A Medical Device Daily

Researchers from University Hospitals Case Medical Center and Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine (both Cleveland) have been awarded a $2.4 million grant over five years from the National Eye Institute (NEI) to study corneal infection (keratitis) brought on by disease-causing fungi that can be lurking on contact lenses, in the air, in the dirt, or even on common household surfaces.

They will set their sights on Fusarium solani, the ubiquitous fungus that achieved international notoriety in 2005 and 2006 after an outbreak of corneal infections related to Bausch & Lomb's (Rochester, New York) Complete Moisture Plus contact lens care solution in the U.S.

The researchers will study the body's immune response to Fusarium and other pathogenic fungi, and will identify factors that fuel the infections.

Leading the study are Eric Pearlman, PhD, research director and research professor in the department of ophthalmology and visual sciences, and Mahmoud Ghannoum, PhD, director of the Center for Medical Mycology in the department of dermatology.

"Fusarium solani was already well-known as an important cause of eye infections in warm, humid areas of the U.S., and in southern and southeastern Asia, where this fungus can be picked up from the digging of dirt in agricultural work," Pearlman said. "A couple of years ago, we saw it cause a lot of trouble in contact lens wearers because cleaning solutions weren't able to scrub it away. Once it got into people's eyes, it caused many problems and led to a recall of a cleaning solution."

Earlier this year, this research team published a study that described how fungal cells formed biofilms, highly resistant structures held together with a glue-like matrix material.

"Once they live in that type of state, the cells become resistant to lens solutions and immune to the body's own defense system," said Ghannoum.

In other grants/contracts news:

• The Russell Berrie Foundation (Englewood, New Jersey) has donated $28 million to Columbia University Medical Center and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital (both New York), as part of a focused effort to provide comprehensive care to diabetes patients while working, through concentrated research initiatives, toward a cure, the Medical Center gratefully announced.

This gift continues the Berrie Foundation's commitment to diabetes research and treatment. Spanning 10 years, the foundation's total support exceeds $63 million.

The foundation's $28 million gift will be divided between Columbia University Medical Center and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital.

Columbia University Medical Center's Naomi Berrie Diabetes Center will receive $21 million to fund non-reimbursed clinical care, a new professorship, new pilot research, a continuation of the Berrie Program in Cellular Therapies including an effort to create diabetes-specific embryonic stem cells and the center's endowment.

The gift also will challenge the Berrie Center to raise an additional $25 million in support. NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia will receive $7 million to establish a Diabetes Heart Center of Excellence at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia, focusing on the cardiovascular complications of diabetes.

• Lumera (Bothell, Washington), a developer of photonic communications, said it has been awarded a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Phase I Small Business Innovation Research contract in the amount of $98,933 to design and fabricate polymer devices. Upon successful completion of certain milestones, Lumera could receive a subsequent contract in the range of $750,000.

"It is gratifying to see, by this contract award, DARPA's confidence in our capabilities to develop superior electro-optic polymer materials," said Raluca Dinu, vice president, Lumera's Electro-Optic Business Unit. "The final goal and end product of the contract will be to economically produce high bandwidth, small chip, stable, low voltage, low loss, ultra-linear, hig-EO coefficient polymer directional coupler modulators."

• Dynamics Research (Andover, Massachusetts) said it has been awarded an $849,000 contract by the U.S. Army Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center (TATRC; Fort Detrick, Maryland). The one-year contract will support human patient simulation training for U.S. Army Reserve medical units. DRC will provide a training support package to include performance assessment material and after-action review strategies.

DRC is partnering with the Center for Medical Education & Innovation at Riverside Methodist Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, which will serve as the simulation site.

"DRC understands that the consequences of ineffective team performance in high- stress, high-stakes environments can be loss of life," said James Regan, DRC's chairman/CEO. "DRC is pleased to have the opportunity to extend our unique expertise in military and medical simulation training to support the U.S. Army TATRC's critical mission of improving healthcare for the warfighter on the frontline."

• Encorium Group (Wayne, Pennsylvania), a contract research organization, reported it has been awarded new business contracts with multiple European and U.S. biopharmaceutical companies that have an aggregate value of approximately $2.5 million.

The therapeutic areas included in these awards are infectious diseases, immunology/vaccines, cardiovascular diseases, dermatology, and metabolic disorders. Services to be provided include project management, field monitoring, medical monitoring/writing, and oversight of Independent Data Monitoring Committees.