Digital Commons Network^™

Emg-Guided Human-Machine Interaction Training Develops New Intermuscular Coordination Patterns In Stroke: A Pilot Study, Gang Seo, Manuel Portilla-Jiménez, Michael Houston, Jeong-Ho Park, Hangil Lee, Sheng Li, Yingchun Zhang, Hyung-Soon Park, Jinsook Roh

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: Stroke survivors often experience impaired upper extremity motor function due to abnormal muscle synergies. This pilot study evaluated the feasibility and preliminary effectiveness of electromyography-guided human-machine interaction training designed to expand the repertoire of intermuscular coordination patterns and improve upper extremity motor function in chronic stroke survivors.

Methods: Four chronic stroke survivors with mild-to-moderate upper extremity motor impairment and three age-matched healthy controls participated in a six-week electromyography-guided training intervention. Participants practiced selectively activating one elbow flexor muscle while suppressing another (brachioradialis or biceps brachii). Throughout the course of the intervention, the effect of the training on intermuscular coordination, …

Structural Basis Of Panx1 Permeation And Positive Modulation By Mefloquine, Yangyang Li, Zheng Ruan, Junuk Lee, Ian Orozco, Edward Zhou, Juan Du, Wei Lü

Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Faculty Papers

Purinergic signaling relies on ATP release through exocytosis and large-pore channels. Large-pore channels permeate both small anions like chloride and large signaling molecules like ATP, but how this broad cargo selectivity is structurally controlled remains elusive. Here we investigate PANX1, a prototypical large-pore channel, and uncover structural plasticity at the extracellular entrance formed by seven tryptophan (W74) residues. The W74 sidechains are flexible, sampling conformations that range from a constricted state permissive only to chloride to a dilated state compatible with ATP. These states are coupled to variable cation-π interactions between W74 and arginine 75 (R75), suggesting a mechanism for …

Genetic Modifiers And Ascertainment Drive Variable Expressivity Of Complex Disorders, Matthew Jensen, Corrine Smolen, Anastasia Tyryshkina, Lucilla Pizzo, Jiawan Sun, Serena Noss, Deepro Banerjee, Matthew Oetjens, Hermela Shimelis, Cora M Taylor, Vijay Kumar Pounraja, Hyebin Song, Laura Rohan, Emily Huber, Laila El Khattabi, Ingrid Van De Laar, Rafik Tadros, Connie R Bezzina, Marjon Van Slegtenhorst, Janneke Kammeraad, Paolo Prontera, Jean-Hubert Caberg, Harry Fraser, Siddharth Banka, Anke Van Dijck, Charles Schwartz, Els Voorhoeve, Patrick Callier, Anne-Laure Mosca-Boidron, Nathalie Marle, Mathilde Lefebvre, Kate Pope, Penny Snell, Amber Boys, Paul J Lockhart, Myla Ashfaq, Elizabeth Mccready, Margaret Nowacyzk, Lucia Castiglia, Ornella Galesi, Emanuela Avola, Teresa Mattina, Marco Fichera, Maria Grazia Bruccheri, Giuseppa Maria Luana Mandarà, Francesca Mari, Flavia Privitera, Ilaria Longo, Aurora Curró, Alessandra Renieri, Boris Keren, Perrine Charles, Silvestre Cuinat, Mathilde Nizon, Olivier Pichon, Claire Bénéteau, Radka Stoeva, Dominique Martin-Coignard, Sophia Blesson, Cedric Le Caignec, Sandra Mercier, Marie Vincent, Christa L Martin, Katrin Mannik, Alexandre Reymond, Laurence Faivre, Erik Sistermans, R Frank Kooy, David J Amor, Corrado Romano, Joris Andrieux, Santhosh Girirajan

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Variable expressivity of disease-associated variants implies a role for secondary variants that modify clinical features. We assessed the effects of modifier variants on the clinical outcomes of 2,455 individuals with primary variants. Among 124 families with the 16p12.1 deletion, distinct rare and common variant classes conferred risks for specific developmental features, including short tandem repeats for neurological defects. Network analysis suggested distinct mechanisms involving 16p12.1 genes and secondary variants specific to each proband. Within disease and population cohorts of 976 individuals with the 16p12.1 deletion, we found opposing effects of secondary variants on clinical features across ascertainments. Additional analysis of …

Structural Birth Defects And Leukemia Risk In Children With Down Syndrome, Ching-Ju Hsu, Jeremy M Schraw, Sonja A Rasmussen, Tiffany M Chambers, Tania A Desrosiers, Chad D Huff, Amanda E Janitz, Russell S Kirby, Eirini Nestoridi, Wendy N Nembhard, Jason L Salemi, Charles Shumate, Jean Paul Tanner, Mahsa M Yazdy, Michael E Scheurer, Karen R Rabin, Philip J Lupo

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Birth defects are associated with increased cancer risk in the general pediatric population, yet their impact on leukemia risk in children with Down syndrome (DS) remains uncertain. We assessed this using data from 26,660 children with DS in the Genetic Overlap Between Anomalies and Cancer in Kids Registry Linkage Study. Among them, 71.9% had at least one major birth defect, predominantly involving the cardiac (64.2%), musculoskeletal (21%), and gastrointestinal systems (6.8%). The cumulative incidence of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and acute myeloid leukemia (AML) was comparable in children with and without co-occurring defects. Adjusted hazard ratios (aHR) for ALL and …

Retrospective Review Of Metastatic Hormone Receptor-Positive Inflammatory Breast Cancer Patients Reveals Poor Responses To Cyclin Dependent Kinase 4/6 Inhibition, Azadeh Nasrazadani, Rebecca S Tidwell, Megumi Kai, Bora Lim, Vicente Valero, Debu Tripathy, Sadia Saleem, Bisrat G Debeb, Anthony Lucci, Wendy A Woodward, Rachel M Layman

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: Patients with inflammatory breast cancer (IBC) have aggressive biology and relatively inferior responses to standard-of-care (SOC) therapies. Understanding the efficacy of SOC therapies in IBC is critical to optimize outcomes. Our objective was to assess the progression-free survival (PFS) of metastatic hormone receptor-positive HER2-negative/low (HR+HER2-) IBC patients treated with CDK4/6 inhibitors (CDKIs) and hormonal therapy (HT).

Methods: Data from 58 IBC patients with metastatic HR + /HER2- IBC from a single institution were reviewed. The medians (95% confidence intervals) of overall survival (OS), PFS, and time on treatment (ToT) from the time of CDKI initiation were reported via the …

Seed Amplification Of Msa Alpha-Synuclein Aggregates Preserves The Biological And Structural Properties Of Brain-Derived Aggregates, Fei Wang, Victor Banerjee, Carla Barria, Santiago Ramirez, Tyler Allison, Damian Gorski, Haley Evans, Quynh Nguyen, Danielle Harrison, Rabab Al-Lahham, Nicole De Gregorio Carbonell, Michelle Pinho, Sanne Kaalund, Jonas Folke, Susana Aznar, Luis Concha-Marambio, Mohd Ishtikhar, Venkata Kps Mallampalli, Sandra Pritzkow, Mohammad Shahnawaz, Matthew L Baker, Irina Serysheva, Claudio Soto

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Parkinson's disease (PD), Dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB), and multiple system atrophy (MSA), are characterized by the misfolding and aggregation of alpha-synuclein (αSyn). Compelling evidence showed that αSyn aggregates exist as distinct conformational strains in different synucleinopathies. Recently, we reported that the αSyn Seed Amplification Assay (αSyn-SAA) can amplify and distinguish αSyn strains from PD and MSA. In this study, we investigate whether MSA-seeded, SAA-amplified αSyn fibrils retain the biological and structural properties of the αSyn seeds present in MSA brains. We study the biological activities of both brain-derived and SAA-amplified αSyn aggregates using an αSyn "biosensor" cell model and …

Identification Of Predictive Pretreatment Biomarkers For Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy Response In Latino Invasive Breast Cancer Patients, Hedda Michelle Guevara-Nieto, Rafael Parra-Medina, Carlos A. Orozco, Sandra Diaz-Casas, Jone Garai, Jovanny Zabaleta, Liliana López-Kleine, Alba L. Combita

School of Medicine Faculty Publications

Background: Breast cancer (BC) exhibits significant heterogeneity in incidence and mortality worldwide. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) is the standard treatment for locally advanced BC; however, its efficacy varies by subtype. This study examined the gene expression profiles associated with NAC response in Colombian women with invasive BC. Methods: RNA sequencing of pre-treatment tissues from 58 patients (29 responders and 29 non-responders) identified differentially expressed genes (DEGs) for each molecular subtype, and prognostic performance was evaluated using risk scores. Results: Functional enrichment analysis highlighted the immune system pathways in non-responders. Changes in cytokine target activity and immune cell populations were analyzed to …

Are E-Cigarettes A Safer Alternative? Revisiting The Cardiovascular Cost Of Nicotine Delivery, Jason D. Gardner

School of Graduate Studies Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Need To Incorporate Polysubstance Use In Neuropsychopharmacology Research: Biological Lessons And New Opportunities, Max E. Joffe, Susan M. Ferguson, Nick W. Gilpin, Melissa A. Herman, Lori A. Knackstedt, Patrick A. Randall, Abigail G. Schindler, Mary M. Torregrossa, Jennifer A. Rinker

School of Medicine Faculty Publications

Critical evaluation and refinement of animal models is essential for neuroscientists to understand complex physiological and pathological processes related to psychiatric diseases. In general, preclinical studies modeling drug dependence and problematic substance use have been limited to the administration of a single substance; however, there is a growing appreciation that this approach has failed to capture the complexities of humans and has stifled translational efforts. Polysubstance use represents the overwhelmingly common patterns of alcohol and drug use in humans. For example, epidemiological studies generally determine that between 70–95 % of individuals with alcohol use disorder use tobacco daily, and upwards …

Circulating Tumor Dna Refines Risk Stratification Of Neoadjuvant Therapy-Resistant Breast Tumors, Mark Jesus M Magbanua, Nayelis A Manon, Denise M Wolf, Samuel Rivero-Hinojosa, Ziad Ahmed, Rosalyn W Sayaman, Antony Tin, Derrick Renner, Ekaterina Kalashnikova, Lamorna Brown-Swigart, Gillian L Hirst, Christina Yau, Wen Li, Claudine Isaacs, Rebecca A Shatsky, Amy S Clark, Alexandra Zimmer, Amy L Delson, Angel Rodriguez, Minetta C Liu, Paula R Pohlmann, Laura J Esserman, Hope S Rugo, Angela Demichele, Laura Van 'T Veer

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Early-stage breast cancers resistant to neoadjuvant therapy (NAT), characterized by high residual cancer burden (RCB) after treatment, have an increased risk of metastatic recurrence. Here, we show that circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) detected using a tumor-informed test (1) can improve risk stratification of patients with NAT-resistant tumors (RCB-II/RCB-III) and (2) predict response to NAT. Stratification using ctDNA status at pretreatment or post-NAT and ctDNA dynamics identified NAT-resistant tumors with a significantly decreased risk of metastatic recurrence. ctDNA clearance as early as week 3 across receptor subtypes predicted favorable responses to NAT, including immunotherapies. Interestingly, less than a fifth of patients …

Single Cell Spatial Profiling Of The Matrisome Identifies Region-Specific Adhesion And Signaling Networks In Glioblastoma, Arpan De, Santiago A Forero, Ali Pirani, John E Morales, Marisol De La Fuente-Granada, Sumod Sebastian, Jason T Huse, Leomar Y Ballester, Jeffrey S Weinberg, Frederick F Lang, Kadir C Akdemir, Joseph H Mccarty

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The human brain contains a milieu of extracellular matrix (ECM) components that promote normal development and physiology. ECM signaling pathways are often dysregulated in brain pathologies including the malignant cancer glioblastoma (GBM). Here, we used single-cell spatial transcriptomic platforms to map the expression of nearly 400 ECM genes in matching non-cancerous brain and GBM samples. At least four different GBM cell populations have been identified that show unique ECM expression profiles and spatial enrichment in distinct intratumor regions. Spatial mapping demonstrates largely non-overlapping expression signatures of ECM components in GBM stromal cell types, particularly in vascular endothelial cells and microglia/macrophages. …

Implementing The Nyu Electronic Patient Visit Assessment (Epva), Janet H Van Cleave, Abraham A Brody, Dena Schulman-Green, Kenneth S Hu, Zujun Li, Stephen B Johnson, Vincent J Major, Christopher E Lominska, Jessica R Bauman, Alexander N Hanania, Ghia V Tatlonghari, Marcely Tsikis, Brian L Egleston

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Background: Aggressive treatment with multimodal therapies such as surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy has improved survival in head and neck cancer (HNC) but at a human cost of a substantial symptom burden and impact on quality of life. We developed the NYU Electronic Patient Visit Assessment (ePVA)© for HNC as a digital patient-reported symptom monitoring system that enables early symptom detection and real-time interventions at the point of care. With this study protocol, we aim to test the effectiveness of the ePVA in improving HNC outcomes in real-world settings and to identify implementation strategies optimizing its effectiveness.

Methods: We will …

To Jump Or Not To Jump: Comparing Effects Of Phenotypic Plasticity On The Visual Responses And Escape Behavior Of Locusts And Grasshoppers, Soumi Mitra, Saina Namazifard, David Mario Bellini, Alexis Leigh Sarne, Bidisha Halder, Margaret Ruth Eisenbrandt, Aliya Macknojia, Jiayi Luo, Samme Xie, Hojun Song, Chenghang Zong, Fabrizio Gabbiani, Richard Burkett Dewell

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Locusts exhibit remarkable phenotypic plasticity changing their appearance and behavior from solitary to gregarious when population density increases. These changes include morphological differences in the size and shape of brain regions, but little is known about plasticity within individual neurons and alterations in behavior not directly related to aggregation or swarming. We investigated looming escape behavior and the properties of a well-studied collision-detection neuron in gregarious and solitarious animals of three closely related species, the desert locust (Schistocerca gregaria), the Central American locust (S. piceifrons) and the American bird grasshopper (S. americana). For this neuron, the lobula giant movement detector …

Rare Epigenetic Alterations Are Conserved Across Hematopoietic Differentiation Stages After Mycobacterial Infection, Brandon T Tran, Pamela N Luna, Ruoqiong Cao, Duy T Le, Apoorva Thatavarty, Laure Maneix, Bailee N Kain, Scott Koh, Andre Catic, Katherine Y King

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Infection leads to durable cell-autonomous changes in hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs), resulting in production of innate immune cells with heightened immunity. The mechanisms underlying this phenomenon, termed central trained immunity, remain poorly understood. We hypothesized that infection induces histone modifications leading to changes in chromatin accessibility that are conserved during differentiation from HSPCs to myeloid progenitors and monocytes. We conducted genome-wide surveillance of histone marks H3K27ac and H3K4me3 and chromatin accessibility in hematopoietic stem cells, multipotent progenitor 3, granulocyte-monocyte progenitors, monocytes and macrophages of naïve and Mycobacterium avium infected mice. Interferon signaling pathways and related transcription factor binding …

Tgfbr2 Coordinates The Endometrial Response To Estrogen, Regulating Endometrial Hyperplasia And Fertility, Sydney E Parks, Suni Tang, Anna Catherine Unser, Ananya L Bhonsley, Eunbi M Chung, Peixin Jiang, Audrey Savolainen, Vanessa J Joseph, Dominique I Cope, Ramya P Masand, Renata Prunskaite-Hyyryläinen, Diana Monsivais

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Proper endometrial function is critical for establishing and maintaining healthy pregnancies, as well as preventing the pathogenesis of conditions such as endometrial hyperplasia and endometrial cancer. The TGFβ signaling pathway regulates key aspects of endometrial biology, although the direct effects of many individual receptors remain unstudied. In this study, we characterize the role of TGFβR2 within the endometrium using a progesterone receptor-cre conditional knock-out mouse model (Tgfbr2flox/flox;Pgrcre/+; “Tgfbr2 cKO”). We found that conditional deletion of TGFβR2 resulted in female infertility, endometrial hyperplasia, altered estrogen and progesterone response, and, only in bred females, reproductive tract …

International Consensus Guidelines For The Conduct And Reporting Of Car T-Cell Clinical Trials In Aml, Swati Naik, Richard Aplenc, Susanne H C Baumeister, Marco Becilli, Anand S Bhagwat, Challice L Bonifant, Lihua E Budde, Christopher D Chien, Kevin J Curran, Anthony F Daniyan, Alexandra Dreyzin, Rebecca A Gardner, Sara Ghorashian, Stephen Gottschalk, Laquisa C Hill, M Eric Kohler, Adam Lamble, Franco Locatelli, Maksim Mamonkin, Bilal Omer, Jae H Park, Concetta Quintarelli, Benedetta Rambaldi, Rebecca M Richards, David A Sallman, Tim Sauer, Nirali N Shah, Marion Subklewe, Corinne Summers, Sarah K Tasian, Naomi Taylor, Sarah Tettamanti, Michael R Verneris, M Paulina Velasquez, Saar I Gill

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Early clinical experience with the use of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapies for patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) has been beset by high rates of toxicities and low rates of response. We convened an international workshop with the goal of bringing investigators in the field of AML-directed CAR T-cell therapy together to facilitate discussion of challenges and to brainstorm potential solutions. Based on discussions at the workshop, it was evident that (1) treating and targeting AML with CAR T cells is associated with unique clinical challenges, and (2) variability in clinical trial design, definitions of toxicities, correlative data …

Seizures In Camp Settings, Sandra Shapiro, Taylor Gilman, Tamar Sternfield, Jolie Skivington

CompassPoint

Managing seizures in the summer camp environment presents unique challenges, requiring not only medical attention but also empathy and understanding from both peers and caregivers. Approximately 0.5–5% of children and adolescents will experience at least one afebrile seizure by adolescence and there is a 3.6% risk of experiencing at least one seizure in an 80-year-lifespan (Murphy et al., 1995 as cited in Wilfong, 2025). Recognizing how to support a child with seizures during the camp season is essential to promoting their safety and well-being while also ensuring they have a positive and inclusive camp experience.

Intouch Week Of December 8, 2025, New York Medical College

InTouch

No abstract provided.

Imaging Reactive Oxygen Species With L-012 Reveals Neutrophil Extracellular Trap Formation In Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma, Angisha Basnet, Kaitlyn M Landreth, Michael Sestito, Kristen Ranson, Seth T Gammon, David Piwnica-Worms, Brian A Boone, Tracy W Liu

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Neutrophils, key effector cells of the innate immune system, combat pathogens through mechanisms including the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and the release of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs). While these responses are critical for host defense, prolonged elevation of ROS and dysregulated NETosis mediated by neutrophils have been implicated in autoimmune diseases, chronic inflammation, and cancer. In pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), a highly aggressive and inflammatory malignancy, an increase in neutrophils infiltrating the tumor microenvironment promotes cancer progression and metastasis through increased ROS production and NET release. Using bioluminescence imaging with the reporter L-012 and NET assays, we assessed …

Precise Diagnosis Of Small Invasive Pulmonary Nodules Driven By Single-Cell Immune Signatures In Peripheral Blood, Yang Xia, Yin Zhu, Sai Zhang, Mo Zhou, Jiaqi Zhou, Guanxin Xu, Baiqin Zhao, Guofei Zhang, Qiyuan Wang, Bin Wang, Zexin Chen, Hongyu Shi, Xiuning Le, Tony Mok, Wei Chen, Junqiang Fan, Weiwei Yin, Wen Li

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Early detection of lung cancer is crucial for improving patient outcomes. However, accurately diagnosing invasive pulmonary nodules and predicting tumor invasiveness remain major clinical challenges. Given the established role of immune dysfunction in cancer development, we hypothesize that peripheral immune profiling could provide a strategy for managing pulmonary nodules. In this multi-center, prospective study, we combine peripheral immune profiling via mass cytometry with machine learning algorithms to develop an integrated pulmonary nodule management platform. This platform accurately distinguishes invasive from non-invasive pulmonary nodules (AUC = 0.952), outperforming established clinical and radiomics-based models. Furthermore, it effectively predicts tumor invasiveness, differentiating minimally …

Spike Timing Depended Plasticity Produces Unsupervised Learning Of Synergistic Muscle Feedback In A Synthetical Neural Network, Mark Allen Pupkiewicz

Dissertations and Theses

This study investigates how type Ia feedback from muscle spindles can be organized into groups representing agonistic muscle pairs through Spike Timing Dependent Plasticity (STDP). A single degree of freedom joint is actuated with four biologically modeled muscles forming two agonistic pairs. In order to emulate the sensory dynamics of biological muscle spindles, sensors in the model record the active length and velocity states of each muscle, the two primary factors eliciting type Ia afferent responses. In biological networks, synapses from Ia sensory neurons frequently activate interneurons representing agonistic muscle sources. This research investigates whether this organization can emerge in …

Comprehensive Cmr Evaluation Including 4d Flow-Derived E/A Vorticity Ratio In Overweight Adults With And Without Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus, Sungho Park, Erin K Englund, Takashi Fujiwara, Daniel Enge, Michal Schäfer, Jochen Gerstner Saucedo, Ethan W Clark, Layla A Abushamat, Rebecca L Scalzo, Brian Fonseca, Kendall S Hunter, Mary D Sammel, Judith G Regensteiner, Jane E B Reusch, Alex J Barker

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Aims: This study aimed to assess the impacts of overweight and type 2 diabetes (T2D) on early hemodynamic and left ventricular (LV) changes using comprehensive cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) in three age- and sex-similar groups: lean individuals (LI group), BMI-similar overweight controls without T2D (CWO group) and overweight individuals with uncomplicated T2D (T2D group).

Methods: Middle-aged participants included 13 in the LI group, 37 in the CWO group, and 28 in the T2D group. Baseline assessments included cardiac and vascular function measured by CMR, thoracic echocardiography, insulin sensitivity, clinical measures, and cardiorespiratory fitness. 4D flow CMR was used to …

Endothelial-Derived Extracellular Vesicles During Exercise In Copd Patients, Samuel C Okpechi, Dorota Wyczechowska, Bennett Deboisblanc, Jessica L Johnson, Mohamed A Ghonim, Natalie Bauer, Hamid A Boulares, Matthew R Lammi

School of Medicine Faculty Publications

Introduction: There are no treatments directly targeting the pulmonary vasculature in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and further characterization of the underlying endothelial cell (EC) abnormalities could be helpful in drug development. Methods: We investigated the influence of exercise and the prostacyclin analog iloprost on extracellular vesicles derived from ECs (eEVs) in 15 moderate–severe COPD patients who were enrolled in a randomized, placebo-controlled crossover trial of iloprost. Results: Active smokers had a profile consistent with inflammatory-derived EVs, while exacerbation-prone COPD subjects had a profile consistent with apoptosis-derived eEVs. There were no significant effects of iloprost on eEV levels. However, there …

Bayesian Learning To Reduce Cardiac Risk Of Patients With Locally Advanced Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Based On Personalized Radiation Therapy Prescription, Ruitao Lin, Mei Chen, Xiaodong Zhang, Tianlin Xu, Ting Xu, Rachel C Maguire, Kelsey L Corrigan, Efstratios Koutroumpakis, Joe Y Chang, Steven H Lin, Aileen B Chen, Quynh-Nhu Nguyen, Saumil J Gandhi, Matthew S Ning, Julianna Bronk, Stephen Chun, Ali Ajdari, Joshua S Niedzielski, Jinzhong Yang, Xinru Chen, Tinsu Pan, Qing H Meng, Anne S Tsao, Anita Deswal, Radhe Mohan, Zhongxing Liao

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Purpose: Radiation-induced heart damage is a significant concern in the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) that can have debilitating or life-threatening consequences. Current strategies focus on minimizing heart exposure, but individual susceptibility varies. Existing evidence also suggests that a uniform "one-size-fits-all" dosimetric constraint for the heart may not be optimal for all patients.

Methods and materials: We developed a prospective study using Bayesian continuous learning and adaptation to develop a framework for personalized adaptive radiation treatment (PART) to reduce cardiovascular adverse events among patients with locally advanced NSCLC. The trial includes a Bayesian personalized risk prediction model to …

Health-Related Quality Of Life In The Era Of Immune Checkpoint Blockade: What Do Patient-Reported Outcomes Reveal?, Alexandra M Dunker, Neha Malik, Kathryn J Krause, Emily Z Keung, Jason B Liu, Elise F Nassif Haddad, Neeta Somaiah, Heather G Lyu, Christina L Roland

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have revolutionized cancer treatment by providing durable survival gains, but understanding their effects on patient health-related quality of life (HRQL) is critical.

Methods: We performed a narrative review of cross-sectional surveys, early-phase trials, and large-scale phase II and III randomized controlled clinical trials assessing FDA-approved ICIs, including programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) inhibitors, programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) inhibitors, and cytotoxic T lymphocyte-associated antigen 4 (CTLA-4) inhibitors, with emphasis on patient-reported HRQL. Validated HRQL instruments were summarized, and for pivotal trials, the positioning of HRQL outcomes as primary, secondary, or exploratory endpoints was taken …

A Review Of Recent And Developing Studies Regarding Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (Pci): A Narrative Review, Bisher Alsabbagh, Azeez Shala, Joshua Rupert, Abdallah Elsayed

School of Integrative Biological & Chemical Sciences (Formerly Dept. of Biology)

This comprehensive literature review synthesizes the most recent evidence and evolving clinical guidelines concerning percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) from 2015 to 2025. The study integrates findings from 42 peer-reviewed trials, meta-analyses, registries, and international guideline statements issued by the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association (ACC/AHA), European Society of Cardiology (ESC), and related societies. Results reveal a decade-long evolution in PCI practice marked by a shift from anatomy-driven to physiology and imaging-guided decision-making, supported by tools such as fractional flow reserve (FFR), instantaneous wave-free ratio (iFR), intravascular ultrasound (IVUS), and optical coherence tomography (OCT). Modern guidelines emphasize individualized, team-based revascularization …

Early Peripheral Blood Gene Expression Predicts 90-Day Outcomes Following Subarachnoid Hemorrhage, Bodie Knepp, Garreck H Lenz, Frank R Sharp, Fernando Rodriguez, Huimahn Alex Choi, Aaron M Gusdon, Glen Jickling, Lara L Zimmermann, Ryan Martin, Jeffrey Vitt, Ben Waldau, Brandon J Cord, Alan Yee, Kwan Ng, Nerissa U Ko, Heather Hull, Bradley P Ander, Boryana Stamova

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: Previous clinical, radiological and machine learning studies have predicted 90-day outcomes following subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). The present study was designed to determine whether early changes in mRNA expression of immune, clotting and other genes expressed in peripheral blood can predict patient outcomes at 90 days after SAH and possibly provide insights into the molecular factors that promote good versus poor outcomes.

METHODS: Peripheral blood was drawn after SAH and from vascular risk factor controls (VRFC) and RNAseq performed to measure mRNA expression. A mixed effects regression model identified potential predictors and machine learning algorithms derived the best predictors of …

Proteome-Wide Association Study Of Prostate Cancer Risk Across Populations, Hua Zhong, Jingjing Zhu, Shuai Liu, Chong Wu, Liang Wang, Seamus P. Whelton, Catherine H. Marshall, Michael J. Blaha, Peter Durda, Xiuqing Guo, Craig W. Johnson, Henry J. Lin, Kent D. Taylor, Russell P. Tracy, Ronit I. Yarden, Ani W. Manichaikul, Stephen S. Rich, Jerome I. Rotter, Rajat Deo, Ruth F. Dubin, Peter Ganz, Lang Wu

School of Graduate Studies Faculty Publications

There is insufficient understanding of the molecular basis of prostate cancer (PCa) across different populations. We perform a large-scale proteome-wide association study (PWAS) to identify proteins with genetically regulated expression in plasma to be associated with PCa risk across populations. We develop genetic prediction models for expression of 1578, 1993, 1218, and 1390 proteins for African (n = 450), European (n = 758), Asian (n = 289), and Hispanic/Latino (n = 474) males, respectively, and evaluate associations of genetically regulated protein expression with PCa risk in 19,391 PCa cases and 61,608 controls of African population, 122,188 cases and 604,640 controls …

Proteome-Wide Association Study Of Prostate Cancer Risk Across Populations, Hua Zhong, Jingjing Zhu, Shuai Liu, Chong Wu, Liang Wang, Seamus P Whelton, Catherine H Marshall, Michael J Blaha, Peter Durda, Xiuqing Guo, Craig W Johnson, Henry J Lin, Kent D Taylor, Russell P Tracy, Ronit I Yarden, Ani W Manichaikul, Stephen S Rich, Jerome I Rotter, Rajat Deo, Ruth F Dubin, Peter Ganz, Lang Wu

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

There is insufficient understanding of the molecular basis of prostate cancer (PCa) across different populations. We perform a large-scale proteome-wide association study (PWAS) to identify proteins with genetically regulated expression in plasma to be associated with PCa risk across populations. We develop genetic prediction models for expression of 1578, 1993, 1218, and 1390 proteins for African (n = 450), European (n = 758), Asian (n = 289), and Hispanic/Latino (n = 474) males, respectively, and evaluate associations of genetically regulated protein expression with PCa risk in 19,391 PCa cases and 61,608 controls of African population, 122,188 cases and 604,640 controls …

Actin Dysregulation Induces Neuroendocrine Plasticity And Immune Evasion: A Vulnerability Of Small Cell Lung Cancer, Yoojeong Seo, Shengzhe Zhang, Jinho Jang, Kyung-Pil Ko, Kee-Beom Kim, Yuanjian Huang, Dong-Wook Kim, Bongjun Kim, Gengyi Zou, Jie Zhang, Sohee Jun, Wonhong Chu, Nicole A Kirk, Ye Eun Hwang, Young Ho Ban, Shilpa S Dhar, Joseph M Chan, Min Gyu Lee, Charles M Rudin, Kwon-Sik Park, Jae-Il Park

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) is an aggressive malignancy with limited therapeutic options. Capping protein inhibiting regulator of actin dynamics (CRACD) that promotes actin polymerization, is frequently inactivated in SCLC. However, the role of CRACD loss in SCLC is unknown. Here we show that CRACD depletion drives neuroendocrine (NE) cell plasticity and immune evasion in SCLC. Mechanistically, CRACD inactivation disrupts actin organization, leading to suppression of Yap1-NOTCH signaling and subsequent NE gene upregulation. Simultaneously, CRACD loss drives EZH2-mediated histone methylation via nuclear actin disruption, leading to repression of MHC-I genes and depletion of CD8⁺ T cells. Consequently, CRACD-downregulated tumors exhibit …