# BLRD Research Career Scientist Award Application

> **NIH VA IK6** · JAMES A. HALEY VA MEDICAL CENTER · 2020 · —

## Abstract

This proposal seeks to renew Research Career Scientist Award held by Dr. Shyam S Mohapatra at
the James A. Haley VA Hospital in Tampa, Florida since 2007. He is a Distinguished Health
Professor and the Director of the Division of Translational Medicine- Center for Research and
Education in Nanobioengineering at the VA-affiliated academic center- the University of South
Florida. He is recognized nationally and internationally for his contribution to the field of nanoscale
biomedical diagnostics and therapeutics in relation to a number inflammatory diseases including
asthma, viral infections, traumatic brain injury (TBI) and cancers. He has received substantial
extramural research support including awards from the NIH, DOA, ONR, Department of Veterans’
Affairs and Florida Department of Health. In addition to the two international awards early in his
academic career, he is the recipient of the USF biotechnology award, the Sigma XI award, TBTF
Technology Leadership Award, Excellence in Research and Innovation award and Global
Corporate award in Nanotechnology. He has contributed substantially to scientific literature
including over 170 publications, some in very high impact journals such as Nature Medicine and
journal of Clinical Investigation, and has >30 U.S. and foreign patents. He is a Fellow of the
National Academy of Inventors and of the American Institute of Medical and Biological
Engineering. In recognition of his contribution to the biomedical nanotechnology, he was inducted
to the “Florida Inventors’ Hall of Fame” in 2014. In addition, he has devoted his efforts in training
clinical fellows and graduate students in research and teaching at the VA hospital.
 Dr. Mohapatra has been a research investigator at the VA Hospital since 1996 and has
been funded with the Merit Review Award focused on respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection
since 1999. His lab has contributed substantially to the translation of new genomic approaches
such as those involving small-interfering RNAs (siRNA) and microRNAS and emerging field of
nanomedicine, with the premise that these technologies will aid in developing new methods for
diagnosis and therapy of diseases afflicting Veterans. Current research activities to be supported
by this RCS Award are as follows.
 Project #1. Develop new prophylactic and/or therapeutic approaches using novel nanoscale
technologies, which are effective against both primary and secondary RSV infections, broadly
useful in all age groups and inexpensive. His proposed merit review project (A1 revision to be
submitted) aims to develop a simple, smart and scalable nanomicellar system that combines novel
targets for viral fusion-, cellular antiviral- and replication-inhibitors.
 Project #2. Investigate the potential of a novel combinatorial therapeutic approach in a rat
model of moderate TBI that includes (i) a treatment to reduce inflammation (local and systemic) using
a nano-formulated siRNA against a recently discovered target, CCL20, a...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9898309
- **Project number:** 5IK6BX003778-04
- **Recipient organization:** JAMES A. HALEY VA MEDICAL CENTER
- **Principal Investigator:** Shyam S Mohapatra
- **Activity code:** IK6 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** VA
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** —
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-04-01 → 2022-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9898309

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9898309, BLRD Research Career Scientist Award Application (5IK6BX003778-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9898309. Licensed CC0.

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