Three BME faculty secure grants to study military health issues
Headshots of BME faculty grant winners

January 24, 2023 — Professor and Department Head Brenda Ogle, Associate Professor Patrick Alford, and Associate Professor Alexander Opitz have each received grants to advance research addressing health issues such as radiation exposure and traumatic brain injury.

Funds come from a grant program aimed at health issues that impact the military and are important to the community. The program is part of a new, U.S. Congress-funded partnership between Minnesota — specifically, the University of Minnesota Medical School, Medical Alley and Fairview — and the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU).

From a total of 74 letters of intent submitted by collaborative teams of USU and UMN investigators, 13 projects were selected for funding, including 3 with BME faculty:
 

  • Patrick Alford: “Targeting axonal injuries and tau mislocalization to treat traumatic brain injury and secondary injuries”
  • Brenda Ogle: “Human organ-on-chip platforms for assessment and development of countermeasures for radiation exposure” — graduate faculty collaborators on this project include Angela Panoskaltsis-Mortari (project lead) and Samira Azarin.
  • Alexander Opitz: “Circuit-based neuromodulation to improve mental fatigue after traumatic brain injury"

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