University of Missouri gets $8.7 million grant

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) -- The University of Missouri has been awarded an $8.47 million grant to study cardiovascular health, one of the largest awards for medical research in MU's history.

"This truly is a milestone," Chancellor Brady Deaton said today at the announcement of the National Institutes of Health grant at the MU School of Medicine.

The five-year, renewable grant will support a collaborative research effort among some 20 scientists at MU who are researching microcirculation. Essentially, the team hopes to figure out how the body's network of the tiniest blood vessels might help doctors predict future health problems such as stroke, high blood pressure and diabetes and non-cardiovascular problems such as Alzheimer's disease.

Using high-tech imaging equipment already on campus, scientists hope detecting minute changes in vessel behavior can be linked to potential diseases.

"The basic research question is to understand how the structure of the vascular wall interacts with its function," said Gerald Meininger, program director and director of MU's Dalton Cardiovascular Research Center.

Meininger compared the vascular network to steel beams that support a building. If those beams begin to rust, the entire structure is compromised. Similarly, if these tiny vessels aren't carrying out their proper functions, such as transferring nutrition or removing carbon dioxide from organs and tissues, a person is at risk for an array of illnesses.

Making connections between vessel behavior and diseases could help doctors diagnose problems earlier and lead to better prevention or treatment options, said Ron Korthuis, a project leader and chairman of the Department of Medical Pharmacology and Physiology.

To help answer the question, cardiovascular researchers recruited experts in various colleges and centers on campus, including the College of Veterinary Medicine and the Center for Gender Physiology. Having those groups study different aspects of microcirculation under the helm of one grant should enhance collaboration and communication, Meininger said.

Grant funding will be used in a variety of ways to support the research, from keeping imaging equipment up to speed to hiring technical staff.

"It brings in a whole new source of funding for a new problem," Korthuis said. "It will enhance our research, allowing us to hire more folks and helping us approach the problem more rapidly."

Administrators credited receipt of the grant in part to the university's ability to attract experts in the field of cardiology.

"MU has spent decades developing one of the most productive groups of cardiovascular investigators in the world, with a special emphasis on the emerging field of microcirculation," medical school Dean Robert Churchill said in a prepared statement. "This grant is the latest example of what MU can achieve when scientific talent and resources from across campus come together."