Corewell Health and MSU Fund Nearly $1.4 Million in New Research Grants to Advance Therapies for Patients

November 14, 2023

Grand Rapids, Mich., Nov. 14, 2023 – Corewell Health in West Michigan and Michigan State University College of Human Medicine are funding nearly $1.4 million in new research grants that will tackle potential new therapies for diseases including cancer, coronary artery disease and more.

Thanks to the help of a long-standing partnership known as the Alliance Corporation, the collaboration between both institutions has facilitated more than $24 million in total funding to physician researchers and scientists since 2007.

“Science and innovation are where it all starts, and Corewell Health, with our partners, is at the forefront of supporting the investigational research and discovery that’s needed so we can provide exceptional care and treatments to our patients and communities,” said Josh Kooistra, D.O., senior vice president and chief medical officer of hospital care at Corewell Health in Grand Rapids, Mich.

This fall, five new joint research projects were selected from a larger pool of proposed studies. The five projects selected for funding are:

Role of Specialized Metabolites from Pseudomonas aeruginosa in the Pathogenesis of Chronic Lung Allograft Dysfunction
- Goal: To determine how a common bacterium often infecting immunocompromised patients can lead to lung transplant failure and the development of new therapies
- Principal Investigators: Reda Girgis, D., Corewell Health, and Robert Quinn, Ph.D., MSU College of Human Medicine

Investigating interactions between PM2.5 exposure, obesity, cardiovascular health and dietary antioxidant in people with obesity
- Goal: To investigate whether the use of portable air filtration systems improve cardiovascular risk factors in patients
- Principal Investigators: Harland Holman, M.D., Corewell Health, and Masako Morishita, Ph.D., MSU College of Human Medicine

Selective nanoimmunotheranostic agents for atherosclerotic plaque management
- Goal: To develop and test an all-in-one nanoplatform that can measure disease burden, deliver cellular therapy to plaque and study response to therapy
- Principal Investigators: Jose Tan, M.D., Corewell Health, and Bryan Smith, Ph.D., MSU

A Preclinical Study of Astatine-211-Labeled and Lutetium-177-Labeled Brentuximab Vedotin in the Treatment of Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma
- Goal: To create two new radiopharmaceuticals containing certain radioactive compounds and examine their efficacy in treating lymphomas
- Principal Investigators: David Hoogstra, M.D., Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital at Corewell Health, and Jeffrey MacKeigan, Ph.D., MSU College of Human Medicine

Developing a Translational Precision Medicine Platform for Pediatric Traumatic Brain Injury
- Goal: to characterize the molecular profiles of severe traumatic brain injury and establish a platform for gene delivery
- Principal Investigators: Elora Hussain, M.D., Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital at Corewell Health, and Galit Pelled, Ph.D., MSU

“Women’s health was the first area of academic research that the Alliance invested in 15 years ago,” said Aron Sousa, M.D., dean, MSU College of Human Medicine. “We’ve had remarkable success combining Alliance funding with our joint recruiting efforts to attract several of the top researchers in obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive biology to the Medical Mile. We look forward to continued synergies between MSU and Corewell Health as we broaden our research scope to cancer, coronary artery disease, traumatic brain injury and more.”

About Corewell Health™

People are at the heart of everything we do, and the inspiration for our legacy of outstanding outcomes, innovation, strong community partnerships, philanthropy and transparency. Corewell Health is a not-for-profit health system that provides health care and coverage with an exceptional team of 60,000+ dedicated people—including more than 11,500 physicians and advanced practice providers and more than 15,000 nurses providing care and services in 21 hospitals, 300+ outpatient locations and several post-acute facilities—and Priority Health, a provider-sponsored health plan serving more than 1.3 million members. Through experience and collaboration, we are reimagining a better, more equitable model of health and wellness. For more information, visit corewellhealth.org.

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Contact:
Sarina Gleason
Media Relations
Phone: 517.256.5618
Email: sarina.gleason@corewellhealth.org