Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Nontuberculosis Mycobacteria (Ntm) Infections In Patients With Leukemia: A Single Center Case Series, Jennifer Marvin-Peek, Koji Sasaki, Dimitrios P Kontoyiannis, Javier Adachi, Maro Ohanian, Koichi Takahashi, Ghayas C Issa, Steven Kornblau, Hussein A Abbas

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Patients with leukemia experience profound immunosuppression both from their underlying disease as well as chemotherapeutic treatment. Little is known about the prevalence and clinical presentation of nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) in this patient population. We identified six cases of NTM infection from 29,743 leukemia patients who had acid-fast bacilli (AFB) cultures. Four cases had bloodstream infections and five had disseminated disease, including one who presented with an unusual case of diffuse cellulitis/myositis. All patients were lymphopenic at time of diagnosis, and two patients ultimately died from their NTM infection. NTM infections are a rare, but potentially life-threatening infection in patients with …

Emerging Therapeutic Options For Follicular-Derived Thyroid Cancer In The Era Of Immunotherapy, Naimah Turner, Sarah Hamidi, Rim Ouni, Rene Rico, Ying C Henderson, Maria Puche, Sayan Alekseev, Jocelynn G Colunga-Minutti, Mark E Zafereo, Stephen Y Lai, Sang T Kim, Maria E Cabanillas, Roza Nurieva

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Although most follicular-derived thyroid cancers are well differentiated and have an overall excellent prognosis following treatment with surgery and radioiodine, management of advanced thyroid cancers, including iodine refractory disease and poorly differentiated/undifferentiated subtypes, is more challenging. Over the past decade, better understanding of the genetic drivers and immune milieu of advanced thyroid cancers has led to significant progress in the management of these patients. Numerous targeted kinase inhibitors are now approved by the U.S Food and Drug administration (FDA) for the treatment of advanced, radioiodine refractory differentiated thyroid cancers (DTC) as well as anaplastic thyroid cancer (ATC). Immunotherapy has also …

Canadian French Translation And Validation Of The Neck Dissection Impairment Index: A Quality Of Life Measure For The Surgical Oncology Population, Michel Khoury, William Guertin, Cameo Hao, Mikhail Saltychev, Tareck Ayad, Eric Bissada, Apostolos Christopoulos, Sami Moubayed, Marie-Jo Olivier, Douglas Chepeha, Stephen Y Lai, Anastasios Maniakas

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: Neck dissections (ND) are a routine procedure in head and neck oncology. Given the postoperative functional impact that some patients experience, it is imperative to identify and track quality of life (QoL) symptomatology to tailor each patient's therapeutic needs. To date, there is no validated French-Canadian questionnaire for this patient-population. We therefore sought to translate and validate the Neck Dissection Impairment Index (NDII) in Canadian French.

METHODS: A 3-phased approach was used. Phase 1: The NDII was translated from English to Canadian French using a "forward and backward" translational technique following international guidelines. Phase 2: A cognitive debriefing session …

A Prospective Multi-Centered Registry-Based Observational Study For Patients With Cancer: Design And Rationale For Korean Medicine Cancer Registry (Kmcare), Jee Young Lee, Hayun Jin, Su Bin Park, Eun Hye Kim, Jee-Hyun Yoon, Seong Woo Yoon

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: Cancer is one of the leading causes of death in most countries with an expected increased burden on healthcare systems. Since integrative medical treatments are not collected within the scope of existing cancer registries, the establishment of the Korean Medicine Cancer Registry (KMCARE), gathering integrative therapies, including conservative care and Korean medicine, is warranted.

Methods: A prospective observational study based on the registry will be conducted in 5 Korean medical hospitals. A total of 650 eligible participants undergoing Korean medicine treatments within 1 month of a diagnosis of lung, colorectal, stomach, or breast cancer are anticipated to be enrolled …

Influence Of Oral Microbiome On Longitudinal Patterns Of Oral Mucositis Severity In Patients With Squamous Cell Carcinoma Of The Head And Neck, Liangliang Zhang, Erin Marie D San Valentin, Teny M John, Robert R Jenq, Kim-Anh Do, Ehab Y Hanna, Christine B Peterson, Cielito C Reyes-Gibby

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: This study investigated the influence of oral microbial features on the trajectory of oral mucositis (OM) in patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck.

Methods: OM severity was assessed and buccal swabs were collected at baseline, at the initiation of cancer treatment, weekly during cancer treatment, at the termination of cancer treatment, and after cancer treatment termination. The oral microbiome was characterized via the 16S ribosomal RNA V4 region with the Illumina platform. Latent class mixed-model analysis was used to group individuals with similar trajectories of OM severity. Locally estimated scatterplot smoothing was used to fit …

Enhancing Efficacy Of The Mek Inhibitor Trametinib With Paclitaxel In Kras-Mutated Colorectal Cancer, Susmita Ghosh, Fan Fan, Reid Powell, Yong Sung Park, Clifford Stephan, E Scott Kopetz, Lee M Ellis, Rajat Bhattacharya

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: KRAS is frequently mutated in the tumors of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) and thus represents a valid target for therapy. However, the strategies of targeting KRAS directly and targeting the downstream effector mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase (MEK) via monotherapies have shown limited efficacy. Thus, there is a strong need for novel, effective combination therapies to improve MEK-inhibitor efficacy in patients with KRAS-mutated mCRC.

Objective: Our objective was to identify novel drug combinations that enhance MEK-inhibitor efficacy in patients with KRAS-mutated mCRC.

Design: In this study, we performed unbiased high-throughput screening (HTS) to identify drugs that …

Enhanced Tumor Control And Survival In Preclinical Models With Adoptive Cell Therapy Preceded By Low-Dose Radiotherapy, Nahum Puebla-Osorio, Natalie Wall Fowlkes, Hampartsoum B Barsoumian, Kristina Xega, Gitika Srivastava, Claudia Kettlun-Leyton, Sara Nizzero, Tiffany Voss, Thomas S Riad, Christina Wong, Ailing Huang, Yun Hu, Joylise Mitchell, Mingee Kim, Zahid Rafiq, Kewen He, Duygu Sezen, Ethan Hsu, Fatemeh Masrorpour, Aurian Maleki, Carola Leuschner, Maria Angelica Cortez, Philipp Oertle, Marko Loparic, Marija Plodinec, Janet L Markman, James W Welsh

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Introduction: Effective infiltration of chimeric antigen receptor T (CAR-T) cells into solid tumors is critical for achieving a robust antitumor response and improving therapeutic outcomes. While CAR-T cell therapies have succeeded in hematologic malignancies, their efficacy in solid tumors remains limited due to poor tumor penetration and an immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment. This study aimed to evaluate the potential of low-dose radiotherapy (LDRT) administered before T-cell therapy to enhance the antitumor effect by promoting CAR-T cell infiltration. We hypothesized that combining LDRT with T-cell therapy would improve tumor control and survival compared to either treatment alone.

Methods: We investigated this hypothesis …

Postprogression Therapy And Confounding For The Estimated Treatment Effect On Overall Survival In Phase Iii Oncology Trials, Alexander D Sherry, Pavlos Msaouel, Timothy A Lin, Joseph Abi Jaoude, Ramez Kouzy, Esther J Beck, Avital M Miller, Adina H Passy, Gabrielle S Kupferman, Eugene J Koay, Clifton David Fuller, Charles R Thomas, Zachary R Mccaw, Ethan B Ludmir

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Objective: Estimations of the treatment effect on overall survival (OS) may be influenced by post-progression therapies (PPTs). It is unclear how often OS analyses account for PPT effects. The purpose of this cross-sectional analysis was to determine the prevalence of OS analyses accounting for PPT effects in phase III oncology trials.

Methods and analysis: We screened two-arm, superiority design, phase III, randomised, oncology trials reporting OS from ClinicalTrials.gov. The primary outcome was the frequency of OS analyses adjusting for PPT confounding. Logistic regressions computed ORs for the association between trial-level covariates and the outcome.

Results: A total of 334 phase …

Combination Chemotherapy Optimization With Discrete Dosing, Temitayo Ajayi, Seyedmohammadhossein Hosseinian, Andrew J Schaefer, Clifton D Fuller

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Chemotherapy drug administration is a complex problem that often requires expensive clinical trials to evaluate potential regimens; one way to alleviate this burden and better inform future trials is to build reliable models for drug administration. This paper presents a mixed-integer program for combination chemotherapy (utilization of multiple drugs) optimization that incorporates various important operational constraints and, besides dose and concentration limits, controls treatment toxicity based on its effect on the count of white blood cells. To address the uncertainty of tumor heterogeneity, we also propose chance constraints that guarantee reaching an operable tumor size with a high probability in …

The Use Of Mr-Guided Radiation Therapy For Head And Neck Cancer And Recommended Reporting Guidance, Brigid A Mcdonald, Riccardo Dal Bello, Clifton D Fuller, Panagiotis Balermpas

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Although magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has become standard diagnostic workup for head and neck malignancies and is currently recommended by most radiological societies for pharyngeal and oral carcinomas, its utilization in radiotherapy has been heterogeneous during the last decades. However, few would argue that implementing MRI for annotation of target volumes and organs at risk provides several advantages, so that implementation of the modality for this purpose is widely accepted. Today, the term MR-guidance has received a much broader meaning, including MRI for adaptive treatments, MR-gating and tracking during radiotherapy application, MR-features as biomarkers and finally MR-only workflows. First studies …

Camrelizumab Combined With Apatinib And Nanoparticle Albumin-Bound Paclitaxel In Lung Adenocarcinoma (Capap-Lung): A Single-Arm Phase Ii Study, Xingxiang Pu, Gen Lin, Maoliang Xiao, Jie Lin, Qianzhi Wang, Yi Kong, Xuejun Yan, Fang Xu, Yan Xu, Jia Li, Kang Li, Bolin Chen, Xiaoping Wen, Yali Tan, Fengzhuo Cheng, Kangle Zhu, Na Li, Lin Wu

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: Platinum-doublet chemotherapy plus immunotherapy has been the standard of care for the first-line treatment of advanced non-small cell lung cancer lacking actional driver mutations. However, optimization of drug combinations is still needed to find a better balance between therapeutic efficacy and safety in the immunotherapy era. We aimed to investigate the efficacy and safety of platinum-free albumin bound paclitaxel (nab-paclitaxel) combined with camrelizumab and apatinib as first-line treatment for patients with advanced lung adenocarcinoma.

Methods: In this multicenter open-label, single-arm phase II trial, patients with systemic treatment-naïve advanced lung adenocarcinoma without epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) or anaplastic lymphoma …

Knowledge Mapping Of Anaplastic Thyroid Cancer Treatments: A Bibliometric Analysis (2000–2023), Shiqiang Liu, Xingmin Yan, Yalong Yang, Yun Xia, Panshi Zhang

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Context: Anaplastic thyroid cancer (ATC) is a relatively rare and extensively malignant kind of thyroid carcinoma. The poor prognosis and high mortality rate of ATC can be attributed to its invasive features and undifferentiated phenotype. At present, there is a lack of efficacious therapeutic options. In light of the elevated fatality rate, it is vital to possess a comprehensive comprehension of the scientific terrain pertaining to ATC. To gather the perspectives of different researchers about the topic of ATC treatment, we did a bibliometric network analysis, which offers a comprehensive view of the scholarly literature.

Methodology: A systematic search was …

Considerations On Design And Analysis Of External Control In Pediatric Oncology, Jingjing Ye, Haitao Pan, Gregory Reaman, Satrajit Roychoudhury, Chengxing Lu, Lindsay A Renfro, Yuan Ji, Rong Liu, Ying Yuan, Weidong Zhang

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Pediatric cancer consists of a diverse group of rare diseases. Due to limited patient populations, standard randomized and controlled trials are often infeasible. As a result, single-arm trials are common in pediatric oncology and the use of external controls is often desirable or necessary to help generate actionable evidence and contextualize trial results. In this paper, we illustrate unique features in pediatric oncology clinical trials and describe their impact on the use of external controls. Various types of relevant external control data sources are described in terms of their utility and drawbacks. Statistical methodologies and design implications with external control …

Development Of The “Laser Surgical Skills Evaluation For Residents” (Laser) Scale Through A Modified Delphi Method, E Sédillot-Daniel, A Melkane, C Chiesa, N Fakhry, V N Young, L J Smith, J R Lechien, L Guertin, M J Olivier, A Maniakas, R Jun Lin, E Bissada, A Christopoulos, T Ayad, Andrée-Anne Leclerc

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: The CO2 laser is frequently used during microlaryngeal surgery (MLS) for a variety of pathology including laryngeal malignancy and stenosis. Learning how to use the laser safely is part of the curriculum for every otolaryngology resident. However, assessment of laryngoscopy technical skills can be challenging for supervisors, making it difficult to adequately provide feedback to trainees.

Objectives: "LAser Surgical skills Evaluation for Residents" (LASER) Scale aims to facilitate the evaluation of residents' performance and promote constructive feedback.

Methods: The initial evaluation grid was based on a literature review of CO2 laser laryngoscopy (with an emphasis on indications, technique, safety, …

A Review Of The Clinical Introduction Of 4d Particle Therapy Research Concepts, Barbara Knäusl, Gabriele Belotti, Jenny Bertholet, Juliane Daartz, Stella Flampouri, Mischa Hoogeman, Antje C Knopf, Haibo Lin, Astrid Moerman, Chiara Paganelli, Antoni Rucinski, Reinhard Schulte, Shing Shimizu, Kristin Stützer, Xiaodong Zhang, Ye Zhang, Katarzyna Czerska

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background and purpose: Many 4D particle therapy research concepts have been recently translated into clinics, however, remaining substantial differences depend on the indication and institute-related aspects. This work aims to summarise current state-of-the-art 4D particle therapy technology and outline a roadmap for future research and developments.

Material and methods: This review focused on the clinical implementation of 4D approaches for imaging, treatment planning, delivery and evaluation based on the 2021 and 2022 4D Treatment Workshops for Particle Therapy as well as a review of the most recent surveys, guidelines and scientific papers dedicated to this topic.

Results: Available technological capabilities …

Simultaneous Submission Of Seven Ctsa Proposals: Um1, K12, R25, T32-Predoctoral, T32-Postdoctoral, And Rc2: Strategies, Evaluation, And Lessons Learned, Carolina Lema, Kwai Wa Cheng, Delanderia M Anderson, Charles C Miller, Daniel D Karp, David D Mcpherson, Satya Sree N Kolar

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Translation is the process of turning observations in the research laboratory, clinic, and community into interventions that improve people's health. The Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSA) program is a National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) initiative to advance translational science and research. Currently, 64 "CTSA hubs" exist across the nation. Since 2006, the Houston-based Center for Clinical Translational Sciences (CCTS) has assembled a well-integrated, high-impact hub in Texas that includes six partner institutions within the state, encompassing ∼23,000 sq. miles and over 16 million residents. To achieve the NCATS goal of "more treatments for all people more quickly," …

Sample Multiplexing In Cytof: Path To Optimize Single-Cell Proteomic Profiling, Muharrem Muftuoglu, Michael Andreeff

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Sample multiplexing significantly enhanced the depth of single-cell proteomic analysis in CyTOF (Cytometry by Time-Of-Flight). New polymer-based chelators have broadened the utility of metal isotopes, enabling improved tagging and simultaneous analysis of multiple samples. These approaches minimize batch effects, streamline experiments, conserve valuable samples, reduce costs, enhance throughput, and increase the accuracy of biological data, thereby facilitating novel discoveries.

Demographic Disparities In Incidence And Mortality Rates Of Current Dengue Outbreak In Bangladesh, Sadia Ashraf, Muhammad Mainuddin Patwary, Alfonso J Rodriguez-Morales

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

No abstract provided.

Exposure To Urban Green Spaces And Mental Health During The Covid-19 Pandemic: Evidence From Two Low And Lower-Middle-Income Countries, Muhammad Mainuddin Patwary, Mondira Bardhan, Hüseyin Ertan İnan, Matthew H E M Browning, Asma Safia Disha, Md Zahidul Haque, Mai Helmy, Sadia Ashraf, Angel M Dzhambov, Faysal Kabir Shuvo, Md Ashraful Alam, Sharif Mutasim Billah, Md Pervez Kabir, Md Riad Hossain, Md Golam Azam, Md Mijanur Rahman, Sarya Swed, Ranjit Sah, Juan J Montenegro-Idrogo, D Katterine Bonilla-Aldana, Alfonso J Rodriguez-Morales

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

INTRODUCTION: The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on mental health globally, with limited access to mental health care affecting low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) the most. In response, alternative strategies to support mental health have been necessary, with access to green spaces being a potential solution. While studies have highlighted the role of green spaces in promoting mental health during pandemic lockdowns, few studies have focused on the role of green spaces in mental health recovery after lockdowns. This study investigated changes in green space access and associations with mental health recovery in Bangladesh and Egypt across the …

Generation Of A Wt1 Conditional Deletion, Nuclear Red Fluorescent Protein Reporter Allele In The Mouse, Jace A Aloway, E Cristy Ruteshouser, Vicki Huff, Richard R Behringer

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

A Wt1 conditional deletion, nuclear red fluorescent protein (RFP) reporter allele was generated in the mouse by gene targeting in embryonic stem cells. Upon Cre-mediated recombination, a deletion allele is generated that expresses RFP in a Wt1-specific pattern. RFP expression was detected in embryonic and adult tissues known to express Wt1, including the kidney, mesonephros, and testis. In addition, RFP expression and WT1 co-localization was detected in the adult uterine stroma and myometrium, suggesting a role in uterine function. Crosses with Wnt7a-Cre transgenic mice that express Cre in the Müllerian duct epithelium activate Wt1-directed RFP expression in the epithelium of …

Author Correction: Neoadjuvant Atezolizumab For Resectable Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: An Open-Label, Single-Arm Phase Ii Trial, Jamie E Chaft, Filiz Oezkan, Mark G Kris, Paul A Bunn, Ignacio I Wistuba, David J Kwiatkowski, Dwight H Owen, Yan Tang, Bruce E Johnson, Jay M Lee, Gerard Lozanski, Maciej Pietrzak, Michal Seweryn, Woo Yul Byun, Katja Schulze, Alan Nicholas, Ann Johnson, Jessica Grindheim, Stephanie Hilz, David S Shames, Chris Rivard, Eric Toloza, Eric B Haura, Ciaran J Mcnamee, G Alexander Patterson, Saiama N Waqar, Valerie W Rusch, David P Carbone

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

No abstract provided.

Pregnancy-Related Factors Responsible For Delivering Low Birth Weight Babies: An Institutional-Based Cross-Sectional Study, Jamnagar, Gujarat, Harsh K Patel, Jitesh P Mehta, Bela A Patel, Rohitkumar Ram, Dipesh V Parmar

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: The WHO defines LBW as "Birth weight less than 2500 grams" regardless of gestational age. Being born with a low birth weight also incurs enormous economic costs, including higher medical expenditures and social service expenses, and decreased productivity in adulthood.

OBJECTIVE: To study distribution of newborns' according to pregnancy related factors and its association with newborns' birth weight.

METHODS: An institutional based cross-sectional study. New-borns delivered at study institute were considered as study participants. Estimated final sample size was 500. Guardians (mothers) were face-to-face interviewed and also recorded data were collected from the case file and Mother and Child …

Dietary Practices Among Type 2 Diabetes Patients Visiting A Non-Communicable Disease (Ncd) Clinic In A District Of Western India: A Cross-Sectional Study, Bela Patel, Sumit Unadkat, Harsh Patel, Mittal Rathod

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Diabetes is becoming a major public health problem in the country. One of the most important lifestyle modifications necessary for diabetic patients is maintaining healthy dietary choices. These modifications in dietary practices are supposed to be followed lifelong, along with medication, for better glycemic control. Despite understanding the importance of dietary control and physical activity in the management of diabetes, adherence to these practices is poor. This study aimed to assess the dietary practices of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients and various factors that determine adherence to these healthy dietary practices. The secondary objective was to …

Occupational Therapy Interventions For Visual Impairments Among Adolescents With Mild Traumatic Brain Injury, Olivia Vander Haar, Molly Whitlow, Sarah Fellman

Student Systematized Reviews: Occupational Therapy

PUPROSE: The purpose of this systematic review was to synthesize the evidence of occupational therapy (OT) interventions for adolescents who have sustained a mTBI and experience visual dysfunction.

DESIGN AND METHOD: A systematic review of peer-reviewed literature was conducted. Articles were included if participants were eight to nineteen years of age and diagnosed with an mTBI. Titles and abstracts of 506 articles from three databases were screened. The full text of 26 articles was reviewed. Seven met inclusion criteria. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force levels of certainty and grade definitions described the strength of evidence.

RESULTS: Physical conditioning, vision …

Occupational Therapy Interventions For School-Aged Children To Improve Handwriting Outcomes: A Systematized Review, Cassidy P. Johnson, Carley E. Leners, Ashley N. Stanton, Nicole A. Wiese, Danielle Westmark, Stacy Smallfield, Molly Whitlow

Student Systematized Reviews: Occupational Therapy

Importance: The development of handwriting skills builds a child’s confidence, self-esteem, fine motor skills, ability to communicate effectively and overall academic success (Feder & Majnemer, 2007).

Objective: The purpose of this systematized review was to determine which occupational therapy interventions are most effective for improving handwriting outcomes for prekindergarten through 3rd grade students.

Data sources: Searches were performed by a medical librarian in PubMed, CINAHL and ERIC including articles from 2014 to 2024.

Design: Studies were included if they were English-language articles with a level of evidence of I, II, or III that focused on occupational therapy interventions with an …

Ot Interventions For Post-Stroke Depression: A Systematized Review, Jack Cosgrove, Austin Fernau, Christian Kwambamba, Claire Vanderbeek, Danielle Westmark, Stacy Smallfield, Molly Whitlow

Student Systematized Reviews: Occupational Therapy

Importance: Strokes are a leading cause of disability. 35-50% of stroke survivors develop depression, which is the most common physiological impairment post-stroke and associated with less functional independence with activities of daily living (ADLs) (Ezema et al., 2019; Hildebrand, 2014; Wijeratne & Sales, 2021).

Objective: This systematized review addressed interventions within the scope of occupational therapy that are effective for reducing depressive symptoms for adults post-stroke.

Data sources: A medical librarian searched the databases Medline, PsycINFO, and CINAHL. Quantitative studies, systematic reviews, meta-analyses, and randomized controlled trials published in English within the last ten years were included.

Study selection and …

Evidence-Based Interventions For Postpartum Women With Pelvic Floor Dysfunction: A Systematized Review​, Kelsey Novak, Jaycee Wallace, Emma Rutt, Lydia Delkamiller, Danielle Westmark, Stacy Smallfield, Molly Whitlow

Student Systematized Reviews: Occupational Therapy

Importance: Pelvic floor disorders affect an estimated 86% of pregnancies, leading to decreased quality of life and negative health outcomes for postpartum women (Palmieri et al., 2022; Dasikan et al., 2020). Functional challenges including urinary incontinence, and difficulty with sexual activity and exercise are also frequently reported (Burkhart et al., 2020).

Objective: The objective of this review is to provide occupational therapists with evidence-based interventions for postpartum women with pelvic floor dysfunction.

Study Selection and Data Collection: Inclusion criteria were as follows: published in English within the last 10 years, postpartum women, RCTs, systematic reviews and meta-analysis.

Data Sources: The …

Interventions To Promote Social Participation In Children With Autism: A Systematized Review, Noah Farho, Bailey Hein, Holly Manalili, Danielle Westmark, Stacy Smallfield, Molly Whitlow

Student Systematized Reviews: Occupational Therapy

Importance: Roughly 1 in 36 children have autism spectrum disorder (ASD) (CDC, 2024). Children with ASD frequently experience difficulties with social participation (SP), which is essential for positive development and quality of life (Smith et al., 2023).

Objective: This systematized review examines the effectiveness of Occupational Therapy (OT) interventions for improving SP among children with ASD.

Data sources: A search of PubMed, CINAHL, and PsycINFO from 2014 to 2024 was conducted by a medical librarian.

Study Collection and Data Collection: English-language articles were included if they were within the scope of OT, level 1-5 evidence, and related to promoting SP. …

Endovascular Interventions In Cancer Patients With Compromise Of The Mediastinal Vasculature: A Review, Steven Yevich, Nicolas Cardenas, Rahul Sheth, Joshua Kuban, Milan Patel, Ketan Shah, Koustav Pal, Stephen R Chen, Alda Tam

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The mediastinal vasculature can be affected by various etiologies in cancer patients. Both direct and indirect sequela of cancer may result in life-threatening clinical presentations. Tumor growth may cause vessel narrowing and decreased blood flow from either extrinsic mass effect, invasion into the vascular wall, or tumor thrombus within the lumen. In addition, cancer patients are predisposed to indirect sequela to the mediastinal vasculature from an increased risk of benign thromboembolic events, tumor thrombus, or iatrogenic complications during cancer treatments. Benign thrombus may result in partial or complete occlusion of the superior vena cava (SVC) or pulmonary artery. Vascular damage …

A Goldilocks Computational Protocol For Inhibitor Discovery Targeting Dna Damage Responses Including Replication-Repair Functions, Davide Moiani, John A Tainer

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

While many researchers can design knockdown and knockout methodologies to remove a gene product, this is mainly untrue for new chemical inhibitor designs that empower multifunctional DNA Damage Response (DDR) networks. Here, we present a robust Goldilocks (GL) computational discovery protocol to efficiently innovate inhibitor tools and preclinical drug candidates for cellular and structural biologists without requiring extensive virtual screen (VS) and chemical synthesis expertise. By computationally targeting DDR replication and repair proteins, we exemplify the identification of DDR target sites and compounds to probe cancer biology. Our GL pipeline integrates experimental and predicted structures to efficiently discover leads, allowing …