NASHVILLE, Tenn. Ivy Zalaya, a student at Meharry Medical College, was recently announced as one of the 2015 Doris Duke Charitable Foundation Clinical Research Mentorship grant recipients. She is the first Meharry student to receive the grant.
Zalaya and mentor Michael DeBaun, MD, MPH, Professor of Pediatrics and Medicine, Vanderbilt School of Medicine conducted the study “Inhaled Corticosteroid Use to Prevent Acute Chest Syndrome Recurrence in Children Between One and Four with Sickle Cell Disease: A Multi-Institutional Trial.” They hoped to determine whether inhaled corticosteriods given daily for six months can prevent future severe complications that require hospitalization. This trial includes participants from DC Children's Hospital, Emory Children's Hospital and University of Mississippi.
Zalaya will be the study coordinator for this trial, and she will work in the laboratory of Dr. Wonder Drake, Associate Professor of Medicine at Vanderbilt. In Dr. Drake's laboratory, Zalaya will study whether inhaled corticosteroids alter the immune system in the study participants, DeBaun explained.
DeBaun, a professor and Vice-Chair for Clinical Research at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and the Director of the Vanderbilt-Meharry Center for Excellence in Sickle Cell Disease, said Zayala has worked with his team for over a year and become an integral part of its research. “Her focus is on understanding the contribution of lung disease to sickle cell disease-related mortality,” he said. “The project she is working on has both a clinical component and a translational research component.
“We’re excited about her working with the team and look forward to the result of her research year.”
About the Meharry-Vanderbilt Alliance
Founded in 1999, the Alliance bridges the institutions of Meharry Medical College and Vanderbilt University. Its mission is to enrich learning and advance clinical research by developing and supporting mutually beneficial partnerships between Meharry Medical College, Vanderbilt University and the communities they serve.
About the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation
Established in 1996, the foundation supports four national grant-making programs. It also supports three properties that were owned by Doris Duke in Hillsborough, New Jersey; Honolulu, Hawaii; and Newport, Rhode Island. The foundation is headquartered in New York and is governed by a board of 12 Trustees. - See more at: http://www.ddcf.org/About-Us/#sthash.wq4TAR3E.dpuf
