$18.5 million in grants to fund study of stress, healing

The National Institutes of Health has awarded more than $18.5 million to a group of Ohio State faculty to study how stress and aging alter the speed by which wounds heal. The two grants combined represent one of the largest federal awards ever given to University researchers here.

The two projects, each running for five years, represent the latest in more than a decade of study into the relationship that stress has on human health and immunity. Work on both grants will be centered in the University's Institute for Behavioral Medicine Research.

Ron Glaser, professor of molecular virology, immunology and medical genetics and director of the institute, will head efforts under both grants. At least 14 faculty from eight departments in four colleges at Ohio State are working with Glaser on the project.

"This is an outstanding recognition of the expertise of the faculty we have working in this area," Glaser said. "These two grants will allow us to build on our current strong record of research and hopefully apply our findings to improving the health of all Americans."

Glaser and his colleagues work in a field called psychoneuroimmunology - PNI for short- which centers on the effects stress and emotional states have on the human immune system.

Recent work has focused on how increased stress can slow the process of wound healing by as much as 40 percent. And that slowing of wound healing can be a serious problem for patients recovering from surgery.

"I'm tremendously excited about these new awards from the NIH," said Daniel Sedmak, interim dean of the College of Medicine and Public Health. "They provide great support for the institute and clearly make this University, this institute and this college one of the top five research centers in the country, if not the world, in the field of mind-body research.

"We're incredibly supportive of this initiative and deeply appreciate that Dr. Glaser and his colleagues have developed this this effort from a basic research idea to one of the largest funded research programs at the University."

The first of the grants, made by NIH's Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research and totaling $9,992,377, will fund the creation of the new Center for Stress and Wound Healing to be located in the OSU institute. The first year's award is for $1.9 million.

The second grant, amounting to $8,508,869, was provided by the National Institute of Aging and will focus on the relationships between stress, aging and wound healing.

Researchers know that as humans age, their immune systems weaken. This project is aimed at better understanding that effect and testing methods of reducing immune loss. The first year's award totals $1.7 million.

U.S. Rep. Deborah Pryce, R-Ohio, 15th district, said upon learning of the two NIH grant awards, "As a graduate of The Ohio State University and a lifelong Buckeye, I applaud the school and its stellar immunology department on this most impressive award. The two NIH grants, totaling more than $18 million, will enable Ohio State to continue its efforts to better understand the relationship between stress and wound healing. I commend the efforts of Director Ron Glaser and his extraordinary research team for bringing yet another honor to this already distinguished institution."

President Kirwan said, "This new research initiative meshes wonderfully with our principal institutional goals, specifically at maintaining and improving our level of academic excellence.

"In addition to the important research that will be done, it also will offer our students insight into the best science imaginable, which can only enhance their educational experience."

Both grants came after lengthy reviews by NIH experts. The center grant was one of five such awards given by NIH to establish centers to study mind-body interactions and health. Other awards went to the universities of Pittsburgh, Michigan, Wisconsin and Miami.

Congress had mandated that the NIH create a new initiative to support mind-body research.

Four primary projects are planned for Ohio State's center grant.

Janice Kiecolt-Glaser, professor of psychology and psychiatry, will head two studies intended to test whether people who undergo relaxation sessions will heal more quickly than those not using the relaxation techniques. Such intervention studies are important to test if the negative effects of stress may be intentionally counteracted.

Philip Marucha, associate professor of periodontology and molecular virology, immunology and medical genetics, will lead a study looking at the role the inflammatory process plays in wound healing, and if loneliness, depression and anxiety affect the speed of wound healing.

John Sheridan, professor of oral biology and molecular virology, immunology and medical genetics, will use an animal model to study how stress impacts the levels of certain hormones necessary for the wound healing process.

And Caroline Whitacre, professor and chair of molecular virology, immunology and medical genetics, will examine whether physical and psychological stress can delay or halt the wound healing process in spinal cord injuries.

Kiecolt-Glaser, Marucha and Sheridan will each have related projects funded by the second, NIA grant.

Ohio State's PNI program has operated a long-standing mentorship program training postdoctoral fellows and graduate students for research in this field. The center grant will allow the institute to enhance that effort, improving the educational experience for future researchers.

Current research projects under way this year at the Institute of Behavioral Medicine Research total more than $4.5 million. Active grants now total more than $47 million, Glaser said.

Also working on research supported by the grants are William Malarkey, professor of internal medicine; Bradford Stokes, professor of physiology; Gary Berntson, Robert MacCallum and John Cacioppo (on leave to the University of Chicago), all professors of psychology; Carl Allen, professor of oral pathology; David Padgett, Firdaus Dhabhar and Ning Quan, all assistant professors of oral biology; and Phillip Popovich, assistant professor of molecular virology, immunology and medical genetics.

180 faculty, staff participate in local tutoring program

More than 180 Ohio State faculty and staff members have volunteered to be either permanent or substitute tutors in the Columbus Public Schools, spending one hour each week with kindergartners as mentors in the ColumbusReads program.

"We are very pleased with the number of faculty and staff members who have shown interest in becoming tutors for the ColumbusReads program," said Tina Love, director of special projects for the Office of Student Affairs. Love is coordinating Ohio State's participation in the program with David Williams II, vice president for student and urban/community affairs.

"We had more people volunteer than the number of kindergartners at Hubbard and East Linden elementary schools combined. To help us even things out, many of the volunteers have agreed to become substitute tutors for this semester."

By Jo McCulty

Principals Lillian Richardson, left, of East Linden Elementary, and Linda Strong of Hubbard Elementary thank Ohio State volunteers at the ColumbusReads kickoff Oct. 11 in the Ohio Union.

Ohio State held a kickoff and training session for volunteers at the Ohio Union on Oct. 11.

During each session, tutors will take a student through three sections: a language arts activity; shapes, letters and sounds; and skill reinforcement.

Hubbard Elementary School Principal Linda Strong talked with tutors who will volunteer at her school, who include Ohio State President Kirwan and his wife Patty. Strong stressed that by volunteering, tutors will make a difference "one student at a time."

"You may not see a change right away, but it will happen," she said.

ColumbusReads was started last year by Les Wexner, chairman and CEO of The Limited Inc., at the request of Columbus Public School Superintendent Rosa Smith. Wexner recruited 400 employees to tutor 225 kindergartners attending three schools during the 1998-99 academic year.

Ohio State volunteers began tutoring Tuesday at Hubbard Elementary School, 104 W. Hubbard Ave., and East Linden Elementary School, 2500 Perdue Ave.

Kirwan praised participants during the kickoff event.

"This is a very important initiative," Kirwan said. "The great response we have had from the Ohio State community is yet another sign of how deeply the faculty and staff of this University care about the well-being of our neighbors and of all the people we serve.

"This is outreach and engagement in the finest sense of the term."

Ohio State Charitable Drive kicks off with $670,000 goal

In the field of health and human services, there isn't much the agencies supported by the Ohio State Community Charitable Drive don't do. They care for the elderly, educate youth, fight domestic violence, educate the public about disease, prevent and treat alcohol and drug abuse, and improve neighborhoods.

"When we have things that happen in the community, then each of us suffers," said Carole Anderson, dean of the College of Nursing and chair of the 1999 Community Charitable Drive. "It's hard for me to believe that no one in the University community hasn't been touched by the problems these agencies address."

This year's drive will kick off Nov. 1 and run through Dec. 10. The goal, set at $670,000, is 3 percent more than the $651,000 raised last year.

Ohio State faculty and staff will be asked to contribute to eight federations that help Central Ohioans. The drive, formerly known as the United Way Campaign, was expanded in 1997 to include seven other federations in addition to United Way of Franklin County.

"That change came about as a result of a number of faculty and staff writing and asking that the charitable effort be expanded to include other federations and agencies they were personally involved in," said Ned Cullom, coordinator of special events for the Office of Human Resources. "The administration chose to expand our community fund-raising effort, focusing on Central Ohio health and human services providers."

The eight federations represented this year include Greater Columbus Community Shares; The United Negro College Fund; Community Health Charities (formerly National Voluntary Health Agencies); the Black United Fund of Central Ohio; and United Way of Delaware, Fairfield, Franklin and Union counties. Each group serves as an umbrella organization for several independent member agencies representing a wide range of health and human services.

Anderson encouraged faculty and staff to share their good fortune. "We're lucky to be a part of the University and its mission of educating young people," she said. "We're also very fortunate that there's a high rate of job security at the University. That makes us have some obligation to people less fortunate than ourselves. We want 100 percent participation and want to be a model for this community."

Tony Tripodi, dean of the College of Social Work, is Anderson's campaign co-chair.

A donor guide lists all eligible organizations and their member agencies. They are available from fund-raising coordinators in every department and college throughout campus.

Donors also have the option of designating funds to other tax-exempt health and human service agencies.

Pledge cards and donor guides will be available from designated coordinators in all departments and units on campus. For more information, call 292-0641 or contact your coordinator.

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