NIH awards $2.8M to Rice, Baylor College of Medicine for research on acute respiratory distress syndrome

HOUSTON, Sept. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Rice University and Baylor College of Medicine have received $2.8 million in funding from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), a division of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), for research on reducing inflammation and lung damage in acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) patients.

The study, titled "Cell Based Immunomodulation to Suppress Lung Inflammation and Promote Repair," will be co-led by Omid Veiseh, a professor of bioengineering and faculty director of the Rice Biotech Launch Pad, and Ravi Kiran Ghanta, a professor of surgery at Baylor. Veiseh and Ghanta are developing a new translational cell therapy platform that allows better local administration of cytokines to the lungs in order to suppress inflammation and potentially prevent lung damage in ARDS patients.

ARDS affects over 300,000 Americans annually, with a high mortality rate of 43% driven significantly by inflammation, specifically in the one-third of patients with hyperinflammatory ARDS. While cytokines like IL-1Ra and IL-10 can reduce inflammation and aid lung repair, current delivery methods cause poor biodistribution, toxicity and immune complications.

The new approach developed by Ghanta and Veiseh overcomes these issues by using engineered retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells to locally and sustainably produce these cytokines in the lungs. The cells are encapsulated in a protective layer allowing them to subsist immune system attacks. This method allows precise, targeted anti-inflammatory therapy, reducing lung damage and improving ARDS outcomes while side-stepping the risks of systemic delivery.

"ARDS is a devastating condition that affects hundreds of thousands of Americans every year, with inflammation driving long-term respiratory failure and high mortality rate in many of its patients," said Ghanta. "Current cytokine therapies face major obstacles in terms of delivery and safety, which is why our team is developing a novel cell therapy platform to safely conduct local delivery to the lungs.

"Our approach harnesses engineered RPE cells to act as localized cytokine 'factories,' delivering anti-inflammatory agents directly to the lungs. This technology represents a critical advancement in addressing inflammation and lung damage in ARDS, with the potential to significantly improve patient outcomes."

"We are grateful to the NHLBI for this funding, as it certifies the importance of finding safer ways to treat inflammation and ultimately treat ARDS patients," Veiseh said. "Thanks to the collaborative work between Rice and Baylor, we will be able to ultimately create new cell therapy systems that ameliorate lung health and increase survival rates for people suffering from ARDS. "This study highlights the spirit of collaboration characteristic of the Rice ecosystem and demonstrates the launch pad's commitment to generating groundbreaking technologies that ultimately reach the clinic and make a positive impact on patients' lives."

This news release can be found online at news.rice.edu.

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About the award:

Project Title: "Cell Based Immunomodulation to Suppress Lung Inflammation and Promote Repair"

URL: https://reporter.nih.gov/search/IukozIbU_0eBpA8HUDsahQ/project-details/10940864

About Rice:

Located on a 300-acre forested campus in Houston, Rice University is consistently ranked among the nation's top 20 universities by U.S. News & World Report. Rice has highly respected schools of architecture, business, continuing studies, engineering, humanities, music, natural sciences and social sciences and is home to the Baker Institute for Public Policy. With 4,574 undergraduates and 3,982 graduate students, Rice's undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio is just under 6-to-1. Its residential college system builds close-knit communities and lifelong friendships, just one reason why Rice is ranked No. 1 for lots of race/class interaction, No. 2 for best-run colleges and No. 12 for quality of life by the Princeton Review. Rice is also rated as a best value among private universities by Kiplinger's Personal Finance. 

About the Rice Biotech Launch Pad: 

The Rice Biotech Launch Pad is a Houston-based accelerator focused on expediting the translation of Rice University's health and medical technology discoveries into cures. This initiative is designed to help advance internally discovered platform technologies from concept to clinical studies and commercialization. The Rice Biotech Launch Pad will identify and support highly differentiated projects while driving the expansion of Houston as a world-class medical innovation ecosystem. The accelerator will bring together local researchers with a network of industry executives. Rice's bioengineering department is a world-renowned institution that is currently ranked in the top 10 universities for its bioengineering programs by U.S. News & World Report. Its faculty is highly distinguished, having received awards and distinctions from institutions including the National Academy of Engineering, National Academy of Sciences and MacArthur Foundation. For more information, please visit https://biotechlaunchpad.rice.edu/.

About the Baylor College of Medicine: 

Baylor College of Medicine (www.bcm.edu) in Houston is recognized as a health sciences university and is known for excellence in education, research and patient care. Baylor is a top-ranked medical school and listed 20^th among all U.S. medical schools for National Institutes of Health funding and No. 1 in Texas. Located in the Texas Medical Center, Baylor has affiliations with seven teaching hospitals and jointly owns and operates Baylor St. Luke's Medical Center, part of St. Luke's Health. Currently, Baylor has more than 3,000 trainees in medical, graduate, nurse anesthesia, physician assistant, orthotics and genetic counseling as well as residents and postdoctoral fellows. Follow Baylor College of Medicine on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/BaylorCollegeOfMedicine) and Twitter (http://twitter.com/BCMHouston).

Chris Stipes
713-348-6778
[email protected]

Silvia Cernea Clark
713-348-6728
[email protected]

SOURCE Rice University