Philadelphia — Dr. George Hajishengallis, Thomas W. Evans Centennial Professor in Penn Dental Medicine’s Department of Microbiology, has received a MERIT (Method to Extend Research in Time) Award from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to continue to build on his research in the areas of inflammation and periodontal disease.
The highly selective MERIT Awards are designed to give stable, long-term support to scientists whose research skills and productivity are viewed by the NIH as “distinctly superior” and who are highly likely to continue to perform in an outstanding manner. Candidates are nominated by NIH program staff and advisory council members during the course of review of regular competing research grant applications. Less than 5 percent of NIH-funded researchers across all disciplines are selected for MERIT Awards.
Through the MERIT Award, Dr. Hajishengallis will receive $4 million over 10 years for a project titled “Local endogenous regulators of functional immune plasticity in the periodontium”. The MERIT Award’s long-term support allows recipients to pursue their research without the burden of devoting time and staff resources to the complex grant renewal process that would normally occur after five years.
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