Digital Commons Network^™

A Curious Critic's Guide On Writing A Five-Star Student Evaluation: Five Lessons Learned From Food Blogging., Xiao Chi Zhang, Meryl Abrams, Dimitrios Papanagnou

Department of Emergency Medicine Faculty Papers

Timely feedback is critical in promoting learner self-reflection. When provided effectively, feedback can assist learners with the acquisition of new skills and knowledge in the ever-changing and complex landscape of healthcare. While the literature is replete on methods to provide feedback, faculty and supervisors receive little, if any, training on writing constructive feedback. Abbreviated comments (i.e., 'good job' or 'read more') provide little information on specific behaviors learners can change. As an avid food enthusiast and restaurant reviewer, I, too, am met with the challenge of writing a meaningful, constructive review (or evaluation) of a dining experience. To better assist …

Fall Prevention Education Training For Older Adults With Serious Mental Illness And Previous Homelessness, Alex Manwaring, Bs, Tina Deangelis, Edd, Otr/L, Elizabeth Brooks, Bs

Department of Occupational Therapy Posters and Presentations

Purpose: To examine the effect of an occupational therapy education and training program on fall risk awareness and fear of falling (FOF) with older adults who reside in one permanent supportive housing site, Project HOME (Housing. Opportunity. Medical. Education.), who have a history of serious mental illness and chronic homelessness.

Methods: Seven individuals aged 55+ from Project HOME, a permanent supportive housing non-profit organization in the Northeast, participated in a six-week pre-post occupational therapy education and training group program aimed to decrease FOF. Fear of falling was measured using the Fear of Falling Efficacy Scale –International (FES-I) with cut-off scores …

Jefferson Digital Commons Quarterly Report: January-March 2019, Kelsey Duinkerken, Msi, James Copeland, Libt

Jefferson Digital Commons Reports

This quarterly report includes:

• Arlen Specter Center Research Fellowship
  
• Papers
  
• Articles
  
• Dissertations
  
• From the Archives
  
• Grand Rounds and Lectures
  
• Handouts
  
• JeffMD Scholarly Inquiry Abstracts
  
• Journals and Newsletters
  
• Posters
  
• What People are Saying About the Jefferson Digital Commons

Cadm1 Is A Twist1-Regulated Suppressor Of Invasion And Survival., Edward J. Hartsough, Michele B. Weiss, Shea A. Heilman, Timothy J. Purwin, Curtis H Kugel, Sheera R. Rosenbaum, Dan A. Erkes, Manoela Tiago, Kim Hookim, Inna Chervoneva, Andrew E. Aplin

Department of Cancer Biology Faculty Papers

Metastatic cancer remains a clinical challenge; however, patients diagnosed prior to metastatic dissemination have a good prognosis. The transcription factor, TWIST1 has been implicated in enhancing the migration and invasion steps within the metastatic cascade, but the range of TWIST1-regulated targets is poorly described. In this study, we performed expression profiling to identify the TWIST1-regulated transcriptome of melanoma cells. Gene ontology pathway analysis revealed that TWIST1 and epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) were inversely correlated with levels of cell adhesion molecule 1 (CADM1). Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) studies and promoter assays demonstrated that TWIST1 physically interacts with the CADM1 promoter, suggesting …

A Clinician's Guide To Next Generation Imaging In Patients With Advanced Prostate Cancer (Radar Iii)., E. David Crawford, Phillip J. Koo, Neal Shore, Susan F. Slovin, Raoul S. Concepcion, Stephen J. Freedland, Leonard G. Gomella, Lawrence Karsh, Thomas E. Keane, Paul Maroni, David Penson, Daniel P. Petrylak, Ashley Ross, Vlad Mouraviev, Robert E. Reiter, Chaitanya Divgi, Evan Y. Yu

Department of Urology Faculty Papers

PURPOSE: The advanced prostate cancer therapeutic landscape has changed dramatically in the last several years, resulting in improved overall survival of patients with castration naïve and castration resistant disease. The evolution and development of novel next generation imaging techniques will affect diagnostic and therapeutic decision making. Clinicians must navigate when and which next generation imaging techniques to use and how to adjust treatment strategies based on the results, often in the absence of correlative therapeutic data. Therefore, guidance is needed based on best available information and current clinical experience.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: The RADAR (Radiographic Assessments for Detection of Advanced …

Enhancing Natural Killer And Cd8 + T Cell-Mediated Anticancer Cytotoxicity And Proliferation Of Cd8 + T Cells With Hla-E Monospecific Monoclonal Antibodies, Mepur H. Ravindranath, Edward J. Filippone, Asokan Devarajan, Shahab Asgharzadeh

Department of Medicine Faculty Papers

Cytotoxic NK/CD8+ T cells interact with MHC-I ligands on tumor cells through either activating or inhibiting receptors. One of the inhibitory receptors is CD94/NKG2A. The NK/CD8+ T cell cytotoxic capability is lost when tumor-associated human leukocyte antigen, HLA-E, binds the CD94/NKG2A receptor, resulting in tumor progression and reduced survival. Failure of cancer patients to respond to natural killer (NK) cell therapies could be due to HLA-E overexpression in tumor tissues. Preventing the inhibitory receptor-ligand interaction by either receptor- or ligand-specific monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) is an innovative passive immunotherapeutic strategy for cancer. Since receptors and ligands can be monomeric or homo- …

Rethinking Pulmonary Toxicity In Advanced Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer In The Era Of Combining Anti-Pd-1/Pd-L1 Therapy With Thoracic Radiotherapy., Mengqian Li, Lu Gan, Andrew Song, Jianxin Xue, You Lu

Department of Radiation Oncology Faculty Papers

The combination of programmed cell death 1/programmed cell death ligand 1 blockade and thoracic radiotherapy has become the new standard of care in the treatment of locally advanced non-small-cell lung cancer. The information regarding the pulmonary safety of such therapy remains limited to mostly retrospective studies and case reports with a small portion of data from prospective clinical trials. By analyzing the underlying mechanisms of interactions between radiation and immunotherapy from preclinical data and summarizing safety data from relevant clinical studies with pulmonary toxicity, we believe that longer and rigorous follow-up is warranted, to determine if the combination of such …

Loss-Of-Function Mutations In Lysyl-Trna Synthetase Cause Various Leukoencephalopathy Phenotypes, Chong Sun, Jie Song, Yanjun Jiang, Chongbo Zhao, Jiahong Lu, Yuxin Li, Yin Wang, Mingshi Gao, Jianying Xi, Sushan Luo, Meixia Li, Kevin Donaldson, Stephanie N. Oprescu, Thomas P. Slavin, Sansan Lee, Pilar L. Magoulas, Andrea M. Lewis, Lisa Emrick, Seema R. Lalani, Zhiyv Niu, Megan L. Landsverk, Magdalena Walkiewicz, Richard E. Person, Hui Mei, Jill A. Rosenfeld, Yaping Yang, Anthony Antonellis, Ya-Ming Hou, Jie Lin, Victor W. Zhang

Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Faculty Papers

Objective: To expand the clinical spectrum of lysyl-tRNA synthetase (KARS) gene–related diseases, which so far includes Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, congenital visual impairment and microcephaly, and nonsyndromic hearing impairment.

Methods: Whole-exome sequencing was performed on index patients from 4 unrelated families with leukoencephalopathy. Candidate pathogenic variants and their cosegregation were confirmed by Sanger sequencing. Effects of mutations on KARS protein function were examined by aminoacylation assays and yeast complementation assays.

Results: Common clinical features of the patients in this study included impaired cognitive ability, seizure, hypotonia, ataxia, and abnormal brain imaging, suggesting that the CNS involvement is the main …

Optimizing Strategies For Care Coordination And Transition Management: Recommendations For Nursing Education, Beth Ann Swan, Regina Conway-Phillips, Sheila Haas, Laura De La Pena

College of Nursing Faculty Papers & Presentations

The purpose of this descriptive qualitative study was to explore nurse and healthcare leaders' experiences and perceptions of care coordination and transition management (CCTM®). Four barriers emerged that added insight into the lack of adopting and integrating CCTM knowledge, skills, and attitudes in nursing education in the following categories: curriculum redesign, silos of care settings and care providers, knowledge gap, and faculty development/resistance. Recommendations and implications for education, for both nursing students and practicing nurses, are described.

Papilledema Or Pseudopapilledema?, Lin Liu, Michael D. Yu, Carol L. Shields

Wills Eye Hospital Papers

No abstract provided.

Right Ventricular Outflow Tract Velocity Time Integral-To-Pulmonary Artery Systolic Pressure Ratio: A Non-Invasive Metric Of Pulmonary Arterial Compliance Differs Across The Spectrum Of Pulmonary Hypertension., Priyanka T. Bhattacharya, Gregory S. Troutman, Frances Mao, Arieh L. Fox, Monique S. Tanna, Payman Zamani, E. Wilson Grandin, Jonathan N. Menachem, Edo Y. Birati, Julio A. Chirinos, Sula Mazimba, Kerri Akaya Smith, Steven M. Kawut, Paul R. Forfia, Anjali Vaidya, Jeremy A. Mazurek

Student Papers, Posters & Projects

Pulmonary arterial compliance (PAC), invasively assessed by the ratio of stroke volume to pulmonary arterial (PA) pulse pressure, is a sensitive marker of right ventricular (RV)-PA coupling that differs across the spectrum of pulmonary hypertension (PH) and is predictive of outcomes. We assessed whether the echocardiographically derived ratio of RV outflow tract velocity time integral to PA systolic pressure (RVOT-VTI/PASP) (a) correlates with invasive PAC, (b) discriminates heart failure with preserved ejection-associated PH (HFpEF-PH) from pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), and (c) is associated with functional capacity. We performed a retrospective cohort study of patients with PAH (n = 70) and …

A Case Report Of Case Report Pursuit By Medical Student, Jonathan Li, Jennifer Wilson, Wayne Bond Lau

Student Papers, Posters & Projects

Medical students often seek case reports as vehicles for academic writing opportunities, conference presentation avenues, and residency/fellowship application highlights. Here we review a case where, due to unfortunate circumstances, a student made a unique diagnosis central to proper patient clinical care, wished to write up the case subsequently, but was ultimately excluded from the final work stemming from the patient case. We review the pitfalls that occurred in the process of pursuing publication of an interesting case, the educational value of pursuing case reports for students, the necessity for strong mentorship in this process, and general principles that medical students …

The Bulletin: Sidney Kimmel Medical College At Thomas Jefferson University, Volume 68, Issue 1, Spring 2019

The Bulletin (formerly the Jefferson Medical College Alumni Bulletin)

This issue includes:

• Dean's Column - Reflecting on a Decade
• On Campus
• A Message from Elizabeth A. Dale - Jefferson Giving Day
• Discovery - Network Effects
• Alumni Profile - Robert Schless, MD 1916
• Faculty Profile - Cuckoo Choudhary, MD
• Class Notes
• Class Agent
• Bookshelf
• In Memoriam
• By the Numbers - Match Day 2019

Guidance Of Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy Decisions In Patients With T1-T2 Melanoma Using Gene Expression Profiling., John T. Vetto, Eddy C. Hsueh, Brian R. Gastman, Larry D. Dillon, Federico A. Monzon, Robert W. Cook, Jennifer Keller, Xin Huang, Andrew Fleming, Preston Hewgley, Pedram Gerami, Sancy Leachman, Jeffrey D. Wayne, Adam C. Berger, Martin D. Fleming

Department of Surgery Faculty Papers

AIM: Can gene expression profiling be used to identify patients with T1-T2 melanoma at low risk for sentinel lymph node (SLN) positivity?

PATIENTS & METHODS: Bioinformatics modeling determined a population in which a 31-gene expression profile test predicted <5% SLN positivity. Multicenter, prospectively-tested (n = 1421) and retrospective (n = 690) cohorts were used for validation and outcomes, respectively.

RESULTS: Patients 55-64 years and ≥65 years with a class 1A (low-risk) profile had SLN positivity rates of 4.9% and 1.6%. Class 2B (high-risk) patients had SLN positivity rates of 30.8% and 11.9%. Melanoma-specific survival was 99.3% for patients ≥55 years with class 1A, T1-T2 tumors and 55.0% for class 2B, SLN-positive, T1-T2 tumors.

CONCLUSION: The 31-gene expression profile test identifies patients …

Medicaid Spending Burden Among Beneficiaries With Treatment-Resistant Depression., Dominic Pilon, John J. Sheehan, Holly Szukis, David Singer, Philippe Jacques, Dominique Lejeune, Patrick Lefebvre, Paul E. Greenberg

College of Population Health Faculty Papers

AIM: To evaluate Medicaid spending and healthcare resource utilization (HRU) in treatment-resistant depression (TRD).

MATERIALS & METHODS: TRD beneficiaries were identified from Medicaid claims databases (January 2010-March 2017) and matched 1:1 with major depressive disorder (MDD) beneficiaries without TRD (non-TRD-MDD) and randomly selected patients without MDD (non-MDD). Differences in HRU and per-patient-per-year costs were reported in incidence rate ratios (IRRs) and cost differences (CDs), respectively.

RESULTS: TRD beneficiaries had higher HRU than 1:1 matched non-TRD-MDD (e.g., inpatient visits: IRR = 1.41) and non-MDD beneficiaries (N = 14,710 per cohort; e.g., inpatient visits: IRR = 3.42, p < 0.01). TRD beneficiaries incurred greater costs versus non-TRD-MDD (CD = US$4382) and non-MDD beneficiaries (CD = US$8294; p < 0.05).

CONCLUSION: TRD is associated …

Current Patient Perspectives Of Vulvovaginal Candidiasis: Incidence, Symptoms, Management And Post-Treatment Outcomes., Junko Yano, Jack D. Sobel, Paul Nyirjesy, Ryan Sobel, Valerie L. Williams, Qingzhao Yu, Mairi C. Noverr, Paul L. Fidel

Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology Faculty Papers

BACKGROUND: Vulvovaginal candidiasis (VVC) is a common infection affecting women worldwide. Reports of patterns/risk factors/trends for episodic/recurrent VVC (RVVC) are largely outdated. The purpose of this study was to obtain current patient perspectives of several aspects of VVC/RVVC.

METHODS: Business cards containing on-line survey information were distributed to healthy volunteers and patients seeking standard, elective, or referral gynecologic care in university-affiliated Obstetrics/Gynecology clinics. The internet-based questionnaire was completed by 284 non-pregnant women (78% Caucasian, 14% African American, 8% Asian).

RESULTS: The majority of the participants (78%) indicated a history of VVC with 34% defined as having RVVC. The most common …

Pharmacokinetics Of Ketamine At Dissociative Doses In An Adult Patient With Refractory Status Asthmaticus Receiving Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation Therapy., Edwin Lam, Ankit K. Rochani, Gagan Kaushal, Brandi N. Thoma, Julian Tanjuakio, Frances Mae West, Hitoshi Hirose

Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics Faculty Papers

PURPOSE: First-line management of severe asthma exacerbations include the use of inhaled short-acting β-agonists, anticholinergics, and systemic corticosteroids. Continuous intravenous ketamine given at dissociative doses may be a pharmacologic option in patients who are intubated with life-threatening severe bronchospasm unresponsive to standard therapy. We describe the case of a 44-year-old man admitted to the intensive care unit for status asthmaticus requiring intubation and mechanical ventilation.

METHODS: The patient developed severe refractory hypercapnic respiratory failure necessitating additional respiratory support with veno-venous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) therapy. Ketamine treatment was initiated at 0.5 mg/kg/h continuous infusion on the day of admission for …

The Role Of Inhibition Of Apoptosis In Acute Leukemias And Myelodysplastic Syndrome., Amanda Mcbride, Sarah Houtmann, Lindsay Wilde, Carlos Vigil, Christine M. Eischen, Margaret Kasner, Neil Palmisiano

Department of Medical Oncology Faculty Papers

Avoidance of apoptosis is a key mechanism that malignancies, including acute leukemias and MDS, utilize in order to proliferate and resist chemotherapy. Recently, venetoclax, an inhibitor of the anti-apoptotic protein BCL-2, has been approved for the treatment of upfront AML in an unfit, elderly population. This paper reviews the pre-clinical and clinical data for apoptosis inhibitors currently in development for the treatment of AML, ALL, and MDS.

The Time Is Now For Mandatory Liver-Focused Clinical Experiences In Medical School., Alexander Y. Pan, Lauren D. Feld, Jeanne M. Farnan, Steven K. Herrine, Adam E. Mikolajczyk

Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology Faculty Papers

The national burden of chronic liver disease is steadily increasing and is only expected to worsen with the ongoing obesity and opioid epidemics fueling growth in the prevalence of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and a resurgence of new hepatitis C infections. Our letter highlights the disparity between the rising prevalence of chronic liver disease and the proportion of medical students who receive exposure to patients with liver disease as part of their medical education. A more comprehensive survey of clerkship directors is needed to further corroborate this data, which may lead to reforms in medical school curricula to better address …

Interaction Between The Bag1s Isoform And Hsp70 Mediates The Stability Of Anti-Apoptotic Proteins And The Survival Of Osteosarcoma Cells Expressing Oncogenic Myc., Victoria J. Gennaro, Helen Wedegaertner, Steven B. Mcmahon

Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Faculty Papers

BACKGROUND: The oncoprotein MYC has the dual capacity to drive cell cycle progression or induce apoptosis, depending on the cellular context. BAG1 was previously identified as a transcriptional target of MYC that functions as a critical determinant of this cell fate decision. The BAG1 protein is expressed as multiple isoforms, each having an array of distinct biochemical functions; however, the specific effector function of BAG1 that directs MYC-dependent cell survival has not been defined.

METHODS: In our studies the human osteosarcoma line U2OS expressing a conditional MYC-ER allele was used to induce oncogenic levels of MYC. We interrogated MYC-driven survival …

Coming Together To Define Membrane Contact Sites., Luca Scorrano, Maria Antonietta De Matteis, Scott Emr, Francesca Giordano, György Hajnóczky, Benoît Kornmann, Laura L. Lackner, Tim P. Levine, Luca Pellegrini, Karin Reinisch, Rosario Rizzuto, Thomas Simmen, Harald Stenmark, Christian Ungermann, Maya Schuldiner

Department of Pathology, Anatomy, and Cell Biology Faculty Papers

Close proximities between organelles have been described for decades. However, only recently a specific field dealing with organelle communication at membrane contact sites has gained wide acceptance, attracting scientists from multiple areas of cell biology. The diversity of approaches warrants a unified vocabulary for the field. Such definitions would facilitate laying the foundations of this field, streamlining communication and resolving semantic controversies. This opinion, written by a panel of experts in the field, aims to provide this burgeoning area with guidelines for the experimental definition and analysis of contact sites. It also includes suggestions on how to operationally and tractably …

Strategic Leadership Newsletter: Volume 5, Number 1, Larry Starr, Phd

Leadership Doctorates Newsletter (Formerly Strategic Leadership Newsletter)

In this Issue:

• Dean's Report
• Student Reflection 1
• Student Reflection 2
• Doctoral Student and Adjunct Faculty
• Complex Adaptive System Projects
• Upcoming Conferences and Events
• DSL Community Milestones and Professional Updates
• DSL Summer Classes
• Ackoff 100 Celebration
• Proposed PhD in Complex Systems Leadership UPDATE
• Thinking and Talking, but Not Yet Formulated
• Tell Your Colleagues About Our Information Sessions!
• DSL Commencement

Lewy Body Dementia Association's Research Centers Of Excellence Program: Inaugural Meeting Proceedings., Bethany Peterson, Melissa Armstrong, Douglas Galasko, James E. Galvin, Jennifer Goldman, David Irwin, Henry Paulson, Daniel Kaufer, James Leverenz, Angela Lunde, Ian G. Mckeith, Andrew Siderowf, Angela Taylor, Katherine Amodeo, Matt Barrett, Kimiko Domoto-Reilly, John Duda, Stephen Gomperts, Neill Graff-Radford, Samantha Holden, Lawrence Honig, Daniel Huddleston, Carol Lippa, Irene Litvan, Carol Manning, Karen Marder, Charbel Moussa, Chiadi Onyike, Fernando Pagan, Alexander Pantelyat, Victoria Pelak, Kathleen Poston, Joseph Quinn, Irene Richard, Liana S. Rosenthal, Marwan Sabbagh, Douglas Scharre, Sharon Sha, Holly Shill, Yasar Torres-Yaghi, Tina Christie, Todd Graham, Ian Richards, Mike Koehler, Brad Boeve

Department of Neurology Faculty Papers

The first Lewy Body Dementia Association (LBDA) Research Centers of Excellence (RCOE) Investigator's meeting was held on December 14, 2017, in New Orleans. The program was established to increase patient access to clinical experts on Lewy body dementia (LBD), which includes dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) and Parkinson's disease dementia (PDD), and to create a clinical trials-ready network. Four working groups (WG) were created to pursue the LBDA RCOE aims: (1) increase access to high-quality clinical care, (2) increase access to support for people living with LBD and their caregivers, (3) increase knowledge of LBD among medical and allied (or …

Dynamic Molecular Changes During The First Week Of Human Life Follow A Robust Developmental Trajectory., Amy H. Lee, Casey P. Shannon, Nelly Amenyogbe, Tue B. Bennike, Joann Diray-Arce, Olubukola T. Idoko, Erin E. Gill, Rym Ben-Othman, William S. Pomat, Simon D. Van Haren, Kim-Anh Lê Cao, Momoudou Cox, Alansana Darboe, Reza Falsafi, Davide Ferrari, Daniel J. Harbeson, Daniel He, Cai Bing, Samuel J. Hinshaw, Jorjoh Ndure, Jainaba Njie-Jobe, Matthew A. Pettengill, Peter C. Richmond, Rebecca Ford, Gerard Saleu, Geraldine Masiria, John Paul Matlam, Wendy Kirarock, Elishia Roberts, Mehrnoush Malek, Guzmán Sanchez-Schmitz, Amrit Singh, Asimenia Angelidou, Kinga K. Smolen, Diana Vo, Ken Kraft, Kerry Mcenaney, Sofia Vignolo, Arnaud Marchant, Ryan R. Brinkman, Al Ozonoff, Robert E.W. Hancock, Anita H.J. Van Den Biggelaar, Hanno Steen, Scott J. Tebbutt, Beate Kampmann, Ofer Levy, Tobias R. Kollmann

Department of Pathology, Anatomy, and Cell Biology Faculty Papers

Systems biology can unravel complex biology but has not been extensively applied to human newborns, a group highly vulnerable to a wide range of diseases. We optimized methods to extract transcriptomic, proteomic, metabolomic, cytokine/chemokine, and single cell immune phenotyping data fromblood, a volume readily obtained from newborns. Indexing to baseline and applying innovative integrative computational methods reveals dramatic changes along a remarkably stable developmental trajectory over the first week of life. This is most evident in changes of interferon and complement pathways, as well as neutrophil-associated signaling. Validated across two independent cohorts of newborns from West Africa and Australasia, a …

A Rare Case Of Wilson Disease In A 72-Year-Old Patient., Christopher Cao, Timothy Colangelo, Raja Koteswar Dhanekula, Daniel Brandt, Indira Laothamatas, Manish Thapar, Steven K. Herrine, Jesse M. Civan

Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology Faculty Papers

Wilson disease is an autosomal recessive disorder of abnormal copper metabolism that is prevalent in the younger population, rarely presenting in patients older than 40 years. Clinical presentation may be variable, and diagnosis is often aided by clinical and biochemical tests. We report the case of a 72-year-old woman who presented with acute liver failure initially of unclear etiology. Our patient was initially managed for presumed drug-induced liver injury but ultimately diagnosed with Wilson disease on the basis of clinical presentation, laboratory testing, liver biopsy, quantitative hepatic copper, and abnormal genetic testing.

Combining Radiation And Immune Checkpoint Blockade In The Treatment Of Head And Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma., Gregor Manukian, Voichita Bar-Ad, Bo Lu, Athanassios Argiris, Jennifer M. Johnson

Department of Radiation Oncology Faculty Papers

Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Current treatment options, even though potentially curative, have many limitations including a high rate of complications. Over the past few years immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) targeting cytotoxic lymphocyte antigen-4 (CTLA-4), programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1), and programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) have changed treatment paradigms in many malignancies and are currently under investigation in HNSCC as well. Despite improvements in treatment outcomes and the implementation of combined modality approaches long-term survival rates in patients with locally advanced HNSCC remain suboptimal. Accumulating evidence …

Nelfe-Dependent Myc Signature Identifies A Unique Cancer Subtype In Hepatocellular Carcinoma., Hien Dang, Yotsawat Pomyen, Sean P. Martin, Dana A. Dominguez, Sun Young Yim, Ju-Seog Lee, Anuradha Budhu, Ashesh P. Shah, Adam S. Bodzin, Xin Wei Wang

Department of Surgery Faculty Papers

The MYC oncogene is dysregulated in approximately 30% of liver cancer. In an effort to exploit MYC as a therapeutic target, including in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), strategies have been developed on the basis of MYC amplification or gene translocation. Due to the failure of these strategies to provide accurate diagnostics and prognostic value, we have developed a Negative Elongation Factor E (NELFE)-Dependent MYC Target (NDMT) gene signature. This signature, which consists of genes regulated by MYC and NELFE, an RNA binding protein that enhances MYC-induced hepatocarcinogenesis, is predictive of NELFE/MYC-driven tumors that would otherwise not be identified by gene amplification …

Human Verbal Memory Encoding Is Hierarchically Distributed In A Continuous Processing Stream., Michal T. Kucewicz, Krishnakant Saboo, Brent M. Berry, Vaclav Kremen, Laura R. Miller, Fatemeh Khadjevand, Cory S. Inman, Paul Wanda, Michael R. Sperling, Richard Gorniak, Kathryn A. Davis, Barbara C. Jobst, Bradley Lega, Sameer A. Sheth, Daniel S. Rizzuto, Ravishankar K. Iyer, Michael J. Kahana, Gregory A. Worrell

Department of Neurology Faculty Papers

Processing of memory is supported by coordinated activity in a network of sensory, association, and motor brain regions. It remains a major challenge to determine where memory is encoded for later retrieval. Here, we used direct intracranial brain recordings from epilepsy patients performing free recall tasks to determine the temporal pattern and anatomical distribution of verbal memory encoding across the entire human cortex. High γ frequency activity (65-115 Hz) showed consistent power responses during encoding of subsequently recalled and forgotten words on a subset of electrodes localized in 16 distinct cortical areas activated in the tasks. More of the high …

A Multicenter Evaluation Of A New Eus Core Biopsy Needle: Experience In 200 Patients., Douglas G. Adler, V. Raman Muthusamy, Dean S. Ehrlich, Gulshan Parasher, Nirav C. Thosani, Ann Chen, Jonathan M. Buscaglia, Anoop Appannagari, Eduardo Quintero, Harry Aslanian, Linda Jo Taylor, Ali Siddiqui

Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology Faculty Papers

Background and Objectives: We present a multicenter study of a new endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine-needle biopsy (EUS-FNB) needle (Acquire, Boston Scientific, Natick, MA). The aim of the study was to analyze the needle's clinical performance when sampling solid lesions and to assess the safety of this device.

Methods: We performed a multicenter retrospective study of patients undergoing EUS-FNB during July 1-November 15, 2016.

Results: Two hundred patients (121 males and 79 females) underwent EUS-FNB of solid lesions with the Acquire needle. Lesions included solid pancreatic masses (n = 109), adenopathy (n = 45), submucosal lesions (n = 34), cholangiocarcinoma (n = …

A Word From The Writing Team (March 2019), Jennifer Wilson, Ms, Els, Pam Walter, Mfa

A Word From the Writing Team (Newsletter)

This issue includes:

• Key to Great Writing: Rewriting
• 3-Minute Thesis Competition (3MT)
• Upcoming Workshops