Milstein Medical Asian American Partnership Foundation (MMAAP Foundation) Announces 2014 Fellowship and Project Awards in Geriatrics, Dermatology and Hematology

NEW YORK, May 20, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- As part of its mission to bring together leading research and medical talent and institutions from the US and Asia, the Milstein Medical Asian American Partnership Foundation ("MMAAP Foundation") today announces that it has made its 2014 Fellowship and Project Awards in Geriatrics (under the Irma and Paul Milstein Program for Senior Health), Dermatology and Hematology.  

The MMAAP Foundation, established in 2011 with the aim of facilitating exchanges and collaborations among the leading medical talents in the US and China, as well as Great Asia, has previously supported several outstanding Chinese researchers in Geriatrics and Dermatology. The Foundation's funding areas were expanded to include Hematology in 2014 and will include Translational Medicine in 2015. A number of Fellowships and Research Projects are awarded in the above areas each year. The Fellowship award supports one-year training for a promising investigator in clinical or basic research in the US at a distinguished partner institution. The Project Award supports a research project  conducted in China in partnership with a prominent US institution that will  potentially produce measurable effect on health within 2 years. The MMAAP Foundation may support other disciplines of research and make funding available to investigators from other regions of Asia in the future.

"Since its inception, our foundation has been dedicated to furthering quality medical research in a wide range of areas. Our impact has strengthened with the addition of Hematology and will continue to do so with future expansions," said Howard P. Milstein, Chairman of the MMAAP Foundation. "Advancing medical research and strengthening relations between the US and Asia are two important priorities as we continue into the 21st century, and our Foundation will continue to commit our efforts to these noble goals."

Grant applications were evaluated through a strict two-step peer review process according to the National Institutes of Health standards. All proposals were jointly reviewed by Chinese and US experts in each field.  The highest-ranked applications, selected by the Chinese panels, were then reviewed by a panel of experts in the US with the finalists submitted for approval by the MMAAP Foundation. The US panels in Geriatrics, Dermatology and Hematology include members of the American Geriatrics Society, Medical Advisory Committee of American Skin Association and the New York Blood Center, respectively, as well as members of other leading US institutions in each field.

For more information on the MMAAP Foundation, please visit www.mmaapf.org.

Awardees

2014 Irma and Paul Milstein Program for Senior Health Awards

Fellowship Awards

Project Name: CD163/TWEAK and the syndrome of frailty in the elderly
Fellowship Applicant: Min Ouyang, MD, MS
Institution: Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University
US Institution: Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

Project Name: Role and mechanisms of CacyBP/SIP-mediated molecular pathways in cellular senescence and tumor suppression 
Fellowship Applicant: Xiaoxuan Ning, MD, PhD
Institution: Xijing Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University 
US Institution: Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

Project Name: Role of Interleukin 22 (IL-22) in aging liver and its potential therapeutic intervention on reduced aging liver regeneration
Fellowship Applicant: Shi Yin, MD, PhD
Institution: Anhui Provincial Hospital
US Institution: Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

Research Project Award

Project Name: A perioperative multidisciplinary intervention to prevent postoperative delirium in elderly patients 
Institution: West China Hospital, Sichuan University                                   
PI: Jirong Yue, MD
US Institution: Institute for Aging Research, Hebrew Senior Life 

2014 Milstein Medical Asian American Partnership Foundation Awards in Skin Disease

Fellowship Award

Project Name: The role of macrophages polarization in the immune responses of the host struggling against Mycobacterium leprae infection 
Fellowship Applicant: Hongsheng Wang, MD, PhD
Institution: Institute of Dermatology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences
US Institution: David Geffen School of Medicine at University of California, Los Angeles

Research Project Award

Project Name: The mechanisms of epicutaneous allergen sensitization in atopic dermatitis: A China and U.S. collaboration
Institution: Institute of Dermatology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences            
PI: Xu Yao, MD
US Institution: Department of Medicine and Pediatrics, Yale University School of Medicine

2014 Milstein Medical Asian American Partnership Foundation Awards in Hematology

Fellowship Award

Project Name: Developing small-molecule inhibitors targeting AML1-ETO and E proteins interactions 
Fellowship Applicant: Chuanxu Liu, MD
Institution: Xin Hua Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai JiaoTong University School of Medicine
US Institution: David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT

Research Project Award

Project Name: Mechanism of the effects of donor specific HLA antibody on poor graft function after unmanipulated haploidentical blood and marrow transplantation 
Institution: Peking University Institute of Hematology                                
PI: Yingjun Chang, PhD
US Institution: Terasaki Foundation Lab

About the Milstein Medical Asian American Partnership Foundation
(MMAAP Foundation)

The mission of the Milstein Medical Asian American Partnership Foundation (MMAAP Foundation) is to improve world health by developing mutually beneficial partnerships between the US and China, as well as greater Asia. Working with some of the premier health organizations in the world, the MMAAP Foundation brings together and funds exchanges among the best research, medical talent, and institutions in the regions. This strategy is a high priority for the MMAAP Foundation's founders, Howard P. Milstein and the Paul Milstein Family. The MMAAP Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.

For more than 50 years, the Milstein family has been actively involved in health-related and medical philanthropy. The MMAAP Foundation builds upon this distinguished history in five areas: Senior Healthcare, Skin Disease and Melanoma, Reproductive Biology, Blood Research, and Translational Medicine.

The MMAAP Foundation works in close collaboration with other medical organizations supported by the Milstein family, including American Skin Association, the Milstein Melanoma Research Program at the Rockefeller University, the Howard and Georgeanna Jones Foundation for Reproductive Medicine, New York Blood Center, and the Program for Translational Chemical Biology at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center. For more information, please visit MMAAP Foundation's website at www.mmaapf.org.

SOURCE Milstein Medical Asian American Partnership Foundation