a current grant from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Led by Titler, as principal investigator, and Herr, as co-principal investigator, that study is testing a multifaceted intervention--known as Translating Research into Practice, or TRIP--on adoption of acute pain management practices in hospitalized older adults. The new study will test the effects of the TRIP intervention on the pain practices of health care providers in hospices and pain outcomes in older adult hospice patients.

Herr is well known for her research and expertise in the area of geriatric pain assessment and management, and Titler has an extensive research portfolio in outcomes effectiveness research and translation science.

Other UI collaborators on the grant include: Perry Fine, William Clarke, Sara Sanders, John Swegle and Toni Tripp-Reimer.

Engelhardt Receives Extended NIH Funding for Lung Stem Cell Study
Efforts to understand the basic biology of lung development and lung stem cells will move forward at the University of Iowa Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine, thanks to funding from the National Institutes of Health. Insights gained from the research will have a bearing on lung diseases such as cystic fibrosis (CF), asthma and chronic bronchitis, and knowledge of lung stem cells may also be relevant and applicable to cancer research.

John Engelhardt, Ph.D., the Roy J. Carver Chair in Molecular Medicine and UI professor and interim head of anatomy and cell biology, has received a 10-year, $3.54 million MERIT (Method to Extend Research in Time) award from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Disorders.

A MERIT award provides long-term funding to researchers who have demonstrated outstanding productivity in their previous research efforts. The award recognizes a research record of excellence and consistency, and its sustained funding allows recipients to pursue research aimed at answering important and complex scientific questions.

Engelhardt and his colleagues will use the MERIT award to continue their ongoing investigation on the formation of submucosal glands--regions in the lung that are important in fighting lung infections and helping to regenerate the lung following injury. These regions also form "protected homes" (called niches) where lung stem cells reside and proliferate.

The UI scientists plan to investigate the molecular events that control how a stem cell niche is formed in the lung. In particular, the team will focus on a specific transcription factor that controls stem cell functions. Some of these same functions are also important in the formation of other gland-like structures such as mammary glands, hair follicles and salivary glands.

"I suspect as we dissect the regulation of this very important transcription factor in lung biology, similar rules will apply to different organs and how their stem cell niches are established," Engelhardt said. "Understanding how a stem cell niche forms and expands is also very relevant to cancer."

Understanding the biological pathways that build the lung stem cell niche may also suggest ways to manipulate the stem cells and help treat lung diseases and injury. Furthermore, a greater knowledge of stem cell biology in the lung will greatly benefit the development of genetic-based therapies for diseases like CF.

For more information:

UI College of Nursing

Research, Quality and Outcomes Management

National Cancer Institute

Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine

National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Disorders