The North American Spine Society awarded more than $400,000 in research grants and traveling fellowships at their annual meeting last week.
The Clinical Traveling Fellowship and Research Traveling Fellowship awards were given to three individuals, totaling $21,920. The remaining research grant award winners were given to several groups with primary investigators noted, including:
1. James C. Iatridis, PhD — Effects of Diabetes and Diet on Spinal Pathology (Basic): $49,246.
2. Joel Stevans, DC, PhD — The Comparative Effectiveness of Reduced Patient Copayment and Bundled Provider Reimbursement as Agents of Behavior Change During Low Back Pain Rehabilitation in the Outpatient Physical Therapy Setting (Translational): $35,880.
3. Melodie Metzger, PhD — The Impact of Type 2 Diabetes on Bone Metabolism and Growth after Spinal Fusion (Young Investigator – Basic): $49,817.
4. Rachel Sarabia-Estrada, DVM, PhD — Nociceptive Response in Rats with Metastatic Spine Disease Derived from Human Mammary Adenocarcinoma (Young Investigator – Basic): $48,875.
5. David Bumpass, MD — The Role of Myeloid-Derived Suppressor Cells and T-Lymphocytes in Human Vertebral Metastasis: A Prospective Pilot Study (Young Investigator – Translational): $50,000.
6. John M. Popovich Jr., PhD, DPT — Importance of Spinal Muscle Function on Intervertebral Disc and Facet Joint Health (Young Investigator – Basic): $49,995.
7. Di Chen, MD, PhD — The Roles of ß-catenin and Chemokine Receptor CCR1 in Macrophage Infiltration and MMP Expression during Disc Degeneration (Basic): $50,000.
8. Kevin Carneiro, DO — Chronic Lumbosacral Radiculopathy: Impact of a Dietary Intervention on Pain and Function (Nontraditional, Nonsurigcal Treatment): $49,997