# BLRD Research Career Scientist Award Application

> **NIH VA IK6** · VETERANS HEALTH ADMINISTRATION · 2024 · —

## Abstract

This application is for a competitive renewal of the SRCS program of Dr. Hamid M. Said.
Dr. Said’s program focuses on studying: i) cellular/molecular mechanisms involved in the
absorption/transport of water-soluble vitamins (Vit. B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B7, B9 and C) in organ of
the digestive system (small intestine, colon, pancreas) under normal physiological conditions; ii)
how these processes are regulated at the cellular, molecular and genetic/epigenetic levels; iii) how
internal and external/environmental factors and disease conditions affect these processes leading
to deficiencies; and iv) how genetic mutations in the transporters involved lead to impairment in the
function of these transporters and development of systemic and/or localized (tissue-specific)
deficiencies. Water-soluble vitamins are essential micronutrients for normal human health and well-
being, and their deficiencies (whether systemic or localized) lead to a host of serious clinical
abnormalities that range from anemia to neurological, cardiovascular and dermatological disorders
as well as growth retardation, among many others. The incidences of deficiency/sub-optimal levels
of water-soluble vitamins are common in our Veterans as well as in the general population, and
occur due to a variety of causes/conditions including chronic alcohol consumption, chronic
exposure to cigarette smoke, intestinal diseases (inflammatory bowel diseases, celiac disease,
intestinal resection), infection with foodborne enteric-pathogens, diabetes mellitus, drug-nutrient
interactions, and aging. Our program utilizes state-of-the-art approaches to address our aims. This
include using tissue-specific and global knockout animal models, isolated
cells/membranes/organelles, human primary enteroids and colonoids, advanced molecular and
confocal imaging techniques, among others. We have led the field globally with over 260 original
peer-reviewed and original research articles (plus many reviews/book chapters and books). We
were the first to identify the existence of specific carrier-mediated processes for transport of many
of the water-soluble vitamins mentioned above, identify/characterize the transport systems
involved, delineate how expression and function of these transporters are regulated at the
transcriptional/post-transcriptional/post-translational levels, study their cell biology with regards to
targeting to the appropriate cell/organelle membrane domains, how they are trafficked
intracellularly, and how these events are affected by genetic clinical mutations. We also pioneered
the work on effect of exogenous/environmental factors (e. g., chronic alcohol exposure, enteric
pathogens and bacterial toxins, drug-vitamin interactions, chronic exposure to cigarette smoke) on
absorption and transport of these micronutrients as well as that of internal factors (e. g., chronic
exposure to pro-inflammatory cytokines and to pathophysiological hypoxia). We were also the first
to describe the existence of effi...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10720896
- **Project number:** 5IK6BX006189-02
- **Recipient organization:** VETERANS HEALTH ADMINISTRATION
- **Principal Investigator:** HAMID M SAID
- **Activity code:** IK6 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** VA
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** —
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2022-10-01 → 2029-09-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10720896

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10720896, BLRD Research Career Scientist Award Application (5IK6BX006189-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10720896. Licensed CC0.

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