2008 Awardees

Investigator-Initiated Grant Awardees:

Dr. Laure Aurelian
University of Maryland, Baltimore - School of Medicine
"Stem cell transplantation is associated with HSV-induced severe skin eruptions"

Dr. Stephen B. Baylin
Johns Hopkins University - School of Medicine - Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center
"Genomic and Epigentic Instability of Human Stem Cells Used In Regenerative Medicine"

Dr. Ted M. Dawson
Johns Hopkins University - School of Medicine
"Derivation and Characterization of Human Dopamine Neurons Derived from Inducible Pluripotent Stem Cells"

Dr. Valina L. Dawson
Johns Hopkins University - School of Medicine
"The novel protein Botch promotes neurogenesis through regulation of the Notch pathway"

Dr. Richard L. Eckert
University of Maryland, Baltimore - School of Medicine
"Epidermis-Derived Multipotent Cells for Cell Therapy"

Dr. John Isaacs
Johns Hopkins University - School of Medicine
"Developing Methods for the Identification and Isolation of Prostate Cancer Stem Cells"

Dr. Dara L Kraitchman
Johns Hopkins University - School of Medicine
"Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)-Visible Microencapsulation of Allogeneic Mesenchymal Stem Cells for Arteriogenic Therapy in Peripheral Arterial Disease"

Dr. John Laterra
Hugo W. Moser Research Institute at Kennedy Krieger, Inc
"Molecular Mechanisms of Tumor-Propagation by Human Glioblastoma Stem Cells"

Dr. Nicholas J. Maragakis
Johns Hopkins University - School of Medicine
"Human Astrocyte Progenitor Transplantation for Neuroprotection in a Model of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)"

Dr. Jeffrey D. Rothstein
Johns Hopkins University - School of Medicine
"Human Astroglial Stem Cells: Combinatorial Drug Discovery Program"

Dr. Elias T. Zambidis
Johns Hopkins University - Cell Engineering
"Efficient Generation of Patient Specific Human Embryonic Hemangioblasts"

Exploratory Grant Awardees:

Dr. Maria Roselle Abraham
Johns Hopkins University - School of Medicine
"Molecular engineering of human cardiac-derived progenitor cells and the myocardial micr"

Dr. Dmitri Artemov
Johns Hopkins University - School of Medicine
"Targeted Imaging and Therapy of Breast Cancer Stem-like Cells"

Dr. Sergei Atamas
University of Maryland, Baltimore
"Bone and Tendon Healing Mechanisms of Mesenchymal Stem Cells and Hematopoetic Progenitors Derived from Human Adult Bone Marrow"

Dr. Ilia V. Baskakov
University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute
"Design of self-assembling peptide scaffold for controlling neural stem cell state and fate"

Dr. Fred Bunz
Johns Hopkins University - School of Medicine
"Developing alternative methods for iPS cell generation"

Dr. Chi V. Dang
Johns Hopkins University
"A novel, robust strategy to map human stem cellness transcriptional network"

Dr. Jennifer H. Elisseeff
Johns Hopkins University
"Adult and embryonic stem cells for cartilage repair and OA"

Dr. Alan D. Friedman
Johns Hopkins University - School of Medicine
"Regulation of Human Hematopoietic Stem Cell Proliferation by RUNX1, Notch and Wnt"

Dr. Nicholas Gaiano
Johns Hopkins University - School of Medicine
"Exploring the role of NF-κB signaling in human neural stem cells"

Dr. Yoon Young Jang
Johns Hopkins University - School of Medicine
"Human Embryonic Stem Cell Transplantation For Liver Regeneration"

Dr. Carol L. Keefer
University of Maryland - College Park
"Mechanical Aspects Of Human Embryonic Stem Cell Differentiation Using Atomic Force Microscopy"

Dr. Candace L. Kerr
Johns Hopkins University - School of Medicine
"MicroRNA analysis of pluripotent stem cells"

Dr. Andre Levchenko
Johns Hopkins University - Whitaker Institute for Biomedical Engineering
"Control of Human Neural Stem Cell Survival, Proliferation and Differentiation using novel micro and nano fluidic platforms"

Dr. David Litwack
University of Maryland, Balitmore
"Regulation of neuronal differentiation by Nuclear Factor One transcription factors"

Dr. David M Loeb
Johns Hopkins University
"Identification and Characterization of the Ewing Sarcoma Stem Cell"

Dr. Stuart S. Martin
University of Maryland, Baltimore
"Novel therapies to destroy circulating breast tumor stem cells"

Dr. Mervyn J. Monteiro
University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute
"Role of ubiquilin in regulating proliferation and differentiation of human stem cells"

Dr. Sarah Netzel-Arnett
University of Maryland, Baltimore
"Targeting Prosurvival Pathways for enhanced stem cell based therapy"

Dr. Martin G. Pomper
Johns Hopkins University - School of Medicine
"Stem Cell Probe Discovery via Bioluminescence"

Dr. Yun Qiu
University of Maryland, Baltimore
"Regulation of Stemness by Phosphorylation"

Dr. Alfredo Quinones-Hinojosa
Johns Hopkins University
"Human Brain Cancer"

Dr. Venu Raman
Johns Hopkins University - School of Medicine
"Characterizing the Role of Twist in the Development of Breast Cancer Stem Cells"

Dr. Linda Resar
Johns Hopkins University - School of Medicine
"The Role of HMGA1a in Normal and Leukemic Stem Cells"

Dr. Charles M. Rudin
Johns Hopkins University - School of Medicine
"Notch Signaling in Lung Cancer Stem Cells"

Dr. Nitish Thakor
Johns Hopkins University - School of Medicine
"The formation of neuromuscular junctions in microfluidic chamber"

Dr. Leslie Tung
Johns Hopkins University - School of Medicine
"Antiarrhythmic Properties of Human Embryonic Stem Cell-Derived Cardiomyocytes in a Model of Dysfunctional Cardiac Tissue"

Dr. Piotr Walczak
Johns Hopkins University - School of Medicine
"Non-Invasive Imaging and Evaluation of Glial Differentiation and Engraftment of Skin-Derived Pluripotent Stem Cells"

Dr. Katharine A. Whartenby
Johns Hopkins University
"Gene modification of bone marrow stem cells to generate anti-tumor responses"

Dr. Huakun Xu
University of Maryland, Baltimore
"Stem Cell Delivery via Injectable, Nano-Apatite Scaffolds for Bone Engineering"

Dr. Paul Yarowsky
University of Maryland, Baltimore
"Targeted Therapy for Neurodegenerative Diseases with Magnetically Labeled Stem Cells"

Dr. Srinivasan Yegnasubramanian
Johns Hopkins University - School of Medicine
"Epigenetic Characterization of Normal Hematopoietic and Chronic Myeloid Leukemia Stem Cells"

Dr. Steven Zhan
University of Maryland, Baltimore
"The role of cortactin in EMT and differentiation of human embryonic stem cells"

Post - Doctoral Fellowship Grant Awardees:

Dr. Jonathan Alder
Johns Hopkins University
"Genetic Rescue of Short Telomere Defect in Hematopoietic Stem Cells"

Dr. Michael Bonaguidi
Johns Hopkins University
"Extrinsic Regulation of Adult Human Neural and Cancer Stem Cells in Normal and Diseased States"

Dr. Jessica Carmen
Johns Hopkins University
"NG2 Human Precursor Dysfunction and Neurodegeneration"

Dr. Jon Gerber
Johns Hopkins University
"Characterization and Expansion of Leukemia Stem Cells"

Dr. Hugo Guerrero
Johns Hopkins University
"Role of Slit Proteins in the Migratory Behavior of Brain Tumor Stem Cells"

Dr. Maged Harraz
Johns Hopkins University
"The Role of MicroRNAs in Adult Human Neuronal Stem Cell Differentiation"

Dr. Biju Joseph
Johns Hopkins University
"HMGA1 in the Maintenance & Proliferation of Human Embryonic Stem Cells"

Dr. Tarja Juopperi
Johns Hopkins University
"A Comparison of Human Embryonic Stem Cells and Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells for Cellular Therapy of Parkinson's Disease"

Dr. Vasiliki Machairaki
Johns Hopkins University
"Human Neural Stem Cell-biomatrix Preparations as Tools to Repair Injured Hippocampal Circuits"

Dr. Selen Muratoglu
University of Maryland, Baltimore
"Regulation of Mesenchymal Stem Cell Differentiation by Wnt Signaling: The Role for LRP-1"

Dr. Celine Plachez
University of Maryland, Baltimore
"Role Of Metalloproteinases in The Migration of Transplanted Human Stem Cells"

Dr. Marina Pryzhkova
Johns Hopkins University
"Differentiation of Patient-Specific Human Pluripotent Stem Cells"

Dr. Kara Scheibner
Johns Hopkins University
"Regulation and Manipulation of Stem Cell Apoptosis by MicroRNA-27a"

Dr. Farhad Vesuna
Johns Hopkins University
"Involvement of TWIST in Generating Breast Cancer Stem-Like Cells"

Dr. Jizhong Zou
Johns Hopkins University
"Gene Targeting in Human Pluripotent Stem Cells"