Research Portfolio
Our portfolio combines modern technology (metabolomics, bioassay-guided fractionation) with traditional knowledge to solve health disparities.
1) ) Research of Cannabis and the Cannabinoid System. With Kessler Foundation support, 91md传媒 research teams under the leadership of Dr. Cimona Hinton are studying cannabis physician education, lifespan sleep/circadian regulation, and equitable access/use in older adults (鈥淯p in Smoke & Age鈥漚nd Care Cannabis).
A new project led by Dr. Keivan Zandi and Dr. Cimona Hinton applies data science to discover cannabis鈥慸erived antivirals for high鈥憆isk infections in older adults.
2) Antiviral & immunomodulatory agents. Originating from a long鈥憇tanding collaboration with PROMETRA (Senegal), NPRC investigators isolated a 30 kDa lectin (鈥淢oMo30鈥�) from Momordica balsamina, advanced it from activity鈥慻uided purification to gene sequencing and expression and demonstrated that it binds the HIV鈥�1 gp120 envelope and other glycosylated viral envelopes, blocking cell entry. Field follow鈥憉p in Senegal documented women with normal CD4 counts and undetectable viral loads, with evidence of broadly neutralizing antibodies. Current work focuses on IND鈥慹nabling steps to support a first鈥慽n鈥慼uman safety study.
3) Oncology & chemoprevention. A large and productive program in cancer immunobiology and natural鈥憄roduct chemoprevention (e.g., thymoquinone, resveratrol, curcumin) led by Dr Rajesh Sigh, with >270 scientific communications and >$8M in peer鈥憆eviewed support, including an American Cancer Society CHERC鈥慚SI award (2022鈥�2027). Recent and representative outputs span targeted delivery/nanotherapeutics, reversal of drug resistance, and phytochemical modulation of cancer signaling; dissemination includes multiple AACR and other national presentations from 2013鈥�2025. As an Additional oncology lines: Dr Shailesh Singh, examine cinnamtannin B鈥�1, emodin, and quercetin in colorectal and prostate cancer models.
4) Cardio鈥憁etabolic inflammation. A program on nitro鈥慺atty acid therapeutics shows anti鈥慽nflammatory actions, blood鈥憄ressure reduction in hypertension models, and protection against steatosis/fibrosis; works include a 2019 EBioMedicine study highlighted by editorial commentary and a recent patent application aligned with an STTR effort led by Dr. Luis Villacorta Perez.