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University of Wisconsin-Madison

NIH funding supports exploration of new paradigm in urologic research

A "W" crest banner flies on Bascom Hill against blue sky and puffy clouds during spring.

Richard Peterson, emeritus professor and Charles M. Johnson Chair, Pharmaceutical Sciences Division, and Chad Vezina, affiliate associate professor, Pharmaceutical Sciences Division, and Associate Professor of Toxicology, Comparative Biosciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, are Co-Principal Investigators of an NIH – National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) R01 renewal award to continue their work in urologic research.

In the proposal, “Reproductive and Developmental Toxicity of Dioxin,” the Peterson and Vezina labs will study whether a man’s fetal and neonatal environment determines his risk of developing urinary complications of benign prostatic disease in adulthood. They hope to gain needed insight into disease pathogenesis, incidence, and why some men develop urinary complications of benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH) at a younger age or with more severe symptoms than others.

Their research may impact the trajectory of future urologic research in American men by identifying the fetal/neonatal environment as a previously unrecognized risk factor for urinary dysfunction. This is of particular importance as the lifespan of American men increases, so does the need to understand diseases of aging, including urinary dysfunction. The studies are innovative as their teams will test, for the first time, whether selective modulators of aryl hydrocarbon receptor signaling serve as chemotherapeutics for adult men with urinary dysfunction, a potential therapeutic breakthrough for a disease that has not experienced one for decades.

The “Research Project Grant (R01)” is the original and historically oldest grant mechanism used by the National Institutes of Health. Applicants can request a maximum of five years of funding and after that time, applicants must competitively renew their application involving a rigorous peer review process with no guarantee that an applicant’s previously funded project will continue to receive funding. Peterson’s project has been continuously funded for 43 years, qualifying his grant as the longest continuously funded active R01 grant at UW-Madison. During the historic tenure of this grant, Peterson received at least one MERIT Award renewal. The MERIT Award was designed to provide long-term, stable support to outstanding investigators and extended the grant cycle to 10 years. Nationally, Peterson is among Nobel laureates and scientists as his longstanding funding status is within the top 35 of approximately 28,700 active NIH R01 grants.

Peterson’s research interests are in toxicology. Vezina’s research interests include the molecular basis of prostate and urinary tract development, physiology, and toxicology.