Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Bronchial Epithelial Gene Expression And Interstitial Lung Abnormalities, Aravind A Menon, Minyi Lee, Xu Ke, Rachel K Putman, Takuya Hino, Jonathan A Rose, Fenghai Duan, Samuel Y Ash, Michael H Cho, George T O'Connor, Josée Dupuis, Hiroto Hatabu, Marc E Lenburg, Ehab S Billatos, Gary M Hunninghake, Decamp Investigators

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

INTRODUCTION: Interstitial lung abnormalities (ILA) often represent early fibrotic changes that can portend a progressive fibrotic phenotype. In particular, the fibrotic subtype of ILA is associated with increased mortality and rapid decline in lung function. Understanding the differential gene expression that occurs in the lungs of participants with fibrotic ILA may provide insight into development of a useful biomarker for early detection and therapeutic targets for progressive pulmonary fibrosis.

METHODS: Measures of ILA and gene expression data were available in 213 participants in the Detection of Early Lung Cancer Among Military Personnel (DECAMP1 and DECAMP2) cohorts. ILA was defined using …

Roi In Geriatric Emergency Departments: It's More Than Just Money, Lauren Cameron-Comasco

Conference Presentation Abstracts

Curious about the return on investment from accredited geriatric emergency departments? Want to learn more about potential key impact areas? This conference explores the measurable key impact areas of hospitals, systems, patients and more. Join us to hear these impressive results and learn actionable information for these questions and more.

Vaccination With A Replication-Defective Cytomegalovirus Vaccine Elicits A Glycoprotein B-Specific Monoclonal Antibody Repertoire Distinct From Natural Infection, Sarah M Valencia, Eric Rochat, Melissa J Harnois, Maria Dennis, Helen S Webster, Bhavna Hora, Amit Kumar, Hsuan-Yuan Sherry Wang, Leike Li, Daniel Freed, Ningyan Zhang, Zhiqiang An, Dai Wang, Sallie R Permar

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Human Cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is the leading infectious congenital infection globally and the most common viral infection in transplant recipients, therefore identifying a vaccine for HCMV is a top priority. Humoral immunity is a correlate of protection for HCMV infection. The most effective vaccine tested to date, which achieved 50% reduction in acquisition of HCMV, was comprised of the glycoprotein B protein given with an oil-in-water emulsion adjuvant MF59. We characterize gB-specific monoclonal antibodies isolated from individuals vaccinated with a disabled infectious single cycle (DISC) CMV vaccine, V160, and compare these to the gB-specific monoclonal antibody repertoire isolated from naturally-infected individuals. …

The Design And Impact Of A Clinic-Based Community Program On Food Insecurity, Healthy Eating Behaviors, And Mood, Tiffany Wesley Ardoin, Elizabeth Perry, Chelsea Morgan, Jared Hymowitz, Donald Mercante

School of Medicine Faculty Publications

Food insecurity is a national issue that disproportionately impacts Louisiana citizens, contributing to the state’s poor health outcomes. We know that the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and food pantries improve access to food, but we have limited data on what interventions improve food insecurity. The Geaux Get Healthy Clinical Program at Our Lady of the Lake (GGHOLOL) is a clinic-based community program that leverages community partnerships and a clinical setting to provide education and access to resources for individuals with food insecurity. This prospective study examines the impact of GGHOLOL on food insecurity as a pre-post survey evaluation over …

Characteristics And Prognostic Impact Of Idh Mutations In Aml: A Cog, Swog, And Ecog Analysis., Sara Zarnegar-Lumley, Todd A. Alonzo, Robert B. Gerbing, Megan Othus, Zhuoxin Sun, Rhonda E. Ries, Jim Wang, Amanda Leonti, Matthew A. Kutny, Fabiana Ostronoff, Jerald P. Radich, Frederick R. Appelbaum, Era L. Pogosova-Agadjanyan, Kristen O'Dwyer, Martin S. Tallman, Mark Litzow, Ehab Atallah, Todd M. Cooper, Richard A. Aplenc, Omar Abdel-Wahab, Alan S. Gamis, Selina Luger, Harry Erba, Ross Levine, E Anders Kolb, Derek L. Stirewalt, Soheil Meshinchi, Katherine Tarlock

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

Somatic mutations in isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) genes occur frequently in adult acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and less commonly in pediatric AML. The objective of this study was to describe the prevalence, mutational profile, and prognostic significance of IDH mutations in AML across age. Our cohort included 3141 patients aged betweenChildren's Cancer Group/Children's Oncology Group (n = 1872), Southwest Oncology Group (n = 359), Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (n = 397) trials, and in Beat AML (n = 333) and The Cancer Genome Atlas (n = 180) genomic characterization cohorts. We retrospectively analyzed patients in 4 age groups (age range, n): …

Inducing Mitotic Catastrophe As A Therapeutic Approach To Improve Outcomes In Ewing Sarcoma., Soumya M. Turaga, Vikalp Vishwakarma, Stacey L. Hembruff, Benjamin K. Gibbs, Priya Sabu, Rajni V. Puri, Harsh B. Pathak, Glenson Samuel, Andrew K. Godwin

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

Ewing sarcoma (EWS) is an aggressive pediatric malignancy of the bone and soft tissues in need of novel therapeutic options. To identify potential therapeutic targets, we focused on essential biological pathways that are upregulated by EWS-FLI1, the primary oncogenic driver of EWS, including mitotic proteins such as Aurora kinase A (AURKA) and kinesin family member 15 (KIF15) and its binding partner, targeting protein for Xklp2 (TPX2). KIF15/TPX2 cooperates with KIF11, a key mitotic kinesin essential for mitotic spindle orientation. Given the lack of clinical-grade KIF15/TPX2 inhibitors, we chose to target KIF11 (using SB-743921) in combination with AURKA (using VIC-1911) given …

Novel Treatments For Pxe: Targeting The Systemic And Local Drivers Of Ectopic Calcification, Ida Joely Jacobs, Qiaoli Li

Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Faculty Papers

Pseudoxanthoma elasticum (PXE) is a heritable multisystem ectopic calcification disorder. The gene responsible for PXE, ABCC6, encodes ABCC6, a hepatic efflux transporter regulating extracellular inorganic pyrophosphate (PPi), a potent endogenous calcification inhibitor. Recent studies demonstrated that in addition to the deficiency of plasma PPi, the activated DDR/PARP signaling in calcified tissues provides an additional possible mechanism of ectopic calcification in PXE. This study examined the effects of etidronate (ETD), a stable PPi analog, and its combination with minocycline (Mino), a potent inhibitor of DDR/PARP, on ectopic calcification in an Abcc6-/- mouse model of PXE. Abcc6-/- mice, at 4 weeks of …

Comparative Analysis Of Conformational Dynamics And Systematic Characterization Of Cryptic Pockets In The Sars-Cov-2 Omicron Ba.2, Ba.2.75 And Xbb.1 Spike Complexes With The Ace2 Host Receptor: Confluence Of Binding And Structural Plasticity In Mediating Networks Of Conserved Allosteric Sites, Mohammed Alshahrani, Grace Gupta, Sian Xiao, Peng Tao, Gennady M. Verkhivker

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

In the current study, we explore coarse-grained simulations and atomistic molecular dynamics together with binding energetics scanning and cryptic pocket detection in a comparative examination of conformational landscapes and systematic characterization of allosteric binding sites in the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron BA.2, BA.2.75 and XBB.1 spike full-length trimer complexes with the host receptor ACE2. Microsecond simulations, Markov state models and mutational scanning of binding energies of the SARS-CoV-2 BA.2 and BA.2.75 receptor binding domain complexes revealed the increased thermodynamic stabilization of the BA.2.75 variant and significant dynamic differences between these Omicron variants. Molecular simulations of the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron spike full-length trimer complexes …

Cd13 Facilitates Immune Cell Migration And Aggravates Acute Injury But Promotes Chronic Post-Stroke Recovery, Justin N Nguyen, Eric C Mohan, Gargee Pandya, Uzma Ali, Chunfeng Tan, Julia K Kofler, Linda Shapiro, Sean P Marrelli, Anjali Chauhan

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Introduction

Acute stroke leads to the activation of myeloid cells. These cells express adhesion molecules and transmigrate to the brain, thereby aggravating injury. Chronically after stroke, repair processes, including angiogenesis, are activated and enhance post-stroke recovery. Activated myeloid cells express CD13, which facilitates their migration into the site of injury. However, angiogenic blood vessels which play a role in recovery also express CD13. Overall, the specific contribution of CD13 to acute and chronic stroke outcomes is unknown.

Methods

CD13 expression was estimated in both mice and humans after the ischemic stroke. Young (8–12 weeks) male wild-type and global CD13 knockout …

First-In-Human, Phase I Dose-Escalation And Dose-Expansion Study Of Trophoblast Cell-Surface Antigen 2-Directed Antibody-Drug Conjugate Datopotamab Deruxtecan In Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer: Tropion-Pantumor01, Toshio Shimizu, Jacob Sands, Kiyotaka Yoh, Alexander Spira, Edward B Garon, Satoru Kitazono, Melissa L Johnson, Funda Meric-Bernstam, Anthony W Tolcher, Noboru Yamamoto, Jon Greenberg, Yui Kawasaki, Hong Zebger-Gong, Fumiaki Kobayashi, Penny Phillips, Aaron E Lisberg, Rebecca S Heist

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

PURPOSE: This first-in-human, dose-escalation and dose-expansion study evaluated the safety, tolerability, and antitumor activity of datopotamab deruxtecan (Dato-DXd), a novel trophoblast cell-surface antigen 2 (TROP2)-directed antibody-drug conjugate in solid tumors, including advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

PATIENTS AND METHODS: Adults with locally advanced/metastatic NSCLC received 0.27-10 mg/kg Dato-DXd once every 3 weeks during escalation or 4, 6, or 8 mg/kg Dato-DXd once every 3 weeks during expansion. Primary end points were safety and tolerability. Secondary end points included objective response rate (ORR), survival, and pharmacokinetics.

RESULTS: Two hundred ten patients received Dato-DXd, including 180 in the 4-8 mg/kg dose-expansion cohorts. …

Outcomes Of Breakthrough Covid-19 Infections In Patients With Hematologic Malignancies, Kelly S Chien, Christine B Peterson, Elliana Young, Dai Chihara, Elizabet E Manasanch, Jeremy L Ramdial, Philip A Thompson

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Patients with hematologic malignancies have both an increased risk for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infections and higher morbidity/mortality. They have lower seroconversion rates after vaccination, potentially leading to inferior coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outcomes, despite vaccination. We consequently evaluated the clinical outcomes of COVID-19 infections in 243 vaccinated and 175 unvaccinated patients with hematologic malignancies. Hospitalization rates were lower in the vaccinated group when compared with the unvaccinated group (31.3% vs 52.6%). However, the rates of COVID-19-associated death were similar at 7.0% and 8.6% in vaccinated and unvaccinated patients, respectively. By univariate logistic regression, females, older patients, …

Nasal Iodophor Antiseptic Vs Nasal Mupirocin Antibiotic In The Setting Of Chlorhexidine Bathing To Prevent Infections In Adult Icus: A Randomized Clinical Trial, Susan S Huang, Edward J Septimus, Ken Kleinman, Lauren T Heim, Julia A Moody, Taliser R Avery, Laura Mclean, Syma Rashid, Katherine Haffenreffer, Lauren Shimelman, Whitney Staub-Juergens, Caren Spencer-Smith, Selsebil Sljivo, Ed Rosen, Russell E Poland, Micaela H Coady, Chi Hyun Lee, Eunice J Blanchard, Kimberly Reddish, Mary K Hayden, Robert A Weinstein, Brandon Carver, Kimberly Smith, Jason Hickok, Karen Lolans, Nadia Khan, S Gwynn Sturdevant, Sujan C Reddy, John A Jernigan, Kenneth E Sands, Jonathan B Perlin, Richard Platt

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

IMPORTANCE: Universal nasal mupirocin plus chlorhexidine gluconate (CHG) bathing in intensive care units (ICUs) prevents methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections and all-cause bloodstream infections. Antibiotic resistance to mupirocin has raised questions about whether an antiseptic could be advantageous for ICU decolonization.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the effectiveness of iodophor vs mupirocin for universal ICU nasal decolonization in combination with CHG bathing.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: Two-group noninferiority, pragmatic, cluster-randomized trial conducted in US community hospitals, all of which used mupirocin-CHG for universal decolonization in ICUs at baseline. Adult ICU patients in 137 randomized hospitals during baseline (May 1, 2015-April 30, 2017) …

The Significant Impacts Of Interleukin-8 Genotypes On The Risk Of Colorectal Cancer In Taiwan, Chia-Wen Tsai, Wen-Shin Chang, Te-Cheng Yueh, Yun-Chi Wang, Yu-Ting Chin, Mei-Due Yang, Yi-Chih Hung, Mei-Chin Mong, Ya-Chen Yang, Jian Gu, Da-Tian Bau

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Interleukin-8 (IL-8), a pro-inflammatory cytokine, is upregulated in CRC and plays an important role in its development and progression. Genetic variants in the IL-8 gene may impact the risk of CRC by modulating IL-8 levels. Our primary objective was to investigate the role of IL-8 genotypes in the development of CRC. To accomplish this, we employed the polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) method to analyze the genotypes of IL-8 rs4017, rs2227306, rs2227543, and rs1126647 in 362 CRC patients and 362 controls. Additionally, we evaluated the interactions between these genotypes and factors such as age, gender, smoking, alcohol consumption, …

Dendritic Cells As Shepherds Of T Cell Immunity In Cancer, Mikael J Pittet, Mauro Di Pilato, Christopher Garris, Thorsten R Mempel

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

In cancer patients, dendritic cells (DCs) in tumor-draining lymph nodes can present antigens to naive T cells in ways that break immunological tolerance. The clonally expanded progeny of primed T cells are further regulated by DCs at tumor sites. Intratumoral DCs can both provide survival signals to and drive effector differentiation of incoming T cells, thereby locally enhancing antitumor immunity; however, the paucity of intratumoral DCs or their expression of immunoregulatory molecules often limits antitumor T cell responses. Here, we review the current understanding of DC-T cell interactions at both priming and effector sites of immune responses. We place emerging …

Integrated Molecular Characterization Of Intraductal Papillary Mucinous Neoplasms: An Nci Cancer Moonshot Precancer Atlas Pilot Project, Alexander Semaan, Vincent Bernard, Justin Wong, Yuki Makino, Daniel B Swartzlander, Kimal I Rajapakshe, Jaewon J Lee, Adam Officer, Christian Max Schmidt, Howard H Wu, Courtney L Scaife, Kajsa E Affolter, Daniela Nachmanson, Matthew A Firpo, Michele Yip-Schneider, Andrew M Lowy, Olivier Harismendy, Subrata Sen, Anirban Maitra, Yasminka A Jakubek, Paola A Guerrero

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms (IPMN) are cystic precursor lesions to pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). IPMNs undergo multistep progression from low-grade (LG) to high-grade (HG) dysplasia, culminating in invasive neoplasia. While patterns of IPMN progression have been analyzed using multiregion sequencing for somatic mutations, there is no integrated assessment of molecular events, including copy-number alterations (CNA) and transcriptional changes that accompany IPMN progression. We performed laser capture microdissection on surgically resected IPMNs of varying grades of histologic dysplasia obtained from 23 patients, followed by whole-exome and whole-transcriptome sequencing. Overall, HG IPMNs displayed a significantly greater aneuploidy score than LG lesions, with …

Collective Motion In Hcp-Fe At Earth's Inner Core Conditions, Youjun Zhang, Yong Wang, Yuqian Huang, Junjie Wang, Zhixin Liang, Long Hao, Zhipeng Gao, Jun Li, Qiang Wu, Hong Zhang, Yun Liu, Jian Sun, Jung-Fu Lin

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Earth's inner core is predominantly composed of solid iron (Fe) and displays intriguing properties such as strong shear softening and an ultrahigh Poisson's ratio. Insofar, physical mechanisms to explain these features coherently remain highly debated. Here, we have studied longitudinal and shear wave velocities of hcp-Fe (hexagonal close-packed iron) at relevant pressure-temperature conditions of the inner core using in situ shock experiments and machine learning molecular dynamics (MLMD) simulations. Our results demonstrate that the shear wave velocity of hcp-Fe along the Hugoniot in the premelting condition, defined as

Pacritinib Is A Potent Acvr1 Inhibitor With Significant Anemia Benefit In Patients With Myelofibrosis, Stephen T Oh, Tim Kong, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

In patients with cytopenic myelofibrosis, treatment with the JAK2/IRAK1 inhibitor pacritinib was associated with anemia benefit in the phase 3 PERSIST-2 study. The impact of pacritinib on transfusion independence (TI) has not been previously described, nor has the mechanism by which pacritinib improves anemia been elucidated. Because it has been previously postulated that inhibition of activin A receptor, type 1 (ACVR1)/activin receptor-like kinase-2 improves anemia in patients with myelofibrosis via suppression of hepcidin production, we assessed the relative inhibitory potency of pacritinib compared with other JAK2 inhibitors against ACVR1. Pacritinib inhibited ACVR1 with greater potency (half-maximal inhibitory concentration [IC50] = …

Use Of Point Of Care Ultrasound In The Pre-Op Evaluation Of Dialysis Patients Needing Creation Of Permanent Arteriovenous Access – Preliminary Study, Urvashi Mathur, Sotero Peralta

Research Colloquium

Background: Non-invasive ultrasound evaluation is part of the preoperative evaluation of patients needing creation of arteriovenous access. This study requires patients to return for an additional visit for imaging or visit an outpatient imaging facility. These visits produce delays in surgery and increase costs in healthcare. Point of care ultrasound examination at the same time of initial physician visit, allows to decrease cost, improvement of anatomical planning, and decrease timing of surgery.

Methods: We reviewed the UTRGV Vascular Surgery Database from January to December 2020, for patients who has elective outpatient arteriovenous access creation, in which has pre-operative evaluation with …

Building The “Crypt” Through Non-Compliance: A Case Of Cryptococcal Meningitis In An Aids Patient, Rodolfo Singleterry, Khairiya Haj-Yahya

Research Colloquium

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), over 10-25% of hospital admissions result from patient noncompliance. This is a complex issue that has vast ripple effects as it not only worsens outcomes for patients but places a strain on the healthcare system entirely. In patients with HIV/AIDS, compliance with Antiretroviral therapy (ART) is necessary to prevent a host of potentially lethal infections.

A 33-year-old female with AIDS, presented to the ED complaining of nausea and vomiting for seven days. Throughout her hospital stay, the patient was regarded as medically noncompliant with daily episodes of refusing medications, hiding pills in her …

Effects Of Social Determinants Of Health On Disease Burden In A Case Of Takayasu Arteritis, Rodolfo Singleterry, Khairiya Hay-Yahya

Research Colloquium

Texas houses the largest uninsured population in the US with an estimated 5 million residents lacking healthcare. In the Rio Grande Valley, the combination of poverty, limited access to care, and lack of insurance poses a great barrier to healthcare management.

Patient is a 27-year-old female with a past medical history of Takayasu arteritis, migraine headaches, complete heart block with pacemaker placement, heart failure with reduced EF of 20%, and rheumatic heart disease s/p mitral valve replacement. Patient presented to the ED with a one-day history of a headache located on the right side of her head and face, described …

Steps On Establishing A Faculty Development Curriculum For Health Science Educators In A New Medical School, Beatriz Tapia, Karina Madrigal, Robert Nelson

Research Colloquium

Purpose: New Medical Schools need health science educators, to teach throughout the medical education continuum from basic science to clinical years. The need to establish a defined faculty development curriculum for health science educators will aid in standardizing best teaching practices and build a potential master teacher to move the curriculum toward active learning and innovation. The UTRGV SoM is a distributed campus, to achieve increase outreach we will offer synchronous and asynchronous online faculty development during the pandemic. This poster will share our progress to date.

Methods: A pilot, faculty development program, was established from faculty needs assessment data, …

Murine For A Bad Time: Prehospital Factor Associations With Murine Typhus Related Icu Admission, Russell H. Moreland Iii, Ayesha Khan, Denisse Ramirez, Salman Bangash, Azucena Del Real, Adriana Betancourth Alvarenga, Natalia Pinto, Chelsea H. Chang

Research Colloquium

Introduction: Across South Texas rates of murine typhus related hospitalization have been on the rise (1). Murine typhus is flea borne febrile illness caused by the bacterium Rickettsia typhi. Murine typhus is easily treated with doxycycline but is commonly underdiagnosed (2). Rarely murine typhus can cause hospitalization and ICU admission (3). To gain a greater understanding of the clinical course of severe murine typhus, our team has set out to identify novel clinical findings associated severe murine typhus courses.

Methods: Medical records were obtained from adults with suspected murine typhus admitted to Doctor’s Hospital at Renaissance in Edinburg, Texas, …

Establishing A Mentoring Program For Health Science Educators In A New Medical School, Karina Madrigal, Beatriz Tapia, Robert Nelson

Research Colloquium

Purpose: New Medical Schools need mentoring programs to enhance the personal and professional development of mentees and mentors. The need to establish a mentoring support mechanism is critical. This poster will share our progress to date.

Methods: A pilot mentoring program was established for junior faculty. These faculty members were paired with an associate professor or professor to serve as mentors for career development and engage in a focused scholarly project over a nine-month period.

Typically, the junior faculty is within the first three years of appointment and hold the rank of assistant professor. Each mentee will have 10% protected …

Ut Health Rgv Covid-19 Testing Report, Jefferson T. R. Chandler, Beatriz Tapia

Research Colloquium

Purpose: This health surveillance project's goal was to organize de-identified data received from UT Health RGV with the intent to provide timely reporting to testing sites and health affairs directors. We aimed to explore how testing rates differ between counties, testing sites and age groups from March 30 through August 7, 2020. We looked at different demographics and compared the positivity rates for each testing site. For this report, we will detail information for the pediatric population (ages 0-18).

Materials and Methods: A codebook and database were created with information about COVID-19 test data to formulate reports to the testing …

Psychotropics Prescription In Primary Care, Ruthzaine Lopez Bolano

Research Colloquium

Background: The study aimed to measure the prevalence of psychotropic prescriptions in primary care at four UTRGV clinical sites. Based on the results, this paper serves to inform and educate primary care providers of their current practices and treatment options when diagnosing mental health disorders and prescribing psychotropics.

Methods: This study used EMR data from January to March 2021 in four primary care clinics affiliated with the UT Health RGV system. Primary care patients from January to March 2021 and who were diagnosed with mood disorders (including Depression, Anxiety, and Bipolar Disorder) were included in this quality improvement study.

Results: …

A Novel Approach To Target Tumor Immune Microenvironment And Improve Checkpoint Immunotherapies, Poornima Devi Shaji, Ana Martinez, Melida Flores Cantu, Anupam Dhasmana, Meena Jaggi, Stephen W. Behrman, Murali M. Yallapu, Subhash C. Chauhan, Sheema Khan

Research Colloquium

Background: Pancreatic cancer remains 3^rd deadliest disease, with less than 7-10% survival rate. Little progress has been seen in patient’s outcome due to high desmoplasia and chemo-resistance. Immunotherapy has shown promising results in cancers, except pancreatic cancer due to their characteristic fibrotic tumor microenvironment. The therapies are unable to penetrate fibrotic tumor leading to insufficient availability of therapeutic drugs at the tumor site. A recently identified mucin, MUC13 is aberrantly expressed in pancreatic tumors but not in normal pancreas, that makes it an excellent protein tumor target. This study is unique as it utilizes MUC13Ab for targeting the pancreatic …

Survival Disparities Between Border And Non-Border Counties In Colorectal Cancer Patients Using The Tcr, Michael Machiorlatti, Michael Brian Lapelusa

Research Colloquium

Along the US Texas Mexico border constant migration, developing medical infrastructure and income disparity leads to poorer access to healthcare and poorer health outcomes. Given 32 of the 254 counties in TX are on the border with roughly 9.8% of the Texas residing in these counties (2.8 million people), this represents a significant population susceptible to adverse health outcomes. We investigate comparisons between border and non-border counties as well as how sociodemographic and diagnostic criterion influence survival of colorectal cancer. Data was obtained from the Texas Department of State Health Service’s TCR. Patients were 18 or older and excluded for …

Case Report Of Chylothorax From Venous Cannulation, Maria Najam, Suneet Johal, Nevin Varghese

Research Colloquium

Background: Chylothorax is the accumulation of the lymphatic fluid in the pleural space. Diagnosis of chylothorax is confirmed with pleural fluid analysis demonstrating triglycerides greater than 110 and cholesterol level less than 200mg/dl. Rarely, chylothorax can occur from damage to the thoracic duct from central venous cannulation

Case Presentation: A 48-year-old female with presented with gradual onset of shortness of breath for five days. She was noted to be hypoxic on arrival and was placed on non-rebreather oxygen therapy. Physical exam revealed decreased breathing sounds on the right side and was also noted for the right internal jugular dialysis catheter. …

Outcomes After Rib Fracture In Elderly Patient Due To Blunt Trauma At Doctors Renaissance Hospital, Lord Crescens Mvoula, David Weaver, Monica Michelle Betancourt-Garcia, Jeffrey Skubic

Research Colloquium

Background: Blunt trauma remains the most common traumatic reason for presentation at a hospital. Despite their frequency, there remains high morbidity and mortality. This is particularly true amongst the elderly. About 16.5 percent of the American population was 65 years old or over in 2019. This number is projected to reach 22 percent in 2050.

Some clinical guidelines requiring admission to an intensive care setting in trauma centers for elderly patients with two or more rib fractures have been adopted by some trauma centers. Usage of these guidelines may lead to significant decreases in hospital stats, ICU stats, and use …

The Reality Of Virtual Undergraduate Medical Education: Hands-On Learning In A Hands-Free World, Layla Nejad, Paola Ibarra, Aleena Flores, Robert Nelson Jr.

Research Colloquium

Background & Purpose: In the wake of the current COVID-19 pandemic, medical education has been forced to rely on virtual experiences including skills workshops, patient interactions, and oral exams. The virtual reality (VR) technology that currently exists has the potential to enhance undergraduate medical learning by improving information retention, clinical skills, and communication; however, most undergraduate medical education (UME) curricula lack its integration and use. Introducing VR to the UTRGV School of Medicine (SOM) could incorporate all existing learning styles and update the virtual world where medical students live and learn, leading to more versatile future-physicians.

Methods: We have explored …