Dr. Shiguang Yu.
Dr. Shiguang Yu, assistant professor of immunology in the Arkansas Biosciences Institute at Arkansas State University, has been awarded a $1.7 million research grant from the National Institutes of Health.
The R01 grant is the most esteemed investigator research award used by NIH and the most prestigious research award.
“This first NIH R01 award to A-State provides further recognition of the quality of our faculty and the research they are able to produce,” Dr. Andy Sustich, vice provost for research and graduate studies, said in a news release. “The R01 grant review is a rigorous process with review by highly regarded scientists and we are very proud of Dr. Yu’s achievement in being awarded this grant.”
This $1.7 million grant, which will be distributed over a five-year period, is designated for Yu to continue to study mechanisms leading to development of autoimmune diseases.
“We are enthusiastic about this project and look forward to start working,” said Yu. “This project will provide more opportunities for undergraduate students and graduate students at A-State to conduct important biomedical research.”
Dr. Jing Chen, is a co-investigator in this project. This is the first-ever R01 award received by ASU. The long-term goal of the research is to find novel therapeutic targets for intervention on autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis.
Approximately 23.5 million people currently suffer from autoimmune diseases and, currently, immunosuppressant treatments for these diseases lead to devastating long-term side effects.
Yu will involve students at ASU in his research to perform cell and molecular biology experiments pertaining to this study. It will provide students the opportunity to learn cutting-edge techniques to help treat in the future autoimmune diseases.
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