From the Labs
Houston, Texas
Volume 6, Issue 9
November 2007

Briefs

Aagaard lauded as ‘innovator’

Kjersti Aagaard, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Baylor College of Medicine, is one of 29 scientists nationwide to receive 2007 National Institutes of Health Director’s New Innovator Awards, a new program to encourage young scientists early in their careers.

The five-year, $1.5 million grant will allow Aagaard, an expert in maternal-fetal medicine, to continue her studies of how obesity in pregnant mammals affects the health of their fetuses and the likelihood that they will develop obesity and related diseases as they mature.

Versalovic recognized for work in probiotics

James Versalovic, M.D., Ph.D, Baylor College of Medicine assistant professor of pathology based at Texas Children's Hospital, has received the inaugural BioGaia Ivan Casas Probiotics Award.

BioGaia AB is a commercial venture working to translate the relatively new science of probiotics into products for human and animal health. The award was presented to Versalovic "in recognition of his pioneering work in the study of the genome and gene expression in the bacteria Lactobacillus reuteri and his quest to define the mechanisms of action of this probiotic." He was also acknowledged for his significant contributions to the advancement of probiotic research around the world.

NASA extends cooperative agreement with NSBRI

NASA's Johnson Space Center has awarded a five-year, $120 million extension of its cooperative agreement with the National Space Biomedical Research Institute, which is headquartered at BCM. Under the extension, the institute and NASA's Human Research Program will continue biomedical research in support of a long-term human presence in space. The principal investigator on the award is Jeffrey P. Sutton, M.D., Ph.D., president and director of the NSBRI.

The NSBRI studies the health risks related to long-duration spaceflight and develops countermeasures to mitigate them. NSBRI projects address space health concerns such as bone and muscle loss, cardiovascular changes, infection, balance problems, sleep disturbances, radiation exposure effects, nutrition, physical fitness, rehabilitation, remote-treatment medical technologies and neurobehavioral and psychosocial factors. The institute's science, technology and education projects take place at more than 70 institutions in 26 states.