Beckwith Institute Awards Research Grants

By: Lea Brown and Kate Irwin

The Beckwith Institute recently awarded grants to UPMC clinicians through the Clinical Transformation Program, which funds the development of breakthroughs and new treatments, tools and processes that will improve health care.

An endowed fund at UPMC since 2012, the Beckwith Institute supports pioneering research that seeks to address some of medicine’s greatest challenges with the priority of accelerating the transfer of new knowledge from the research lab to the bedside.

Three research projects that champion innovation were funded through the Clinical Transformation Program:

  • Dr. Jennifer Holder-Murray of UPMC Hillman Cancer Center was awarded $180,000 to design and carry out a randomized, embedded, multi-factorial, adaptive platform (REMAP) trial to investigate how enhanced recovery protocol pathways can be used to improve the outcomes of patients in perioperative care.
  • Dr. Stephen Emery of UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital of Pittsburgh was awarded $180,000 to advance research on an in-utero shunting procedure to treat fetal aqueductal stenosis, a condition that is a major contributor to infant neurologic morbidity and pregnancy terminations.
  • Dr. Udai Kammula of UPMC Hillman Cancer Center was awarded $180,000 to pursue research on an innovative immunotherapy treatment for patients with certain types of cancers.

Additionally, the Beckwith Institute will separately fund a project for Dr. Steven Evans of UPMC Hillman Cancer Center. He was awarded $50,000 to build a pipeline for recruiting underrepresented minorities into the health care field through immersive summer learning opportunities.

To learn more about The Beckwith Institute, click here.