Public Health Commons^™

Situational Confidence And Recovery Capital Among Justice-Involved Adults Receiving Medications For Opioid Use Disorder In A Jail-Based Setting, Elizabeth O Obekpa, Xulei He, Alejandro Betancur, Kathryn R Gallardo, Serena A Rodriguez, Sheryl A Mccurdy, J Michael Wilkerson

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: Justice-involved individuals with opioid use disorder (OUD) face heightened relapse risks during the reentry period. While medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) are effective, long-term recovery also depends on psychological and structural supports, including situational confidence (perceived ability to resist substance use in high-risk situations) and recovery capital (the internal and external resources that support recovery).

Methods: This cross-sectional study examined situational confidence and its association with recovery capital among 107 justice-involved adults receiving MOUD in an urban jail in Texas. Participants completed the Brief Situational Confidence Questionnaire (BSCQ) and the 10-item Brief Assessment of Recovery Capital (BARC-10). Mental …

Design Considerations For Conversational Agents To Assess The Social-Emotional Well-Being Of Young Children In Low-Income South African Communities, Lucretia A. Williams, Elizabeth A. Ankrah, Catherine E. Draper, Caylee J. Cook, Franceli L. Cibrian, Jesus A. Beltran, Kimberley D. Lakes, Gillian R. Hayes

Engineering Faculty Articles and Research

A variety of digital technologies have been used to support early childhood development (ECD) programs in low-income South African communities. Even though technology has provided opportunities to increase access to health interventions, the lack of trust and socio-economic constraints under which these tools would need to work pose complex challenges. We examine home visitors’ work processes, experiences, and preferences of a conversational agent to support their work of administering social-emotional well-being assessments to young children ages 0-5. Analysis of the results of focus groups with 51 home visitors indicates the need for designing conversational agents that support ECD in the …

Disparate Leukemia Mutations Converge On Nuclear Phase-Separated Condensates, Gandhar K Datar, Elmira Khabusheva, Archish Anand, Joshua Beale, Marwa Sadek, Chun-Wei Chen, Evdokiia Potolitsyna, Nayara Alcantara-Contessoto, Guangyuan Liu, Josephine De La Fuente, Christina Dollinger, Anna Guzman, Alejandra Martell, Katharina Wohlan, Abhishek Maiti, Nicholas J Short, S Stephen Yi, Vibeke Andresen, Bjørn Tore Gjertsen, Brunangelo Falini, Rachel E Rau, Lorenzo Brunetti, Nidhi Sahni, Margaret A Goodell, Joshua A Riback

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

During cancer development, mutations promote changes in gene expression that cause transformation. Leukemia associated with aberrant HOXA expression is driven by translocations of nucleoporin genes or KMT2A as well as mutations in NPM1. The mechanistic convergence of these disparate mutations remains elusive. Here, we demonstrate that mutant nucleophosmin 1 (NPM1c) forms nuclear condensates in human cell lines, mouse models, and primary patient samples. We show NPM1c phase separation is necessary and sufficient to recruit NUP98 and KMT2A to condensates. Through extensive mutagenesis and pharmacological destabilization of phase separation, we find that NPM1c condensates are necessary for regulating gene expression, promoting …

Serum Response Factor Is Essential For Endometrial Function And Prevention Of Inflammatory Fibrosis, Ryan M Marquardt, Sara A Grimm, San-Pin Wu, Peter F Lais, Shu-Yun Li, Xin Xu, Erin Smithberger, David Cunefare, Charan Ganta, David Olson, Eunhee M Jeong, Jae-Wook Jeong, Bruce A Lessey, John P Lydon, Francesco J Demayo

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Pregnancy requires a supportive uterine environment facilitated by steroid hormone–regulated differentiation of endometrial stromal fibroblasts into decidual cells and tight control of inflammation. Serum response factor (SRF) is a widely expressed transcription factor essential for mesenchymal cell growth and differentiation with noted roles in hormonal regulation of muscle tissues but little characterization in reproductive organs. Here, we reveal that endometrial SRF is dysregulated in human endometriosis and is critical for female reproductive success in mice through regulation of endometrial stromal and epithelial cells. Immunohistochemical analysis identified decreased endometrial SRF expression in infertile endometriosis patient tissues. RNAi-based SRF knockdown in human …

Elucidating The Relationship Between Water Quality And Antibiotic Resistance Of Rainwater Microbes Across Western Humboldt County, Theo P. Murphy, Eve Wendley, Justice Laskowski, Tyler Paredes

Humboldt Journal of Microbiology

Limited studies have been conducted regarding the fecal contamination and microbial dispersal through rainwater, with no known studies investigating the potential connection between antibiotic resistant microbes and water quality in rainwater. This study seeks to identify the presence of a correlation between water quality and incidence of antibiotic resistance in rainwater microbes. We hypothesize that there will be a correlation between these two variables. We additionally anticipate a high incidence of fecal contamination across rural and urban collection sites alike, with fecal contamination being more prevalent in rural areas than urban locals. To determine water quality, we measured the concentration …

Giant Cell Arteritis After Mrna Covid Vaccines: Concerning Or A False Alarm?-A Retrospective Cohort Study, Syed M. F. Zabiullah, Rutwik Pradeep Sharma, Roshan Subedi, Viqarunnisa Faaiza Zahid, Yasir Loai, Sarathlal Mannumbethlal, Aatifa Aatifa

Advances in Clinical Medical Research and Healthcare Delivery

Background: The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic led to the first large-scale rapid deployment of novel messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines. Although the effectiveness and safety of these vaccines were rigorously studied, post-vaccination adverse events such as giant cell arteritis (GCA) continue to be reported. More than two hundred and sixty three cases of new-onset GCA occurring after mRNA vaccine administration are listed in the Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System as of October 2024. We aimed to explore the incidence of GCA after mRNA vaccines among patients in our health system and study their characteristics and outcomes.

Methods: We conducted a …

Increasing Pediatric Hpv Vaccination Rates, Brooke A. Nicholas

Dissertations

Increasing Pediatric HPV Vaccination Rates

Abstract

Problem: The human papillomavirus (HPV) is a sexually transmitted infection that affects more than 80% of the population within the United States (Eisenhauer et al., 2020). HPV can develop into cervical, anogenital, and oropharyngeal cancers (Eisenhauer et al., 2020). About 4,000 individuals die from cervical cancer alone each year (O’Leary, 2022). The HPV vaccine, though recommended by the ACIP and AAP, is below national vaccination rates in comparison to other vaccines (O’Leary, 2022).

Methods: This quality improvement project is a non-randomized controlled trial that observed HPV vaccine dose completion rates for patients aged 9-14 …

Evaluation Of Integrative Oncology Modalities For Symptom Management: A Mascc/Sio Global Survey, Alexandre Chan, Reem Nasr, Daniela Arcos, Dalia Kagramanov, Chioma Asuzu, Ting Bao, Yin Ting Cheung, Jung Hye Kwon, Judith Lacey, Richard T. Lee, Maryam Lustberg, Beatrice M. Ohaeri, Santosh Rao, Enrique Soto-Perez-De-Celis, Claudia M. Witt, Ana M. Lopez

Kimmel Cancer Center Faculty Papers

BACKGROUND: With growing evidence pointing towards the potential of integrative oncology modalities (IOM) in addressing cancer and cancer-treatment related symptoms, research on IOM utilization and implementation is warranted. This study examines global stakeholder perspectives on integrative oncology (IO) utilization for supportive cancer care.

METHODS: Members of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer (MASCC) and the Society for Integrative Oncology (SIO) completed a survey on the utilization of IOM for supportive cancer care. Descriptive statistics were used to assess demographic data, IOM usage patterns, IOM education, and financial considerations for utilizing IOM.

RESULTS: Among 344 participants representing eight geographical …

Validation Of A Risk Score For Cancer-Associated Thrombosis Using Nationwide Ehr Data, Ang Li, Omid Jafari, Barbara D Lam, Jun Y Jiang, Rock Bum Kim, Shengling Ma, Emily Zhou, Joyce W Tiong, Elizabeth C Chiang, Justine Ryu, Christopher I Amos, Jennifer La, Nathanael R Fillmore

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Importance: Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is associated with increased mortality and morbidity in patients with cancer. Existing risk prediction models are typically validated within individual sites, a fragmented approach that limits clinical adoption.

Objective: To validate the electronic health record cancer-associated thrombosis (EHR-CAT) score compared with the benchmark Khorana score in a contemporary cohort of patients with cancer across the nation, before and after treatment, excluding those at high risk of bleeding.

Design, setting, and participants: This prognostic study included patients in a nationwide longitudinal EHR database from January 2018 to December 2023 with follow-up continuing to April 2025. Patients with …

National Alliance Of Sickle Cell Centers Consensus Recommendations On Sickle Cell Disease Health Maintenance: A Consensus Statement, Seethal A. Jacob, Melissa Frei-Jones, Sana Saif-Ur-Rehman, Monica L. Hulbert, Andrew R. W. O'Brien, Crawford Strunk, Anthony Villella, Ravi Talati, Amma Owusu-Ansah, Francis Coyne, Patrick T. Mcgann, Parul Rai, Robin Miller, Angeli Rampersad, Vishwas Sakhalkar, Neha Bhasin, Deepa Manwani, Sophie Lanzkron, Julie Kanter

Cardeza Foundation for Hematologic Research

IMPORTANCE: The most common inherited blood disorder in the world, sickle cell disease (SCD) is a known global health concern. While survival of children into adulthood has improved significantly over the last few decades in high-resource countries, substantial gaps in care standards and limited practice harmonization persist.

OBJECTIVE: To provide up-to-date recommendations for preventive care and treatment of all people living with SCD and its related comorbidities.

EVIDENCE REVIEW: As part of the National Alliance of Sickle Cell Centers (NASCC), 41 pediatric and adult sickle cell disease experts developed consensus standards and recommendations based on available evidence and expert consensus …

Orphan Nuclear Receptor 4a1 (Nr4a1) And Nr4a2 Are Endogenous Regulators Of Cd71 And Their Ligands Induce Ferroptosis In Breast Cancer, Arafat Rahman Oany, Srijana Upadhyay, Wai Ning Tiffany Tsui, Amanuel Hailemariam, Sarah Latka, John D Landua, Sandra D Scherer, Alana L Welm, Hugo Villanueva, Michael T Lewis, Stephen Safe

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Ferroptosis is an iron-dependent cell death pathway that involves multiple genes, including the transferrin receptor (TFRC/CD71), glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPX4) and cystine-glutamate antiporter (SLC7A11). This study is based on the hypothesis that orphan nuclear receptor 4A1 (NR4A1) and NR4A2 maintain low levels of ferroptosis in triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) cells and bis-indole derived (CDIM) compounds act as NR4A1/2 ligands that induce ferroptosis by enhancing CD71 expression. 1,1-Bis(3'-indolyl)-1-(3,5-disubstitutedphenyl)methane (DIM-3,5) analogs were investigated for their cytotoxicity and effects on NR4A1 and NR4A2 regulated genes and induction of ferroptosis. Several assays also determined enhanced lipoperoxidation, reactive oxygen species and malondialdehyde formation in …

Burden Of Central Nervous System Cancer In The United States, 1990-2021, Hyun Jin Han, Yun Seo Kim, Seoyeon Park, Jae Il Shin, Min Seo Kim, Ju Hyung Moon, Yong Bae Kim, Hazim S Ababneh, Ahmed Abu-Zaid, Demelash Areda, Santhosh Arul, Ahmed Y Azzam, Mainak Bardhan, Mohammad Amin Bayat Tork, Babak Behnam, Gokce Belge Bilgin, Prarthna V Bhardwaj, Soumitra S Bhuyan, Nima Broomand Lomer, Meng Xuan Chen, Suma Sri Chennapragada, Xiaochen Dai, Frances E Dean, Sindhura Deekonda, Xueting Ding, Ojas Prakashbhai Doshi, Abdel Rahman E'Mar, Muhammed Elhadi, Jawad Fares, Patrick Fazeli, James L Fisher, Maryam Fotouhi, Ali Gholamrezanezhad, Fidelia Ida, Chidozie Declan Iwu, Mohamed Jalloh, Chinmay T Jani, Rizwan Kalani, Samuel Berchi Kankam, Foad Kazemi, Ariz Keshwani, Atulya Aman Khosla, Stephen S Lim, Riffat Mehboob, Tomislav Mestrovic, Ali H Mokdad, Christopher J L Murray, Gurudatta Naik, Zuhair S Natto, Dang Nguyen, Fred Nugen, Atakan Orscelik, Romil R Parikh, Louise Penberthy, Richard G Pestell, Disha Prabhu, Jagadeesh Puvvula, Shakthi Kumaran Ramasamy, Cameron John Sabet, Austin E Schumacher, Yigit Can Senol, Sunder Sham, Samendra P Sherchan, Gizeaddis Lamesgin Simegn, Jasvinder A Singh, Ranjan Solanki, Bahadar S Srichawla, Jabeen Taiba, Manoj Tanwar, Mike Tuffour Amirikah, Anjul Verma, Ismaeel Yunusa, David X Zheng, Dong Keon Yon, Keun Young Park

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Importance: Primary brain and central nervous system cancer (collectively referred to as CNS cancer) comprises 2% of all human cancers and poses significant health and economic challenges in the United States.

Objective: To analyze CNS cancer burden in the US, stratified by time, location (state and division), sex, age group, and Sociodemographic Index (SDI).

Design, setting, and participants: This cross-sectional study involved a repeated analysis of Global Burden of Disease Study (GBD) 2021 data in 2024. Using data from 183 sources, CNS cancer metrics in the US were estimated across states and years. US CNS cancer metrics across all sexes …

A Multiomics Recovery Factor Predicts Long Covid In The Impacc Study, Gisela Gabernet, Jessica Maciuch, Jeremy P Gygi, John F Moore, Annmarie Hoch, Caitlin Syphurs, Tianyi Chu, Naresh Doni Jayavelu, David B Corry, Farrah Kheradmand, Lindsey R Baden, Rafick-Pierre Sekaly, Grace A Mccomsey, Elias K Haddad, Charles B Cairns, Nadine Rouphael, Ana Fernandez-Sesma, Viviana Simon, Jordan P Metcalf, Nelson I Agudelo Higuita, Catherine L Hough, William B Messer, Mark M Davis, Kari C Nadeau, Bali Pulendran, Monica Kraft, Chris Bime, Elaine F Reed, Joanna Schaenman, David J Erle, Carolyn S Calfee, Mark A Atkinson, Scott C Brakenridge, Esther Melamed, Albert C Shaw, David A Hafler, Alison D Augustine, Patrice M Becker, Al Ozonoff, Steven E Bosinger, Walter Eckalbar, Holden T Maecker, Seunghee Kim-Schulze, Hanno Steen, Florian Krammer, Kerstin Westendorf, Bjoern Peters, Slim Fourati, Matthew C Altman, Ofer Levy, Kinga K Smolen, Ruth R Montgomery, Joann Diray-Arce, Steven H Kleinstein, Leying Guan, Lauren Ir Ehrlich

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Background: Following SARS-CoV-2 infection, approximately 10%–35% of patients with COVID-19 experience long COVID (LC), in which debilitating symptoms persist for at least 3 months. Elucidating the biologic underpinnings of LC could identify therapeutic opportunities.

Methods: We utilized machine learning methods on biologic analytes provided over 12 months after hospital discharge from more than 500 patients with COVID-19 in the IMPACC cohort to identify a multiomics “recovery factor,” trained on patient-reported physical function survey scores. Immune profiling data included PBMC transcriptomics, serum O-link and plasma proteomics, plasma metabolomics, and blood mass cytometry by time of flight (CyTOF) protein levels. Recovery factor …

A Temperature-Sensitive Crispr-Cas12a System For Sterile Insect Technique, Christina Nguyen, Ahmed Idowu Omotayo, Sara Sanz Juste, Xuechun Feng, Víctor López Del Amo

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The sterile insect technique (SIT) reduces population numbers by releasing sterile males that produce non-viable progeny. Specifically, CRISPR/Cas9-based precision-guided SIT (pgSIT) generates sterile males through genetic crosses of two transgenic lines: a Cas9 strain and a guide RNA (gRNA) strain targeting male sterility and female viability or infertility. However, pgSIT requires separate maintenance of the two lines and sorting to obtain sterile males, creating possible challenges for scaling. To overcome this, we propose using Cas12a nuclease, which is inoperative at lower temperatures but active at higher temperatures. Here, we develop a Cas12a-based pgSIT system involving a single strain containing both …

Integrative Proteogenomics And Forward Genetics Reveal A Novel Mitotic Vulnerability In Triple-Negative Breast Cancer, Nicholas J Neill, Shankha Satpathy, Karsten Krug, Jitendra K Meena, Nivetha Ramesh Babu, Cheyenne Calderon, Desmon Reed, Marcus J Weber, Lacey E Dobrolecki, Alaina Lewis, Christina Sallas, Meenakshi Anurag, Kimberly R Holloway, Chen Huang, Suhas Vasaikar, Maria F Cardenas, Beom-Jun Kim, Doug W Chan, Shayan C Avanessian, Siddhartha Tyagi, Mayra Orellana, Sufeng Mao, Heyuan Li, Fade Gong, Sarah J Kurley, Kristen L Meerbrey, Calla M Olson, Amritha Nair, Tingting Sun, Hsiang-Ching Chung, Elizabeth A Bowling, Jarey H Wang, Pengju Zhang, Peng Xiao, Duxiao Yang, Fabio Stossi, Mei-Yin C Polley, Alexander B Saltzman, Filip Mundt, D R Mani, Michael A Gillette, Susan G Hilsenbeck, George Miles, Carolina Gutierrez, C Kent Osborne, Charles Y Lin, Nathanael S Gray, Jinpeng Sun, David A Wheeler, Charles M Perou, Anna Malovannaya, Michael T Lewis, Bing Zhang, Matthew J Ellis, Steven A Carr, Thomas F Westbrook

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is an aggressive subtype of breast cancer with few effective targeted therapies. Taxanes and other microtubule-targeting agents (MTAs) are frontline chemotherapies for TNBC; however, the molecular pathways that cause TNBC taxane sensitivity are largely unknown, preventing selection of taxane-responsive patients and development of more selective therapeutic strategies. In this study, we identified tumor-selective vulnerabilities in TNBC harboring inactivation of the tumor suppressor PTPN12 by integrating proteogenomic characterization and synthetic lethality screening. We discovered that PTPN12 inactivation drives mitotic defects through aberrant hyperactivation of the ubiquitin ligase complex APCFZR1, a critical regulator of the cell cycle. Consistent …

Losing Focus In The Age Of Tik Tok: Clinical Evidence For Policy Action On Social Media Use, Megan Conefrey, Robert Griffin

SURE Journal: Science Undergraduate Research Experience Journal

No abstract provided.

Tracking Livestock Heart Rate & Location Using Long-Range Radio Networks. An Immediate Solution For Farms Without Reliable Wi-Fi, Dermott Harkin, Martin Bradley

SURE Journal: Science Undergraduate Research Experience Journal

No abstract provided.

Voices Matter: Tackling Accentism In Ireland. A Study Addressing Accent-Based Discrimination Awareness In Education, Sadhbh Reddington, Victoria Graham, Holly Jordan, Mairead Moriarty

SURE Journal: Science Undergraduate Research Experience Journal

No abstract provided.

Income Inequality And Attitudes Towards Immigrants – How Increased Inequality Drives Division, Niamh Anderson, Vincent O'Sullivan

SURE Journal: Science Undergraduate Research Experience Journal

No abstract provided.

Supporting Single Parents: How Loneliness And Self-Stigma Can Impact Single Parents And Their Quality Of Life, Alana Powell, David Mothersill

SURE Journal: Science Undergraduate Research Experience Journal

No abstract provided.

Unheard And Underserved: Exploring Support For Male Victims Of Partner Abuse, Michael Keenan, Colletta Dalikeni

SURE Journal: Science Undergraduate Research Experience Journal

No abstract provided.

Ireland Blossoms Through Multiculturalism - Designing For Community Connection, Julia Kuczera, Shirley Casey, Hilary Kenna

SURE Journal: Science Undergraduate Research Experience Journal

No abstract provided.

Assessing Demand And Simulating Feasibility For Commuter Rail In Lagging Regional Areas. Case Study: Sligo, Holly Briere-Edney, Brian Mccann

SURE Journal: Science Undergraduate Research Experience Journal

No abstract provided.

Ireland's Infrastructure: From Delays To Deliveries!, Conor Barnett, Keren Goodman

SURE Journal: Science Undergraduate Research Experience Journal

No abstract provided.

A Fast-Track Way To Identify Derelict And Vacant Homes For Refurbishment, Dylan O'Donnell, Enda Dunican

SURE Journal: Science Undergraduate Research Experience Journal

No abstract provided.

Making Buildings Smarter And More Sustainable With Ai, Anthony Lowe, Martin Klepal

SURE Journal: Science Undergraduate Research Experience Journal

No abstract provided.

Solving The Bed Crisis - Predicting 30-Day Hospital Readmissions In Elderly Patients Using Ai, Mark Mckeon, Thoa Pham

SURE Journal: Science Undergraduate Research Experience Journal

No abstract provided.

The Impact Of Chronic Pain On Income And Employment, Jordan Vaarsi, Amber Jolly, Karim S. Ladha

SURE Journal: Science Undergraduate Research Experience Journal

No abstract provided.

Living The Life: A Community Approach To Men’S Health And Longevity, Paul Anders, Aisling Mcgrath

SURE Journal: Science Undergraduate Research Experience Journal

No abstract provided.

When Care Can’T Move Forward – The Human And Social Cost Of Freezing Of Gait In Parkinson’S Disease, Padraig Cronin, Lucy M. Collins, Aideen M. Sullivan

SURE Journal: Science Undergraduate Research Experience Journal

No abstract provided.