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The Department of Surgery received two separate NIH R01 grants in December, 2018.


The Department of Surgery received two separate NIH R01 grants in December, 2018. The first was awarded to Bruce Cairns, MD, and Robert Maile, PhD, from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) for their project entitled, “Damage-Induced Activation of the TLR/mTOR/PPARg Axis Regulates the Immune Response After Burn and Inhalation Injury”, in the amount of $1,465,736 from December 15, 2018, to November 30, 2022. Dr. Bruce Cairns is Chief of the Division of Burn Surgery, Director, North Carolina Jaycee Burn Center and the John Stackhouse Distinguished Professor of Surgery. Dr. Robert Maile is Associate Professor of Surgery also in the Division of Burn Surgery.

Dr. Robert Maile
Dr. Robert Maile
Dr. Bruce Cairns
Dr. Bruce Cairns

The second was awarded to Melina Kibbe, MD, by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHBLI) for her project entitled, “A Novel Endovascular Approach to Remove Atherosclerotic Plaque Lesions in Situ”, in the amount of $2,906,389 from January 1, 2019 to December 31, 2022. Dr. Melina Kibbe is the Colin G. Thomas Jr. Distinguished Professor and Chair of the Department of Surgery.

“Dr. Maile and I have been collaborating for almost twenty years now and we are very proud of multi-Primary Investigator translational approach we have taken to addressing difficult problems in burn patients. We believe this award is a huge validation of that approach” Dr. Cairns said. “In addition, Dr. Kibbe’s support as Chair and her own success as an independent investigator has been inspirational and a major contributor to our success. For the Department of Surgery to receive two new R01a at the same time is huge”, Cairns said.

“I’m very proud of Dr. Cairns and Maile for receiving their new NIH R01 award, as well as the other investigators in our Department who currently have NIH R01 fund research programs, including Jen Jen Yeh, MD, Vice Chair of Research and Professor of Surgical Oncology, and John Ikonomidis, MD, Division Chief and Professor Cardiothoracic Surgery”, Dr. Kibbe said.

“We have a number of amazing academic faculty in our Department and as Chair I see part of my job is to support their research efforts while I continue to engage in these efforts as well. It is all part of our strategic plan to become the leading public academic department of surgery in the nation.”