UH College of Pharmacy secures funding for three major health studies

University of Houston College of Pharmacy researchers have secured more than $1 million in new funding to support three separate studies targeting sepsis, Alzheimer's disease and related dementias, and depression in patients with sickle cell disease.

While the projects address different conditions, each is aimed at improving patient outcomes through new approaches to prevention, diagnosis and treatment.

Assistant professor and Presidential Frontier Faculty member in the Department of Pharmacological and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Fanfei Meng, has developed a promising new nanomedicine for the treatment of sepsis and septic shock-life-threatening conditions that remain among the leading causes of death in hospitals worldwide. His team is now pursuing patent protection for the technology.

Our preliminary studies have been extremely encouraging. The nanoparticle formulation reduced drug toxicity, preserved potent antibacterial activity, broadly suppressed inflammatory signaling, and achieved complete survival in a preclinical model of severe sepsis."