Dr. Rhonda Cooper-DeHoff was awarded the second PPD Bioanalytical Fluid and Tissue Grant Award for her proposal titled, “Metabolic Effects of Antihypertensive Drugs.” The specific hypothesis of her project predicts that blockade of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) with an angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor will diminish or reverse the glucose intolerance observed during treatment with a thiazide diuretic.

Dr. Cooper-DeHoff is an associate professor, Pharmacotherapy and Translational Research, University of Florida, College of Pharmacy. She will travel to a state-of-the-art PPD facility in Richmond, Virginia, in spring 2010 to work and learn from on-site scientists within PPD. At the site, Dr. Cooper-DeHoff will perform hydrochlorothiazide, TNFα, high-sensitivity IL-6, and renin analyses. When asked how this grant would help in her professional development, Dr. Cooper-DeHoff stated that it would give her an opportunity to go to a laboratory where the samples are actually being analyzed and to learn and participate in the process. “My goal is to continue to pursue additional independent research funding … and this grant will provide me with the new knowledge required to build my own laboratory.”

Through this investigator development award, PPD grant award winners are reimbursed for their transportation and housing costs while working at the facility, and PPD covers the costs associated with the actual analysis. The Research Institute is pleased to announce the continued availability of funding opportunities for both full and associate ACCP members in 2010. Applications will remain open until 2010 funding is depleted. Download an application from www.accpri.org and apply today.