October CHRI Research Bulletin

Research Bulletin

News from the Child Health Research Institute

October 2022

Dr. David E. Warren, Associate Professor, Department of Neurological Sciences

Dr. David Warren Studying Alzheimer's Genotypes in Periadolescent Children

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and related dementias may seem far removed from the field of child health. Yet, David E. Warren, PhD, assistant professor, Department of Neurological Sciences, University of Nebraska Medical Center, has been exploring a hypothesis that implies biological links between AD and childhood may be very real and important. His multi-year project, funded by a National Institute on Aging grant, acknowledges that multiple genes are linked to an increased risk of AD in later adulthood and that those genes are in place from the very beginning of a person’s life. Dr. Warren’s research tests the notion that individuals with AD-related genetic risk factors might undergo distinct brain developmental processes during childhood.

The project seeks to examine, in healthy children, certain brain regions (such as the hippocampus) and functional brain networks that are vulnerable in older adult patients with late-onset AD. Dr. Warren’s team uses genomic assays to map AD-related genes in young study volunteers to determine whether children who carry AD risk factor genes feature any differences in those brain regions and brain networks vulnerable to AD. They also conduct cognitive assessments to explore whether genetic AD risk factors already tend to exhibit differences in cognitive functioning.

Answering these questions holds the promise of shining light on how AD dementia begins and how some constellations of genes lead to elevated long-term risk of dysfunction in the brain. Filling this knowledge gap could help identify much earlier interventions to lower an individual’s risk of facing dementia decades later in life.

To achieve their research aims, Dr. Warren’s team seeks to enroll healthy kids ages 8 to 13. Because the COVID-19 pandemic caused considerable delays in participant enrollment, Dr. Warren is eager to consider additional venues and collaborations that could help introduce more families to the opportunity to participate. Graduate student Meghan Ramirez, a member of Dr. Warren’s lab team, is spearheading an effort to reach out to diverse communities in our region in hopes of maintaining equitable racial/ethnic representation in the participant pool. Another team member, graduate student Jennifer Sexton, is seeking to enroll children with Down Syndrome (DS) in a parallel study to examine the relationship between DS and the AD-related syndromes that individuals with DS experience by early middle age.

Additional Enrollees Needed for Dr. Warren's Study on Alzheimer’s Disease

A family history is not necessary for participation.

Who is eligible to participate?

Age: 8 to 13
Health: Medically healthy
Consent: Parent/guardian must be able to provide consent
Assent: Participant must be able to provide assent
Capacity: Participant must be able to comply with instructions and comfortably sit still during tasks

What is required?

Provide demographic and medical information
Complete one or more visits at UNMC, roughly 2.5 hours each in duration
Complete behavioral tasks
Complete MRI
Complete saliva collection
Compensation is available

For more information, please contact the Warren Neuroscience Lab, wnl@unmc.edu, 402-559-3158 or submit this form.

Drs. Gwenn Skar, Assistant Professor, Division of Infectious Diseases,

and Ellen Kerns, Assistant Professor, Division of Child Health Policy

Child Health Research Institute Joins NIH Study on Methods to Boost Child COVID-19 Vaccination Rates

The Child Health Research Institute is participating in an NIH study designed to help parents learn more about COVID-19 vaccines and support their ability to access vaccination for their children.

The Improving COVID-19 Vaccine Uptake Using mHealth Tools (MoVeUP) App Study is funded through the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Program. ECHO’s Institutional Developmental Award (IDeA) States Pediatric Clinical Trials Network (ISPCTN) helps address disparities in pediatric research by including children from rural or underserved populations in clinical trials and building pediatric research capacity in states with historically low NIH funding.

Prior to the launch of the study, MoVeUP researchers conducted focus groups and interviews to assess factors that influence parents’ COVID-19 decision-making. They used this information to develop a mobile health app, designed to help parents learn and decide about vaccinating their children against COVID-19. ECHO ISPCTN will now conduct a clinical trial to test this mobile app for its impact on pediatric COVID-19 vaccine uptake.

"We are extremely pleased to offer the MoVeUP study in Nebraska. Its mobile app will serve as a trusted source of information about pediatric COVID-19 vaccines and hopefully lead to increased vaccination rates," said Gwenn Skar, MD, assistant professor in the Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at UNMC, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at Children's and the study's site investigator. "This study and its use of a mobile health app to relay accurate information has significant implications in a time when medical misinformation is so prevalent."

Ellen Kerns, PhD, MPH, assistant professor in UNMC’s Division of Child Health Policy, said, “Our team developed software to provide tailored vaccine decision support tools to parents still deciding whether or not to vaccinate their children against COVID-19. UNMC and Children’s are leading the tool's deployment in the MoVeUP trial. We are excited about its potential to better protect children both locally and nationally by increasing pediatric vaccination rates.”

NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH UPDATES

Monthly Note on Upcoming National Institutes of Health Data Management and Sharing Policy

The Research Bulletin continues to briefly spotlight facets of the new NIH policy on Data Management and Sharing (DMS), which goes into effect for grant submissions due on or after Jan. 25, 2023. This month’s focus is data repositories.

A data repository is a key component of almost any DMS plan. Without one, it would be hard or impossible to fulfill NIH’s expectations that investigators receiving funding should share scientific data to the greatest extent possible. Yet, many researchers have little or no experience using them.

What is a data repository, exactly?

NIH guidance defines biomedical data repositories as resources that “accept submission of relevant data from the community to store, organize, validate, archive, preserve and distribute the data, in compliance with the FAIR Data Principles.” Some are “domain-specific,” meaning that they contain certain types of data (such as genetic sequences or protein structures) or they contain data from a specific research field. Others are “generalist,” meaning that they accept many types of data.

Are they actually relevant to my project?

Most likely, yes! While we might stereotype data repositories as places to house “Big Data,” like data from genomics studies, any sort of data is presumably relevant to someone in the research community, and thus needs a place to be archived and kept accessible. NIH supports dozens of domain-specific and generalist data repositories, and many others are managed elsewhere. If your dataset is small (<5 gigabytes), UNMC’s own Digital Commons may be a good generalist option. For the smallest datasets (<2 gigabytes), a fairly simple sharing option is to include the data as supplementary material with journal articles submitted to PubMed Central.

How would I get started choosing a data repository?

The NIH website includes a page addressing this task from multiple angles. One section of that page briefly describes 12 “Desirable Characteristics for All Data Repositories.” These include factors like the assignment of unique persistent identifiers for each dataset, free and easy open access to datasets and capacity to comply with confidentiality requirements. The McGoogan Health Sciences Library will have staff available to provide assistance with this decision, as well.

CHRI Priorities & Activities:

Update from Executive Director Ann Anderson Berry, MD, PhD

“Mentoring is a brain to pick, an ear to listen, and a push in the right direction.”

-John C. Crosby

Expansion of CHRI Mentoring Program

We can meet our goals working on our own, but the context will be richer, the path will be smoother and the result more rewarding if we are supported in our journey. In September, CHRI expanded its mentoring program to include early career investigators.

Our formal CHRI mentoring program has been focused on our CHRI Scholars, a small competitive program for individuals who are focused on having significant protected time and extramural NIH funding. As we have grown Child Health Research and our faculty, we have had several individuals who have been hired as scientists and physician scientists who have similar goals but who are not part of the scholar’s program.

To this end, we have expanded the mentoring program designed for the scholar’s program to include our early career scientists funded through CHRI. This program provides group mentoring from senior scientists across UNMC. In late September, this group met for the first time in our Research Mentoring Retreat to present their work, discuss how to set up and run a lab and get feedback from our talented group of senior mentors. It was an invigorating day, and we will look forward to continuing mentor support of these early career scientists to help their careers flourish.

A few important considerations when working with a mentor -

Own the process. Many individuals will be happy to mentor you, but you need to ask, arrange the time and set the agenda so they can help you.
Think about what you need from a mentor and have a formal discussion with that individual about your goals and what you would like from them.
Often you will need more than one mentor in your career. A team approach to mentoring, just like team science, will often produce a richer more complex result.
Set formal goals and deadlines. Working with a mentor can help hold you accountable for your own successes.
Discuss setbacks and difficulties with your mentor. This is where growth and progress can occur.
Formalize the process, set appointments where you can ask questions and seek feedback in every mentoring session.
Say thank you, show your appreciation for their time and expertise.
And finally, pay the mentoring forward! Mentoring in science is a cycle and many individuals would love to be mentored by you as well.

Please don’t forget to register for the first annual CHRI Conference on November 3 and 4!

Reserve Your Calendar for the

Nebraska Research Initiative (NRI) and Collaboration Initiative Grants

Annual Meeting

Friday, Nov. 18, 2022

9:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.

Nebraska Innovation Campus - Lincoln

Funding Opportunity

One- or two-year grants from $10,000 - $150,000 total (not exceeding $75,000 per year) to fund preliminary data collection, resubmissions, exploratory research, seed grants, NSRI IRAD topics, and Intellectual Property (IP) development.

With the exception of grants specifically for IP development, awards are only available to collaborative teams with faculty from at least two different NU campuses. Principal Investigators must attend the NRI and Collaboration Initiative Grants meeting to be eligible for funding. Faculty in all disciplines are encouraged to apply.

Registration will open on Oct. 7. The Request for Applications (RFA) will also be available on Oct.7. Registration will close on Nov. 4.

Background

The primary purpose of NRI and other NU grant programs is to enhance the competitiveness of University of Nebraska faculty for extramural funding by fully leveraging intellectual capacity and research resources across the campuses.

For more information on NSRI IRAD, please visit their website.

For more information or if you have questions, contact Ms. Kelly Dick in the Provost's Office: nri@nebraska.edu or 402-472-5242.

CHRI Members Honored at the Inaugural Children's Endowed Chair Investiture Ceremony

Congratulations to CHRI members who were honored at Children’s recent Endowed Chair Investiture Ceremony! Endowed chairs enable Children’s to enhance patient care through education and research, creating a healthier community for patient families.

Maegen J. Wallace, MD

Dr. Paul & Bernadette Esposito Endowed Chair for Children’s Bone Disorders

Jeffrey W. Delaney, MD

Theodore F. Hubbard, M.D., Endowed Chair in Pediatric Cardiology

Jill C. Beck, MD

Children’s Endowed Chair in Pediatric Hematology/Oncology

Shirley F. Delair, MD

Children’s Endowed Chair of Pediatric Infectious Disease

Arnett Klugh, III, MD

Children’s Endowed Chair in Pediatric Neurosurgery

Paul J. Rychwalski, MD

Dr. John and Irene Graether Endowed Chair in Pediatric Ophthalmology

Donor: Dr. John Graether

Jorge A. Galvez, MD, MBI

Jane Kugler, M.D. and Douglas Vonderfecht, M.D., Family Professorship of Pediatric Anesthesiology

Non-CHRI member Mohanad Shukry, MD was named the Carol Lydiatt, MD and Dan Lydiatt, MD, Professorship of Pediatric Anesthesiology

Meet a Fellow CHRI Member

John S. Davis, PhD, is a professor and director of research and development at the Olson Center for Women's Health and senior research career scientist at the Omaha VA Medical Center.

What is your primary area of research?

The primary focus of our team is on women’s health with an eye on research that contributes to a better understanding of how signals from hormones regulate fertility and how disrupted signals contribute to pathologies of the reproductive system, such as ovarian cancer and uterine fibroids.

Our studies employ multiple species (mouse, cow and human) and in vivo and in vitro model systems.

Please share information on a current research project.

We have identified key differences in genes that control tissue homeostasis in ovarian cells from older patients using assisted reproduction technologies to achieve a successful pregnancy. These signals have a major impact on cellular metabolism and the ability to produce reproductive hormones needed for fertility. In addition to molecular and cell biology studies, our projects make use of metabolomics, proteomics and transcriptomics to provide answers and generate new hypotheses.

Nominations Now Open

for UNMC Research Awards

The Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research is seeking nominations for UNMC's annual research faculty awards: New Investigator Award, Distinguished Scientist Award, Research Leadership Award and Scientist Laureate Award. These awards recognize UNMC faculty for their outstanding research achievements and sustained contributions to UNMC's research mission. For complete information on eligibility requirements click here.

Anyone is eligible to submit a nomination, and self-nominations are accepted. Please submit your nominations with a copy of the nominee's curriculum vitae through the NU Ramp internal competitions application on or before Oct. 28. Select "UNMC Distinguished Scientist and Other Research Awards Nomination 2022" in the available drop-down menu.

Nominators can direct any questions about the process to James Geiger in the UNMC Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research.

Nominations Now Open

for Community Service to Research Award

The UNMC Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research is seeking nominations for the Community Service to Research Award.

The community is critical to UNMC’s research enterprise. Community members serve in many roles to develop, advise, review, support, disseminate or implement next steps in research. This award will honor a community member or group serving in any role that the nominator believes is worthy of recognition for how they contribute to UNMC research.

What are some examples or accomplishments for nominated individuals?

Collaborator or volunteer to support UNMC research projects.
Advisor to a research program.
Community member serving on a UNMC research oversight committee.
Activist who speaks up for research and its value in the community.

What are the guidelines for nomination?

Nominees cannot be employed by UNMC or the University of Nebraska.
The nominator must be a UNMC faculty member.
Letters of support may come from UNMC faculty, alumni or students.

Please submit nominations for consideration on or before Nov. 18 by completing the official nomination form. Nominations and questions should be emailed to James Geiger in the UNMC Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research. The award will be presented at the annual Distinguished Scientist Award Ceremony.