COM Outlook Spring 2019

NOVA SOUTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY | 37 Gulf War illness (GWI) research at NSU’s Dr. Kiran C. Patel College of Osteopathic Medicine (KPCOM) reached an all-time funding high in 2018 when the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) awarded an $8.5-million grant to a KPCOM research team to establish a national consortium. The Gulf War Illness Clinical Trials and Interventions Consortium will serve as a mechanism for clinical trials based on several years of research and clinical expertise, furthering the understanding and treatment of GWI. This funding follows a similarly focused grant awarded to the KPCOM team in 2013 that helped initiate a major study on the condition. Principal investigator Nancy Klimas, M.D., director of NSU’s Institute for Neuro-Immune Medi- cine (INIM) and KPCOM assistant dean of research, is one of the foremost GWI researchers in the United States. “We’ve established that Gulf War illness is caused by a disruption in normal cell signaling that results in these disabling symptoms,” Klimas explained. “This is primarily due to disruptions in normal immune, cardiovascular, and hormone signaling.” During the past four years, Klimas and her research team—as well as the other research team through its respective, previously funded GWI consortia—have identified disease markers that include, but are not limited to, energy production, im- mune function, and inflammation. “Our research results to date suggest that treatment will rely on combination approaches that have synergistic effects and/or single drugs with multiple mechanisms of action,” Klimas said. “In addition, due to the numerous symptoms tied to GWI that vary among patients, treatments may be effective only for particular subsets of patients, which is why our clinical trials focus on similar targets of disease activity from different, well thought-out, and validated approaches.” Klimas hopes to quickly deliver treatments to patients suffering from the debilitating illness. “Based on our early experiences with combination synergistic approaches, as well as single drugs with multiple mechanisms of action, we truly believe the targets in this proposal will help to improve energy production, restore immune function, and reduce inflammation,” she added. o $8.5-Million Grant f or Gulf War Illness Research (Note: The U.S. Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity, 820 Chandler Street, Fort Detrick MD 21702-5014 is the awarding and administering acquisition office. This work is supported by the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs, through the Gulf War Illness Research Program under Award No. W81X- WH1820062. Opinions, interpretations, conclusions, and recommendations are those of the author and are not necessarily endorsed by the Department of Defense.) Nancy Klimas, M.D., director of NSU’s Institute for Neuro-Immune Medicine and KPCOM assistant dean of research RESEARCH News GULF WAR ILLNESS (GWI) Cause: Chemical weapons used in the 1991 Gulf War Impact: Nearly 700,000 soldiers, plus civilians Symptoms: Fatigue, headaches, stomach issues, memory loss, reasoning deficiency, muscle pain, respiratory problems, skin conditions SOURCE: U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans’ Illnesses NSU GWI INVESTIGATORS NSU-KPCOM investigators who are working with Klimas include Alison Bested, M.D.; Mary Ann Fletcher, Ph.D.; Maria Abreau, Ph.D.; Travis Craddock, Ph.D.; and Amanpreet Cheema, Ph.D. Former NSU INIM team member Gordon Broderick, Ph.D., now affiliated with Rochester Regional Health, is a collabo- rating researcher. GWI GRANT COLLABORATOR SITES Grant collaborator sites include Boston University, RTI International, Bronx VAMC, New Jersey War Related Illness and Injury Study Center, and the California U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs War Related Illness and Injury Study Center.