NIH Award to Advance Rapid, Graphene-based Gene Sequencing: Dr. Drndić

Marija Drndić, a professor in the department of physics & astronomy in the University of Pennsylvania's School of Arts & Sciences, has been awarded a two-year, $880,000 grant for a project aimed at reducing the cost and time of genome sequencing. The grant was made by the National Human Genome Research Institute of the National Institutes of Health. During the past decade, DNA sequencing costs have fallen dramatically, fueled by tools, technologies and process improvements developed by genomics researchers.

Price, however, together with speed and accuracy, are still hurdles in the widespread use of genomics in research and clinical care. The grants, made through the NHGRI's Advanced DNA Sequencing Technology Program and totaling as much as $14.5 million between eight groups, will attempt to address all of these challenges.

Dr. Drndić's approach to gene sequencing involves a process known as DNA translocation through a nanopore. The technique typically involves threading DNA, suspended in an ionic fluid, through a tiny hole in a thin membrane. Each of the four bases of a DNA sequence block different amounts of the aperture as they pass through, thus allowing a different number of ions to pass through along with them. In most nanopore sequencing, researchers attempt to identify bases by reading changes in ion current through the nanopore.

This award will support Dr. Drndić's approach to this process, in which a thin material around the nanopore is proposed to directly sense the bases, potentially enabling an electrical recording of a different signal for each base.

The new grant will specifically support Dr. Drndić's proof-of-principle research on translocation through nanopores in graphene nanoribbons. Graphene is a single-atom-thick lattice of carbon and is the most electrically conductive material yet known, offering potential advantages over nanopores made in other materials, including metals or biological molecules. The high conductivity of graphene could eliminate the need for additional amplification of the electrical signal stemming from the nanopore.

"There is a strong demand for fast and cheap DNA sequencing," Dr. Drndić said. "Graphene's electrical properties mean that we may be able to read out signals from the bases from the graphene nanoribbon as DNA molecules in solution go through the pore, rather than from ionic current. This means that we may not need to slow down the DNA to make an accurate reading. This project will build the fundamental understanding behind processes governing DNA interactions with graphene nanoribbons."

Dr. Drndić's research is also made possible by Penn's Krishna P. Singh Center for Nanotechnology, which contains the transmission electron microscopes and cleanroom facilities necessary to work with graphene nanoribbons.

Doris Duke Grant: Dr. Lee

Edward B. Lee, an assistant professor of pathology and laboratory medicine in the Perelman School of Medicine, has received a three-year Clinical Scientist Development Award (CSDA) for $486,000 from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation to support his research in frontotemporal lobar degeneration and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

Dr. Lee heads the Translational Neuropathology Research Laboratory, which aims to understand the root causes of neurodegenerative diseases to develop specific disease-modifying therapies. The lab employs an interdisciplinary approach to address the mechanisms of neurodegeneration, using and developing such cutting-edge techniques as high-resolution, multi-spectral, 3-dimensional confocal imaging and next-generation sequencing.

This award will allow Dr. Lee to study a mutation in the C9orf72 gene, the most common genetic cause of frontotemporal degeneration and ALS. With collaborators at the Center for Neurodegenerative Disease Research, the ALS Center at Pennsylvania Hospital and the PENN FTD Center, Dr. Lee will determine how epigenetic modifications of C9orf72 affect disease pathogenesis.  

The CSDA funds physician-scientists who are forming their own research teams and allows them to dedicate 75 percent of their professional time to clinical research. Since 1998, the Doris Duke Foundation has awarded 235 CSDAs, with 17 recipients this year.

Top Nurse Practitioner: Dr. O’Sullivan

Ann L. O’Sullivan, Dr. Hildagarde Reynolds Endowed Term Professor of Primary Care Nursing, has been named one of the top 25 professors of nurse practitioner programs by NursePractitionerSchools.com (NPS). Dr. O’Sullivan is a nationally known and an internationally consulted expert on working with teen mothers, particularly those under 17 years of age. Her 30 years of experience as a practicing Pediatric Nurse Practitioner have helped her develop a Primary Care Program that combines academic skill and research with real life application. She has attained a reputation as a teacher of impact and lasting influence that is attested to by both students and colleagues.

NWSA Award: Ms. Salters

Jasmine Salters, a doctoral student in Penn’s  Annenberg School for Communication, has received the National Women’s Studies Association (NWSA) Women of Color Caucus–Frontiers Award for her essay, “Trans-ing The Wreck: Constructing a Trans Hip-Hop Feminist Lens.” The award, according to the NWSA, is designed to “discover, encourage and promote the intellectual development of emerging scholars who engage in critical theoretical discussions and/or analyses about feminist/womanist issues concerning women and girls of color in the United States and the diaspora.” Only four of these awards are presented each year. Ms. Salters will receive the award during the NWSA annual conference in November

Grant to Penn Nursing for the Future of Nursing Scholars Program

University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing is one of only 14 schools of nursing nationwide to be among the first to receive a grant from a new Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) program to increase the number of nurses holding PhDs. As an inaugural grantee of the Future of Nursing Scholars program, Penn Nursing will select two nursing students to receive financial support, mentoring and leadership development over the three years of their PhD programs.

The Future of Nursing Scholars program is a multi-funder initiative. In addition to RWJF, United Health Foundation, Independence Blue Cross Foundation, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center  and the Rhode Island Foundation are supporting the Future of Nursing Scholars grants to schools of nursing this year. The Future of Nursing Scholars program plans to support up to 100 PhD nursing candidates over its first two years.

Penn Nursing received its grant from Independence Blue Cross Foundation and has welcomed the first cohort of the Future of Nursing Scholars program. “We are honored that the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing was selected as a recipient of the first Robert Wood Johnson Foundation: Future of Nursing Scholars grants. We are committed to developing PhD prepared nurse scientists who will address the unique challenges in our society and become the future intellectual leaders, innovators and transformative change agents in nursing science,” said Dr. Connie Ulrich, associate professor of bioethics and nursing and graduate group chair of PhD Studies.

In its landmark nursing report, the Institute of Medicine recommended that the country double the number of nurses with doctorates; doing so will support more nurse leaders, promote nurse-led science and discovery and put more educators in place to prepare the next generation of nurses.

RWJF is working through all its programs to build a Culture of Health that enables all people to lead healthy lives, now and for generations to come.

“We cannot build a Culture of Health without many more highly educated nurse leaders,” said Dr. Julie Fairman, Future of Nursing Scholars program co-director. “PhD-prepared nurses are leaders in research, innovation, policy and education. The alumni of the Future of Nursing Scholars program will be among the nurse leaders who pioneer the groundbreaking research that provides solutions to our most pressing health problems, and they will educate thousands of nurses over the course of their careers. We are creating the next generation of change-makers.” Dr.  Fairman is also the Nightingale Professor of Nursing and director of the Barbara Bates Center for the Study of the History of Nursing at the School of Nursing.

Fewer than 30,000 (or 1%) of the nation’s more than three million nurses have doctoral degrees in nursing or a related field.  While enrollment in doctor of nursing practice (DNP) programs has risen dramatically over the past few years, enrollment in PhD programs has been flat. In addition, the average age at which nurses get their PhDs in the US is 46—13 years older than PhD earners in other fields. This program will provide an incentive for nurses to start PhD programs earlier, so that they can have long leadership careers after earning their PhDs.

“This is a crucial and ambitious endeavor,” said Dr. Susan Hassmiller, co-director of the program and RWJF’s senior adviser for nursing. “It’s one that everyone in our country should be engaged in and that’s why the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is inviting other funders to participate in this effort. We believe that working together, we can ensure that we are able to educate the PhD-prepared nurse leaders we need to shape the future of health care education, research and policy.”