Tennessee Valley Staff Physician Receives Award to Support Research on Stomach Bacteria

Dr. Timothy Cover, Tennessee Valley Healthcare System (TVHS) staff physician and Professor of Medicine, Professor of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, recently received the most prestigious Senior Clinician Scientist Investigator (SCSI) Award from the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) to support research on bacteria linked to stomach cancer and other gastric diseases. 

The SCSI award provides outstanding senior clinician-scientists who specialize in biomedical laboratory research with longer-term, flexible support to maintain their laboratory infrastructure, retain key staff, and explore transformative areas in their fields. 

Cover and his lab focus on researching the stomach bacterium Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori), which increases the risk of developing stomach cancer and peptic ulcer disease. This bacterium lives in the stomachs of almost half the humans in the world, but most individuals do not develop any adverse health consequences, according to Cover.  

The acidic stomach environment is not an ideal location for bacteria to live. However, Helicobacter pylori manages to proliferate in this environment. Understanding how H. pylori colonizes the stomach is crucial for efforts to prevent diseases caused by H. pylori. 

“There are very few bacteria that are linked to cancer, so the idea that these bacteria are doing something that predisposes to cancer implies that there are some really important biological processes going on in the stomach, and we want to understand as much as we can about those,” Cover said. 

With the support of the SCSI award, Cover aims to help Veterans by developing new approaches to prevent H. pylori from colonizing the stomach, discovering better ways to treat the bacteria, and predicting who will develop serious illnesses. 

Investigator (CSI) Award comprises various tiers of funding. A Merit award offers four years of support, while a standard CSI award provides six years. As the most prestigious grant given by VA, the SCSI award includes an additional extension, totaling eight years of projected funding. 

The extension is a testament to the high quality of Cover’s internationally recognized achievements and contribution to VA research and health care of Veterans. With a longer award term, Cover’s research has the potential to improve approaches for the medical management of H. pylori infection and associated illnesses.   

“These are not studies that are going to change what we do in the clinic tomorrow,” Cover said. “But with the long-term approach, we are looking years down the road for better ways to prevent the stomach disorders that [H. pylori] can cause.”