Digital Commons Network^™

Developing The Professional Knowledge Of Librarians Through A Webinar Series, Katie Pierce Farrier, Sandra Desjardins, Laura Haygood

Library Staff Publications

Background: The Early Career Librarians Initiative of the South Central Chapter of the Medical Library Association (ECLI) offered a webinar series that addressed topics of interest to new professionals such as networking, goal setting, and salary negotiation. Additionally, the ECLI assessed participant feedback on the series through a program evaluation survey.

Case presentation: ECLI partnered with the Network of the National Library of Medicine (NNLM), Region 3, to offer six webinars over the course of two years. Attendees were asked to complete a survey. Quantitative results were analyzed, and qualitative free-text responses were thematically coded. A total of 567 people …

Cdk4/6 Inhibitors In Breast Cancer-Who Should Receive Them?, Anran Chen, Ze-Yi Zheng, Meenakshi Anurag, Ahmed Elkhanany, Natalie C Chen, Eric C Chang

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

More than 70% of breast cancers are estrogen receptor-positive (ER+). Endocrine therapy that blocks estrogen signaling remains the cornerstone of treatment, yet relapses continue to affect many patients. Cyclin-dependent kinases 4 and 6 (CDK4/6) regulate the G1-S phase transition in the cell cycle, and pharmacological inhibition of this pathway has been successfully leveraged to reduce recurrence. CDK4/6 inhibitors combined with endocrine therapy are now the standard of care, although determining the optimal patient population for treatment remains a key challenge. A newly published study provides important insight, showing that loss of the NF1/neurofibromin tumor suppressor confers greater sensitivity to CDK4/6 …

In Utero Rescue Of Neurological Dysfunction In A Mouse Model Of Wiedemann-Steiner Syndrome., Tinna Reynisdottir, Kimberley J Anderson, Katrin Möller, Stefán Pétursson, Andrew Brinn, Katheryn P Franklin, Juan Ouyang, Asbjorg O Snorradottir, Cathleen Lutz, Aamir Zuberi, Valerie B Deleon, Hans T Bjornsson

Faculty Research 2025

Wiedemann-Steiner syndrome (WDSTS) is a rare genetic cause of intellectual disability that is primarily caused by heterozygous loss-of-function variants in the gene encoding the histone lysine methyltransferase 2A (KMT2A). Prior studies have shown successful postnatal amelioration of disease phenotypes for Rett, Rubinstein-Taybi, and Kabuki syndromes, which are related Mendelian disorders of the epigenetic machinery. To explore whether the neurological phenotype in WDSTS is treatable in utero, we created a mouse model carrying a loss-of-function variant placed between 2 loxP sites. Kmt2a+/LSL mice demonstrated core features of WDSTS including growth retardation, craniofacial abnormalities, and hypertrichosis as well as hippocampal memory defects. …

Increasing Opportunities For Community Input In Harm Reduction Program Development Using Iterative Engagement., Nicole M. Wagner, Jordan A. Carlson, Meagan Bean, Amy Wineland, Joshua Blum, Scott A. Cardona, Sheila Covarrubias, Allison Kempe, Abby C. King, Amy G. Huebschmann

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

BACKGROUND: Incorporating people who use substances into a community-engaged research process can support the implementation and evaluation of evidence-based harm reduction programs. Attending to their voice ensures those who need these programs will use them. Yet, ongoing co-learning with people who use substances, often the ideal for community engaged research, poses a challenge for recruitment, ongoing participation, and obtaining diverse perspectives. We need novel strategies to support flexibility among populations experiencing legal and social instability so that community engaged work includes more diverse perspectives. In this paper, we describe a novel community engagement approach called Effective Adaptable and Sustainable in …

Rtx-303, An Orally Bioavailable Polθ Polymerase Inhibitor That Potentiates Parp Inhibitors In Brca Mutant Tumors, Gurushankar Chandramouly, William Fried, John Gordon, Douglas Ralph, Channita Keuk, Sangeeta Kumari, Mercy Ramanjulu, William Auerbacher, Leonid Minakhin, Taylor Tredinnick, Bernadette Tiberi, George Morton, Robert Betsch, Kathy Q. Cai, Umeshkumar M Vekariya, Mrityunjay Tyagi, Tomasz Skorski, Sergey Karakashev, Neil Johnson, Wayne E. Childers, Xiaojiang S. Chen, Richard T. Pomerantz

Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Faculty Papers

DNA polymerase θ (Polθ) is a polymerase-helicase fusion protein that is synthetically lethal with homologous recombination (HR) factors, such as BRCA1/2, and confers resistance to PARP inhibitors (PARPi) and other genotoxic cancer therapies. Previously developed Polθ polymerase (Polθ-pol) inhibitors (Polθi) exhibited limited pharmacological activity and metabolic stability, warranting the development of a Polθi with improved drug-like properties. Here, we developed RTx-303, a selective allosteric small-molecule Polθ-pol inhibitor that exhibits 5.1 nM IC50, 88% oral bioavailability, and a prolonged half-life along with its equipotent metabolite. X-ray crystallography highlights the development of a solvent-exposed side-chain that is essential for the optimal drug-like …

Lifestyle Data-Based Multiclass Obesity Prediction With Interpretable Ensemble Models Incorporating Shap And Lime Analysis, Shahid Mohammad Ganie, Pijush Kanti Dutta Pramanik, Zhongming Zhao

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Obesity is a major public health concern. Predicting obesity risk from lifestyle data can guide targeted interventions, but current models remain limited. This study first evaluates ensemble learning methods and then combines approaches to improve prediction accuracy and generalizability. Four ensemble techniques-boosting, bagging, stacking, and voting-were tested. Five boosting and five bagging models were constructed alongside voting and stacking models. Hyperparameter tuning optimized performance, and feature importance analysis guided potential feature elemination. In phase two, hybrid stacking and voting models integrated the best-performing boosting and bagging models to enhance predictive capability. Model robustness was ensured through k-fold cross-validation and statistical …

Genome-Wide Association Study Of Childhood B-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia Reveals Novel African Ancestry-Specific Susceptibility Loci, Cindy Im, Andrew R Raduski, Lauren J Mills, Kashi Raj Bhattarai, Robert J Mobley, Kelly R Barnett, Zhanni Lu, Kenneth Liao, Nathan Anderson, Rebecca A Johnson, Erica Langer, Anthony J Hooten, Alix E Seif, Kathrin M Bernt, Matthew Tsang, Brandon A Mamou, Luis Gil-De-Gómez, Julie A Wolfson, Danielle N Friedman, Neerav Shukla, Laura J Klesse, Erin L Marcotte, Lingyun Ji, Alice Dang, Minjie Luo, Yiming Zhong, Jalen Langie, Charleston W K Chiang, Adam De Smith, Joseph L Wiemels, Andrew Dewan, Xiaomei Ma, Catherine Metayer, Zhaoming Wang, Heather H Nelson, Nathan Pankratz, Tianzhong Yang, Saonli Basu, Lucie M Turcotte, Jun J Yang, Daniel Savic, Michael E Scheurer, Logan G Spector

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL) is the most common pediatric malignancy. Given racial/ethnic differences in incidence and outcomes, B-ALL genome-wide association studies among children of African ancestry are needed. Leveraging multi-institutional datasets with 840 African American children with B-ALL and 3360 controls, nine loci achieved genome-wide significance (P <  5 × 10−8) after meta-analysis. Two loci were established trans-ancestral susceptibility regions (IKZF1, ARID5B), while the remaining novel loci were specific to African populations. Five-year overall survival among children carrying novel risk alleles was significantly worse (83% versus 96% in non-carriers, P = 4.8 × 10−3). Novel risk variants were also associated with subtype-specific disease (P <  0.05), including higher susceptibility for a subtype overrepresented in African American children (TCF3-PBX1) and lower …

A Hybrid Model For Youth Engagement In Adolescent Health Studies: Insights From The Teen Research Advisors Program At A Midwestern Pediatric Academic Medical Center In The United States., John Tumberger, Alaina N. Burns, Michael Bartkoski, Mariah E. Brewe, Amelia Whittier, Kendyll Gethers, Ailisi Bogdon, Emerie Peterson, Stephani L. Stancil

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

BACKGROUND: Engaging adolescents in research ensures studies are relevant, ethical, and beneficial while fostering authentic and applicable findings. Traditional in-person advisory boards face barriers to equitable participation, highlighting the need for innovative, flexible models tailored to specific research programs and individuals with lived experience. The primary aim of this article is to describe a novel hybrid youth advisory board suitable for informing ongoing operations of a research program while supporting youths' education and career exploration. Our secondary aim was to evaluate initial impact over the first 2 years of the program (2023-2024).

METHODS: Adolescents aged 12-21 with prior involvement in …

Sexually Dimorphic Sail Feathers In The Mandarin Duck As A Model For Lifelong Developmental Modulation, Pin-Chi Tang, Hsu-Chen Cheng, Gee-Way Lin, Yung-Chih Lai, Ya-Chen Liang, Ping Wu, Tzu-Chiao Lin, Chen Siang Ng, Isheng Jason Tsai, Ang Li, Wen Hsiung Li, Chih-Feng Chen, Cheng-Ming Chuong, Randall Widelitz

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Developmental processes extend beyond embryogenesis to support lifelong tissue adaptations. Avian feather follicles, with their resident stem cells and capacity for cyclic regeneration, provide a dynamic model for postnatal tissue remodeling. Here, we propose the Mandarin duck (Aix galericulata) as an ideal model to study lifelong developmental modulation, focusing on the sexually dimorphic "sail feather"-a secondary flight feather in males that undergoes seasonal transformation into a strikingly asymmetric, ornamented phenotype during the breeding season. We identified asymmetric morphogen expression in regenerating male sail feathers and used transcriptome and H3K27ac ChIP-seq to uncover male and female signaling pathways and regulatory elements. …

Everolimus And Low-Dose Tacrolimus After Heart Transplant In Children: A Randomized Clinical Trial, Christopher S Almond, Kevin P Daly, Erin L Albers, Juan C Alejos, Rebecca Ameduri, Scott R Auerbach, Lynsey Barkoff, Aliessa P Barnes, Matthew J Bock, Arene Butto, Waldemar F Carlo, Chesney D Castleberry, Maryanne R Chrisant, Shriprasad R Deshpande, William J Dreyer, Melanie D Everitt, Brian Feingold, Selena Gonzales, Seth A Hollander, Steven J Kindel, Gloria L Klein, Ashwin K Lal, Jacqueline M Lamour, Joanne Lee, Minmin Lu, Irene D Lytrivi, Shelley D Miyamoto, Elfriede Pahl, David M Peng, Thomas D Ryan, Tajinder P Singh, Jennifer A Su, David L Sutcliffe, A Marian Ybarra, Steven Zangwill, Joseph W Rossano, Lynn A Sleeper

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Importance: Studies suggest that everolimus may reduce the risk of rejection, cardiac allograft vasculopathy (CAV), chronic kidney disease (CKD), and cytomegalovirus (CMV) after heart transplant. Everolimus use is controversial because of data demonstrating higher infection deaths when everolimus is introduced de novo after transplant. It is unclear whether everolimus is safe and effective when initiated at 6 months posttransplant in children, a population in which median graft survival is limited to 15 years and randomized clinical trials are lacking.

Objective: To evaluate the safety and efficacy of everolimus combined with low-dose tacrolimus to prevent major adverse transplant events (MATEs) in …

Ambient Trichloroethylene Exposure And Parkinson Disease Risk In Medicare Beneficiaries, Brittany Krzyzanowski, Kassu Mehari Beyene, Jay R. Turner, Brad A. Racette

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Trichloroethylene (TCE) is an important environmental contaminant in the United States due to widespread use industrially. Epidemiologic studies suggest that occupational exposure to TCE and TCE-contaminated drinking water may increase the risk of Parkinson disease (PD). The aim of this study was to investigate the nationwide relationship between ambient TCE and PD risk.

METHODS: We performed a nationwide, population-based, case-control study to investigate the association between incident PD in US Medicare beneficiaries aged 67 years and older in 2016-2018 and their residential exposure to ambient (outdoor) TCE in 2002. We assigned residence based on the latitude and …

Genetic Influences For Distinct Impulsivity Domains Are Differentially Associated With Early Substance Use Initiation: Results From The Abcd Study, Ethan Kinstler, Aaron J Gorelik, Sarah E Paul, Adamya Aggarwal, Emma C Johnson, Melissa A Cyders, Arpana Agrawal, Ryan Bogdan, Alex P Miller

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: Impulsivity is among the strongest correlates of substance involvement (i.e. a broad continuum of substance-related behaviors), and distinct domains (e.g. sensation seeking [SS] and urgency) are differentially correlated, phenotypically and genetically, with unique substance involvement stages. Examining whether polygenic influences for distinct impulsivity domains are differentially predictive of early substance use initiation - a major risk factor for later problematic use - may improve our understanding of the role of impulsivity in addiction etiology.

METHODS: Data collected from participants of genetically inferred European ancestry enrolled in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study

RESULTS: SS-PGS was significantly associated with any …

Biallelic Loss-Of-Function Variants In C19orf44 Lead To Retinal Degeneration, Hafiz Muhammad Jafar Hussain, Wang Meng, Yumei Li, Sabika Firasat, Mark E Pennesi, Michael B Gorin, Bin Guan, Rebecca Lynn Clark, Emma Fale-Olsen, Ranya Al Rawi, Aime Agather, Laryssa A Huryn, Paul Yang, Anna Matynia, Rui Chen

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Background: Inherited retinal diseases (IRDs) are a group of disorders often resulting in progressive vision loss, ultimately leading to blindness. A significant portion of their genetic causes remain unresolved, partly due to undiscovered disease-associated genes or variants. This study aimed to identify novel genetic links to IRDs.

Methods: All patients underwent comprehensive ophthalmological evaluation, including retinal imaging (fundus autofluorescence and macular optical coherence tomography) and electroretinogram testing. Whole exome sequencing and whole genome sequencing were performed on patients with clinically unsolved IRD, and data were analysed using an in-house pipeline to identify causal variants. Subsequently, Sanger sequencing was performed to …

Influences On Emergency Clinician Use Of Health Information Exchange: Interview Study, Brian E. Dixon, Umesh Ghimire, Benjamin Richter, Corinne Bowditch, Saurabh Rahurkar, John T. Finnell, Joshua R. Vest

Division of Internal Medicine Faculty Papers & Presentations

BACKGROUND: Health information exchange (HIE) supports clinical decision-making in emergency medicine settings. Despite evidence and policies that encourage the adoption of HIE, use by clinicians is limited. Moreover, few studies examine HIE use years after adoption by hospitals or clinics.

OBJECTIVE: This study aims to examine the perceptions and use of a mature, operational HIE system by emergency department clinicians years after its implementation.

METHODS: We interviewed 21 clinicians in various roles (eg, attending physician and nurse practitioner) across multiple health systems that participate in a statewide HIE network. We asked questions about their use of the HIE system and …

Pragmatic Competence Of Saudi Female Efl Learners: A Modality-Based Study Of Conversational Implicatures, Afnan Almegren

UB Journal for Humanities

The comprehension of conversational implicatures is a significant challenge for second language learners. Although some previous research has investigated this area, limited studies have compared how comprehension is influenced by the modality of input. This study seeks to determine the extent to which Saudi female BA-level EFL learners’ comprehension scores differ between reading and listening tests for each implicature subtype. It also examines how strongly individual learners’ subscale scores in the reading test predict their corresponding subscale scores in the listening test, and which implicature types display the greatest and least cross-modal consistency. A quantitative study was conducted with 60 …

Metabolic Impact Of Dietary Glycine Supplementation In Individuals With Severe Obesity, Hong Chang Tan, Jean W Hsu, E Shyong Tai, Shaji Chacko, Vieon Wu, Paul M Yen, Jean-Paul Kovalik, Farook Jahoor

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Glycine plays a central role in human metabolism, and an adequate supply is required for synthesizing glutathione (GSH), eliminating excess metabolites as acylglycine via the glycine conjugation detoxification pathway, and maintaining 1-carbon cycle activity. However, glycine is deficient in individuals with severe obesity, which may compromise these pathways and metabolic health. This exploratory study examines whether dietary glycine supplementation could correct glycine deficiency and impairments in glycine-dependent metabolic pathways. 19 participants with severe obesity (BMI 38.3 ± 5.3 kg/m2) were treated with dietary glycine (100 mg/kg/day) for two weeks. We found that treatment significantly increased the plasma concentration of glycine …

Cep76 Impairment At The Centrosome-Cilium Interface Contributes To A Spectrum Of Ciliopathies, Kamal Khan, Erika Tavares, Katherine Bishara, Aysegul Ozanturk, Leila Qebibo, Stephan Frangakis, Daniel G Calame, Isabelle Meunier, Béatrice Bocquet, Rafal Ploski, Mohammad Ayman Al Khateeb, Dana Marafi, Luke Mansard, Lena Damaj, Richard A Lewis, Farid Ullah, Thomas Arbogast, Jackson P Ogden, Madeleine Harion, Marjolaine Willems, Maha S Zaki, Tobias Bartolomaeus, Anne-Françoise Roux, James R Lupski, Malgorzata Rydzanicz, Rami Abou Jamra, Francis Ramond, Elise Heon, Lydie Burglen, Erica E Davis

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Dysfunction at the centrosome-cilium interface underlies a broad range of ciliopathies. Here, we identify biallelic variants in CEP76, encoding a centrosomal protein, in eight unrelated individuals presenting with neurodevelopmental, ocular, and variable additional multisystem features. Proband-derived fibroblasts and CEP76-depleted RPE1 cells display ciliary deficits, including impaired cilium formation and length, disrupted transition zone architecture, and impaired IFT88-mediated anterograde intraflagellar transport. Zebrafish cep76 mutants recapitulate key clinical phenotypes, and in vitro complementation assays confirm pathogenicity for all tested human disease-associated variants. Proteomics analysis identifies CEP76 interactors, including known partners CCP110 and CEP97, and highlights clinically and functionally relevant candidates, including …

Time-Of-Day And Age-Related Patterns In Cerebrospinal Fluid Glucose And Protein, Joshua P Koleske, Shelei Pan, Thanda Meehan, Maren Loe, Diego M Morales, Brendan P Lucey, Erik Musiek, Jennifer M Strahle

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: Known circadian variations in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) flow and composition include fluctuations in electrolytes, hormones, and neurotransmitters. However, how commonly measured CSF constituents, such as protein and glucose, vary by time-of-day is understudied. Here, we identify and compare time-of-day differences in CSF protein and glucose from patients who underwent CSF collection during clinical care.

METHODS: Patients with CSF collected between June 2018 and May 2023 at thirteen hospitals within our institution's health system were identified. Clinical, demographic and laboratory results were recorded. CSF results were divided into 1- and 4-hour intervals based on time-of-day and patient age. Patients were …

Type I Hybrid Effectiveness-Implementation Randomised Controlled Trial To Address Intergenerational Impact Of War Trauma And Resilience Among Second-Generation Refugee Children In The Usa: Resettled Refugee Families For Healing (Rrf4h) Study Protocol, Nhial T Tutlam, Tewodros W Liyew, Theresa S Betancourt, Byron J Powell, Shenyang Guo, Mary Mckay, Fred M Ssewamala

2020-Current year OA Pubs

INTRODUCTION: Children from refugee families resettled in the USA face higher risks of serious mental health challenges compared with their native-born peers. Research shows that refugee youth in high-income countries frequently suffer from trauma-associated disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression and anxiety. The high prevalence of trauma-associated mental health problems among these youth may be attributed to their own trauma exposure, especially if born in conflict zones, and post-resettlement challenges like poverty, acculturation difficulties, racism and discrimination. However, they may also suffer from the effects of intergenerational trauma, where parental war trauma impacts them. This study aims to …

Competition Between Tool And Hand Motion Impairs Movement Planning In Limb Apraxia, Simon Thibault, John B. Yates, Laurel J. Buxbaum, Aaron L. Wong

Moss-Magee Rehabilitation Papers

Tool use is a complex motor planning problem. Prior research suggests that planning to use tools involves resolving competition between different tool-related action representations. We therefore reasoned that competition may also be exacerbated with tools for which the motions of the tool and the hand are incongruent (e.g., pinching the fingers to open a clothespin). If this hypothesis is correct, we should observe marked deficits in planning the use of incongruent as compared with congruent tools in individuals with limb apraxia following left hemisphere stroke (LCVA), a disorder associated with abnormal action competition. We asked 34 individuals with chronic LCVA …

Hydralazine Inhibits Cysteamine Dioxygenase To Treat Preeclampsia And Senesce Glioblastoma, Kyosuke Shishikura, Jiasong Li, Yiming Chen, Nate R. Mcknight, Thomas P. Keeley, Katelyn A. Bustin, Eric W. Barr, Snehil R. Chilkamari, Mahaa Ayub, Sun Woo Kim, Zongtao Lin, Ren-Ming Hu, Kelly Hicks, Xie Wang, Donald M. O'Rourke, J. Martin Bollinger, Zev A. Binder, William H. Parsons, Kirill A. Martemyanov, Aimin Liu, Megan L. Matthews

SKMC Student Presentations and Publications

Hydralazine (HYZ), a treatment for preeclampsia and hypertensive crisis, is listed by the World Health Organization as an essential medicine. Its mode of action has remained unknown through its seven decades of clinical use. Here, we identify 2-aminoethanethiol dioxygenase (ADO), a key mediator of targeted protein degradation, as a selective HYZ target. The drug chelates ADO's metallocofactor and can alkylate one of its ligands. The resultant inactivation stabilizes regulators of G protein signaling (RGS4 and RGS5) that ADO normally marks for proteolysis, explaining the drug's vasodilatory activity and comporting with observations of diminished RGS levels in both clinical preeclampsia and …

Conversion Of Failed Anatomic Total Shoulder Arthroplasty To Reverse Shoulder Arthroplasty Yields Similar Pain And Functional Outcomes To Primary Reverse Shoulder Arthroplasty But Has A Higher Baseplate Failure Rate: A Matched Cohort Study., Kevin A Hao, Trevor G Simcox, Keegan M Hones, Jonathan O Wright, Thomas W Wright, Tyler Lamonica, Bradley S Schoch, Joseph J King

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: To investigate whether patients who initially underwent anatomic total shoulder arthroplasty (aTSA) for glenohumeral osteoarthritis and were subsequently revised to reverse TSA (rTSA) due to rotator cuff failure or glenoid loosening ultimately attained a similar clinical outcome compared with those who underwent primary rTSA and identify predictors of poor outcomes in the former population.

Methods: We did a single-center retrospective review of 63 shoulders who underwent revision rTSA after primary aTSA that failed due to glenoid component loosening (n = 32), rotator cuff failure (n = 24), or recurrent instability (n = 7). Pain and functional outcomes at minimum …

Tng260 Is A Small-Molecule Corest Inhibitor That Sensitizes Stk11-Mutant Tumors To Anti-Pd-1 Immunotherapy, Leanne G Ahronian, Soumyadip Sahu, Minjie Zhang, Ayushi S Patel, Ke Geng, Reshmee Bhattacharya, Gerald S Falchook, Jonathan W Goldman, Alexander I Spira, Salman R Punekar, David R Spigel, Judy S Wang, Ferdinandos Skoulidis, Janaye Stephens, Mary Meynardie, Jaylen M Powell, Alfonso Lopez, Michela Ranieri, Magdalena A Ploszaj, Yi Jer Tan, Yeuan Ting Lee, Yi Yu, Jiehui Deng, Ting Chen, Patrick Mccarren, Alice Tsai, Suleman S Hussain, Brian Doyon, Kenjie Amemiya, Jacques Ermolieff, Preksha Shahagadkar, Nikitha M Das, Lauren R Flynn, Julie A Shields, Laney Danielczyk, Brian J Mcmillan, Andre Mignault, Samuel R Meier, Hsin-Jung Wu, David J Guerin, Douglas A Whittington, Chengyin Min, Iga Sienczylo, John P Maxwell, Heather J Dibenedetto, Hideo Watanabe, Brian B Haines, Alan Huang, Adam Crystal, Jannik N Andersen, Xinyuan Wu, Kwok-Kin Wong

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Patients with non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with loss of the tumor suppressor gene STK11 are resistant to immune checkpoint therapies like anti–PD-1. In this study, we conducted an in vivo CRISPR screen that identified histone deacetylase 1 as a target to reverse anti–PD-1 resistance driven by loss of STK11 and developed TNG260, a potent small-molecule inhibitor of the CoREST complex with selectivity exceeding previously generated inhibitors in this class in preclinical studies. Treatment with TNG260 led to increased expression of immunomodulatory genes in STK11-deficient cancer cells. When combined with anti–PD-1, TNG260 induced immune-mediated stasis and/or regression in STK11 …

Preoperative Brain Mapping Predicts Language Outcomes After Eloquent Tumor Resection, Matthew T Muir, Kyle Noll, Sarah Prinsloo, Hayley Michener, Jeffrey I Traylor, Vinodh A Kumar, Chibawanye I Ene, Sherise Ferguson, Ho-Ling Liu, Jeffrey S Weinberg, Frederick Lang, Brian A Taylor, Stephanie J Forkel, Sujit S Prabhu

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

When operating on gliomas near critical language regions, surgeons risk either leaving residual tumor or inducing permanent postoperative language deficits (PLDs). Despite the advent of intraoperative mapping techniques, subjective judgments frequently determine important surgical decisions. We aim to inform data-driven surgery by constructing a non-invasive mapping approach that quantitatively predicts the impact of individual surgical decisions on long-term language function. This study included 79 consecutive patients undergoing resection of language-eloquent gliomas. Patients underwent preoperative navigated transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) language mapping to identify language-positive sites ("TMS points") and their associated white matter tracts ("TMS tracts") as well as formal language …

Alterations Of The Upper Respiratory Microbiome Among Children Living With Hiv Infection In Botswana, Sweta M Patel, John Farirai, Mohamed Z Patel, Sifelane Boiditswe, Leabaneng Tawe, Shimane Lekalake, Mogomotsi Matshaba, Andrew P Steenhoff, Tonya Arscott-Mills, Kristen A Feemster, Samir S Shah, Nathan Thielman, Coleen K Cunningham, Lawrence A David, David M Murdoch, Matthew S Kelly

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Children living with HIV (CLWH) are at high risk of colonization and infection by respiratory pathogens, though this risk can be reduced by other microbes in the upper respiratory microbiome. The impact of HIV infection on the pediatric upper respiratory microbiome is poorly understood, and we sought to address this knowledge gap by identifying associations between HIV infection and the nasopharyngeal microbiomes of Batswana children. We enrolled Batswana CLWH (< 5 years) and age- and sex-matched HIV-exposed, uninfected and HIV-unexposed, uninfected children in a cross-sectional study. We used shotgun metagenomic sequencing to compare nasopharyngeal microbiomes by HIV status. Among the 143 children in this study, HIV and HIV-associated immunosuppression were associated with alterations in nasopharyngeal microbiome composition, including lower abundances of Corynebacterium species associated with resistance to bacterial pathogen colonization. These findings suggest that the upper respiratory microbiome may contribute to the high risk of respiratory infections among CLWH.

Stereoelectroencephalography Reveals Neural Signatures Of Multisensory Integration In The Human Superior Temporal Sulcus During Audiovisual Speech Perception, Yue Zhang, John F Magnotti, Xiang Zhang, Zhengjia Wang, Yingjia Yu, Kathryn A Davis, Sameer A Sheth, H Isaac Chen, Daniel Yoshor, Michael S Beauchamp

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Human speech perception is multisensory, integrating auditory information from the talker's voice with visual information from the talker's face. BOLD fMRI studies have implicated the superior temporal gyrus (STG) in processing auditory speech and the superior temporal sulcus (STS) in integrating auditory and visual speech, but as an indirect hemodynamic measure, fMRI is limited in its ability to track the rapid neural computations underlying speech perception. Using stereoelectroencephalography (sEEG) electrodes, we directly recorded from the STG and STS in 42 epilepsy patients (25F, 17M). Participants identified single words presented in auditory, visual, and audiovisual formats with and without added auditory …

Vaccine Effectiveness Against Influenza A(H1n1), A(H3n2), And B-Associated Hospitalizations, United States, 1 September 2023 To 31 May 2024, Nathaniel M Lewis, Jennie H Kwon, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: The 2023-2024 influenza season included sustained elevated activity from December 2023 to February 2024 and continued activity through May 2024. Influenza A(H1N1), A(H3N2), and B viruses circulated during the season.

METHODS: During 1 September 2023 to 31 May 2024, a multistate sentinel surveillance network of 24 medical centers in 20 US states enrolled adults aged ≥18 years hospitalized with acute respiratory illness. Consistent with a test-negative design, cases tested positive for influenza viruses by molecular or antigen test, and controls tested negative for influenza viruses and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Vaccine effectiveness (VE) against influenza-associated hospitalization …

A Social Media Campaign And Web-Based Survey About Prostate Cancer Genetics: Mixed Methods Study, Amy Leader, Stacy Loeb, Preethi Selvan, Ashley Hunter, Rebecca Hartman, Scott Keith, Veda Giri

Department of Medical Oncology Faculty Papers

BACKGROUND: Germline genetic variants are important for prostate cancer (PCa) management and hereditary cancer risk assessment, but testing is underused. Furthermore, patients are often unaware of the genetic connections to PCa. Social media is increasingly serving as a source of awareness for health information and a method to gather data from a large population.

OBJECTIVE: There were three objectives: to (1) create and test social media messages related to PCa genetics and genetic testing, (2) determine which social media message was most engaging, and (3) assess knowledge of and attitudes toward PCa genetic testing through an online survey using the …

Characterization And Prediction Of Prolonged Severe Neutropenia In Pediatric Patients Receiving Tisagenlecleucel., Swati Naik, Subodh Selukar, Aimee C. Talleur, Samira Deshpande, Gabriela Llaurador Caraballo, Vanessa A. Fabrizio, Rayne H. Rouce, Xiaopei L. Zeng, Anant Vatsayan, Jenna Rossoff, Holly L. Pacenta, Samuel John, Christine L. Phillips, Julie-An Talano, Amy Moskop, Michael R. Verneris, G Doug Myers, Erin Hall, Nicole Karras, Challice L. Bonifant, Muna Qayed, Emily Bakinowski, Amy K. Keating, Susanne H C Baumeister, Emily Tomilson, Michelle L. Hermiston, Prakash Satwani, Christa Krupski, Vasant Chinnabhandar, Heather E. Stefanski, Emily Egeler, Kevin J. Curran, Theodore W. Laetsch, Crystal L. Mackall, Snehit Prabhu, Khanh P. Nguyen, Christina Baggott, Liora Michal Schultz, Kevin O. Mcnerney

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

Hematotoxicity is the most frequent severe toxicity after chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR-T) therapy. However, limited data exist on risk factors and outcomes for hematotoxicity for children and young adults (CAYAs) with B-acute lymphoblastic leukemia treated with tisagenlecleucel. We conducted a multi-institutional study involving 326 CAYAs, with 144 evaluable in an initial training cohort and 141 evaluable in a validation cohort, through the Pediatric Real-World CAR Consortium to characterize the incidence and outcomes of prolonged severe neutropenia (PSN) and to develop a predictive risk score for PSN, tailored for use in this population. The incidence of PSN, defined as an …

An Exploration Of The Career Choices Of Nursing And Midwifery Students In A Uk University: A Survey, Kevin Hambridge, Frazer Underwood, Gosia Bettache, Matt Carey, Mohamed Eid, Lisa Burrows, Christian Brailsford, Rachel Tims

School of Nursing and Midwifery

AbstractBackground:There is a worldwide shortage of nurses, so an increase in the supply of graduating nurses is needed. Little is known about nursing students' career choices and the reasons why certain jobs, specialties and locations are chosen. Gaining a better understanding of these choices could help healthcare employers to plan the nursing workforce of the future.Aims:The study explored the career choices of nursing and midwifery students.Methods:A convenience sample of 163 final-year nursing, midwifery and nursing associate students responded to an online survey exploring career choices.Findings:Most students (87.1%; n=142) had secured their first job, with the vast majority staying in the …