Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine-Baptist Health South Florida Pilot Funds

The FIU Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine and Baptist Health South Florida Research Collaboration Committee provides annual funding for innovative pilot projects to advance our joint research efforts. Each project must include a primary faculty member from Wertheim Medicine and a collaborator from Baptist Health. While there are no restrictions on research topics, projects that align with Baptist Health's clinical institutes and Wertheim Medicine’s Strategic Research Initiatives will receive favorable consideration.

Pilot funding is awarded for a one-year period, with the expectation of generating preliminary data to support future independent grant applications. Details on the next submission cycle will be announced soon.

2024 Pilot Projects Awarded

"Designing a more effective CAR-T cell treatment against diffuse large B cell lymphoma"
Charles Dimitroff, Ph.D., Manmeet Ahluwalia, M.D., & Guenther Koehne, M.D., Ph.D. - $61,000

"Glycoprotein Biomarkers for Early Detection of Oral Cancer"
Kevin Chandler, Ph.D., & Geoffrey Young, M.D., Ph.D. - $70,000

"Advanced Screening of Novel Compounds for Targeting Glioblastoma Stem Cells"
Adel Nefzi, Ph.D., & Yazmin Odia, M.D. - $75,000

"Mapping Meningioma Phosphoproteome and Circular Transcriptome to Patient Outcomes"
Maria Franco, Ph.D., Jose Otero, M.D., Ph.D., & Maria Abreu, Ph.D. - $80,000

"Development of proteasome inhibitors for the treatment of glioblastoma"
Kyung Bo Kim, Ph.D., & Manmeet Ahluwalia, M.D. - $55,000

"Uncovering the Mechanisms of Pain Relief by Peripheral Magnetic Stimulation (PMS)"
Saurabh Aggarwal, M.D., Ph.D., Patricia Junquera, M.D., & Eduardo Icaza, M.D. - $50,000

"Extracellular Vesicles as Circulating Biomarkers of Malignant Neoplasms of the Lung"
David Marciano, Ph.D., Maria Abreu, Ph.D., & Rumaisa Rashid, Ph.D. - $54,000

"Linking Patients' Subjective Cognitive Impairment to the Default Mode Network: Implications for the Development of Dementia"
Patricia Junquera, M.D., & G. Peter Gliebus, M.D. - $35,000