Page 24 - COMP Magazine - Winter 2018
P. 24
Record $1.5 million NCI NIH grant awarded
By Jeff Malet
College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific Associate Dean of Basic Medical
Nissar A. Darmani, PhD
Sciences Nissar A. Darmani, PhD, has been awarded a record WesternU research
grant of more than $1.5 million to help cancer patients suffering from
chemotherapy-evoked nausea and vomiting.
The five-year grant, from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) arm of the National
Institutes of Health (NIH), is to investigate vomiting signals and crosstalk within
brainstem and gut nerves as well as cells responsible for delayed-phase vomiting
in the course of cancer chemotherapy with cis-platinum.
“The findings of this proposal will not only help patients suffering from the
evoked nausea and vomiting, but will also introduce several new classes of broad-
spectrum antiemetics, which will lower the cost of prevention of nausea and
vomiting in diverse patient communities suffering from cancer, HIV or
gastrointestinal disorders,” Darmani said.
Cancer is the second-leading cause of death globally and was responsible for 8.8
million deaths in 2015. The total annual economic cost of cancer worldwide in
2010 was $1.16 trillion, according to the World Health Organization.
Expenses associated with the prevention of the first and delayed phases of
chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV) are costly, especially inpatient
hospitalizations. Strategies to reduce CINV can help to reduce health care
utilization and costs, according to Burke, T.A., Wisniewski, T. & Ernst, F.R. Support
Care Cancer (2011) 19: 131. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-009-0797-x
“This is wonderful news. Not only has Dr. Darmani been awarded a major NIH
grant, but his work may will bring a long-sought remedy for the stubbornly awful
syndromes of nausea, particularly as often afflict cancer patients,” said WesternU
President Daniel R. Wilson, MD, PhD. “It is noteworthy he has brought in the
largest ‘homegrown’ grant in the history of WesternU, so such an achievement is
all the more impressive in the current NIH era of quite constricted funds.”
Darmani believes his research project earned NIH funding because of its strong
preliminary data, as well as his recent publications deciphering the sequence of
intracellular emetic signals for early-phase cisplatin-evoked vomiting.
Serotonin as the major vomit neurotransmitter for the induction of early-phase
22 The Future of Medicine
By Jeff Malet
College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific Associate Dean of Basic Medical
Nissar A. Darmani, PhD
Sciences Nissar A. Darmani, PhD, has been awarded a record WesternU research
grant of more than $1.5 million to help cancer patients suffering from
chemotherapy-evoked nausea and vomiting.
The five-year grant, from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) arm of the National
Institutes of Health (NIH), is to investigate vomiting signals and crosstalk within
brainstem and gut nerves as well as cells responsible for delayed-phase vomiting
in the course of cancer chemotherapy with cis-platinum.
“The findings of this proposal will not only help patients suffering from the
evoked nausea and vomiting, but will also introduce several new classes of broad-
spectrum antiemetics, which will lower the cost of prevention of nausea and
vomiting in diverse patient communities suffering from cancer, HIV or
gastrointestinal disorders,” Darmani said.
Cancer is the second-leading cause of death globally and was responsible for 8.8
million deaths in 2015. The total annual economic cost of cancer worldwide in
2010 was $1.16 trillion, according to the World Health Organization.
Expenses associated with the prevention of the first and delayed phases of
chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV) are costly, especially inpatient
hospitalizations. Strategies to reduce CINV can help to reduce health care
utilization and costs, according to Burke, T.A., Wisniewski, T. & Ernst, F.R. Support
Care Cancer (2011) 19: 131. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-009-0797-x
“This is wonderful news. Not only has Dr. Darmani been awarded a major NIH
grant, but his work may will bring a long-sought remedy for the stubbornly awful
syndromes of nausea, particularly as often afflict cancer patients,” said WesternU
President Daniel R. Wilson, MD, PhD. “It is noteworthy he has brought in the
largest ‘homegrown’ grant in the history of WesternU, so such an achievement is
all the more impressive in the current NIH era of quite constricted funds.”
Darmani believes his research project earned NIH funding because of its strong
preliminary data, as well as his recent publications deciphering the sequence of
intracellular emetic signals for early-phase cisplatin-evoked vomiting.
Serotonin as the major vomit neurotransmitter for the induction of early-phase
22 The Future of Medicine
