BLRD Merit Review Research Career Scientist Award

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This proposal seeks to renew Research Career Scientist Award held by Dr. Shyam S Mohapatra, at the James A. Haley VA Hospital in Tampa, Florida since 2007. He is a Distinguished Health Professor and the Director of the Division of Translational Medicine- Center for Research and Education in Nanobioengineering at the VA-affiliated academic center- the University of South Florida. With ~235 publications, 40 patents, an h-index of 53 and an i-index of 161, he is recognized nationally and internationally for his contributions to the field of nanoscale biomedical diagnostics and therapeutics in relation to viral infections, traumatic brain injury (TBI) and cancers. He has received substantial extramural research support including awards from the NIH, DOA, ONR, Department of Veterans’ Affairs and Florida Department of Health. He is the recipient of several international/national awards and recognitions. Dr. Mohapatra has been a research investigator at the VA Hospital (Medicine) since 1996 and has been continuously funded with the Merit Review Award focused on respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection since 1999. Current and ongoing research activities to be supported by this RCS Award are as follows. Project #1. a) Develop new prophylactic, or therapeutic approaches involving broad antiviral and anti-inflammatory compounds formulated using novel nanoscale technologies, which are effective against COVID-19 and other respiratory viral infections. The currently proposed Merit Review project aims to develop a simple, smart and translatable nanoscale system that combines novel targets for antiviral- and replication and inflammation inhibitors. He currently leads two additional projects, as a multi-PI. This proposal aims to characterize novel virus-neutralizing particles that may serve as prophylaxis and/or therapy. b) Also, based on his recent experience in artificial intelligence (AI)-enhanced imaging, and preliminary data with COVID-19, he was funded by CSRD to examine the potential to clinically diagnose and prognose COVID 19 by AI-aided chest CT. Project #2. Investigate and test a novel targeted oncolytic viro-cell therapy (OVT) for lung cancer using the mesenchymal stem cell (MSCs) infected by RSV, which is harmless for immunocompetent individuals. Thus, it is planned to use a 3D multicell tumoroid and biopsy-derived cultures in vitro and mouse model of lung cancer in vivo to evaluate the safety and efficacy of OVT. The project to data has attracted industry collaboration, which might lead to clinical trials. Project #3. Investigate the potential of a novel combinatorial therapeutic approach in a mouse CCI model of moderate TBI that includes (i) a treatment to reduce inflammation (local and systemic) using a nano-formulated siRNA against a recently discovered target, CCL20, and (ii) a second treatment to promote neuroregeneration by MSC therapy. VA Impact: These highly innovative applications of nanomedicine approaches taken together are expected to lead to high-impact clinical diagnostics and therapies for Veterans and other Americans in need. Veterans have been proportionately affected by the pandemic, and are increasingly affected by the incidence of lung cancers and TBI compared to the general population. The development of these effective nanotherapeutics will greatly improve the quality of Veteran’s healthcare.