NIH awards grants to develop new tobacco-related drug therapies

Four scientists at Barrow Neurological Institute at St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center have been awarded more than $2.2 million from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to research the effects of nicotine and develop new tobacco-related drug therapies.

The grants will fund three separate research projects at the Phoenix-based institute in the next several years. Ronald J. Lukas, PhD and Vice President of Research at Barrow, is one of the world's leading experts on nicotine and has spent much of his research career studying its impact. Lukas' research lab, shared by Paul Whiteaker, PhD, is the main recipient of the funding. The Barrow laboratories of Jie Wu, MD, PhD, and Yongchang Chang, MD, PhD, also will receive funding from the grants.

Lukas said these Barrow-led projects also will benefit a number of other researchers around the country who will receive collaborative NIH funding of more than $5 million for their participation in the studies.

The newly-funded Barrow studies range from understanding how nicotine may reduce depression, to how it creates addiction, to how nicotine addiction is related to lung cancer.

"These studies have implications for nicotine dependence, tobacco addition, lung cancer and mood disorders," said Lukas. "In total these NIH grants mean more than $7.2 million of funding that would not be possible without the participation of Barrow, nor would our funding be possible without the participation of our colleagues in a world where collaborations are the best way to move forward and be competitive for external funding."

Source: St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center