Upcoming Distinguished Scientists Seminar
Thursday, November 30 @ 4:00 PM
Joann B. Sweasy, PhD,
Director, Fred and Pamela Buffett Cancer Center and Eppley Institute for Research in Cancer, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE
DNA Repair in Cancer and Autoimmunity
Hosted by Aishwarya Prakash, PhD, Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology

Location: Medical Sciences Building, 1st floor auditorium
Center for Clinical & Translational Science (CCTS)
The Center for Clinical and Translational Science (CCTS) was established in 2008 and is funded by a Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) from the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (National Institutes of Health grant UL1TR003096). The CCTS is one of more than 50 CTSA programs nationwide and the only CTSA in Alabama. CCTS serves a population with a heavy burden of cardiometabolic, vascular, and cancer-related diseases.

Grant Library - a compendium of best practice grant writing samples

CCTS T Program Application - full-time mentored research training experience with stipend

Deep South Mentored Career Development Program (K award) - funded by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) and accepting applications committed to conducting translational research that addresses diseases/conditions that disproportionately affect the deep South
Recent Award
Jonathan Rayner, PhD, Department of Microbiology & Immunology, Laboratory of Infectious Diseases
South Alabama Biotechnology Research Center (SABRC)- Biotechnology Research

$125,000 - Innovate Alabama Network Grant
(total funding, 1 year)
New Faculty, Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
The Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology welcomes its newest faculty member, Lucia Plant, PhD, a researcher and educator in the field of molecular sciences. Dr. Plant held a previous position at Vanderbilt School of Medicine as a Research Associate Professor in the Department of Biochemistry.

Dr. Plant’s research focuses on the contribution of nutrient overconsumption to age-associated diseases, including diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular disease, and inflammatory disorders. She is specifically interested in understanding how excess glucose affects inositol phosphate metabolism and mTORC1 signaling.

Please join us in extending a warm welcome to Dr. Lucia Plant.
"Nuts and Bolts" Grants Development Seminars
Thursday, November 16 at 12 noon
"Crafting Specific Aims" presented by Mark Gillespie, PhD
The Specific Aims page is recognized as one of the most important sections in grant applications and in this session, Dr. Gillespie will explain how to structure this page in order to capture the attention of reviewers. This will be of particular interest to junior faculty, postdocs and graduate students, but also to anyone who wishes to increase the competitiveness of their grant applications. 

Thursday, November 30 at 12 noon
"Structure of an R01" presented by Christopher Davies, PhD

Thursday, December 14 at 12 noon
"Biosketches" presented by Tom Rich, PhD
 
Meetings are held by Zoom – click HERE for the registration link
Clinical Trials at USA
Clinical Trials at USA Health continues to grow, with 134 active trials currently and 40 new trials in the pipeline. To meet the increased volume, the Clinical Trials Office (CTO) has recently implemented the RealTime Clinical Trials Management System. This makes workflows associated with clinical trials faster and more efficient, including patient recruitment, scheduling, regulatory compliance, study tracking and financials. All new studies now run through this system.
 
The CTO oversees all clinical trials in the USA Health System.
For more information, please contact the CTO Director, Stefanie White, at swhite@southalabama.edu
New Frederick P. Whiddon
College of Medicine Building Update
As many will have noticed, there is much construction activity in the Alpha Hall Quad. This is to install underground utilities for the new building, including hot and chill water, storm drains and electrical. In January, the bidding process for the project will commence, as will demolition of Alpha Halls East and South.
Recent Publications from COM Researchers
Vikramdeo KS, Anand S, Sudan SK, Pramanik P, Singh S, Godwin AK, Singh AP, Dasgupta S. Profiling mitochondrial DNA mutations in tumors and circulating extracellular vesicles of triple-negative breast cancer patients for potential biomarker development. FASEB Bioadv. 2023 Sep 8;5(10):412-426. doi: 10.1096/fba.2023-00070. PMID: 37810173; PMCID: PMC10551276.

Haastrup MO, Vikramdeo KS, Anand S, Khan MA, Carter JE, Singh S, Singh AP, Dasgupta S. Mitochondrial translocase TOMM22 is overexpressed in pancreatic cancer and promotes aggressive growth by modulating mitochondrial protein import and function. Mol Cancer Res. 2023 Oct 25. doi: 10.1158/1541-7786.MCR-23-0138. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 37878010.

Manne A, Mulekar M, Escobar D, Prodduturvar P, Fahmawi Y, Henderson P, Abdul-Rahim O, Hussain Z, Liles S, Fonseca A, Howard JH, Mneimneh W, Gilbert R, Alkharabsheh O, Pai S, White ZB, Nelson C, Khushman M. The adherence to the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases 2018 guidelines in the management of hepatocellular carcinoma and its impact on survival. J Cancer Res Ther. 2023 Jul-Sep;19(5):1103-1108. doi: 10.4103/jcrt.jcrt_1861_20. PMID: 37787270.

Taylor M, Rayner JO. Immune Response to Chikungunya Virus: Sex as a Biological Variable and Implications for Natural Delivery via the Mosquito. Viruses. 2023 Sep 3;15(9):1869. doi: 10.3390/v15091869. PMID: 37766276; PMCID: PMC10538149.

Pearson MM, Shea AE, Pahil S, Smith SN, Forsyth VS, Mobley HLT. Organ agar serves as physiologically relevant alternative for in vivo colonization. Res Sq [Preprint]. 2023 May 19:rs.3.rs-2777869. doi: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-2777869/v1. Update in: Infect Immun. 2023 Oct 18;:e0035523. PMID: 37293055; PMCID: PMC10246091.

Pearson MM, Shea AE, Pahil S, Smith SN, Forsyth VS, Mobley HLT. Organ agar serves as physiologically relevant alternative for in vivo bacterial colonization. Infect Immun. 2023 Oct 18:e0035523. doi: 10.1128/iai.00355-23. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 37850748.

Tahir M, Campbell R, Moreland H, Madelaire C, Keel CE, Herrera GA. A Rare Case of Solitary Fibrous Tumor of the Kidney. Cureus. 2023 Oct 4;15(10):e46475. doi: 10.7759/cureus.46475. PMID: 37927755; PMCID: PMC10624231.

Yuzefovych LV, Pastukh VM, Mulekar MS, Ledbetter K, Richards WO, Rachek LI. Effect of Bariatric Surgery on Plasma Cell-Free Mitochondrial DNA, Insulin Sensitivity and Metabolic Changes in Obese Patients. Biomedicines. 2023 Sep 12;11(9):2514. doi: 10.3390/biomedicines11092514. PMID: 37760955; PMCID: PMC10526219.

Alexeyev M. TFAM in mtDNA Homeostasis: Open Questions. DNA (Basel). 2023 Sep;3(3):134-136. doi: 10.3390/dna3030011. Epub 2023 Aug 7. PMID: 37771599; PMCID: PMC10538575.

Bailey EJ, Tita ATN, Leach J, Boggess K, Dugoff L, Sibai B, Lawrence K, Hughes BL, Bell J, Aagaard K, Edwards RK, Gibson K, Haas DM, Plante L, Metz TD, Casey BM, Esplin S, Longo S, Hoffman M, Saade GR, Foroutan J, Tuuli MG, Owens MY, Simhan HN, Frey HA, Rosen T, Palatnik A, Baker S, August P, Reddy UM, Kinzler W, Su EJ, Krishna I, Nguyen N, Norton ME, Skupski D, El-Sayed YY, Ogunyemi D, Galis ZS, Harper L, Ambalavanan N, Oparil S, Kuo HC, Szychowski JM, Hoppe K. Perinatal Outcomes Associated With Management of Stage 1 Hypertension. Obstet Gynecol. 2023 Sep 28. doi: 10.1097/AOG.0000000000005410. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 37769314.
Top Grantors & Funding
for Fiscal Year 2023
Whiddon College of Medicine
Research Resources
Please be reminded of the searchable databases for Faculty Research Interests and COM/MCI Research Equipment. Both are valuable resources for COM researchers and are updated regularly. To make additions and/or changes to these databases, contact Skye Andrade in the Office of the Associate Dean for Research at skyandrade@southalabama.edu.