Digital Commons Network^™

Why Are Some Children Under 24 Months Still Undernourished In Urban And Peri-Urban Vientiane? A Mixed-Methods Study, Kethmany Ratsavong, Dirk Essink, Pamela J. Wright Phd, Ms, Med, Rn, Cen, Somphou Sayasone, Sengchanh Kounnavong, Jacqueline E. Broerse

Publications

Child undernutrition remains a significant public health challenge in many low and middle-income countries (LMICs), including Lao PDR, where high levels persist even in urban areas with generally available and accessible food. This study aimed to explore factors underlying the persistently high rates of undernutrition among young children in urban (Saysetha) and peri-urban (Pakgneum) districts of the Vientiane Capital in Lao PDR. A cross-sectional survey employed a sequential explanatory mixed-methods approach, combining a structured questionnaire of 333 mother-child pairs for quantitative analysis with semi-structured interviews of 47 caregivers for qualitative insights. The prevalence of malnutrition among children under 24 months …

Recommendations For Disclosure Of Artificial Intelligence In Scientific Writing And Publishing: A Regional Anesthesia And Pain Medicine Modified Delphi Study, Michael R Fettiplace, Anuj Bhatia, Yian Chen, Steven L Orebaugh, Michael Gofeld, Rodney A Gabriel, Daniel I Sessler, Hannah Lonsdale, Brittani Bungart, Christopher P Cheng, Garrett W Burnett, Lichy Han, Matthew Wiles, Steve Coppens, Thomas Joseph, Kristin L Schreiber, Thomas Volk, Richard D Urman, Vesela P Kovacheva, Christopher L Wu, Edward R Mariano, Vivian H Y Ip

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Introduction: The use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the scientific process is advancing at a remarkable speed, thanks to continued innovations in large language models. While AI provides widespread benefits, including editing for fluency and clarity, it also has drawbacks, including fabricated content, perpetuation of bias, and lack of accountability. The editorial board of Regional Anesthesia & Pain Medicine (RAPM) therefore sought to develop best practices for AI usage and disclosure.

Methods: A steering committee from the American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine used a modified Delphi process to address definitions, disclosure requirements, authorship standards, and editorial oversight …

Monoclonal Antibodies Targeting Pcdh7 Inhibit Tumor Growth And Enhance Immune Responses In Kras-Mutant Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer, Nicole Novaresi, Poorva Ghosh, Shayna Thomas-Jardin, Hui Deng, Xuejun Fan, Zhiqiang Ku, Wei Xiong, Xiaorong Zhou, Jingfei Zhu, Huiyu Li, Mahesh S Padanad, Bethany Smith, Chul Ahn, John D Minna, Zhiqiang An, Ningyan Zhang, Kathryn A O'Donnell

The Brown Foundation: Institute of Molecular Medicine

We identified an important oncogenic role for protocadherin 7 (PCDH7), a cell surface protein frequently overexpressed in lung adenocarcinoma and associated with poor clinical outcome. Pcdh7 depletion reduces tumor burden and prolongs survival in KrasLSL-G12D; Tp53fl/fl mice. These findings nominate this cell surface protein as an actionable therapeutic target and highlight the therapeutic potential of PCDH7 inhibition for non–small cell lung cancer. We report the development and characterization of high-affinity anti-PCDH7 monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) that inhibit downstream mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway activation and suppress tumor growth in multiple mutant KRAS–driven models. A lead mAb (mAb7) sensitized tumors …

Disease-Causing Mfn2 Mutants Impair Mitochondrial Fission Dynamics By Distinct Drp1 Dysregulation, Daniel Lagos, Pamela R. De Santiago, Nicolás Pérez-Bravo, Benjamín Cartes-Saavedra, Josefa Vial-Brizzi, Diego Troncoso-Chandía, Oliver Podmanicky, Rita Horvath, Verónica Eisner

Department of Pathology, Anatomy, and Cell Biology Faculty Papers

Mitochondria undergo fusion and fission. While DRP1 regulates fission, fusion is controlled by OPA1, MFN1, and MFN2. The balance between these processes and the crosstalk between machineries remains poorly understood. MFN2 mutations cause Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease type 2 A (CMT2A), affecting mitochondrial fusion and morphology. However, their role in fission is unclear. Using skin fibroblasts from CMT2A patients (L248H and M376V MFN2 mutations) and wild-type mouse embryonic fibroblasts expressing these variants, we studied how MFN2 mutations impact mitochondrial dynamics beyond fusion. We analyzed mitochondrial morphology and dynamics by live-cell confocal microscopy and tested fusion/fission protein levels, oxygen consumption rate (OCR), extracellular …

Histone Deacetylase Enzyme Activity Is Not The Universal Anticancer Target Of Hdac Inhibitors, Chaitra Rai, Hang Ruan, Xue Li, Wenbo Li, Hyun-Hwan Jeong, Chengchuang Song, Panpan Liu, Yingjie Chang, Hao Fang, Udhaya Kumar S, Yuxiang Sun, M James You, Dongyin Guan, Zhandong Liu, Leng Han, Xuben Hou, Zheng Sun

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDIs) are approved for treating hematologic cancers and are currently being evaluated in hundreds of clinical trials for various cancers and other diseases, although their mechanisms of action remain poorly understood. Here, our unbiased bioinformatics analyses found that, for most cancer types, expression levels or genetic variants of histone deacetylase (HDACs) do not consistently correlate with carcinogenesis, do not predict cancer patient survival, and do not associate with cellular responses to HDIs. Whole-genome CRISPR library screens did not identify HDACs as genes affecting cellular responses to HDIs. Overexpression of dominant-negative Class I HDACs causes similar protein hyperacetylation …

Intrathecal Antibody Synthesis - Reiber Method Revisited, John J. Halperin, Dane Granger

Department of Neurology Faculty Papers

BACKGROUND: CSF immunoglobulin (IgG) often informs diagnosis in CNS inflammatory disease- qualitatively (oligoclonal bands; OCBs), or quantitatively (CSF: serum IgG: albumin, e.g. IgG index). Most US laboratories estimate excess CSF IgG using linear models, most in Europe, Reiber's hyperbolic model - the latter often also incorporated into CSF pathogen-specific immunoreactivity calculations. We compared Reiber hyperbolic and linear approaches.

METHODS: Required data were available for 1,872 samples, Lyme-specific data for 1,365. We compared linear and Reiber's hyperbolic models to determine which better describes normal CSF: serum IgG/albumin, assessed correlations with OCBs using ROC analysis and compared Lyme-specific antibody indices (AI) by …

Continuous Glucose Monitoring Use In The Management Of Type 2 Diabetes In Primary Care: Cross-Sectional Survey Of Provider Comfort, Ryley Harris, Catherine Guariglia, Amy Cunningham

Department of Family & Community Medicine Faculty Papers

This study assessed primary care providers’ comfort with prescribing and using continuous glucose monitoring technology for type 2 diabetes management, identifying key barriers and educational needs.

Genetic Architecture Of White Matter Microstructure Captured By Unsupervised Deep Representation Learning Of Fractional Anisotropy Maps, Xingzhong Zhao, Ziqian Xie, Wei He, Hyun Yong Koh, Bohong Guo, Han Chen, Myriam Fornage, Degui Zhi

The Brown Foundation: Institute of Molecular Medicine

Fractional anisotropy (FA) from diffusion MRI is a widely used marker of white matter (WM) integrity, but conventional FA-based genetic studies typically rely on tract- or atlas-defined averages that may obscure spatially distributed WM variation and limit genetic discovery. Here, we propose a deep learning framework, termed unsupervised deep representation of WM (UDR-WM), which uses voxel-wise FA maps to derive brain-wide unsupervised deep imaging phenotypes (UDIP-FA) without prior anatomical assumptions. Compared with traditional FA phenotypes, UDIP-FA shows greater sensitivity to aging and substantially higher SNP-based heritability. Multivariate GWAS identified 939 lead SNPs across 586 loci, mapping to 3,480 UDIP-FA-associated genes. …

The Influence Of Social Media Messaging On Human Papillomavirus Vaccine Attitudes And Confidence Among Adolescent Males: Group Discussion Study, Neha Trivedi, Rachel Van Vleet, Czesia Eid, Amelia Burke-Garcia, Amy Leader

Department of Medical Oncology Faculty Papers

BACKGROUND: Despite the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine being available to males for the past 12 years, adolescent males continue to lag in HPV vaccine uptake due to a variety of factors. With the ubiquitous nature of social media use among this population, further research is needed to improve HPV vaccine confidence among young adolescent males using these platforms.

OBJECTIVE: Using the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM), this study sought to better understand knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs about HPV and HPV vaccination among male adolescents aged 14-17 years and examine how social media messaging influences vaccine perceptions and explore the characteristics of …

Screen-Based Simulation Assessment For Emergency Medicine Learners: A Rapid Review, Patrick Zeniecki, Rebecca Kamens, Jared Kilpatrick, Dimitrios Papanagnou, Xiao C. Zhang

Department of Emergency Medicine Faculty Papers

BACKGROUND: Simulation has played a vital role in training medical professionals. The COVID-19 Pandemic has highlighted the need for physically distant educational assessment methods. Screen-based simulation (SBS) demonstrates one alternative to traditional in-person simulation methods to assess learners clinical reasoning and communication skills. This study aims to compare in-person simulation to SBS as assessment methods in Emergency Medicine (EM).

METHODS: A rapid review literature search methodology of an electronic database (PubMed) was performed in February 2022 with search terms such as "Computer Simulation," "Patient Simulation," "Simulation Training," "Education, Distance," "Virtual OSCE," "Academic Performance," or "Emergency Medicine." Reference lists of relevant …

The Relationship Between Psychological Stress And Sars-Cov-2 Nucleocapsid-Antibody Response Following Natural Infection: Longitudinal Findings From The Aegis Study, Erika T Beidelman, Ashley Judge, David B Allison, Stephanie Dickinson, Lilian Golzarri Arroyo, Anna L M Macagno, Michael J Ricciardi, Jon Macy, Stanley Perlman, Christina Ludema, Kevin C Maki, Molly Rosenberg

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Psychological stress can cause diminished immune response to infectious challenges. The extent this holds true during severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection and the modifying effect of vaccination status is untested. We explored these relationships in a non-random sample standardized to the US adult population. Across 2178 participants in the Aegis study (2021-2022), we identified 507 eligible laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infections. We estimated the natural log of nucleocapsid-binding antibody absorbance (N-antibody) at study visits up to 225 days following a positive SARS-CoV-2 test. Linear mixed effects models were fit to estimate the association of baseline perceived stress and, separately, …

Cytosine Base Editing Of Lpa In Transgenic Mice Averts Large Deletions, Marcel A Chuecos, So Hyun Park, Madhvi M Bhakta, Usosa Too-Chiobi, Daniel Betancourth, Mingming Cao, Marco De Giorgi, Christopher J Walkey, Anjana Tiwari, Biana Godin, Julia M Assini, Donna J Palmer, Philip Ng, Michael B Boffa, Marlys L Koschinsky, Gang Bao, William R Lagor

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Lipoprotein(a) (Lp(a)) is a genetically determined causal risk factor for cardiovascular disease, with approximately 20% of the population exhibiting elevated levels. While there are promising drugs in development, there are currently no approved therapies specifically designed to lower Lp(a) levels. For high-risk individuals with extreme levels of Lp(a), liver-directed genome editing could be an effective one-time solution. Genome editing approaches such as CRISPR and TALENs can reduce Lp(a) in LPA-transgenic mouse models, but they frequently induce large and potentially harmful genomic deletions. Here, we report the first application of TadA-derived cytosine base editing (CBE), delivered via helper-dependent adenovirus (HDAdV) and …

Transgenic Hookworm Secretes Anti-Tetrodotoxin Human Single Chain Antibody, Kumar Sachin Singh, Suman Bharti, Bruce A Rosa, Mahdiyeh Bigham, Samuel C Uzoechi, Young-Jun Choi, John C Martin, Danielle Kemper, Slavica Pavlovic Djuranovic, Darren A Pickering, Rachael Ryan, Bethany K Bracken, Maria Elena Bottazzi, Eric C Carnes, Wannaporn Ittiprasert, Matthew Moyle, Paul J Brindley, Alex Loukas, Sergej Djuranovic, Makedonka Mitreva

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Biologics, protein- and peptide-based drugs derived from living organisms or cell lines have emerged as effective therapies across a broad range of indications. However, parenteral administration and the need for frequent dosing increase costs and limit compliance, creating an urgent need for innovative platforms capable of continuously, safely, and efficiently delivering sustained biologics in situ within the host. Here, we describe a bioengineered hookworm platform to manufacture and deliver biologic therapeutics in vivo. As proof of concept, we engineer the Ancylostoma ceylanicum secretome by inserting a human single-chain variable fragment antibody (s16-HuScFv) into its genome. Transgene expression does not perturb …

Liver Injury From Medications Used For Treating Inflammatory Bowel Disease: The Drug-Induced Liver Injury Network Experience, Harish Gopalakrishna, Jiezhun Gu, Yi-Ju Li, Huiman Barnhart, Dina Halegoua-De Marzio, Herbert L. Bonkovsky, A. Sidney Barritt, Jean P. Molleston, Naga P. Chalasani, Marwan Ghabril

Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology Faculty Papers

BACKGROUND: We aimed to investigate and characterise DILI due to approved therapies for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

METHODS: Using the Drug-Induced Liver Injury Network (DILIN) prospective study, we evaluated definite, highly likely, or probable DILI attributed to IBD therapies, including use for non-IBD indications (but excluding corticosteroids). HLA allele associations were investigated.

RESULTS: Among 1806 participants, 81 (4.5%) had IBD-agent DILI: 31 biologics (27 infliximab), 35 immunomodulators (31 azathioprine/mercaptopurine), 14 aminosalicylates (11 sulfasalazine) and 1 small molecule (tofacitinib). Median age was 45 years with 75% female and 78% White. Patients with biologic-DILI were younger, had longer latency (median 124 days), …

A Cross-Sectional Analysis Of The Vaginal Microenvironment In Rheumatoid Arthritis, Marlyd E Mejia, Savannah Bowman, Jessica Lee, Ali El-Halwagi, Keshia Ferguson, Maryjo Maliekel, Yixuan Zhou, Camille Serchejian, Clare M Robertson, Mallory B Ballard, Lee B Lu, Sobia Khan, Olubunmi O Oladunjoye, Shixia Huang, Sandeep K Agarwal, Kathryn A Patras

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

The human microbiota is implicated in the development and progression of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Given the increased RA burden in women and well-known correlations between the vaginal microbiota and local inflammation, we seek to understand the vaginal microenvironment in the context of RA pathology. Self-collected vaginal swabs and questionnaires on dietary, menstrual, and health information were obtained from 36 RA and 50 demographically-matched control women, 18–63 years of age. Medication regimen, along with disease activity and severity, was captured for the RA cohort. Vaginal swabs were subjected to long-read 16S rRNA gene sequencing, multiplex cytokine analyses, and quantification of rheumatoid …

Nmda Receptor Subunit Nmr-2 Regulates Pathogen-Induced Immune Responses Via The Nervous System In C. Elegans, Benson Otarigho, Jonathan Lalsiamthara, Alejandro Aballay

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Neural control of innate immunity must balance restraint of basal immune activity with rapid activation upon pathogen encounter. Glutamate, the primary excitatory neurotransmitter in the nervous system, has been implicated in several neurological disorders associated with inflammation, suggesting a potential link to immune regulation. However, how glutamatergic signaling contributes to immune balance remains unknown. Here, we demonstrated that the NMDA-type ionotropic glutamate receptor subunit NMR-2, a component of the NMDA receptor complex, acts in the

Standardizing Tms Intensity Across Different Coils Using Individualized Electric Field Modeling, Evgenii Kim, Mohammad Daneshzand, Keren Zhu, Danyal Fareed Bhutto, Teresa Jacobson Kimberley, Dylan J. Edwards, Netri Pajankar, Parker Kotlarz, Tommi Raij, Sergey N. Makaroff, Aapo Nummenmaa

Moss-Magee Rehabilitation Papers

Quantitative measures for Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) intensity are needed to ensure safe and consistent application in therapeutic and research settings. However, resting motor thresholds (rMTs), commonly used to determine stimulation intensity, depend on the coil used. Unless motor mapping and treatment coils are identical, re-thresholding is necessary, increasing patient discomfort and potentially introducing variability across studies. These considerations raise an unresolved fundamental question: does individual rMT reflect a consistent cortical electric field (E-field) magnitude independent of coil geometry? We tested the hypothesis that rMT corresponds to a coil-invariant cortical E-field magnitude and evaluated a computational method for predicting stimulator …

Sex-Based Disparities In Health Care Access And Utilization Among Patients With Atrial Fibrillation, Ji Mei May Wong, Peter R. Kowey

Department of Medicine Faculty Papers

IMPORTANCE: Females with atrial fibrillation (AF) experience a higher risk of stroke, myocardial infarction, and mortality than males with AF. Theories suggest that sex-based differences in hormonal, structural, and electrophysiologic factors are associated with this imbalance; we hypothesized that sex-based differences in health care access and utilization (HCAU) are also underlying factors.

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether sex-based disparities in HCAU barriers exist among individuals with AF.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: This cross-sectional study used data on patients with AF in the All of Us Research Program Registered Tier dataset (version 8), which contains integrated data from the electronic health record …

Updated 2026 Comprehensive Evidence-Based Guidelines For Facet Joint Interventions In The Management Of Chronic Spinal Pain: American Society Of Interventional Pain Physicians (Asipp) Guidelines, Laxmaiah Manchikanti, Mahendra R. Sanapati, Sheri L. Albers, Alan D. Kaye, Vinita Singh, Nebojsa Nick Knezevic, Rajesh Naidu Janapala, Amol Soin, Annu Navani, Adam M. Kaye, Ahad Mussarat, Alexander Bautista, Dajie Wang, Paul J. Christo, Maged Mina, Daneshvari R. Solanki, Devi Nampiaparampil, Gerard Limerick, John Manor, Kris Ferguson, Lynn Cintron, Michael Bottros, Shirley Chen, Shivam S. Shah, Vahid Grami, Douglas P. Beall, Shalini Shah, Sairam Atluri, Mittal S. Prajapati, Alaa Abd-Elsayed, Salahadin Abdi, Steve Aydin, Sanjay Bakshi, Joseph Cabaret, Aaron K. Calodney, Kenneth D. Candido, Christopher G. Gharibo, Mayank Gupta, Michael Harned, Standiford Helm Ii, Sachin Sunny Jha, Radomir Kosanovic, Vidyasagar Pampati, Ramarao Pasupuleti, Bradley W. Wargo, Hermant Kalia, Gary Schwartz, Joshua A. Hirsch

Department of Anesthesiology Faculty Papers

BACKGROUND: Chronic axial spinal pain is a major contributor to disability and healthcare expenditures, with facet joints recognized as one of the established sources of pain.

OBJECTIVE: To provide evidence-based guidance in performing diagnostic and therapeutic facet joint interventions.

METHODS: A multidisciplinary panel of experts from various medical and pharmaceutical disciplines, convened by the American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians (ASIPP), reviewed the available evidence, considered patient perspectives, and formulated recommendations for facet joint interventions in the management of chronic pain.The methodology included the development of key questions with evidence-based statements and recommendations. Grading of the evidence and recommendations followed …

Socio-Ecological Models As A Framework For 21st-Century Genetic Counseling, Shana L. Merrill, Rebecca Mueller

College of Life Sciences Faculty Papers

Socio-ecological models and the related concepts of micro-, meso-, and macro-level practice are commonly used in the fields of social work and public health yet have not been thoroughly conceptualized for application to genetic counseling practice, research, and training. The field of genetic counseling is currently undergoing significant expansion with more genetic counseling training programs, greater variation in genetic counselor job roles, and genetic counselors practicing in more globally dispersed regions. It is therefore a critical time to conceptualize and tailor relevant theoretical frameworks to unify and guide the evolving field of genetic counseling. In this paper, we posit that …

Silk Vista Baby Versus Pipeline Embolization Device For Unruptured Distal Anterior Cerebral Artery Aneurysms: A Multicenter Propensity-Weighted Comparative Study., Valerio Da Ros, Frédéric Clarençon, Adam A. Dmytriw, Pascal Jabbour Md, Marios Psychogios, Peter Sporns, Ajit S. Puri, Ameer E. Hassan, Oktay Algin, Markus A. Möhlenbruch, Mauro Bergui, Oded Goren, Gregoire Boulouis, Takeshi Morimoto, Raoul Pop, Joanna Wk Ho, Virginia Pujol Lereis, Jared Cooper, Giancarlo Salsano, Alessandro Sgreccia, Arturo Consoli, Eytan Raz, Julien Burel, Khawaja Muhammad Baqir Hassan, Zhe Ji, Riitta Rautio, Maria Ruggiero, Federico Sabuzi, Stefania Proietti, Joseph Domenico Gabrieli, Michael Levitt, Antonio Armando Caragliano, Christophe Cognard, Gaultier Marnat, Nicola Limbucci, Mariangela Piano, Alexis Guedon, Andrea Romi, Fortunato Di Caterino, Mykola Vyval, Adrien Guenego, Mohamad Abdalkader, Thanh Nguyen, Vitor Mendes Pereira, Ocilio Ribeiro Goncalves, Erwah Kalsoum, Alessandro Pedicelli, Andrea M Alexandre, Luca Scarcia

Department of Neurosurgery Faculty Papers

BACKGROUND: Flow diversion is effective for unruptured distal anterior cerebral artery (DACA) aneurysms, yet comparative data between the Silk Vista Baby (SVB) and Pipeline Embolization Device (PED) in this challenging territory remain scarce.

METHODS: We conducted a retrospective multicenter study using the CRETA Registry, including consecutive patients with unruptured DACA aneurysms treated with SVB or PED. The primary endpoint was complete angiographic occlusion (O'Kelly-Marotta grade D). Secondary outcomes included procedural characteristics, clinical outcome (modified Rankin Scale), and complications. Overlap weighting was applied to account for non-randomized treatment allocation. Predictors of occlusion were explored using penalized logistic regression. A sensitivity analysis …

Exploring Racial And Ethnic Diversity Trajectories And Diabetes Prevalence In The United States, Jiue-An Yang, Calvin P Tribby, Anna Dmowska, Qian Xiao, Marta M Jankowska

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

This study investigates whether long-term changes in neighborhood racial and ethnic diversity are associated with adult diabetes prevalence across the contiguous United States. We calculated diversity indexes for US census tracts (n = 72,033) using decennial census data from 1990 to 2020. Five diversity trajectory clusters were identified using K-means clustering. Diabetes prevalence in 2019 was obtained from the CDC's PLACES dataset. Linear mixed models (LMMs) assessed global associations between diversity trajectories and diabetes prevalence, adjusting for age, sex, poverty, marital status, and public insurance. Geographically weighted regression (GWR) examined local variations in these associations. Compared to the reference group …

Bridging The Diagnostic Gap: Expanding Dementia Care Navigation For Timely Diagnosis, Lucille Carriere, Morgan Minyo, David Bass, Katherine L Possin, Rafael Samper-Ternent, Joel Salinas, Nicole Deaner

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Over half of dementia cases remain undiagnosed, with persistent disparities across racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic groups. Dementia care navigation (DCN) has demonstrated value in post-diagnosis settings. If implemented earlier, DCN could address diagnostic delays and care gaps. We define the diagnostic window as the period from initial symptom awareness through diagnosis and early care planning. Drawing on deliberations from the Alzheimer's Association Dementia Care Navigation Roundtable, we present a pre-diagnosis DCN framework organized across six domains and describe navigator roles across three phases: pre-evaluation, diagnostic assessment, and immediate post-diagnosis and transition. We address special considerations, including people without a care …

Dental Care Utilization Among Sexual And Gender Minority Individuals, Ishita Singh, Oladipo Afolayan, Sarah S Jackson, Irene Tamí-Maury

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Objectives: Sexual and gender minority (SGM) individuals can experience notable health disparities, including higher HIV prevalence, social isolation, substance abuse, lack of culturally competent providers, and poorer health outcomes compared to heterosexuals due to stigma and discrimination. This study aims to identify predictors of dental care utilization across sexual minorities using the 2023 TEXAS PRIDE Survey.

Methods: We analyzed data from 517 SGM individuals, assessing sociodemographic characteristics, health behaviors, and recent medical and dental visits. Multivariable logistic regression identified predictors of dental care utilization (i.e., a dental visit in the past year).

Results: Among sexual orientation groups, reported dental care …

Trust In Cancer Information Sources And Awareness Of Human Papillomavirus As A Cause Of Cervical Cancer Among Us Adults, Olajumoke Ope Oladoyin, Paula Cuccaro, Lara S Savas, Robert Yu, Joel Fokom Domgue, Sheryl Mccurdy, Sanjay Shete

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Importance: Religiosity, trust in physicians, and trust in government health agencies influence individual decision-making and behavior toward public health programs. However, trust in information about cancer from these sources and their association with public awareness of human papillomavirus (HPV) as a cause of cervical cancer remain understudied.

Objective: To assess the association of trust in cancer information sources with awareness that HPV causes cervical cancer among US adults.

Design, setting, and participants: This cross-sectional study used the nationally representative 2022 Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS) data on noninstitutionalized US adults aged 18 years or older collected between March 7 …

Age And Sex Affect The Prevalence And Severity Of Periodontal Conditions In An Academic Setting, Karo Parsegian, Nikolaos Soldatos, Tonia C Carter, Nikola Angelov, Neel Shimpi, Krishna Kumar Kookal, David K Okano, Effie Ioannidou

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: The aim of the present study was to examine whether age and sex affected the prevalence and severity of periodontal conditions in patients attending an academic dental clinic.

Methods: Electronic health record (EHR) data on the demographic characteristics and periodontal conditions of patients presented for a comprehensive periodontal evaluation were extracted from the institutional dental EHR database. Retrospective analysis of independent associations of age, sex, and other subject characteristics with periodontal conditions was determined using multinomial logistic regression. The null hypothesis stating that age and sex were not associated with the increased prevalence and/or severity of periodontal conditions was …

Cytosignal Detects Locations And Dynamics Of Ligand-Receptor Signaling At Cellular Resolution From Spatial Transcriptomic Data, Jialin Liu, Hiroaki Manabe, Weizhou Qian, Shion Orikasa, Javid Ghaemmaghami, Yichen Wang, Yichen Gu, Angel Ka Yan Chu, Gaurav Gadhvi, Yuxuan Song, Patrick Mcclinden, Vibha N Lama, Noriaki Ono, Joshua D Welch

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Cells communicate through ligand-receptor (LR) signaling interactions, but identifying when and where these interactions are active remains challenging. We developed CytoSignal to infer the locations and dynamics of cell-cell communication at cellular resolution from spatial transcriptomic data. Here we show that our cellular resolution, spatially resolved signaling scores enable several important analyses-identifying spatial gradients in signaling strength, quantifying the locations of contact-dependent and diffusible interactions, detecting signaling-associated genes and identifying differential signaling across multisample data. Additionally, we can predict the temporal dynamics of a signaling interaction at each spatial location. We experimentally validate our results in situ by proximity ligation …

Full-Body Ai Agent: A Perspective On Multi-Scale Collaborative Ai For Systemic Biology And Precision Medicine., Aoqi Wang, Jiajia Liu, Jianguo Wen, Yangyang Luo, Zhiwei Fan, Liren Yang, Xi Hu, Ruihan Luo, Yankai Yu, Sophia Li, Weiling Zhao, Xiaobo Zhou

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly applied to biomedical research, but most current systems remain limited to specific tasks, data types, or biological scales. This makes it difficult to connect molecular alterations, organelle dysfunction, cellular behavior, tissue remodeling, organ physiology, systemic regulation, and whole-body phenotypes into coherent biological reasoning. In this Perspective, we propose the Full-Body AI Agent as a hypothetical multi-agent framework and conceptual blueprint for future systemic biology and precision medicine, rather than a fully implemented software platform. This framework envisions a supervisory Full-Body AI Agent coordinating seven biological-level agents, namely Molecule, Organelle, Cell, Tissue, Organ, Organ System, and …

Parent Perspectives On Neonatal Research Without Prior Consent: A Mixed-Methods Interview Study., Stephanie A. Kraft, Abigail Brickler, Abril Beretta, Rishabh Jain, Andrea Kelsh, Kaashif A. Ahmad, Justin T. Clapp, Neal W. Dickert, Rebecca A. Dorner, Katherine F. Guttmann, Anup C. Katheria, Stephanie Kukora, Benjamin A. Mooso, Elliott Mark Weiss, Fam-Connect Collaborative

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

BACKGROUND: Recruitment for clinical research in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) is difficult, which may lead to low enrollment rates, systematically skewed samples, and nongeneralizable results. Research without prior consent (RWPC), defined as obtaining consent only after infants have been randomized to a treatment arm, may improve enrollment but raises ethical challenges. There is a need to better understand how parents with lived experience of having an infant in the NICU consider RWPC’s impact on critical ethical values related to informed consent, including decision-making, respect, and trust. This mixed-methods study aimed to describe parental perceptions of the acceptability and …

Lymph Node Dissection And Postoperative Complications After Lung Cancer Resection, Isheeta Madeka, Khaled Noueihed, Jacob Woodroof, Shale Mack, Hamza Rshaidat, Gregory L Whitehorn, Sneha Alaparthi, Scott H. Koeneman, Tyler R. Grenda, Nathaniel R. Evans, Iii, Olugbenga T. Okusanya

Department of Surgery Faculty Papers

Importance: Current lung cancer guidelines recommend lymph node sampling (LNS) with the 3 + 1 rule, which recommends station-based sampling with at least 3 N2 (mediastinal) and 1 N1 (hilar) nodal stations. Although there is oncologic benefit to rigorous LNS, potential negative impacts on surgical outcomes have not been well investigated. As adoption of the 3 + 1 rule increases given its formalization as guideline-concordant care, associations with adverse outcomes are crucial to characterize.

Objective: To evaluate whether satisfying the 3 + 1 rule is associated with increased postoperative complications.

Design, setting, and participants: This retrospective cohort study used the …