OAKLAND, Calif., Aug. 4 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Kenneth Rainin Foundation announced today the recipients of its 2010 Innovator Awards Program for Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD).  Each team of investigators will receive a $100K one-year grant in support of their respective innovative research projects. 

The 2010 Innovator Awards Program recipients are:

Andrew S. Neish, M.D., Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, and Julie A. Champion, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, for their research project entitled "Bioengineering Bacterially Derived Immunomodulants: A Novel Therapeutic Approach to IBD"

Dan Peer, Ph.D., Tel Aviv University, Israel and Eran Elinav, M.D., Ph.D., Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Israel, for their research project entitled "Harnessing Immuno-nanotechnology for Therapy of Inflammatory Bowel Disease"

"The Foundation received a tremendous response to its inaugural Innovator Awards Program during its February-March 2010 application timeframe," said Jen Rainin, president of the Kenneth Rainin Foundation.  "Our Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) carefully reviewed each application and based on their input, the Foundation's Board of Directors approved the funding of these two outstanding and innovative projects.  To receive such an enthusiastic response from the scientific community -- over 100 applications -- in the first year of our program bodes well for the future of the Innovator Awards Program and the acceleration of IBD research. We are very optimistic that breakthrough discoveries are on the horizon that will improve the quality of life for those suffering from IBD."  

About the Innovator Awards Program for IBD Research

The goal of the Innovator Awards Program is to reach out to all scientific disciplines from any non-profit research institution worldwide as a means to attract innovative researchers and encourage integrative cooperation across all disciplines in an effort to accomplish the Foundation's mission of no one suffering from IBD.  

The Program's key components for funding consideration include innovation, collaboration, scientific merit and a high potential for success as well as funding projects that, due to their innovative nature, may not be eligible for funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) or other more traditional sources.  

Details of the Foundation's 2011 Innovator Awards Program will be announced in the fall of 2010.  Please visit our website www.KRFoundation.org for updates.

About Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a group of inflammatory conditions of the gastrointestinal tract.  The main forms of IBD are Crohn's Disease and ulcerative colitis. Symptoms include pain, bleeding and debilitation. Current therapeutic options for patients are largely limited to the use of anti-inflammatory steroids applied either systemically or locally for the treatment of the symptoms. Removal of the colon is the only cure at this time. Approximately five million people worldwide suffer from some form of IBD.

About the Foundation

The Kenneth Rainin Foundation (www.KRFoundation.org/) is a private family foundation that funds inspiring and world-changing work.  We are dedicated to supporting effective early childhood literacy programs, enabling inspiration through the arts and creating opportunities for novel approaches and alternative treatment options for those with chronic disease.

The Scientific Advisory Board members are Averil Ma, M.D., Chair of the SAB and Kenneth Rainin Distinguished Professor of Medicine, Director, Colitis and Crohn's Disease Center, UCSF; Ruslan Medzhitov, Ph.D., David W. Wallace Professor of Immunobiology, Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Yale University School of Medicine; Dan Littman, M.D., Ph.D., Helen L. and Martin S. Kimmel Professor of Molecular Immunology and Professor of Pathology and Microbiology, Skirball Institute Program of Molecular Pathogenesis, NYU Langone Medical Center; and Claudio Fiocchi, M.D., The Clifford and Jane Anthony Chair for Digestive Disease Research and Education, Department of Pathobiology, Lerner Research Institute at Cleveland Clinic.

SOURCE The Kenneth Rainin Foundation

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http://www.KRFoundation.org/