Penn Medicine Researcher Receives New Innovator Award from National Institutes of Health

PHILADELPHIA Rahul M. Kohli, MD, PhD, an assistant professor of Medicine and Biochemistry & Biophysics, is one of the recipients of a New Innovator Award from National Institutes of Health (NIH).

The NIH Directors New Innovator Award, totaling $1.5 million over five years, supports highly innovative research and creative, new investigators who exhibit strong potential to make great advances on a critical biomedical or behavioral research problem.

Kohlis lab will use the grant to study the enzymes that drive bacterial evolution, aiming to devise new methods to combat the emergence of drug-resistant bacteria.

The ability of pathogens to quickly build up resistance to the best available antibiotics leads to potentially devastating consequences to human health. Past responses to this concern have largely focused on modifying existing drugs, which can offer a brief reprieve, but eventually fosters more drug resistance. Kohlis research seeks to change the paradigm of attacking drug resistance, by targeting the very pathways that allow the pathogen to mutate.

Rather than focusing on drugs that kill bacteria, understanding and targeting bacterias ability to adapt could be an effective new approach to drug resistance, said Kohli. Given the clinical importance of the problem, Im excited about the opportunities we can pursue with this award.

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Penn Medicine is one of the world's leading academic medical centers, dedicated to the related missions of medical education, biomedical research, and excellence in patient care. Penn Medicine consists of the Raymond and Ruth Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania (founded in 1765 as the nation's first medical school) and the University of Pennsylvania Health System, which together form a $4.3 billion enterprise.

The Perelman School of Medicine is currently ranked #2 in U.S. News & World Report's survey of research-oriented medical schools. The School is consistently among the nation's top recipients of funding from the National Institutes of Health, with $479.3 million awarded in the 2011 fiscal year.

The University of Pennsylvania Health System's patient care facilities include: The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania -- recognized as one of the nation's top "Honor Roll" hospitals by U.S. News & World Report; Penn Presbyterian Medical Center; and Pennsylvania Hospital the nation's first hospital, founded in 1751. Penn Medicine also includes additional patient care facilities and services throughout the Philadelphia region.

Penn Medicine is committed to improving lives and health through a variety of community-based programs and activities. In fiscal year 2011, Penn Medicine provided $854 million to benefit our community.

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Penn Medicine Researcher Receives New Innovator Award from National Institutes of Health

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