While it remains sobering to look back on the last few years, I’m happy to report that in 2024 the Medical School research operation has successfully rebounded with numbers – and research teams – that are stronger than ever. We continue to grow, with $838.7 million in sponsored awards, an 8% increase over last year. The University of Michigan surpassed an astonishing $2 billion in research expenditures in 2024, and the Medical School was responsible for over 44% of those dollars.
Addressing the pitfalls the pandemic presented to our investigators and labs, our Pandemic Research Recovery program just closed after distributing $6.8 million to 132 researchers. Research Scouts, an investment in the bold science objective of the “Great Minds, Greater Discoveries” strategic research plan, is preparing to begin its second round of funding, after awarding $3.2 million to 46 different high-risk, high-reward projects. eHealth has been another priority for our strategic research plan, and this year we launched the Generative AI Task Force, which will make recommendations on future activities in AI infrastructure, platforms, and compliance.
While 2024 has been a busy, gratifying year in the realm of biomedical research, I’ll ask you to join me in the excitement I’m feeling as I look to the future. Michigan Medicine will play a key role in the university’s Campus Plan 2050, and in 25 years the spaces we occupy – and the accompanying opportunities for collaboration and innovation – may look very different. But I have no doubt that in 2050 the annual report will continue to highlight the researchers, staff, and learners who are working every day to make the discoveries that will ultimately impact patients here in Michigan, and around the world.
Our research community continues to grow and flourish, with yearly increases in funding awards across Michigan Medicine. It is incredibly exciting to envision the future of research at U-M, as we refocus our commitment to discovery, translational research, and innovation in the coming years and decades.
Inaccurate Pulse Oximeter Readings Could Limit Transplants, Heart Pumps for Black Patients with Heart Failure
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Michigan Medicine researchers uncovered that pulse oximeters—devices placed on the finger to detect blood oxygen levels rather than directly from the blood—may not provide accurate readings for Black patients. A newer study has now shown that racially biased readings of oxygen levels in the blood using the devices may further limit opportunities for Black patients with heart failure to receive potentially lifesaving treatments, such as heart pumps and transplants.
We know that Black patients are already less likely to receive heart pumps or transplants compared to their white counterparts, and these inaccurate readings can further widen a disparity that must be addressed by our health care system.
It’s Easier Now to Treat Opioid Addiction with Medication—But Use Has Changed Little
For years, even as opioid overdose deaths dramatically increased, doctors in the United States needed special permission from the federal government if they wanted to prescribe buprenorphine, a medication that helps patients overcome opioid addiction and prevents fatal overdoses. That requirement was eliminated in 2023, and a study by Michigan Medicine researchers found that the number of buprenorphine prescribers increased rapidly after the policy change. But this rise in available treatment providers didn’t spark meaningful increases in patients getting care.
Our findings suggest that elimination of the federal waiver requirement reduced barriers to buprenorphine prescribing, but unfortunately was insufficient to increase overall use.
Physical Activity Improves Early with Customized Text Messages in Patients with Heart Problems
Exercise is one of the best ways to reduce the risk of heart disease or having a second cardiovascular event, such as a heart attack or stroke. As more people use wearable technology, such as smartwatches, researchers continue to explore whether it can successfully promote physical activity. That includes customized messages to encourage patients to be more active, like walking outside when the weather is nice. A study by Michigan Medicine researchers found that personalized text messages effectively promoted increased physical activity for patients after significant heart events—such as a heart attack or surgery—but those effects later diminished.
Our study shows incredible promise for simple, low-cost interventions delivered through mobile technology and their potential to help prevent secondary cardiovascular events in patients.
Nanoparticles Reprogram Mouse Immune Systems to Cope with Allergens
Food allergies form when a person’s immune system misidentifies a harmless food protein—the allergen—as a threat. A study by University of Michigan researchers shows that two doses of allergen-encapsulating nanoparticles delivered intravenously substantially decreased reactivity to a food challenge in mice. The results show the potential for a new immunotherapy for allergy in humans, for which the only current treatment involves daily doses of the allergen over a long period of time to provide some modest desensitization to accidental exposures.
Rather than focusing on desensitization, treatment with allergen-encapsulating nanoparticles actually retrains the immune system not to react to an allergen.
Despite Stigma, Many Support Making Menstrual Products More Accessible
Even though billions of people around the world menstruate, periods are still not often openly discussed. But new Michigan Medicine research delves into why some people feel this way, while others don’t. The study also defines period poverty as, “the lack of accessible menstrual education or menstrual tools,” and could ultimately help inform menstruation-related public policy.
Period poverty is pervasive, but what young people in America think about it and how they experience it isn't talked about much. Understanding youth experiences is critical to creating policies that are effective in addressing this important issue.
One of our main findings was that most people were overwhelmingly supportive of these initiatives to make pads and tampons cheaper.
How a Gene for Obesity Affects the Brain
Obesity is a complicated condition, caused by a combination of genetics, the food environment, behavior, and other factors. A gene called SH2B1 has been shown to play an important role in regulating food intake, and mutations in the gene are associated with obesity, type 2 diabetes, and liver disease. Michigan Medicine researchers have identified where in the brain this gene is acting and uncovered the molecular mechanism behind how SH2B1 helps maintain weight.
SH2B1 action is important, functioning as a sort of a universal currency, not only enhancing cell signaling, but the hormones leptin and insulin, which help regulate appetite and metabolism. If we can find a way to enhance SH2B1 activity, there is huge promise for treating obesity and its related diseases.
Organoid Model Predicts Bladder Cancer Treatment Response
Using tumor samples from bladder cancer patients, Michigan Medicine researchers created short-term three-dimensional organoid models, which they screened against a panel of clinically relevant drugs. With the short-term organoids, the researchers assessed drug response and developed a multi-omic response signature for gemcitabine. This model can be used to help guide treatment decisions for patients with bladder cancer by predicting an individual tumor’s likely response to specific drugs.
This work took five years to come to fruition by a large multidisciplinary team because we wanted to refine a personalized oncology platform to bring rigorous drug sensitivity assessment in real time to patients with muscle invasive bladder cancer. This platform is applicable to any malignancy and is currently being investigated in lung cancer, brain metastases from any cancer, breast cancer, and other cancers. We are hard at work to earn CLIA approval so we can add this technology to clinical research and eventually clinical oncology practice.
The Heart of the Question: Who Can Get Medicare-Covered Weight Loss Medicine?
Millions of older Americans with obesity could potentially get Medicare’s help with the hefty price of a weight loss medication to reduce their high risk of heart problems. But exactly what level of cardiovascular risk should make someone eligible for such coverage, how many people could become eligible, and what could it cost the nation? Michigan Medicine researchers have uncovered a wide range of answers that differ by millions of people and billions of dollars, depending on how private insurance plans that contract with Medicare are potentially allowed to proceed. As many as 3.6 million people are most likely to qualify.
Ultimately, we need to ask ourselves, what level of evidence are we requiring for coverage of certain drugs, compared with the level of evidence that we require for coverage of other treatments?
Studies Uncover the Critical Role of Sleep in the Formation of Memories
A lack of sleep can make it extraordinarily difficult to retain information. But why? Michigan Medicine researchers have uncovered details about what is happening inside the brain during sleep, and sleep deprivation, to help or harm the formation of memories. Studies looked at neurons in the hippocampus, a seahorse-shaped structure deep in the brain involved in memory formation, and discovered a way to visualize the tuning of neuronal patterns associated with a location while an animal was asleep.
Graduate students like Kourosh and Bapun, together with the rest of our talented pool of trainees, play a critical role in the research enterprise at Michigan Medicine. They bring fresh and unique perspectives to projects, coupled with training in the latest theories, technologies, and methodologies. This allows them to approach and solve biological questions in innovative and creative ways.
Stories courtesy of Michigan Medicine Health Lab. Department of Communication story credits: Patricia DeLacey, Nicole Fawcett, Noah Fromson, Kara Gavin, Kelly Malcom, and Jenna Malinowski.
Credits:
University of Michigan, Medical School Office of Research