In FY 2022, the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC) earned a record $132.9 million in grant and contract awards, marking the sixth straight year it had seen an increase.
Whether the institution can extend the streak in FY 2023 remains to be seen; it’s less than three months into its new fiscal year. But so far, UTHSC is off to a strong start — because faculty members have scored some big awards in recent weeks.
Here’s a look at some of those grants, in a research roundup.
Obesity and cancer link
In several types of cancer, obesity has been linked to increased risks and a more severe prognosis. Now, a team led by UTHSC has received a grant to study this link.
A group headed by Liza Makowski, Ph.D., a professor of hematology and oncology in the UTHSC College of Medicine, has earned a $5.2 million award from the National Cancer Institute (NCI), which is set to fund a study that could fill gaps in knowledge about obesity-mediated cancer risk. Multiple factors can contribute to obesity’s pro-tumor effects, like immunosuppression, which is the suppression of the immune system. The underlying mechanics that control how — and to what extent — obesity-mediated immunosuppression increases cancer risks haven’t been studied in-depth, and Makowski and her team want to change this.
“The Mid-South has a diverse population with a large minority representation, high rates of obesity, and tragically poor patient cancer outcomes, which pose an opportunity for our exceptional transdisciplinary team to leverage impactful lifestyle changes or generate therapeutic strategies for interventions to decrease cancer risk,” Makowski said, in a press release. “Outcomes from this study will define beneficial mediators of obesity-mediated cancer risk that will shed light on how to reduce the risk of cancer or improve treatments.”
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