SLU Professor Receives $2.2 Million NIH Grant to Understand How Inflammation Causes Stomach Cancer
Dr. Rich DiPaolo, a professor and interim chair in the Saint Louis University Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology (MMI), is the principal investigator on a $2.2 million grant recently awarded by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.
The four-year grant will support research to identify how inflammation causes stomach cancer.
Stomach cancer is a leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide, and is often diagnosed at late stages because of vague symptoms and an inability to screen and identify individuals at high risk of developing the cancer. Findings from this study are expected to generate a better understanding of the inflammatory signals that induce cells in the stomach to transform into cancer. The results may lead to better screening, prevention and treatments for this deadly disease.
This project will support the training of Ph.D. and M.D./Ph.D. students at SLU to utilize new cutting-edge technologies such as single-cell RNA sequencing and spatial transcriptomics that have been recently developed at SLU SOM.
The project is also related to a recent NIH F30 training grant awarded to M.D./Ph.D. candidate, Stella Hoft, who is mentored by Dr. DiPaolo.