The Max and Minnie Tomerlin Voelcker Fund is awarding $1.8 million to UT Health San Antonio to support research projects conducted by promising early career researchers.
The Voelcker Fund’s Young Investigator Awards, which provide each recipient with $150,000 per year over three years ($450,000), are intended to support young scientists conducting biomedical research in the areas of cancer, heart disease, arthritis, muscular dystrophy, retinitis and/or macular degeneration of the retina.
To date, the Voelcker Fund has provided $29.4 million in grants for medical research to UT Health San Antonio.
This year’s Voelcker Fund Young Investigator Award recipients at UT Health San Antonio and their projects are as follows:
Evelien Bunnik, PhD, assistant professor in the Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Molecular Genetics.
Project title: Characterizing atypical B cells as a therapeutic target in rheumatoid arthritis
Kevin Koronowski, PhD, assistant professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Structural Biology with a joint appointment in the Sam and Ann Barshop Institute for Longevity and Aging Studies.
Project title: Molecular mechanisms linking circadian disruption with breast cancer
Elizabeth Wasmuth, PhD, assistant professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Structural Biology.
Project title: Uncovering therapeutic vulnerabilities in androgen receptor signaling
Shangang Zhao, PhD, assistant professor in the Department of Medicine, Division of Endocrinology with a joint appointment in the Sam and Ann Barshop Institute for Longevity and Aging Studies.
Project title: Cardiovascular benefits of leptin lowering utilizing SGLT2 inhibition and a novel leptin antibody in heart disease