Digital Commons Network^™

Cd11c+ Cd8 T Cells Cause Ifn-Γ-Dependent Autoimmune Neuroinflammation That Is Restrained By Pd-1 Signaling, Daniel Hwang, Gholamreza Azizi, Larissa Lumi Watanabe Ishikawa, Maryam S. Seyedsadr, Arin Cox, Soohwa Jang, Ezgi Kasimoglu, Abdolmohamad Rostami, Guang-Xian Zhang, Bogoljub Ciric

Department of Neurology Faculty Papers

In multiple sclerosis (MS) lesions, CD8 T cells outnumber CD4 T cells, suggesting that they contribute to MS pathology. However, little is known about the role of CD8 T cells in MS, partly due to the prevalent use of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) models mediated by CD4 T cells, which have limited involvement of CD8 T cells. Importantly, MS and EAE differ in both their distribution of CNS lesions and neurologic deficits, indicating differences in CNS inflammation. MS lesions are more commonly found in the brain, whereas EAE lesions are more frequent in the spinal cord. Additionally, neurologic deficits in …

Minimally Invasive Versus Burr Hole Craniostomy For Chronic Subdural Haematoma Evacuation: A Systematic Review And Meta-Analysis, Shaan Patel, Shiva A. Nischal, Angelette Mendonca, Kush M. Kale, Santosh Guru, Pious D. Patel, Kevin Hines, Jack Jallo, Srinivas K. Prasad

Department of Neurosurgery Faculty Papers

BACKGROUND: Minimally invasive surgery (MIS) has emerged as an appealing alternative to burr hole craniostomy (BHC) for chronic subdural haematoma (cSDH), offering reduced operative trauma and anaesthetic exposure. However, whether these procedural advantages translate into comparable outcomes remains uncertain. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to compare the safety, effectiveness, and procedural performance of MIS versus BHC for cSDH evacuation, with attention to device-specific outcomes.

METHODS: A systematic search of PubMed, Embase, and CENTRAL (10th November 2025) identified randomised and observational studies directly comparing MIS techniques, including twist-drill craniostomy (TDC), subdural evacuating port systems (SEPS), and YL-1 devices, with BHC. …

International Multi-Center Study To Quantify The Effect Of Deep Venous Drainage After Surgical Resection Of Spetzler-Martin Grade Ii-Iii Brain Arteriovenous Malformations, Avi A. Gajjar, Rashad Jabarkheel, Mohamed M. Salem, Basel Musmar, Sandeep Kandregula, Hammam Abdalrazeq, Nimer Adeeb, Assala Aslan, Nathan Ramachandran, Stavropoula Tjoumakaris, Hamza Adel Salim, Adam A. Dmytriw, Christopher S. Ogilvy, Mustafa K. Baskaya, Douglas Kondziolka, Jason Sheehan, Howard Riina, Abdallah Abushehab, Kareem El Naamani, Najib Muhammad, Ahmed Abdelsalam, Natasha Ironside, Deepak Kumbhare, Sanjeev Gummadi, Cagdas Ataoglu, Muhammed Amir Essibayi, Abdullah Keles, Sandeep Muram, Daniel Sconzo, Arwin Rezai, Omar Alwakaa, Pierce Davis, Salem M. Tos, Ufuk Erginoglu, Johannes Pöppe, Rajeev D. Sen, Alan S. Boulos, John C. Dalfino, Christoph J. Griessenauer, Robert M. Starke, Laligam N. Sekhar, Michael R. Levitt, David J. Altschul, Neil Haranhalli, Malia Mcavoy, Hussein A. Zeineddine, Adib A. Abla, Saman Sizdahkhani, Sravanthi Koduri, Michael R. Gooch, Robert H. Rosenwasswer Md, Christopher Stapleton, Matthew Koch, Peng R. Chen, Spiros Blackburn, Ketan Bulsara, Louis J. Kim, Omar Choudhri, Bryan Pukenas, Joshua S. Catapano, Darren Orbach, Edward Smith, Pascal J. Mosimann, Alexandra R. Paul, Pascal Jabbour, Ali Alaraj, Mohammad A. Aziz-Sultan, Aman B. Patel, Amey Savardekar, Christina Notarianni, Hugo H. Cuellar, Bharat Guthikonda, Jacques Morcos, Michael Lawton, Jan-Karl Burkhardt, Visish M. Srinivasan

Department of Neurosurgery Faculty Papers

Deep venous drainage (DVD) is considered a negative prognostic factor in AVM surgery, yet its effect on postoperative functional decline remains incompletely defined. This study evaluates whether DVD predicts worsened functional status after surgical resection of Spetzler-Martin Grade II-III AVMs. This retrospective multicenter study analyzed 129 patients with Spetzler-Martin Grade II-III AVMs across nine centers in North America and Europe who underwent primary surgical resection. We excluded cases with prior endovascular or stereotactic interventions. The primary outcome measured was poor functional status, defined as modified Rankin Scale (mRS) score 3-6 at last follow up. Among 129 patients with Spetzler-Martin Grade …

Electronic Research Notebooks And Partnership Checklists: Fostering Cultured Collaboration In Evidence Synthesis Projects Using Labarchives And Swirl-Sr, Gary Kaplan, Mslis, Ahip, Abby Adamczyk, Mlis, Ahip, Emmett Booth, Mlis, Ahip, Stephanie Roth, Mlis, Ahip

Academic Commons and Scott Memorial Library Staff Papers and Presentations

Background

Librarians providing evidence synthesis services often face project management challenges, from tracking progress on search strategy development to clarifying team roles. Librarians have a variety of tools to address these challenges.¹ We propose using electronic lab notebooks (ELNs), which standardize how scientists record research progress. Institutions have adapted ELNs to protect intellectual property and improve rigor and reproducibility.

Although many published systematic reviews report following guidelines such as PRISMA, they still lack rigor and reproducibility.² Therefore, one of the authors developed the Standards for Working with Research Librarians-on Systematic Reviews (SWiRL-SR) checklist to facilitate collaboration and improve …

Axitinib-Pembrolizumab And Adverse Event Management In Patients With Advanced Renal Cell Carcinoma, Neil Shah, Yaa Ababio, Anthony Eccleston, Dharanija Rao, Scott Kelly, Jane Chang, Sarah Lucht, Caleb Paydar, Bryce Van Doren, Emily Bland, William John, Sarah Giegerich, Jalyna Laney, Bruce Feinberg, Kevin Zarrabi

Kimmel Cancer Center Faculty Papers

IMPORTANCE: Understanding approaches to managing treatment-related adverse events (AEs) in immunotherapy and tyrosine kinase inhibitor-based treatments in a clinical setting is critical for reaching optimal patient outcomes.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the management of AEs in community practices during first-line axitinib plus pembrolizumab therapy for advanced renal cell carcinoma (aRCC).

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: This study comprised a cross-sectional electronic physician survey and a multisite, retrospective cohort study of the medical records of US patients with aRCC who initiated first-line axitinib-pembrolizumab between April 22, 2019, and January 31, 2024. Data were analyzed from September 18 to December 20, 2024.

EXPOSURE: First-line …

In-Use Stability And Device Compatibility Define Clinically Actionable Handling Limits For A Gmp-Produced Attenuated Listeria Monocytogenes Vaccine Expressing Gucy2c, Jagmohan Singh, Taranjot Johar, Vannessa Scully, Scott A. Waldman, Babar Bashir, Adam E. Snook

Department of Pharmacology, Physiology, and Cancer Biology Faculty Papers

Background: Live-attenuated Listeria monocytogenes (Lm) vectors are a clinically validated cancer immunotherapy platform, but translation requires reproducible, clinically realistic workflows for dose preparation and infusion. For live bacterial products, in-use stability and device compatibility can drive dose variability through adsorption, settling, and device losses. Methods: We developed and GMP-manufactured an attenuated Lm vaccine expressing human GUCY2C (Lm-GUCY2C) and performed translational characterization, including construct verification and immunogenicity readouts, and defined the administration-focused in-use stability and device compatibility. Post-thaw stability was assessed in primary cryovials and during preparation and delivery from 250 mL saline infusion bags using standard clinical devices (syringes/needles, filter-free …

Pr Interval Alternans And The Mystery Of Inverse Decremental Conduction, Alyssa Zakala, Mohammed Hussein Kamareddine, Farah Olleik, Ali Keramati, Gan-Xin Yan

Department of Medicine Faculty Papers

CASE SUMMARY: A 73-year-old man with severe aortic stenosis and preexisting right bundle branch block (RBBB) underwent transcatheter aortic valve replacement. Postprocedural day 4 mobile cardiac outpatient telemetry revealed intermittent atrioventricular block. A 12-lead electrocardiogram obtained in the emergency department revealed PR interval alternans with RBBB, with longer PR following longer preceding RP intervals, and shorter PR following shorter RP intervals. He suddenly experienced cardiac arrest due to proximal atrioventricular block, requiring cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

TAKE-HOME MESSAGES: Inverse decremental conduction, known as Yan conduction, demonstrates an inverse relationship between conduction time and frequency of upstream stimulation. Inverse decremental conduction within the …

Exceptional Response Of Radiotherapy-Naïve Cranial Meningiomas To Dual Immune Checkpoint Blockade In Bap1 Tumor Predisposition Syndrome, Gary Gallia, Christine Hann, Calixto-Hope Lucas, Licia Pacheco Luna, David Kamson, Takami Sato

Department of Medical Oncology Faculty Papers

Meningiomas are the most common primary central nervous system tumors, and while most are benign, atypical and anaplastic variants frequently recur and have limited effective treatment options. Recent trials of PD-1 blockade in unselected meningioma cohorts have demonstrated modest activity, with low objective response rates. These findings highlight the need to identify molecular biomarkers that may predict immunotherapy sensitivity in this disease. BRCA1-associated protein 1 (BAP1) is a tumor suppressor critical for chromatin regulation and DNA repair, and germline pathogenic variants cause BAP1 tumor predisposition syndrome (BAP1-TPDS), a hereditary cancer syndrome characterized by uveal melanoma, mesothelioma, renal cell carcinoma, meningioma, …

Objective Oculomotor, Vestibular, Reaction Time, And Cognitive Signatures Of Vestibular Migraine, Claire E. J. Ceriani, Alexandr Braverman, Alexander Kiderman

Department of Neurology Faculty Papers

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate oculomotor, vestibular, reaction time, and cognitive (OVRT-C) function in patients with vestibular migraine (VM) using objective eye-tracking-based metrics and to identify patterns of dysfunction relative to healthy controls.

BACKGROUND: Vestibular migraine is a common yet underdiagnosed cause of vertigo. Diagnosis remains primarily clinical, because objective neurologic and vestibular findings are often absent or inconsistent. Quantitative methods capable of capturing the multisystem manifestations of VM may improve objective characterization of the disorder.

METHODS: Participants with a clinical diagnosis of vestibular migraine were recruited from a tertiary headache center and assessed using a battery of OVRT-C tests administered with …

Mitochondrial Ca2+ Uniporter (Mcu) Variants Form Plasma-Membrane Channels, Iuliia Polina, Jyotsna Mishra, Michael Cypress, Maria Landherr, Nedyalka Valkov, Isabel Chaput, Bridget Nieto, Brian Rhee, Ameneh Ahrari, Nathan Demichaelis, Kye-Im Jeon, Ulrike Mende, Peng Zhang, Bong Sook Jhun, Jin O-Uchi

Center for Translational Medicine Faculty Papers

MCU, originally known as CCDC109A, is widely recognized as the gene responsible for encoding a pore-forming subunit of a Ca2+-selective channel, mitochondrial Ca2+ uniporter complex (mtCUC). While MCU expression is typically highly mitochondrial-specific, we report here a protein variant derived from the MCU gene, termed MCU-S, which lacks the mitochondria-targeting sequence (MTS) and forms a Ca2+-permeable channel outside of mitochondria. The mRNA of MCU-S was ubiquitously expressed in all cell types/tissues tested, with particularly high expression in human platelets. MCU-S protein formed Ca2+ channels at the plasma membrane, which exhibited similar channel properties to those observed in mtCUC. MCU-S channels …

Symmetrical Drug-Related Intertriginous And Flexural Exanthema Associated With Tirzepatide, William Goodman, Karan Pandher, Mahaa Ayub

Department of Dermatology and Cutaneous Biology Faculty Papers

No abstract provided.

When Qtc Shrinks After Rhythm Conversion, Mohammed Hussein Kamareddine, Alyssa Zakala, Farid Farkouh, Ibrahim Alameh, Gan-Xin Yan

Department of Medicine Faculty Papers

CASE SUMMARY: An 83-year-old man with a history of atrial fibrillation on amiodarone therapy was admitted for direct-current cardioversion because of recurrent atrial fibrillation with a ventricular rate of approximately 105 beats per minute. Cardioversion successfully restored sinus rhythm. Postcardioversion 12-lead electrocardiography revealed an unexpectedly short QTc of 344 ms despite chronic treatment with a QT-prolonging agent. This finding was attributed to QT hysteresis, reflecting delayed adaptation of ventricular repolarization to the abrupt reduction in heart rate after rhythm conversion.

TAKE-HOME MESSAGE: QT hysteresis can result in transient QTc shortening and has important implications for interpretation of QT intervals during …

Sex-Biased Intratumoral Microbiome Influences Tumor Molecular And Immune Landscape And Disease Outcomes, Yuting Shan, Yingbo Huang, Adam Lee, Radwa M. Elmorsi, Tuyen Phan, Indrajit Chaudhury, Tom Corbiere, Lindsey B. Collins, Elizabeth B. Hirsch, Benjamin A. Weinberg, Jennifer M. Johnson, Emmanuel S. Antonarakis, Emil Lou, R. Stephanie Huang

Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery Faculty Papers

The intratumoral microbiome is increasingly recognized as a regulator of cancer biology, yet sex-specific patterns and their relevance to cancer disparities remain poorly understood. We perform a multi-kingdom analysis of more than 5,000 tumors from seven datasets to identify sex-differential microbial taxa across aerodigestive and gastrointestinal cancers. We identify and validate 22 taxa with consistent sex-biased abundance, including in real-world cohort. These microbes show cancer-type- and microbe-specific associations with tumor transcriptomes, oncogenic pathways, and immune cell infiltration. Female-enriched microbes are linked to increased estrogen signaling and interferon responses, whereas male-enriched taxa show opposing patterns. In gastric cancer, intratumoral Epstein-Barr virus …

Polymorphic Ventricular Tachycardia, Sarcoidosis, And The Ultimate Unmasking Of A Pheochromocytoma, Anusha U. Saga, Elizabeth Clark, Isaac R. Whitman

Department of Medicine Faculty Papers

The pitfall of anchoring bias may contribute to diagnostic conundra. In this case, a patient with a history of systemic sarcoidosis presented to the electrophysiology clinic with palpitations. Rhythm monitoring revealed polymorphic ventricular tachycardia (PMVT). A diagnosis of cardiac sarcoidosis was presumed and pursued even though repeat cardiac imaging was negative. In the interim, the patient developed new hypertension, and the patient’s primary care provider screened the patient for pheochromocytoma. Despite the initial pursuit of a misdiagnosis in a patient with a high pretest probability for the wrong diagnosis, the pheochromocytoma was resected and the PMVT and hypertension was cured.

Safety And Efficacy Of Outpatient Thoracentesis: A Retrospective Analysis, Brooke Ruane, Msn, Crnp, Brian Schonewald, Md, Christine S. Shusted, Mph, Christopher Mcgrath, Md, Frances Mae West, Md, Prarthna Chandar, Md

Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine Posters

Objectives

• To examine the patient population, procedural indications, and clinical outcomes associated with a clinic-based outpatient thoracentesis program.
• To evaluate the safety, feasibility, and cost implications of an advanced practice provider (APP)-driven model for pleural effusion management.

Multi-Level Variable Selection Using A Bart-Enhanced Mixed-Effects Framework, Keming Zhang, Yaoyao Li, Jungang Zou, Sijian Wang, Bernadette A. Fausto, Liangyuan Hu

College of Health Professions Faculty Papers

Selecting important individual- and cluster-level predictors has become increasingly critical in healthcare research, where data often exhibit hierarchical structures due to collection from multiple clusters. Mixed-effects models, which account for within-cluster correlation and between-cluster heterogeneity, are a natural approach for multilevel variable selection. However, currently available variable selection methods for multilevel data are predominantly based on mixed-effects models that impose restrictive parametric assumptions, potentially limiting their utility when the underlying relationships are nonlinear or involve interactions. While nonparametric methods have shown promise for variable selection in non-clustered data, they have been much less studied in the multilevel setting. Moreover, nonparametric …

Imbalance In Wnt: Retinoic Acid Signaling Dysregulates Hox Gene Expression: Implications For Cancer Stem Cell Heterogeneity And Crc Patient Survival, Brian Osmond, Chi Zhang, Pascal K. Kataboh, Caroline O. B. Facey, Lynn M. Opdenaker, Bruce M. Boman

Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics Faculty Papers

How HOX transcription factors play a role in the stem cell (SC) origin of cancer is unclear. Our goal is to determine how dysregulation of HOX gene expression promotes colorectal cancer (CRC) development through aberrant SC regulatory mechanisms. We investigated retinoic acid (RA) and WNT signaling because they regulate HOX expression and both pathways are dysregulated in cancer. Previously, we reported WNT and RA pathways are functionally linked, and in CRC, APC mutation generates a WNT:RA imbalance leading to incomplete differentiation and SC overpopulation. We hypothesize that aberrant WNT- and RA-signaling dysregulates HOX expression that contributes to the SC origin …

Use Of Tyrx Antibacterial Envelope In Inflatable Penile Prosthesis Surgery: A Prospective Pilot Study., Jack T. Rifkin, Julia A. Baran, Brian H. Im, Tej J. Desai, Jordan Dehoratius, Oleksandr Kolesnikov, Paul Chung

Department of Neurology Faculty Papers

BACKGROUND: Infection remains a major concern in inflatable penile prosthesis (IPP) surgery. Medtronic's TYRX Absorbable Antibacterial Envelope is a polypropylene mesh pocket delivering minocycline and rifampin for 7 days and fully absorbing in 9 weeks. It is currently FDA-approved for use with cardiac pacemakers and neuromodulation devices. There is no indication for use in IPP surgeries, particularly for enveloping the scrotal pump during implantation.

AIM: This pilot study evaluates the feasibility, safety, and early patient-reported outcomes with the use of the absorbable antibacterial envelope during IPP surgery.

METHODS: Fifteen men who underwent primary or revision IPP placement by a single …

Investigating Racial Differences In The Receipt Of Antenatal Interventions Prior To Periviable Delivery, Niurka Monteserin, Whitney Bender

Department of Orthopaedic Surgery Faculty Papers

BACKGROUND: The Society for Maternal Fetal Medicine (SMFM) provides guidance on the use of antenatal corticosteroids, antibiotics, and cesarean delivery in the periviable period. Although racial differences exist in postnatal active management of periviable neonates have been described, less is known about racial differences in antenatal interventions preceding delivery.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate differences in the receipt of antenatal interventions before periviable delivery by birthing parent race.

METHODS:  We conducted a population-based cohort study using the National Center for Health Statistics database including periviable deliveries (20w0d-25w6d) from 2016-2021. Individuals delivering a non-anomalous live singleton gestation in a hospital were included. Births …

Demystifying Longitudinal Melanonychia: Low-Cost 3d-Printed Nail Models For Patient Education, Nuran C. Golbasi, Zachary J.K. Neubauer, Nataliedeana Badillo, Shari R. Lipner

Student Papers, Posters & Projects

No abstract provided.

Urobiome Composition Varies With Vesicoureteral Reflux Grade And History Of Febrile Urinary Tract Infection, Theresa C. Barrett, Kelvin Li, Adam Fitch, Asha Patel, Bhanu Sharma, Jacqueline Holden, Kermina Abdelsayed, Nina N. Kowalewski, Sridhar Narla, Daniel Bushnell, Barbara A. Methé, Catherine S. Forster

Department of Medicine Faculty Papers

Vesicoureteral reflux (VUR) is a risk factor for urinary tract infection (UTI). However, data describing the urobiome in children with VUR are limited. Here, we characterized the urobiome in children with and without VUR to better understand its potential role in VUR pathogenesis. Catheterized urine samples were obtained from children who presented for voiding cystourethrogram (VCUG) between 12/1/2020 and 10/3/2023. Children were excluded if they had any surgical procedures of the genitourinary tract in the 30 days prior to VCUG or were on treatment antibiotics at the time of VCUG. 16S rRNA gene sequencing and taxonomical classification identified the urobiome. …

Pneumomlpred: Innovating Pneumonia Management With Guideline Adherence Review And Explainable Machine Learning-Based Mortality Prediction - A Single-Centre Retrospective Study, Kamel A. Samara, Hiba Jawdat Barqawi, Saryia Adra, Batool Aldaher, Drishti D. Kampani, Enad Haddad, Hebah Soudan, Islam Ibrahim Anwar, Mohamad Besher Adi, Omar Hamadi, Yumna Almour, Mohamed Nassef, Zaher Al Aghbari, Eman Abu-Gharbieh

Abington Jefferson Health Papers

Introduction: Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is one of the leading causes of death globally. Changing antibiotic resistance profiles, paucity of reliable CAP mortality prediction models, and ageing populations will increase its burden. This study aims to evaluate adherence to CAP management guidelines as well as develop an ML-based mortality prediction model.

Methods: This retrospective, chart review included all CAP cases between 2016 and 2021. Variables collected included patients' demographics, comorbidities, vitals, laboratory, imaging, and culture findings, as well as initial and targeted antibiotic regimens. Data was pre-processed and analysed in python-3. Adherence to the American thoracic society/infectious diseases society of America …

P300/Cbp Inhibition With Inobrodib In Combination With Gilteritinib And Venetoclax Targets Leukemia Stem Cells In Epigenetic Mutant Aml, Melanie L. Goetz, Jennifer S. Romer-Seibert, Amanda M. Versace, Scott Kogan, Chetan Jeurkar, Robert L. Bowman, Nigel Brooks, Kris Frese, Sara E. Meyer

Department of Pharmacology, Physiology, and Cancer Biology Faculty Papers

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a fatal blood cancer with cytotoxic chemotherapy offering at best 25% 5-year survival. While targeted BCL2 and FLT3 inhibitors venetoclax and gilteritinib are used upfront in the treatment of a subset of adult patients with AML and help to extend the survival of some patients, a curative treatment combination with minimal side effects has yet to be discovered. We find that use of the dual histone acetyltransferase p300/CBP bromodomain inhibitor CCS1477 (inobrodib), together with venetoclax and gilteritinib, virtually eliminates leukemia stem cells in an aggressive preclinical model of DNMT3A/FLT3-mutant AML by impairing pro-oncogenic survival and …

Multiple Intracranial Aneurysms: An International Consensus Statement, Stavropoula Tjoumakaris

Department of Neurosurgery Faculty Papers

Introduction: Multiple intracranial aneurysms (MIAs) pose diagnostic and therapeutic challenges, and widely used rupture-risk scores have not been validated for this subgroup. Research question: To develop expert-based recommendations for the diagnosis, rupture-risk assessment, treatment selection, and follow-up of patients with MIAs. Material and methods: A modified Delphi process was conducted. After topic generation from the literature, iterative questionnaires were administered anonymously online to invited experts. Consensus was prespecified as ≥70% agreement. Twenty-six of 35 invitees (74.3%) completed the survey. Results: Consensus identified the ruptured lesion in aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH) using computed tomographic angiography (CTA) and 3D rotational digital subtraction …

Efficacy Of Continuous Pegcetacoplan Treatment For Subfoveal Geographic Atrophy In Age-Related Macular Degeneration: 36-Month Results From Oaks, Derby, And Gale Open-Label Extension, Dilsher S. Dhoot, Sunir J. Garg, David M. Brown, Ivan J. Suñer, Ehsan Rahimy, David S. Boyer, Kineta Naidu, Chao Li, Caroline R. Baumal, Robyn H. Guymer

Wills Eye Hospital Papers

PURPOSE: To report efficacy of intravitreal pegcetacoplan treatment over 36 months in eyes with subfoveal geographic atrophy (GA).

PATIENTS AND METHODS: The GALE (NCT04770545) open-label extension trial adds 12 months of results to the 24-month Phase 3 OAKS (NCT03525613) and DERBY (NCT03525600) trials, representing up to 36 months of continuous pegcetacoplan treatment. They included a heterogeneous population of eyes with subfoveal GA (63%). Pegcetacoplan-treated eyes enrolling in GALE continued at the same interval of pegcetacoplan monthly (PM) or every other month (PEOM). Patients' eyes in sham monthly or every-other-month arms crossed over to receive pegcetacoplan in GALE at the same …

Cigarette And E-Cigarette Use In Greater Philadelphia: Proportion Of Use Compared To National Data And Local Predictors Of Smoking Status, Munjireen Sifat, Joshua Banks, Lilianna Phan, Kuang-Yi Wen, Julie A. Barta, Rebecca J. Melillo, Hee-Soon Juon

College of Population Health Faculty Papers

UNLABELLED: Objective tobacco use, cigarette, e-cigarette, cancer-related beliefs, perceived risk, lifestyle attribution, cancer disparities, health equity. We assessed cigarette smoking and e-cigarette use in the Greater Philadelphia region alongside national data. The objectives were to descriptively explore differences in tobacco use by sociodemographic characteristics. We also examined cancer belief associations with smoking and e-cigarette use in the local context.

METHODS: We descriptively compared cross-sectional survey data from 2744 adults in the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center (SKCCC) catchment area (Greater Philadelphia region; May-July 2022) with 6252 Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS 6) nationally representative respondents (United States; March-November 2022). …

Leveraging Multimodal Large Language Models For Fall Risk Reduction In Older Adults In The Home: Proposed Model Design, Justin Do, Vivaswat Suresh, Lily Zhang, Bharvi M. Chavre, Jeremy Cha, Robert S. Pugliese

SKMC Student Presentations and Publications

This research letter proposes a novel model design leveraging natively multimodal large language models to identify fall risks and generate visualizations of recommended home environmental modifications, aiming to improve the accessibility and impact of personalized fall prevention advice for older adults. Through a pilot rating study, this work demonstrates that multimodal large language models can generate safe and actionable advice to reduce fall risk in lived spaces of older adults, and also generate realistic edits based on original images. While this concept needs further testing and clinical comparison, it highlights a promising avenue for further innovation of fall prevention tactics.

Anatomy Of The Orbit: Radiologic And Surgical Anatomy Of Anterior And Medial Approaches, Emily Garvey, Benjamin Bitner, Mindy R. Rabinowitz

Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery Faculty Papers

Purpose of Review: To review relevant medial orbital anatomy as well as the most commonly used approaches to this space. Recent Findings: The use of the endoscopic endonasal approach for access to the medial orbit, including the intraconal space, has expanded allowing for removal of previously “inoperable” pathology. Summary: Each approach has their strength when considering access to the medial orbit, the transcaruncular incision allows for fast access with limited dissection while the transpalebral approach allows for visualization of the medial orbit but also extended access to the superior and lateral orbit. Conversely, the conjunctival approach allows for wider access …

A Survey Of Health Professions Learners’ Attitudes Towards Social Media In Medical Education: A Substance Use Disorders Education Case Study, Gregory A. Jaffe, Sarah Lawson, William Leach, Mallika Kodavatiganti, Erin Avanzato, Katherine Fesperman, Heather Klusaritz

Department of Family & Community Medicine Faculty Papers

BACKGROUND: Social media is a ubiquitous part of the modern world and plays a key role in the dissemination of information. While utilizing social media for educational purposes has been repeatedly demonstrated as feasible, it has been underutilized in medical education and remains a critical opportunity to integrate microlearning and stigma reduction curricula.

METHODS: A cross-sectional survey on social media usage, attitudes, and beliefs was sent to medical and nursing students at two large academic institutions within Philadelphia. Descriptive statistics are reported, and non-parametric tests were utilized for exploratory analyses.

RESULTS: Health learners were low consumers of social media, reporting …

A Tactile Trans-Flexor Carpi Radialis Surface Landmark Technique For Median Nerve Local Injection: A Cadaveric Study, Clark Chen, Keenan Sobol, Connor Hickey, Duncan Vannest, John Ibrahim, James Raphael

Einstein Health Papers

PURPOSE: Median nerve (MN) block under local anesthesia at the wrist is commonly performed but can be limited by anatomic variation, particularly absence of the palmaris longus tendon. This study investigates a novel trans-flexor carpi radialis (trans-FCR) technique for MN anesthesia that uses the flexor carpi radialis (FCR) tendon as a consistent surface landmark.

METHODS: Fourteen fresh frozen upper extremity cadaver specimens were used. A 25-gauge needle was inserted through the FCR sheath approximately 4 cm proximal to the wrist crease in a transverse fashion, angled approximately 0° to the vertical and parallel to the wrist crease. The trans-FCR technique …