April 28, 2017

Today the Milstein Medical Asian American Partnership (MMAAP) Foundation announced the 2017 Fellowship and Project Awards in Geriatrics (under the Irma and Paul Milstein Program for Senior Health), Dermatology, Hematology, Translational Medicine and Reproductive Medicine. MMAAP Foundation was founded in 2011 to improve world health by developing mutually beneficial partnerships between the U.S. and China, as well as greater Asia.

Each year fellowship and research project grants are awarded in these five medical fields. A Fellowship Award supports a promising investigator in clinical or basic research from China for one-year of training at a distinguished host institution in the U.S. A Project Award supports a research project conducted in China in partnership with a prominent U.S. institution that will potentially produce a measurable effect on healthcare within two years.

Since its inception, MMAAP foundation has awarded over 40 Fellowship and Project grants to support the work of exceptional physician scientists and investigators with the vision, drive and dedication to find new and innovative ways towards advancements in the targeted medical fields. These outstanding award recipients represent more than 20 prestigious Chinese medical institutions including Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Xijing Hospital, the Fourth Military Medical University, Peking University Institute of Hematology, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, and others.

“The visionary leadership of MMAAP Foundation Chairman and Founder, Howard P. Milstein, has brought together and funded exchanges between outstanding researchers, medical talent, and institutions in these regions,” said Sean X. Leng, MD, PhD, President of MMAAP Foundation. “The 2017 recipients are among the most talented investigators in their fields and our support of their work is vital to both furthering medical research and strengthening relations between the U.S. and China.”

Grant applications were evaluated through a two-step peer review process according to the National Institute of Health standard. Panels of Chinese and U.S. experts in their respective fields jointly reviewed all proposals, and finalists were submitted for approval by MMAAP Foundation. The U.S. panels in Geriatrics, Skin Disease, Hematology, Reproductive Medicine, and Translational Medicine include members of the American Geriatrics Society, Medical Advisory Committee of American Skin Association, New York Blood Center, Jones Foundation for Reproductive Medicine, as well as members of other leading U.S. institutions in each field.

The 2017 recipients are:

IRMA AND PAUL MILSTEIN PROGRAM FOR SENIOR HEALTH

2017 Fellowship Award

Fellowship Applicant: Junhong Zhou, PhD

Project Name: Noninvasive modulation of brain network activity to improve balance in aging and Parkinson’s disease

Chinese Institution: Beijing Tiantan Hospital

U.S. Institution: Hebrew Senior Life Institute for Aging Research, Harvard Medical School

2017 Project Award

Project Name: Development of a community-based geriatric palliative home care model in Beijing

Principal Investigator: Xiaohong Liu, MD / Minglei Zhu

Chinese Institution: Peking Union Medical College Hospital

U.S. Institution: Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

MILSTEIN MEDICAL ASIAN AMERICAN PARTNERSHIP FOUNDATION
AWARDS IN CUTANEOUS BIOLOGY AND SKIN DISEASE

2017 Fellowship Award

Fellowship Applicant: Jinfeng Wu, PhD

Project Name: Diclofenac enhances the therapeutic benefit of BRAF inhibitor in BRAF inhibitor-resistant melanoma through ROS/IGF-1R/COX2 signaling

Chinese Institution: Huashan Hospital, Fudan University

U.S. Institution: Massachusetts General Hospital

2017 Project Award

Project Name: Immunologic study of the association of bullous pemphigoid with neurological diseases

Principal Investigator: Li Li, MD, PhD

Chinese Institution: Peking Union Medical College Hospital

U.S. Institution: University of Pennsylvania

MILSTEIN MEDICAL ASIAN AMERICAN PARTNERSHIP FOUNDATION AWARDS IN HEMATOLOGY

2017 Fellowship Award

Fellowship Applicant: Xiaohua Luo, MD, PhD

Project Name: The influence of the CMV immune response on anti-tumor immunity in patients with hematologic malignancies

Chinese Institution: The First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University

U.S. Institution: Stanford University School of Medicine

2017 Project Award

Project Name: Epigenetic regulation and restoring IKAROS functions inantioncogenesis ofhigh-risk leukemia

Principal Investigator: Zheng Ge, PhD

Chinese Institution: Zhongda Hospital, Southeast University

U.S. Institution: Pennsylvania State University

MILSTEIN MEDICAL ASIAN AMERICAN PARTNERSHIP FOUNDATION AWARDS IN TRANSLATIONAL MEDICINE

2017 Fellowship Award

Fellowship Applicant: Nan Shen, MD, PhD

Project Name: Establishing a new connection in translational medicine between the United States and China

Chinese Institution: The First Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University

U.S. Institution: Brigham and Women’s Hospital

2017 Project Award

Project Name: The preclinical research of monoclonal antibody drug treatment for diabetic foot targeting the blood vessels

Principal Investigator: Guoquan Gao, MD, PhD

Chinese Institution: Zhongshan School of Medicine, Sun Yat-sen University

U.S. Institution: University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center

MILSTEIN MEDICAL ASIAN AMERICAN PARTNERSHIP FOUNDATION AWARDS IN REPRODUCTIVE MEDICINE

2017 Fellowship Award

Fellowship Applicant: Xi Xia, MD, PhD

Project Name: H19 lncRNA-mediated regulation of ovarian folliculogenesis, ovarian aging and ovarian hyperstimulation.

Chinese Institution: Peking University Shenzhen Hospital

U.S. Institution: Yale School of Medicine

2017 Project Award

Project Name: The relationship between sERC in human oocytes and embryo development and neonatal outcome

Principal Investigator: Xue Wang, PhD

Chinese Institution: Peking Union Medical College Hospital

U.S. Institution: The Center for Human Reproduction, New York