# Maximizing Investigators' Research Award (R35 - Clinical Trial Optional)

> **NIH NIH R35** · VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY · 2024 · $63,924

## Abstract

PROJECT
The evolutionarily conserved Wnt pathway plays a critical role during metazoan development
and adult stem cell maintenance. The main focus of the Lee Lab is to understand the function of
the Wnt signaling pathway by deciphering its molecular mechanisms, with the ultimate goal of
understanding how deregulation of the Wnt pathway can lead to Wnt-driven diseases in
humans. Using biochemical methods, my lab has made breakthroughs in our fundamental
understanding of Wnt signaling, including the development of the first biochemical system to
study the pathway and the development of the first mathematical Wnt model (Lee-Heinrich
model).
The Lee Lab utilizes a high-speed floor centrifuge for preparing plasmid DNA (for transfection
and transformation) and biochemical fractionation (for protein analysis and purification) to
perform experiments that further the stated tasks of the parent grant, R35 GM122516. The
current centrifuge is over 15 years old, and it has been serviced successfully over its lifetime
until recently. Earlier in the year, the centrifuge, which is no longer built or supported by the
manufacturer, broke down and could not be fixed due to a lack of available parts. My
department has two similar centrifuges, but one is broken (and likely will not be fixed due to its
old age); the other centrifuge is heavily used and is in another building (requiring several flights
of stairs). Thus, we are requesting funds to purchase a new Beckman Coulter Avanti-JXN30
high-speed floor centrifuge to overcome these barriers. In addition, this new machine will allow
us to perform sucrose density gradient centrifugation to monitor Wnt receptor activation, a
feature not available on the old centrifuge.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 11035316
- **Project number:** 3R35GM122516-08S1
- **Recipient organization:** VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** ETHAN LEE
- **Activity code:** R35 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $63,924
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2017-04-01 → 2027-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/11035316

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 11035316, Maximizing Investigators' Research Award (R35 - Clinical Trial Optional) (3R35GM122516-08S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/11035316. Licensed CC0.

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