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Seed Funding Leads to BreakthroughsBCM investigators use smaller grants to gather data that lead to bigger awards and discoveriesby Toby Weber
Karen Hirschi, Ph.D., a Professor in the Departments of Pediatrics and of Molecular and Cellular Biology, is one BCM investigator who has benefitted from seed funding. In 1998, one year after joining BCM, Hirschi received $25,000 from the Gillson Longenbaugh Foundation to begin her work in vascular research. This early research focused on the development of blood vessels in mice embryos. Specifically, she investigated the molecular signals that instruct multi-potent cells to transform to endothelial cells (the cells that line the interior of blood vessels) and that then instruct those endothelial cells to form the tube-like structures that become blood vessels. Those early experiments, Hirschi said, provided her with enough data to win additional funding from the National Institutes of Health. "When you submit a proposal to the NIH you have to have a certain amount of data gathered through experiments already done in your lab," she said. "Having that sort of data demonstrates that you know how to do all the techniques that will be used in the lab and that your hypothesis is feasible." Now, nine years on from that initial seed funding, Hirschi's lab continues to explore the regulation of blood vessel formation. Hirschi's success in this area has led her to expand her research to include topics such as tissue regeneration and the engineering of artificial blood vessels. Another BCM investigator who has benefited from seed funding is N. Tony Eissa, M.D., Professor of Medicine and Immunology and Director of the College's NIH-funded Asthma and Allergic Diseases Cooperative Research Center. Eissa came to BCM in 1999 from a research position with the National Institutes of Health. The move to BCM, he said, was prompted in part by his desire to build a larger program than what he felt was possible at the NIH. That goal has been met at BCM. When he started at the College, Eissa's research program consisted of himself and two research assistants. Today, the program employs 18 research personnel and brings in grants totaling approximately $2.4 million per year. This success, he said, is built largely on a base of seed funding, including gifts from foundations associated with the T.T. Chao family, Caroline Weiss Law and a community family gift given through the AlphaOne Foundation, all of which were granted in his early years at BCM. These funds, said Eissa, allowed him and his team to make advancements in discovering the role nitric oxide plays in lung inflammation on a molecular level. His research has since expanded to include investigations into asthma, cystic fibrosis and emphysema, among other lung diseases. These projects are supported by the NIH, American Heart Association, American Lung Association and other foundations and agencies. Not surprisingly, for Eissa, as well as for other researchers, winning a seed fund award held a level of significance beyond dollars and cents. "Seed funds typically come at a time when the starting investigator is getting a lot of rejections from outside funding agencies," said Eissa. "Suddenly you have someone saying they believe in you. That, to an investigator, is very meaningful." Indeed, one of the characteristics of seed funding that distinguishes it from other grants is that it is often an investment in an individual researcher rather than in a particular project. The relationship that Catherine Bollard, M.D., an Associate Professor in the Departments of Pediatrics, Immunology and Medicine, has with Gillson Longenbaugh, in fact, has extended beyond the initial seed funding she received in 2003 from the organization to regular, yearly support. Bollard, who specializes in cancer research, put that funding towards the development of T-cells (key players in the immune system) that are specific to the Epstein-Barr proteins that are present on a lymphoma tumor cell. These T-cells can then be given back to the patients to help treat their disease relapse or prevent relapse after chemotherapy or radiation. A clinical trial of that work published last year showed clinical responses to the treatment of around 80 percent—a very promising and positive statistic, Bollard said. Bollard's research efforts have since expanded to include multiple projects involving the creation and viability of T-cells that fight cancer. All of this work, she said, is supported by funding from Gillson Longenbaugh, along with other groups and agencies. While the amounts she receives from Gillson Longenbaugh are not by themselves enough to operate a lab researching emerging, complex cancer treatments, they do make a difference in her efforts, Bollard said. What's more, given the ongoing relationship she has with the foundation, she feels that if she required extra funding to complete a significant line of inquiry or enable her to continue her work between larger grants, Gillson Longenbaugh would be open to helping her. "There are a lot of people raising money for cancer research," Bollard said. "The sort of relationship I have with the Gillson Longenbaugh Foundation enables them to put a face to the people conducting the research. Gillson Longenbaugh is very involved with the researchers they support. We meet with them twice a year, and show them how the research they are supporting is directly helping patients with cancer. "As a researcher, when you put a face to the people supporting your research, you become even more motivated to work harder to succeed in your endeavors." |
FeaturesTreatments on the Horizon: Chapter and Verse on a Brain Killer Two Brains are Better than One SpotlightCaring for Community at Home and Abroad Injecting a Little Scientist in Every Doctor Designing a Building in the Eyes of a Researcher Laser Treatments Best Left up to Doctors BriefsFalls in Elderly Indicate Illness Findings may Increase Survival after Injuries Some Like it Hot! Structure of Receptor for Chili Pepper and Pain Revealed Beware of Drinking Margaritas in the Sun Development/AlumniBCM Family Participates in Fundraising Campaign BCM Alums take D.C. Fellowships Seed Funding Leads to Breakthroughs Father, Daughter Team up for Health Care
Steps to Discovery and Innovation
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Volume 4, Issue 2, Summer 2008 |
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| Last modified: October 7, 2008 |
Most of the discoveries made and treatments developed by investigators at Baylor College of Medicine are accomplished with multi-year grants totaling several hundred thousand dollars or more. Practically none of these breakthroughs would have happened, however, were it not for the much smaller awards, dubbed "seed funds," that are designed to help young researchers launch their careers.