The Max and Minnie Tomerlin Voelcker Fund recently awarded $800,000 to UT Health San Antonio to support research projects from early career investigators.
Voelcker Fund Young Investigator Awards
The Voelcker Fund Young Investigator Awards provide each recipient with a total of $350,000 in funding allocated over three years to support emerging researchers conducting biomedical research. The emphasis is on finding cures for cancer, heart disease, arthritis, muscular dystrophy, retinitis and retinal macular degeneration.
The Voelcker Fund Young Investigator Award 2024 recipients and their projects are:
Shangang Zhao, PhD, assistant professor in the Department of Medicine, Division of Endocrinology in the Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long School of Medicine with a joint appointment in the Sam and Ann Barshop Institute for Longevity and Aging Studies.
Project: Cardiovascular benefits of leptin-lowering utilizing SGLT2 inhibition and a novel leptin antibody in heart disease
Kevin B. Koronowski, PhD, assistant professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Structural Biology in the Long School of Medicine with a joint appointment in the Sam and Ann Barshop Institute for Longevity and Aging Studies.
Project: NAD+ and mitochondrial SIRT3 link in circadian disruption and breast cancer
Voelcker Fund Pilot Awards
In addition, the Voelcker Fund Pilot Awards provide emerging young scientists with $100,000 in funding to develop their research to support a full Voelcker Young Investigator Award.
The Voelcker Fund Pilot Awards 2024 recipient and project is:
Lu Wang, PhD, assistant professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Structural Biology in the Long School of Medicine with joint appointments in the Sam and Ann Barshop Institute for Longevity and Aging Studies and the Mays Cancer Center at UT Health San Antonio.
Project: Functions of small MAF proteins in therapy induced senescence
To date, the Voelcker Fund has provided $30.2 million in grants for medical research to UT Health San Antonio.