NIH Awards

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NIH Awards

From discovery to patient care

As part of the Henry Ford + MSU partnership, we leverage NIH awards to advance groundbreaking research, foster innovation, and improve patient care. These grants support collaborative projects that address critical health challenges and accelerate scientific discovery.

  • Zhongwu Liu (Henry Ford Health) received $431,750 from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders & Strokes for “CYP2C11 Overexpression targeting peri-lesion astrocytes to improve cognitive function in mice with multi-infarct dementia” (5/20/25 - 4/30/27).
  • Karl Seyde (MSU) received $42,343 from Boston University Medical Campus for “Determinants of poor responsiveness to the booster dose of the RTS,S malaria vaccine in African children” (12/6/24 - 11/30/29).
  • Brian Ahmedani (Henry Ford Health) received $1,318,125 from Northwestern University for “Scaling Up S.A.F.E. Firearm Across Two Health Systems” (1/16/25 - 10/31/29).
  • Candice Johnson (MSU) received $182,910 from Duke University for “PROvider ReMote ObsTetric-Related Employment Education (PROMOTE) + ObsTetric HEAlth Equity ResearCH Mentoring (TEACH)” (8/1/24 - 7/31/29).
  • Xiaopeng Li (MSU) received $542,402 from the National Heart Lung & Blood Institute for “Screening of novel compounds through the reversal of gene expression in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis” (4/1/25 - 3/31/26).
  • Hilary Jean Skalski (MSU) received $127,398 from the National Institute of Child Health & Human Development for “Obesity-induced endometrial stromal cell fibrosis and immunosuppression leads to increased endometrial hyperplasia disease severity” (5/16/25 - 5/15/28).
  • Honglei Chen (MSU) received $12,433,101 from the National Institute on Aging for “Pesticide Use and Markers of ADRD Neurodegeneration among US Farmers” (3/15/25 - 1/31/30).
  • Allison Kuipers (MSU) received $34,205 from University of Pittsburgh for “Epidemiology of Cardiac Structure and Function in African Caribbean's: The Tobago Heart Study” (1/1/25 - 7/31/25).
  • Jessica Mellinger (Henry Ford Health) received $817,386 from University of Wisconsin for “Testing an mHealth System for Integrating Alcohol Use Treatment with Hepatology Care for Patients with Alcohol-associated Liver Disease” (9/1/24 - 8/31/27).
  • Ikenna Okereke (Henry Ford Health) received $58,000 from Wayne State University for “From Pollution to Progress: Utilizing Air Quality Sensor Data and Community Engagement to Create a Healthier Detroit” (2/1/25 - 4/30/26).
  • Cara Poland (MSU) received $149,972 from University of Michigan for “Partners in Prevention: Testing a multi-level intervention to increase prevention and harm reduction strategies in rural Michigan” (12/1/24 - 9/29/26).
  • Philip Cheng (Henry Ford Health) received $1,019,055 from Arcascope for “Translation of a personalized digital intervention for shift workers towards real-world implementation and dissemination” (7/5/24 - 6/30/27).
  • Qing-Sheng Mi (Henry Ford Health) received $3,770,232 from the National Institute of Arthritis & Musculoskeletal & Skin Diseases for “Whole genome sequencing analysis of hidradenitis suppurativa” (9/18/24 - 8/31/29).
  • Irving Vega (MSU) received $107,884 from University of Michigan for “ADRD risk and resilience among Black Americans a 20 year longitudinal study” (2/1/25 - 1/31/30).
  • Bryan Vonasek (MSU) received $898,395 from the Fogarty International Center for “Tuberculosis in Malawian children under five years old: exploring non-invasive diagnostic strategies and the impact of malnutrition on treatment pharmacokinetics” (12/1/24 - 8/31/29).
  • Jessica Mellinger (Henry Ford Health) received $2,271,563 from the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse & Alcoholism for “The INTEGRATE Study: Evaluating INTEGRATEd care to Improve Biopsychosocial Outcomes of Early Liver Transplant for Alcohol-Associated Liver Disease” (8/1/24 - 7/31/30).
  • Kelly DuBois (MSU) received $78,524 from University of Michigan for “Plasma Apoptotic Bodies as Novel Alzheimer’s Disease Biomarkers” (7/1/24 - 6/30/26).
  • Richard Sadler (MSU) received $819,970 from Rutgers University for “Examining Influences of Place-Based Historical and Contemporary Structural Racism on Racial Disparities in Aging-Related Disease Risk Trajectories: Leveraging the HANDLS Dataset” (9/1/24 - 5/31/29).
  • Debora Barbosa Vendramini Costa (Henry Ford Health) and Yuehua Cui (MSU) received $2,709,577 from the National Cancer Institute for “Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress in the function of cancer associated fibroblasts in pancreatic cancer” (2/1/25 - 1/31/30).
  • Jonathan Ehrman (Henry Ford Health) received $69,476 from Northwestern University for “Sequential Multiple Assessment Randomized Trial of Exercise for PAD: SMART Exercise for PAD” (6/1/24 - 5/31/25).
  • Joseph Patterson (MSU) received $40,000 from University of Michigan for “Assessment of the effects of insulin resistance and hyperglycemia on synucleinopathy progression” (12/1/24 - 11/30/25).
  • Ganesa Wegienka (Henry Ford Health) received $1,812,533 from University of Michigan for “Partnering for Equity: An Academic and Community Alliance to Eliminate Disparities throughout the Fibroid Experience (PEACE)” (5/1/24 - 1/31/29).
  • Ganesa Wegienka (Henry Ford Health) received $622,163 from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences for “Environmental risk factors for uterine fibroids: a prospective ultrasound study” (9/1/24 - 8/31/25).
  • Jennifer Jacob (MSU) received $2,732,303 from the National Cancer Institute for “Defining Cancer Intervention Targets by Functional Genomics Analysis of Outbred F1 Mice” (3/1/24 - 4/30/29).
  • Jeffrey MacKeigan (MSU) received $3,595,035 from the National Cancer Institute for “ULK Inhibition Rewires Tumor and Immune Cell Metabolism” (12/1/24 - 11/30/29).
  • Nina Steele received $63,418 from Stony Brook University for “Disentangling the effect of Black/African Ancestry from confounding variables on colorectal cancer biology” (04/08/24 – 03/31/26).
  • Emma Ann Wabel received $131,070 from National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute for “Role of Vascular Chemerin as a Regulator of Blood Pressure and Contributor to Cardiovascular Disease” (01/01/25 – 12/31/27).
  • Nicholas Kanaan received $209,924 from University of Michigan for “Treating mild cognitive impairment with transcranial direct current stimulation” (10/01/24 – 03/31/25).
  • Christopher Waters received $105,250 from National Institute of Allergy & Infectious Diseases for “Discovery of new phage defense systems in Vibrio cholerae” (08/16/24 – 08/15/27).
  • Wei Wang received $580,848 from National Cancer Institute for “Investigating the mechanism of K17-mediated immunosuppression in papillomavirus-induced cancers” (08/01/24 – 08/31/27).
  • Karl Seydel received $75,366 from Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis for “Role of the Gut Microbiota in Shaping Severity of Malaria” (05/03/24 – 04/30/29).
  • Emmanuel Paul received $235,934 from National Institute of Child Health & Human Development for “Understanding the functional role of fibroid subtype mutations for drug discovery” (09/01/24 – 08/31/26).
  • Amara Ezeamama received $4,190,018 from National Institute on Aging for “Vitamin D and Gut Microbiota and Dementia Risk in Older Adults with Chronic HIV infection and Demographically Matched Community Controls” (07/15/24 – 04/30/29).
  • Karl Seydel received $75,366 from Kamuzu University of Health Sciences for “Accelerating malaria prevention through enhanced analysis of transmission and RTS,S vaccination in Malawi” (07/15/24 – 04/30/29).
  • Gustavo de los Campos received $2,010,529 from National Human Genome Research Institute for “Improving PGS Prediction for Underrepresented Groups Through Transfer Learning” (09/19/24 – 07/31/28).
  • Hongsheng Gui received $157,000 from National Institute of Mental Health for "Assembly and re-alignment of HLA genomic region and its implication for fine-mapping suicidality in African descent population" (9/6/23 – 8/31/25).
  • Amber Woolford received $680,304 from National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences for "Illuminating the role of historical structural racism in the neighborhood exposome and modern-day child mental health" (7/9/24 – 4/30/29).
  • Jose Teixeira received $235,500 from National Institute of Child Health & Human Development for "Developing a baboon model for uterine fibroids" (8/1/24 – 7/31/26).
  • Asgerally Fazleabas received $193,536 from National Institute of Child Health & Human Development for "Noninvasive and early detection of endometriosis using a biological neural circuit-based novel gas sensor" (8/7/24 – 8/6/26).
  • Rama Shankar received $130,584 from National Institute of Child Health & Human Development for "Single cell multi-omics approaches in identifying driving cells and genes in pediatric MODS patients requiring ECMO support" (8/7/24 – 7/31/26).
  • Julia Felton received $734,465 from National Institute of Mental Health for "Hybrid Effectiveness-Implementation Trial to Evaluate a Scalable, Peer-Delivered Intervention for Depression among People with Substance Use Disorder in a Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic" (8/1/24 – 4/30/29).
  • Brian Ahmedani received $444,210 from National Institute of Mental Health for "Quality Measures to Advance Suicide Prevention and Care Across Health Systems" (8/15/24 – 5/31/28).
  • Christopher Drake received $992,063 from National Institute of Mental Health for "Sleep to Reduce Incident Depression Effectively in Peripartum - (STRIDE P)" (8/1/24 – 2/29/28).
  • Matthew Benskey received $314,000 from National Institute on Aging for "Investigating Mechanisms of Complement Mediated Synaptic Removal" (8/15/24 – 7/31/26).
  • Cheryl Rockwell received $510,251 from National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences for "The role of Nrf2 in T cell function and influenza" (7/6/24 – 4/30/29).
  • David Lanfear received $246,776 from National Heart Lung & Blood Institute for "Development of Polygenic Scores for Medication Response in Diverse Populations" (8/15/24 – 7/31/26).
  • Vivienne Hazzard received $249,000 from National Institute of Child Health & Human Development for "Binge Eating as a Mechanism Underlying the Food Insecurity-Obesity Paradox in Adolescents" (8/22/24 – 4/30/27).
  • Richard Sadler received $76,837 from National Institute of Mental Health for "Hybrid Effectiveness-Implementation Trial to Evaluate a Scalable, Peer-Delivered Intervention for Depression among People with Substance Use Disorder in a Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic" (8/1/24 – 4/30/29).
  • Lexi Vu received $46,848 from National Institute of Dental & Craniofacial Research for "Membrane Ubiquitin Ligase-Driven Immune Evasion in HPV+ Head and Neck Cancer" (8/16/24 – 8/15/26).
  • Ashlee Vance and Dawn Goldstein received $267,781 from National Institute of Nursing Research for "A Nursing Program for Advancing Training in Health and Social Determinants (N-PATHS)" (7/18/24 – 5/31/27).
  • Mathew Reeves received $4,050 from the University of Alabama at Birmingham for “Advancing the Study of Stroke in Women Through the Integration of Basic, Clinical, and Socioeconomic Perspectives” (09/11/23 – 07/31/24).
  • Kathy Collier received $3,647,960 from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders & Stroke for “Genetic Silencing of Striatal CaV1.3 Calcium Channels as a Potent Antidyskinetic Therapy for PD” (09/30/18 – 05/31/29).
  • Alan Baptist received $952,449 from the National Institute of Nursing Research for “Asthma and Technology in Emerging African American Adults (The ATHENA Project)” (09/01/21 – 05/31/26).
  • Charles Hong received $57,169 from Vanderbilt University for “Mechanism of Wnt signal transduction” (10/01/23 – 03/31/27).
  • Anthony Reffi received $585,968 from the National Institute of Mental Health for “Identifying sleep-related risk factors for PTSD and their underlying mechanisms” (05/15/24 – 04/30/28).
  • Ye Xiong received $2,155,840 from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders & Stroke for “AcSDKP as a novel treatment for traumatic brain injury” (05/01/24 – 02/28/29).
  • Howard Crawford received $3,048,886 from the National Cancer Institute for “Collagen Signaling in Pancreatic Cancer” (05/01/24 – 04/30/29).
  • Evan Reynolds received $745,181 from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases for “Predicting complications of diabetes with longitudinal metabolic trajectories” (04/08/22 – 03/31/27).
  • Nicholas Kanaan received $431,750 from the National Institute on Aging for “Development and Validation of a Novel Anti-Pathogenic Tau Conformation (TNT2) scFv Immuno-Gene Therapy” (05/01/24 – 04/30/26).
  • Charles Hong received $1,955,792 from the National Heart Lung & Blood Institute for “Mechanistic Insights into The Role of Microtubule Organizing Centers on Cardiomyocyte Structure and Function” (06/01/24 – 05/31/27).
  • Christine Neslund-Dudas received $3,477,551 from the National Cancer Institute for “HFH-MSU CSRN ACCrual Enrollment and Screening Site” (02/01/24 – 12/31/27).
  • Qing-Sheng Mi received $3,135,537 from the National Cancer Institute for “VPS72 controls Treg cell stability and adaptation to tumor microenvironment” (09/19/23 – 08/31/28).
  • Quan Jiang received $3,711,548 from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases for “Imaging cerebral waste clearance responses during exosome treatment of diabetes” (04/15/24 – 03/31/29).
  • Michelle Pham received $105,058 from the University of Washington for “Caring for BRAIN pioneers: Understanding and enhancing family and researcher support in neural device trials” (06/01/23 – 05/31/24).
  • Lucas Pozzo-Miller received $437,328 from Augusta University for “The Role of CHD7 in ACC neurons” (12/01/23 – 07/31/27).
  • Xianshuang Liu and Linda Mansfield received $2,249,484 from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases for “Investigating the role of gut extracellular vesicles in diabetic peripheral neuropathy” (03/01/24 – 01/31/28).
  • Charles Hong received $142,027 from the University of Maryland for “GPR68 as a novel modulator of septic lung injury” (08/01/23 – 07/31/24).
  • Susan Buchholz received $180,284 from the University of Texas at El Paso for “Evidence-based intervention to improve walking engagement in El Paso, Texas” (09/15/23 – 03/31/28).
  • Barbara Luke received $593,322 from Baylor College of Medicine for “A US-UK Collaborative Study of the Health of Children Born from In Vitro Fertilization: From Conception Through Young Adulthood” (09/01/23 – 05/31/28).
  • Neera Tewari-Singh received $11,885 from the University of Colorado Denver Health Sciences for “Mast Cell Activation as a Common Mechanism of Pulmonary Toxicity by Chemical Threat Agents” (08/20/23 – 07/31/24).
  • Lucas Pozzo-Miller received $30,988 from Virginia Tech for “TrkB.T1 signaling in astrocytes” (12/01/23 –11/30/25).
  • Bin Gu received $157,000 from the National Cancer Institute for “Developing humanized Nut Carcinoma mouse model for developing NUTM1 targeted therapies” (01/01/24 –12/31/25).
  • Brian Ahmedani received $431,750 from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) for “Implementation Strategies for Suicide Prevention among Youth in Nepal” (12/01/23 – 11/30/25).
  • Joshua Heyza received $249,566 from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences for “Molecular regulation of double-strand break repair by MDC1” (12/01/23 – 1/30/25).
  • Jason Bazil received $61,250 from the University of Nebraska Kearney for “Pyruvate Dehydrogenase Complex Activation as a Strategy to Ameliorate Metabolic Disease” (09/20/23 – 08/31/26).
  • Jean Kerver and Charles Barone received $7,370,097 from the National Institutes of Health, Office of the Director for “Prenatal Exposures and Child Health Outcomes 2: Increasing ECHO Urban and Rural Diversity” (09/01/23 – 05/31/25).
  • Angela Chen received $401,343 from the National Institute of Nursing Research for “Pilot Testing of a Game-Based Intervention to Promote HPV Vaccination in Families with Unvaccinated Children” (08/16/23 – 07/31/25).
  • Cristian Meghea, Steven Ondersma, Jennifer Johnson, Kent Key, and Jaye Clement received $18,494,512 from the National Institutes of Health for “Maternal Health Multilevel Intervention/s for Racial Equity (MIRACLE) Center” (08/17/23 – 07/31/30).
  • Rebecca Knickmeyer-Santelli received $430,375 from the National Institutes of Health for “Does microbiome composition moderate GI and CNS function in a VPA-induced mouse model of autism?” (09/12/23 – 08/31/25).
  • Michael Boivin received $3,484,376 from the National Institutes of Health for “Congolese mother and child mental health in response to early child development interventions” (12/01/23 – 11/30/28).
  • Joseph Patterson received $49,093 from the University of Michigan for “Characterization and targeting of a novel pathway promoting Parkinson's Disease” (08/15/23 – 07/31/24).
  • Omayma Alshaarawy received $2,859,286 from the National Institute on Drug Abuse for “Cannabis use and cardiovascular health outcomes among patients with high blood pressure” (09/15/23 – 07/31/28).
  • Nathan Tykocki and Sara Roccabianca received $2,180,552 from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases for “Bladder Wall Stiffness Drives Sensation of Fullness” (12/01/23 – 11/30/27).
  • Hongsheng Gui received $314,000 from the National Institutes of Health for “Assembly and re-alignment of HLA genomic region and its implication for fine-mapping suicidality in African descent population” (09/06/23 – 08/31/25).
  • Christine Johnson received $18,393,034 from the National Institutes of Health for “All of Us Research Program Trans-America Consortium of the HCSRN” (09/01/23 –08/31/24).
  • Elizabeth Lockhart received $3,729,442 from the National Institutes of Health for “A Multilevel, Multiphase Optimization Strategy for PrEP: Patients and Providers in Primary Care” (09/22/23 – 03/31/28).

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