Available Projects
| Mentor | Department | Research Title | Research Description | Paid |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nausheen Ahmed | Hematologic Malignancies and Cellular Therapeutics | BCMA therapy in allogeneic transplant recipients: Case series | This is a case series of unique rare patients. | No |
| Radwan Ajlan | Ophthalmology | Retina surgery outcome | Retrospective study _ underrepresented in medicine students are encouraged to apply for this opportunity | Maybe |
| Radwan Ajlan | Ophthalmology | Retina surgery outcome | Retrospective review | Maybe |
| Florence Aslinia | Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Motility | Case reports in Gatroenterology | Be the first or second author om case reports by reviewing the literature, writing the case report and submitting it with guidance from GI faculty | No |
| Ajay Bansal | Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Motility | The Pancreatic Cancer Early Detection Consortium | In this observational cohort study, we plan to enroll 300 patients who are at risk for pancreas cancer and collect data on risk behaviors and biomarkers. | Yes |
| Ajay Bansal | Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Motility | NRG-CC005 (ClinicalTrials.gov NCT05080673) FORTE (Five or Ten Year Colonoscopy for 1-2 Non-Advanced Adenomatous Polyps) | In this trial, we are comparing the utility of repeating colonoscopies at 5 versus 10 years in patients with low-risk adenomas. | Yes |
| Ajay Bansal | Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Motility | A Phase IIb Clinical Trial of the Multitargeted Recombinant Adenovirus 5 (CEA/MUC1/Brachyury) Vaccines (Tri-Ad5) and IL-15 Superagonist N-803 in Lynch syndrome | In this clinical trial, we are testing a combination of three vaccines in patients with Lynch syndrome. | Yes |
| Mario Castro | Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine | Assessment of airway remodeling over time in asthma | Patients with severe asthma experience airway remodeling characterized by thickening of the airway walls, increased mucin production, disrupted muco-ciliary clearance, airway hyperreactivity and airway restriction resulting in loss of lung function. Previous work from the Castro laboratory has demonstrated evidence of airway remodeling as determined by 1) increased epithelial and laminar reticularis thickening, 2) decreased number of ciliated cells that correlated to asthma severity, 3) an increased quantity of mucin (Muc5AC) goblet cell metaplasia and 4) decreased ciliated cells in severe asthma as compared to healthy subjects. To date, there is no gold standard to measure airway remodeling in severe asthma. Conflicting reports across research groups and clinical trials using endobronchial biopsies have shown an increase in Epithelial and Laminar Reticularis (LR) Thickening over asthma severity but this has not been consistent across fixation and embedding techniques, asthma treatment modalities as well as being a relatively small sample sizes. Recent evidence has shown that bronchial thermoplasty decreases actin smooth muscle mass post treatment in severe asthma when compared to individuals on standard of therapy but had no correlation to clinical outcomes. To date, there have been no studies on these airway morphometric measures longitudinally. Additionally, imaging in asthma has shown increased air trapping and mucus plugs in severe asthma. These imaging features have been observed over time to indicate most are persistent and can be alleviated with the asthma biologics (Tezepelumab and Dupilumab). However, the underlying mechanisms of these mucus plugs and air trapping remain poorly understood. Dr Castro has ongoing pharma and NIH funded studies that collect endobronchial biopsy tissue along with qCT images in asthmatics versus healthy subjects providing biospecimens and imaging metrics as part of well characterized clinical populations. This project will assess airway remodeling longitudinally using endobronchial biopsy tissue collected across asthma severity and healthy subjects after standard formalin fixation and paraffin tissue embedding (FFPE). Endobronchial biopsies will be collected from longitudinal observational trials including the Severe Asthma Research Program (SARPI, II, III, IV). FFPE blocks will be sectioned and stained for 1) morphometric analysis of epithelial and LR thickening via Hematoxylin/Eosin (H&E) and 2) for mucus production via mucicarmine. Stained tissue sections will be imaged using the Nikon automated tiling microscope and quantitated using Image Pro 10 software. These morphometric measures will be analyzed in conjunction with qCT parameters of airway remodeling including wall thickness, wall area, airway narrowing, lung deformation, along with air trapping and mucus plugs. Data analysis will be performed using a combination of Image Pro 10, Prism and Excel software. Clinical phenotypes and endotypes of asthma will be correlated to generated research data over time. Research will be performed in the laboratory of Dr Castro under the guidance Dr Castro, Dr Boomer and Sam Frizzell. The translational research experience will consist of bench to bedside research, clinical and patient exposure, data entry and management, biospecimen procurement, processing and biobanking as well as exposure to a multitude of studies both pharma and NIH, equipment, and diverse personnel. Results will be presented and discussed in weekly lab meetings with a poster presented at a research conference and potential manuscript publication. | Maybe |
| Mario Castro | Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine | Role of BPI-Family members SPLUNC1 and LPLUNC1 in asthma | Patients with severe asthma experience airway remodeling characterized by thickening of the airway walls, increased mucin production and subsequent loss of lung function. Asthma is a heterogeneous disease with multiple endotypes and phenotypes that result in chronic airway remodeling, as well as variability in disease progression and outcome. Bactericidal/permeability-increasing (BPI)-fold-containing family are highly glycosylated and specifically expressed secretory proteins in the respiratory tract. BPI-family member B1 (BPIFB1) also known as long palate, lung, and nasal epithelium clone 1 (LPLUNC1) and BPI-family member A1 (BPIFA1) also known as short palate, lung, and nasal epithelium clone 1 (SPLUNC1) are two splice variants identified in nasal epithelium of various lung diseases including COPD and asthma. Interestingly, IL-13, a Th2 type cytokine that induces mucin (Muc5AC), has been shown to regulate SPLUNC1 in nasal epithelium. Additionally, both LPLUNC1 and SPLUNC1 are believed to perform surfactant-like functions in addition to regulating an epithelial sodium channel (ENaC) involved in normal mucociliary clearance and liquid homeostasis. Another important secretory protein called CC16 (Uteroglobin) has been shown to be decreased in the BAL and serum of asthmatics. Decreased levels of CC16 in urine and BAL have been associated with poor lung function in children and adults with asthma. CC16 is produced by Clara cells, not goblet cells, and has important anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory properties in the lung. The role of IL-13 in CC16 expression and secretion in asthma has not been well defined, however, an inverse relationship has been shown in mouse models and humans with asthma. Previous work from the Castro laboratory has demonstrated regulation of SPLUNC1 and LPLUNC1 as determined by 1) RNA-sequencing analysis indicating an increase in LPLUNC1 and a decrease in SPLUNC1 from endobronchial brushes in severe asthma, 2) decreased SPLUNC1 secretion in BAL fluid of severe asthmatics and 3) detection of SPLUNC1 and LPLUNC1 in endobronchial biopsy tissue. We hypothesized that BPIFB1, BPIFA1 and CC16 are regulated by IL-13 in the lower respiratory tract and contribute to airway remodeling, mucin composition and poor lung function in severe asthmatics. Laboratory experiments will be performed to determine the 1) expression and localization of these secretory proteins in endobronchial biopsy tissue, 2) levels of these secretory proteins across the severity and endotypes of asthma in BAL, sputum, serum and plasma and 3) the expression and function of SPLUNC1/LPLUNC1 and CC16 in vitro using the hBEC air liquid interface (ALI) culture system and IL-13 treatment. This project will elucidate 1) the relationship of these secretory proteins in biological fluids to asthma severity and endotypes, 2) determine the expression and localization of these proteins in the airway epithelium, 3) test the expression of secretory proteins in relation to IL-13 and 4) determine the relationship of these secretory proteins to clinical outcomes and lung function. Techniques including western blot and ELISA will be used to quantitate SPLUNC1/LPLUNC1 as well as additional secretory proteins and chemokines. In addition, immunofluorescence and immunohistochemistry will be used to assess the localization and distribution of these proteins in endobronchial biopsy tissue and IL-13 treated airway epithelial cells collected by bronchoscopy of control and asthmatic subjects enrolled in clinical studies including the Severe Asthma Research Program (SARP). Clinical phenotypes and endotypes of asthma will be correlated to the generated research data. Data analysis will be performed using a combination of image analysis software (Image Pro 10), Prism, and Excel. Research will be performed in the laboratory of Dr Castro under the guidance of Dr Castro, Dr Boomer and Sam Frizzell. The translational research experience will consist of bench to bedside research, data entry and management, biospecimen procurement, processing and biobanking, as well as exposure to a multitude of studies (both pharma and NIH funded) while working with diverse personnel. Results will be presented and discussed in weekly lab meetings with a poster presented at a research conference and potential manuscript publication. | Maybe |
| Mario Castro | Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine | Role of glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) in asthma | Asthma is a common chronic disease characterized by episodic, or sometimes persistent, symptoms of cough, wheezing and dyspnea. Research over the last decade had led to substantial advancements in understanding asthma pathogenesis and currently there is a wide acceptance that this disease is a clinical manifestation of multiple and different underlying mechanisms (endotypes). Recent studies have shown that obesity (defined as BMI >30 kg/m2) was prevalent in around 60% of severe or difficult-to-treat asthma population. Another study found that overweight (BMI >25) asthma patients have 1.5 times the risk of exacerbation compared to 0.4 exacerbations per year in non-overweight patients. Apart from obesity, Insulin Resistance (IR) has been also linked to severe asthma phenotype and data from the Severe Asthma Research Program (SARP) found that 46% of severe asthma patients had IR, defined as HOMA-IR (Homeostatic Model Assessment for Insulin Resistance) of ≥3.0. These patients with IR had lower values of FEV1 and forced vital capacity (FVC) that were not attributed to the obesity effect, in addition to lower FEV1 response to β-adrenergic agonists and systemic corticosteroids. The role of endogenous peptides has been examined in the asthma-metabolic dysfunction relationship, most notably the role of Glucagon-Like Peptide 1 (GLP-1). GLP-1 receptors are expressed in the lungs, specifically in smooth muscles, submucosal glands, and type 2 pneumocytes. Studies have indicated anti-inflammatory effects of GLP-1 receptor agonists in both mice and human studies. One randomized controlled trial has shown that liraglutide, a glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonist, resulted in an increase in FVC among patients with type 2 diabetes. Another study indicated that circulating levels of GLP-1 in response to oral carbohydrate in obese patients is considerably lower compared to lean subjects, suggesting a potential relationship to the obese asthma phenotype. Therefore, we hypothesize that GLP-1 signaling through GLP-1R may contribute to the metabolic dysfunction in obese asthmatics. This project will study the role of GLP-1 and the GLP-1R receptor in asthma. The data generated will serve as preliminary data to assess the potential usage of GLP-1 agonists as a novel therapy in the severe asthma population. Assessment of GLP-1 levels across asthma severity in comparison to healthy individuals in BAL, sputum, plasma, and serum will be quantitated via ELISA. The GLP-1R will be quantitated with cellular localization determined in endobronchial biopsy tissue via immunofluorescence (IF) and immunohistochemical (IHC) methods. The expression and secretion of GLP-1/GLP-1R will be assessed over differentiation of airway epithelial cells using the air liquid interface (ALI) model in vitro via IF, ELISA and western blot analysis. This project will take advantage of airway epithelial cells and biopsies collected by bronchoscopy of control and asthmatic subjects enrolled in clinical studies including the Severe Asthma Research Program (SARP). Clinical phenotypes and endotypes of asthma will be correlated to generated research data. Data analysis will be performed using a combination of image analysis software (Image Pro 10), Prism, and Excel. Research will be performed in the laboratory of Dr Castro under the guidance of Dr Castro, Dr Boomer and Sam Frizzell. The translational research experience will consist of bench to bedside research, clinical and patient exposure, data entry and management, biospecimen procurement, processing and biobanking as well as exposure to a multitude of studies (both pharma and NIH funded) working with diverse personnel. Results will be presented and discussed in weekly lab meetings with a poster presented at a research conference and potential manuscript publication. | Maybe |
| Mario Castro | Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine | The role of epithelial alarmins in airway remodeling in asthma | Previous reports have illustrated the importance of type 1 and type 2 proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines in the immune response and inflammation in asthma, of which epithelial alarmins are a key upstream regulator. A hallmark of severe asthma is repeated exacerbations from infectious (viral or bacterial) or irritating stimuli leading to airway inflammation and damage, followed by repair. Human bronchial epithelial cells (hBECs) express toll-like receptors (TLRs) including TLR3, a membrane protein with high affinity to specific viral double stranded DNA, which plays a critical role in activating the innate immune response in asthma exacerbations. Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a single stranded RNA virus that induces flu like symptoms in children that results in a predisposition to asthma later in life. RSV infects airway epithelial cells through the cell receptor, CX3CR1, leading to pattern recognition receptor activation (TLR3), followed by the production of proinflammatory cytokines including TSLP, IL-8 (a neutrophil chemoattractant), Type-I interferons and chemokines including CXCL-10 (a Th1 chemokine). Cultured hBECs in Air-liquid interface (ALI) have been shown to produce CXCL-10, IL-17 (a Th1 cytokine), and TSLP in response to TLR3 ligand addition. hBEC TSLPR stimulated with TSLP has been shown to induce production of IL-13. IL-13 regulates airway epithelial barrier function, and our lab has previously demonstrated that IL-13 increases mucin production and decreases cilia in airway epithelial cells. We hypothesize that epithelial alarmins and proinflammatory mediators are released by TLR stimulation and induce IL-13 mediated airway remodeling in airway epithelial cells that can be blocked by anti-alarmin biologics including anti-TSLP (Tezepelumab) or anti-IL-33 in asthma. Laboratory experiments will be performed to determine the 1) presence of epithelial alarmins in biological fluid (BAL, Sputum, serum, and plasma) and endobronchial biopsy tissue in individuals with asthma, 2) secretion of epithelial alarmins (TSLP, IL-33, IL-25) after TLR stimulation of hBECs in vitro using TLR agonists or RSV, 3) secretion of T1 and T2 chemokines and cytokines after TLR agonists or RSV and 3) the role of anti-alarmin biologics (anti-TSLP, anti-IL-33) in release of T1 and T2 proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines, including IL-13. This project will elucidate 1) the relationship of epithelial alarmins in biological fluids to asthma severity and endotypes, 2) the expression and localization of these alarmins and IL-13 related receptors (IL-13Ra1, IL-13Ra2, IL-4Ra, EGFR) in the airway epithelium in endobronchial biopsy tissue and after TLR agonist or RSV stimulation using hBEC cultures, 3) the release of pro-inflammatory mediators post RSV infection of healthy and asthmatic hBECs, and 4) the function of anti-alarmin biologics in their ability to block barrier function, secretion of proinflammatory mediators and IL-13 mediated airway remodeling in vitro. Techniques including western blot and ELISA/Luminex will be used to quantitate alarmins as well as proinflammatory mediators. Epithelial barrier function will be assessed by trans electrical epithelial resistance (TEER) using the chop stick method, expression of tight junction proteins (ZO-1, Occludin) and dextran permeability. In addition, immunofluorescence and immunohistochemistry will be used to assess the localization and distribution of alarmins and their receptors in endobronchial biopsy tissue and TLR stimulated airway epithelial cells collected by bronchoscopy of control and asthmatic subjects enrolled in clinical studies including the Severe Asthma Research Program (SARP). Clinical phenotypes and endotypes of asthma will be correlated to the generated research data. Data analysis will be performed using a combination of image analysis software (Image Pro 10), Prism, and Excel. Research will be performed in the laboratory of Dr Castro under the guidance of Dr Castro, Dr Boomer and Sam Frizzell. The translational research experience will consist of bench to bedside research, data entry and management, biospecimen procurement, processing and biobanking as well as exposure to a multitude of studies (both pharma and NIH funded) working with diverse personnel. Results will be presented and discussed in weekly lab meetings with a poster presented at a research conference and potential manuscript publication. | Maybe |
| Qi Chen | Pharmacology, Toxicology & Therapeutics | Role of cancer cell EMT in pancreatic cancer metastasis | Epithelial-mesenchymal-transition (EMT) plays an important in cancer metastasis. This project will investigate the role EMT in pancreatic cancer metastasis. In particular, we will study the EMT status of the migrating cancer cells, and use an experimental compound to inhibit this process. We will investigate the mechanism of action of the compound, and its effects in inhibiting metastasis in cellular and animal cancer models. | No |
| Ronald Chen | Radiation Oncology | Prostate cancer patient outcomes | This is a clinical research project (not laboratory) where students will review patient medical records to collect data on outcomes of prostate cancer patients | No |
| Branden Comfort | General Medicine Ambulatory | Reducing Disparities in Hypertension Control in African American Patients | In the general internal medicine clinic, our White/Caucasian patients achieve higher control rates for hypertension (65%) than our Black/African American patients (56%). The aim of this project is to perform a formative assessment through chart review and focus groups for why this disparity exists and then to develop an intervention. | No |
| Branden Comfort | General Medicine Ambulatory | Addressing Food Insecurity from the General Internal Medicine Clinic | We have a food fridge that is stocked with food from Harvester's that we are able to give to patients who suffer from food insecurity during a clinic visit. We have a list of all patients that we have given food to over the past 3 years. Our aim of this project is to assess the impact of this program on health related outcomes including hypertension control, diabetes control, and utilization. | No |
| Branden Comfort | General Medicine Ambulatory | Prostate Cancer Screening Rates after Implementing Health Maintenance Alert | We implemented an alert on health maintenance 2 years ago for prostate cancer screening. Our aim to analysis this to see what impact it has had on screening rates across all of primary care at UKHS. | No |
| Branden Comfort | General Medicine Ambulatory | Reducing Disparities in Hypertension Control in Latino/Hispanic patients | In the general internal medicine clinic, our White/Caucasian patients achieve higher control rates for hypertension (65%) than our Latino/Hispanic patients (54%). The aim of this project is to perform a formative assessment through chart review and focus group interviews for why this disparity exists and then to develop an intervention. | No |
| Rodrigo Del Rio | Cell Biology and Physiology | Effects of brain-targeted Neuromedin B knock-down on the neural control of breathing | Neuromedin B has been linked to breathing regulation acting at the Pre-Botzinger complex, the respiratory pattern generator, located within the brain stem. However, there is no evidence showing an effect of neuromedin B in-vivo on breathing pattern generation and/or rythm alterations. In this project, we will induced acute reductions in the expression of neuromedin B in brainstem chemoreceptor neurons and determine it affects, if any, on resting breathing patterns in rodents. Brain stereotaxic survival surgeries, RNAscope with confocal microscopy and whole body ventilatory plethysmography will be used as experimental procedures during this project. | Maybe |
| Rodrigo Del Rio | Cell Biology and Physiology | Mapping brainstem pre-sympathetic neurons activity in experimental heart failure | Pre-sympathetic motor neurons located within the rostral aspect of the medulla has been linked to heart failure progression. Despite this evidence, there are no studies showing the activity of these neurons while on heart failure. We hypothesize that during the progression of heart disease, pre-sympathetic motor neurons became hyperactive. Rodent model of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction, high resolution echocardiography and acute brainstem slices for electrophysiological mapping using a high-density multielectrode array will used as experimental procedures during this project. | Maybe |
| Hannes Devos | Physical Therapy, Rehabilitation Science, and Athletic Training | Automated driving for older adults with cognitive impairment | In this Summer project, you will be assisting a PhD in Rehabilitation Science student. The goal is to compare take-over performance from automated driving to non-automated driving between older adults with cognitive impairment and healthy older adults. We will use virtual reality driving simulation technology and integrated eye tracking to evaluate behavioral and physiological performance. You will be involved with recruitment, data assessment, and data analysis. You will also have opportunities to assist with manuscript writing and presentation of results at local conferences. | Yes |
| Hannes Devos | Physical Therapy, Rehabilitation Science, and Athletic Training | Data Quality of Electroencephalography Recording in Historically Marginalized Populations | People with coarse or thick hair have been historically excluded from electroencephalography (EEG) research, because of preconceived notions that EEG quality (i.e., signal-to-noise ratio) is compromised. However, advancements in EEG technology (e.g., long brush electrodes), better education (e.g., information brochures on hairstyles and braiding), and concerted efforts from our lab to include people with coarse of thick hair, have resulted in an increased enrollment of historically marginalized populations. Although there are multiple papers out advocating for equitable representation in EEG research, no studies have compared data quality and accuracy of EEG, particularly during challenging EEG acquisition such as standing and walking. You will assist with data analysis and manuscript writing. | No |
| Navneet Dhillon | Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine | Role of non-coding RNAs in virus associated vascular injury | Differential expression of mRNA and long-noncoding RNAs will be examined in the plasma derived extracellular vesicles from HIV - PAH patients and/or from COVID-19 patients . further the effect of theses vesicles will be tested on pulmonary vascular cells. | Yes |
| Johanna Finkle | Obstetrics and Gynecology | GLP-1 and GIP/GLP-1 Use During the Periconceptional Period | The purpose of this project is to explore the relationship between the duration of time a patient has discontinued Glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonists (GLP-1) or Glucose-dependent Insulinotropic Polypeptide (GIP)/GLP-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1) for weight loss prior to pregnancy and its potential effects on obstetric outcomes. | No |
| Hao Gao | Radiation Oncology | Deep learning application of radiation dose prediction for cancer treatment | Dose prediction can be used to select between different radiation treatment modalities, for which deep learning is a power tool of data mining. This project will evaluate deep learning based dose prediction. | No |
| Hao Gao | Radiation Oncology | Deep learning application of synthetic CT for cancer treatment | Synthetic CT refers to the simulation of CT images using other modalities, such as cone-beam CT and MRI. Because CT is essential for accurate dose calculation, this project will evaluate deep learning based synthetic CT for dose calculation and treatment monitoring of cancer treatment. | No |
| Hao Gao | Radiation Oncology | Deep learning application of target segmentation for cancer treatment | The segmentation or delineation of treatment targets and organs-at-risk is crucial for cancer treatment using radiation therapy. This project will evaluate deep learning based auto-segmentation. | No |
| Hao Gao | Radiation Oncology | Treatment planning studies of proton ARC radiation therapy for cancer treatment | Similar to photon VMAT, proton ARC is a novel radiation therapy (RT) technology that could become a major proton treatment modality in the near future. This project will evaluate proton ARC in comparison with IMPT via treatment planning studies. | No |
| Hao Gao | Radiation Oncology | Treatment planning studies of proton FLASH radiation therapy for cancer treatment | FLASH, the irradiation with ultra-high dose rate, is an emerging radiation therapy technology that can further spare organs-at-risk biologically via the so-called FLASH effect. This project will evaluate proton FLASH in comparison with CONV (IMPT with conventional dose rate) via treatment planning studies. | No |
| Hao Gao | Radiation Oncology | Treatment planning studies of proton minibeam radiation therapy for cancer treatment | Proton minibeam radiation therapy (pMBRT) is a spatially fractionated radiation therapy (SFRT) modality for proton therapy, which can further spare organs-at-risk biologically via peak-to-valley dose ratio optimization. This project will evaluate pMBRT in comparison with IMPT via treatment planning studies. | No |
| Chelsea Gorsline | Infectious Diseases | FitzSimmons Summer ID Research Fellowship | Clinical Research: https://www.kumc.edu/school-of-medicine/academics/departments/internal-medicine/divisions/infectious-diseases/summer-id-research-fellowship.html | Yes |
| Aditi Gupta | Nephrology and Hypertension | Alzheimer's Disease biomarkers in CKD | AD biomarkers are affected by kidney function. We are assessing the effect of CKD on AD biomarkers. Students will get hands on experience with several aspects of clinical research including face to face interaction with participants. | Yes |
| Aditi Gupta | Nephrology and Hypertension | Association of dementia with other vascular diseases | In this project students will learn about the interplay of different organ systems in cognitive impairment and dementia. | Yes |
| Aditi Gupta | Nephrology and Hypertension | Cognitive function and frailty in chronic kidney disease | In this project students will learn about the association of chronic kidney disease with cognitive impairment and frailty. Students will learn about research methods and scientific writing. Students will get hands on experience with several aspects of clinical research including face to face interaction with participants. | Yes |
| Aditi Gupta | Nephrology and Hypertension | Genetic risk factors for cognitive impairment in CKD | We will assess large data sets to assess the role of genetic risk factors for AD in CKD | Yes |
| Aditi Gupta | Nephrology and Hypertension | Racial disparities in access to kidney transplantation | We will assess patient perspectives on racial disparities in KT. Students with learn how to conduct qualitative research. | Yes |
| Aditi Gupta | Nephrology and Hypertension | Changes in cognition and brain alterations with kidney transplantation | We will assess if changes in cognition after a KT can be explained by changes in brain alterations seen in a brain MRI | Yes |
| Aditi Gupta | Nephrology and Hypertension | Hypertension program in large health systems | This is an opportunity to help with abstract and manuscripts for a large NIH study evaluating a virtual hypertension program in large health systems. Students with learn how to analyze and interpret data and present the findings. | Yes |
| Aditi Gupta | Nephrology and Hypertension | RHYTHM-B | This PCORI funded hybrid implementation effectiveness study evaluates a hypertension program in large health systems to decrease racial disparities in hypertension control. | Yes |
| Kamal Gupta | Cardiovascular Medicine | Various depending on mentors. Various mentors | As above | Yes |
| Kamal Gupta | Cardiovascular Medicine | Various projects with various mentors in cardiology | as above. | Yes |
| Brian Helsel | Neurology | Assessment of Physical Activity for Alzheimer's Disease Research in Down syndrome | This project aims to improve the measurement of physical activity in adults with Down syndrome by monitoring oxygen kinetics using a COSMED K5 indirect calorimeter and movement via accelerometers during free-living activity. We are also trying to better understand the impact of physical activity, exercise, and fitness on healthy brain aging and the development of Alzheimer's disease in adults with Down syndrome. | Maybe |
| Steve Herrmann | Physical Activity & Weight Management | A Multi-Component Weight Loss Intervention to Improve Outcomes of Total Knee Replacement | Weight loss is recommended prior to Total Knee Arthroplasty (TKA), however, there is limited data to support the effectiveness of weight loss to reduce surgical complications/risk and improve functional outcomes. This project will evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of a multicomponent weight loss program on TKA outcomes. | Maybe |
| Megan Hiles | Hospital Medicine | Virtual Care and Physician Wellness | We will look at how the implementation of a new virtual care clinic impacts quality of care and physician opinions regarding flexibility and autonomy | No |
| Megan Hiles | Hospital Medicine | Onboarding as a tool to improve physician wellness | Looking at the impact of a new physician onboarding program on physician wellness | No |
| Atieh Jibbe | Dermatology | Sunscreen Skin Care Recommendations in Social Media and their congruence with the AAD recommendations | The goal of this project is to analyze if facial sunscreen is being promoted on Youtube for use in daily skincare routines. Furthermore, I’d like to see if the brands being shared are “dermatologist-recommended”. | No |
| Jessica Kalender-Rich | Geriatric Medicine | Age Friendly Health System Implementation | The Age Friendly Health System framework centers around the 4M's: What matters most to the patient and then finding ways to optimize their medications, mobility, and mentation to help them reach their matters most. This project will involve data review around this new innovation as it is implemented looking at several data points. | No |
| Jessica Kalender-Rich | Geriatric Medicine | Reducing readmissions through targeted transitions of care work. | Older adults are at higher risk of readmission for a variety of clinical and social reasons. We seek to decrease readmissions through changing clinical protocols and interventions including communication across the continuum of care. | No |
| Anthony Kovac Jr | Anesthesiology, Pain and Perioperative Medicine | Anesthesia for the Geriatric Burn Patient | Study the effect of burn injury in geriatric patients | No |
| Anthony Kovac Jr | Anesthesiology, Pain and Perioperative Medicine | Nausea and Vomiting in Burn Patients | Retrospective analysis of postoperative nausea and vomiting in burn patients following burn dressing change and operative debridement and grafting, to also include the incidence of opioid induced nausea and vomiting | No |
| Chelsea Kracht | Physical Activity & Weight Management | Intensive Longitudinal Assessment of Stress and Stress-related Concepts Across a Behavioral Weight Loss Intervention (INSTANT) | The purpose of this study is to elucidate mechanisms of stress and related concepts with subsequent health behaviors (namely food cravings, sleep and physical activity) during a behavioral weight loss intervention. This study will conduct ecological momentary assessment (daily within day surveys using a digital /mobile health app) measures at multiple timepoints within diverse participants who have engaged in a community-based weight management program. | Maybe |
| Liskin Kruse | Biochemistry and Molecular Biology | Interpreting amino acid changes for personalized medicine | Doctors can now easily and cheaply order genome sequencing for their patients. However, it remains extremely difficult to determine which of a patein's >10000 amino acid changes are medically relevant. We are carrying out the foundational biochemistry and biophysics experiments in order to, long term, build better computer models that can determine whether an amino acid change will have a medically relevant functional change. | No |
| Eugene Lee | Urologic Surgery | Outcomes of malignant hydronephrosis | Determine the outcomes of patients who undergo urinary diversion due to non-urologic cancer hydronephrosis | No |
| Laura Martin | Population Health | Exercise Adherence | Examining factors that influence adherence to a 6-week exercise intervention. The study will be acquiring data January 2023 to 2027. Students will be asked to help with participant recruitment and data management of behavioral and functional MRI data. In addition, students will have the opportunity to develop their own research question utilizing a subset of data or data from related projects. Study measures include changes decision-making, self-regulation, positive affect, resting state MRI, and fitness. | No |
| Terence McIff | Orthopedic Surgery and Sports Medicine | Antibiofilm characteristics of a novel bone cement for Orthopedic surgical applications. | This project entails growth and evaluation of biofilm on the surfaces of various bone cements. The students will work on various models including the development of an animal model of implant infection. Cell curture experience is desired. | Yes |
| Terence McIff | Orthopedic Surgery and Sports Medicine | Development of novel staple system for the hand. | We have patented a novel type of staple used for fusion and fracture repair. The staples are currently used by several orthopedic implant companies, but we foresee the need for the development of a system for use in hand surgery. The student would work with me to appropriately size and design a set of staples and instruments for hand surgery. Such staples are generally made of memory metals. Research on specific applications for staples in the had and then design variation to meet those specific needs would be our goal. | Yes |
| Terence McIff | Orthopedic Surgery and Sports Medicine | Evaluation of novel Antimicrobial peptides for use in orthopedic surgery. | We have novel peptides that can be delivered by incorporation into bone cement. These are under study and evaluation for toxicity and their ability to be compatible with various types of bone cement. Experience with cell culture is desirable. | Yes |
| E Morris | Molecular and Integrative Physiology | Liver energy metabolism in obesity and diabetes | Assess the overall energy state and transcriptional response, particularly mitochondrial and ion channel transcriptional pathways, of the liver to energetic stress in mouse models of obesity and diabetes. | No |
| Jessica Newman | Infectious Diseases | Medical Education (Phase I, Phase II) | Various | No |
| Peter Niedbalski | Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine | Detecting abnormalities to the pulmonary vasculature using novel MRI methods | Damage to the pulmonary microvasculature is a common feature in a variety of lung diseases, including interstitial lung disease and pulmonary hypertension. However, it is challenging to assess abnormal pulmonary microvasculature non-invasively. Hyperpolarized 129Xe MRI offers the potential to assess these abnormalities non-invasively. During this summer research training, the student will work with Dr. Peter Niedbalski to optimize a method for visualizing microvascular blood flow and apply this technique in patients with pulmonary hypertension. | Maybe |
| Amit Noheria | Cardiovascular Medicine | Cardiovascular SRTP | Multiple opportunities within Cardiovascular Medicine | Yes |
| Joseph Pleen | Neurology | Influence of CYP26A1 on Mitochondrial Function and Alzheimer's Disease Pathological Hallmarks in a Differentiated Neuroblastoma Cell Line | A medical student will knockdown, inhibit, and increase expression of CYP26A1 in a differentiated neuroblastoma cell. They will use Seahorse to determine the influence on mitochondrial functioning and ELISA or Western blot to detect differences in amyloid beta and ADAM10 expression. | Maybe |
| Joseph Pleen | Neurology | The Differential Impact of APOE Genotype on Insulin Treatment and Mitochondrial Dynamics in Neurons Derived from CRISPR Edited Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells | Student will differentiate IPSCs into neurons, treat the cells with insulin, and determine changes in mitochondrial functioning using Seahorse and mitochondrial dynamics utilizing western blot and/or proteomic techniques. | Maybe |
| Lauren Ptomey | Physical Activity & Weight Management | Brain Outcomes with Lifestyle Change in Down Syndrome | This is a clinical trial examining the impact of a diet intervention on Alzheimer's Disease Outcomes in adults with Down Syndrome. Student will help with intervention material development, outcome testing, and recruitment of subjects. They may be able to join the Brain Health Training Program at the KU ADRC. | Maybe |
| Kenneth Seldeen | Geriatric Medicine | HIIT@Home, NR-VETS, Bright-VETS | We are seeking assistance in conducting clinical trials. Our trials include an exercise trial (HIIT@home), a nutritional supplement study (NR-VETS), and a sleep aid technology intervention (Bright-VETS). Individuals will assist in administering interventions and assessments as well as conducting biochemical assays using blood and muscle biopsy samples. | Maybe |
| Kenneth Seldeen | Geriatric Medicine | Healthy interventions studies in animals/cell culture | We are seeking individuals to assist in our ongoing and new research projects that seek to identify healthy strategies for aging. Current projects involve High intensity interval training and nutritional supplementation and understanding the role of vitamin D in muscle health and longevity | Maybe |
| Madhulika Sharma | Anatomy and Cell Biology | 1. Targeting the HIV-LTR to treat HIV related chronic kidney disease. 2. Determine the role of ferritin as a biomarker of disease progression in polycystic kidney disease | 1. In the era of antiretroviral therapy (ART), HIV is a much controlled disease. However, as HIV positive population continuous to age, so are the increases in chronic problems associated with HIV. This is because ART can only repress the virus temporarily and not eliminate it. We need therapies that would either permanently repress the virus or eliminate the virus completely. Our preliminary data suggest that RBPj (a transcriptional repressor) has the ability to mask the effects of NFkB mediated activation of the HIV promoter. In cell culture and mouse studies, we found that RBPj overexpression can strongly repress the HIV and deletion can promote HIV activation. We will now carry out promoter assays, transgenic mouse studies and epigenetics to study the translational potential of RBPj overexpression and also study how RBPj deletion or inhibition can lead to activation of LTR so that it the virus can be eliminated from cells and then be targeted by ART (shock and kill mechanism). 2. In the second project we will study the potential of urinary ferritin to be the biomarker of disease severity in autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD). This is based on the fact that cyst epithelial cells of ADPKD patients are rich in ferritin. These cells carry excessive amounts of ferritin which can also be secreted. We found that extracellular vesicles (EVs) from urine of ADPKD patients are rich in ferritin as opposed to from normal age matched people. Thus we are now investigating whether urinary extracellular vesicles (UEVs) from ADPKD patients can serve as a potential biomarker of disease severity, progression and response to drugs biomarker. For this project, we will use UEVs from ADPKD patient s and age matched normal individuals and carry our cross sectional and longitudinal studies. We will also use ADPKD mouse models to determine if ferritin is a response biomarker. | No |
| Neena Sharma | Physical Therapy, Rehabilitation Science, and Athletic Training | Neurophysiological and mechanical response to spinal mobilization | The project 1) seeks to determine neurophysiological response and 2) attempts to quantify segmental spinal movement and stiffness in response spinal mobilization, a gold standard rehabilitation intervention to manage low back pain. | No |
| Christian Sinclair | Palliative Medicine | Pallaitive Care Registry | The division of palliative medicine has an internal registry with data on patients seen in the inpatient and outpatient settings. The registry is hosted in REDCap, and has data back to 2012. The medical student working with the palliative care team would be assisting with QI projects and research through quality control. Some tasks are chart abstraction and manual data entry for items unable to be pulled from reports like hospice admissions and discovering patients who have died but are still marked as alive in the electronic health record which is a larger problem with how EHRs are utilized. Medical students will learn valuable skills in design and maintenance of health care registries, use of REDCap software, participate in a range of QI and research projects which may lead to publication opportunities, and teamwork dynamics in research. | No |
| Chad Slawson | Biochemistry and Molecular Biology | Characterizing changes in brain development in OGT brain knockout mice. | Student will perform biochemical and physiological characterization of mouse brains with OGT KO. | No |
| Chad Slawson | Biochemistry and Molecular Biology | Understanding the role of O-GlcNAc in growth and proliferation | Students will be asked to work with mice, harvest tissue from sacrificed animals and to perform a variety of biochemical assays including mitochondrial purification, western blot, qPCR, and other assays. | No |
| Timothy Smith | Pediatrics | Note Review Experience for AI- driven ambient documentation | Recently, the health system piloted an AI tool to complete ambient documentation (drafted from recorded clinical conversation.) Other research is investigating the impact of such tools on efficiency and note author experience. In contrast, this study will review the "consumer" experience by evaluating the readability, verbiage, and overall communication effectiveness of AI- driven ambient documentation compared to traditionally authored notes. | No |
| Jacob Sosnoff | Physical Therapy, Rehabilitation Science, and Athletic Training | Vestibular and neck muscle contributions to head control during falls in older adults | Upwards of 80% of traumatic brain injury in older adults stem from falls. This NIH funded project seeks to examine the contribution of vestibular and neuromuscular function to head control during falls in older adults. | Maybe |
| Hinrich Staecker | Hearing and Speech | Gene therapy for the treatment of sensorineural hearing loss | My research is focused on the development of treatments for sensorineural hearing loss. We are using a variety of viral vectors to introduce native genes to rescue genetic hearing losses or to apply CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing to correct genetic deficits | Maybe |
| Felicia Steger | Endocrinology, Diabetes and Clinical Pharmacology | Intermittent Fasting for the Treatment of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus | A randomized controlled trial comparing two forms of intermittent fasting (intermittent energy restriction and time-restricted eating) to improve glycemic control and weight loss in patients with type 2 diabetes | Maybe |
| Nancy Stewart | Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine | Knowledge, attitudes, and understanding of resident sleep health | We will develop a survey to be distributed to residents seeking to understand resident knowledge, attitudes, and understanding of sleep health. We will develop and submit the IRB. Distribute the survey and analyze the data. The expectation is the student will complete the project with a submitted conference abstract, and if the student wishes, may write the subsequent manuscript for publication. | No |
| Nancy Stewart | Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine | Knowledge, attitudes, and understanding of sleep health in medical students | We will develop a survey to be distributed to medical students seeking to understand medical student knowledge, attitudes, and understanding of sleep health. We will develop and submit the IRB. Distribute the survey and analyze the data. The expectation is the student will complete the project with a submitted conference abstract, and if the student wishes, may write the subsequent manuscript for publication. | No |
| Nancy Stewart | Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine | Determining Health Literacy in sleep apnea and COPD | We will explore health literacy of patients in the pulmonary and sleep clinics. We have conducted interviews with these patients determining their health literacy level. We aim to evaluate current patient education tools on COPD and sleep apnea for readability and health literacy level. | No |
| Ky Stoltzfus | Palliative Medicine | Outpatient Palliative Care support for cancer patients | Background: Palliative Care provides additional support to patients and families Project: retrospective review of KU Cancer Center patients who receive concurrent Palliative Care versus those who don’t Measures: by cancer type, quantify numbers of outpatient, ED, and hospitalizations; measure symptom management medications prescribed (opioids for pain, antiemetics for nausea, etc); measure time at home days Analysis: Does outpatient Palliative Care concurrent to routine cancer care lead to changes in healthcare utilization? Are there disease processes where there is more opportunity for effective impact of outpatient Palliative Care? | No |
| Ky Stoltzfus | Palliative Medicine | Safe prescribing for outpatient opioids | Background: opioid prescribing has inherent risks and safe transitions of care are an often overlooked problem Project: retrospective review of patients seen at the KU Cancer Center who are receiving opioids for pain management Measures: quantify numbers of patients who are prescribed opioids at hospital discharge; compare prescriptions prior to admission, compare prescriptions at subsequent Pall Care or primary Oncology appointments; measure chart communication documented between inpatient and outpatient providers; measure adverse outcomes such as ED visit for misuse, overdose, etc. Analysis: Are prescriptions changing often? Are providing communicating about changes? Are safety events occurring? | No |
| Kari Struemph | Pediatrics | Developing an Adolescent and Young Adult Program for the KU Cancer Center | As part of this project, the medical student will work with a multidisciplinary team of investigators (oncologists, psychologists, etc.) to develop a clinical/research program for young adults seen within the KU Cancer Center. A primary aim of the project is to submit a program development grant to Teen Cancer America, a non-profit organization that funds program development initiatives. The student will gain experience with program development, project management, and grant writing. | No |
| Isaac Sundar | Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine | Circadian clock as a key player driving pathophysiology of pulmonary fibrosis | We will utilize in vitro and in vivo models to understand the role of circadian clock during the pathobiology of pulmonary fibrosis | No |
| Isaac Sundar | Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine | Circadian clock dysregulation as a key player driving pathophysiology of obese-asthma phenotype | We will determine if over-nutrition causes circadian clock dysregulation, which in turn augments immune-inflammatory response, mitochondrial dysfunction, and steroid resistance in obese-asthma | No |
| Isaac Sundar | Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine | Isolation and characterization of extracellular vesicles/exosomes in chronic lung disease | We will conduct studies to isolate and characterize EVs from human plasma as well as mouse (plasma, BAL fluid and lung tissues) and validate miRNAs, proteins and lipid biomarkers from humans (normal vs. diseased) and mouse model of asthma and lung fibrosis | No |
| Anthony Sung | Hematologic Malignancies and Cellular Therapeutics | Clinical Research in Cancer Survivorship and Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant | We have an active research program in Cancer Survivorship and HCT with many different types of opportunities for medical students including retrospective studies, prospective/observational studies, and phase 1 and phase 2 clinical trials. We have a track record of success with students publishing first-author papers and receiving grants from the American Society of Hematology | No |
| Robert Tarran | Genetic, Environmental and Inhalational Disease | Alcohol, vaping and systemic inflammation. | Alcohol is present in most if not all e-cigarettes. We have found that higher levels of alcohol increase nicotine delivery to the lungs and increase subsequent toxicity and inflammation. This study will look at the effects of different alcohol levels on vaping, nicotine deposition and toxicity in human subjects. In parallel, in vitro and/or animal models can also be explored. | Maybe |
| Robert Tarran | Genetic, Environmental and Inhalational Disease | Cell signaling, obesity and inflammation | This is a joint project between Drs Kristy Brown (Cell Biology & Physiology) and Rob Tarran (Internal Medicine). Obesity causes inflammation and is a major risk factor for cancer. How obesity triggers inflammation is poorly understood. Ca2+ signaling is upstream for most inflammation, but has not been studied in the context of obesity. This project will test the hypothesis that Ca2+ signaling is upregulated in adipose and immune cells from obese vs healthy patients and/or obese mice. Such information could lead to novel treatments to reduce obesity-induced cancer. | Maybe |
| Robert Tarran | Genetic, Environmental and Inhalational Disease | Inhibiting calcium signaling to reverse pulmonary fibrosis | We have developed novel calcium inhibitory peptides that are currently in pre-clinical development. These peptides reduce inflammation and may promote lung healing. In this project, we will evaluate how these peptides can reverse fibrosis in myofibroblasts from idiopathic fibrosis patients using cell biological techniques. | Maybe |
| John Thyfault | Endocrinology, Diabetes and Clinical Pharmacology | Sexual dimorphism in susceptibility for fatty liver | Investigate why female livers display enhanced liver mitochondrial function that is associated with protection from fatty liver, but that is removed after ovarian function (estrogen) is lost. | Maybe |
| Irina Tikhanovich | Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Motility | Epigenetic regulation of liver disease development and resolution | To investigate the role of H3K4 lysine demethylases Kdm5b and Kdm5c in response to alcohol in liver cells | Yes |
| Irina Tikhanovich | Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Motility | Role of C/EBP beta in maintaining liver function | To examine the role of regeneration pathways in liver disease development | Yes |
| Anna Wallisch | Pediatrics | Department of Pediatrics and research on children's healthy lifestyles and nutrition | The Department of Pediatrics and the Center for Children's Healthy Lifestyles and Nutrition (CHLN) (www.chlnkc.org) has a number of multidisciplinary faculty conducting research in all aspects of child of health, from bench to bedside. The student will interview with our SRTP lead to learn more about which faculty match best with their interests, and then be assigned to a specific faculty member with whom to develop and conduct an independent project based upon ongoing work on the team. | Maybe |
| Christopher Ward | Biochemistry and Molecular Biology | A new polycystin-2 monoclonal antibody | Analyze a new form of polycystin-2 present in urinary exosomes. | Yes |
| Xinglong Zheng | Pathology and Laboratory Medicine | Pathogenesis of thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura | We are using cutting edge technologies, animal models, and human subjects to investigate the pathogenesis of thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura, a potentially fatal blood disorder. Students can learn how to conduct basic, translational, and clinical research, supervised by the principal investigator, postdoctoral fellows, and senior scientists in the laboratory. There are other graduate students and visiting scholars from all of the world the medical students can interact with. | Maybe |
| Wolfram Zueckert | Microbiology, Molecular Genetics and Immunology | Genetic Manipulation of Lyme Disease Bacteria | This project will explore CRISPR-based genetic manipulation of the Lyme disease spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi. Students will gain hands-on experience in molecular microbiology, making recombinant plasmid constructs to generate knockdowns of essential genes or markerless mutations in B. burgdorferi. Techniques will include molecular cloning, PCR, site-directed mutagenesis, transformation/electroporation, bacterial culture for both E. coli and B. burgdorferi, DNA sequence analysis, DNA and protein gel electrophoresis, and Western immunoblotting. | No |