AUGUST 2020 NEWSLETTER
Cardi-OH
Diabetes QIP
Research
News
DoM Research Grand Rounds
Diabetes Quality Improvement Project
What You Should Know
The MEDTAPP Diabetes Quality Improvement Project (QIP) is part of the Ohio Department of Medicaid Chronic Conditions Quality Collaborative. Diabetes is a significant public health issue and is the 7th leading cause of death in Ohio. Poorly controlled diabetes increases risk of comorbidities such as cardiovascular disease, cognitive decline and physical disabilities such as blindness and amputation. Diabetes has disparate effects on the population by race, geography, and income. Due to the high incidence of this chronic disease, the large-scale health and economic impacts are substantial.

The UToledo Comprehensive Clinical Care and Falzone Center are 2 of the 18 clinics participating in this statewide project. A quality improvement change package has been developed that incorporates evidence-based research interventions for the diagnosis and management of diabetes, and a key driver diagram defining the drivers of A1C control as: 

  • Appropriate and Timely Treatment 
  • Access to High Quality Coordinated Care
  • Patient Engagement, Healthy Lifestyle and Self-Efficacy
  • Screened and Well Managed Behavioral Health 
  • Effective Supportive Relationships 
  • Healthy Environment for Care

Stay tuned for updates. If you would like additional information or have any questions, please contact Ashlynn Williams, Project Manager, @ Ashlynn.Williams@UToledo.edu.

Research News
Cover Journal Publication: Centrosome Proteins as Novel Biomarkers in the Disparity of Breast Cancer
Research in Dr. Mahasin Osman lab in the Department of Medicine has identified new markers in the racial disparity of a subtype of breast cancer known as triple negative. The research team utilized cell lines and human tumors from different racial groups and applied biochemistry and super-resolution microscopy to define the markers. The work was done in collaboration with researchers from Brown University who provided the human tissues. The study revealed that the scaffold signaling protein IQGAP1 regulates spatial distribution of BRCA1- and expression of other centrosome proteins- to modulate crosstalk between the centrosome and the cell nucleus, thus impacting centrosome division and cell proliferation. Differential dysfunction of this process marks cancers of different racial groups and provides tools for personalized medicine.

Click here to read the full article V11,N 26 of the journal Oncotarget
Patent Award

Dr. Mahasin Osman and a postdoctoral fellow in her lab, Dr. William J. Antonisamy, in the Department of Medicine have developed a diagnostic kit for analysis of solid tumors and were awarded a provisional patent from UT. In addition to quantifying expression levels of both IQGAP1 and additional downstream markers, IQGAP1 is analyzed for mislocalization and aberrant phosphorylation. Patients falling outside of the normal range are diagnosed with cancer and treated with the appropriate therapy. Treatment options from this diagnostic could include a drug that localizes IQGAP1 in the centrosomes, one that reduces phosphorylation of IQGAP1 or corrects an over- or under-expression of a downstream marker. The invention identifies a new IQGAP1-pathways leading to centrosome aberrations known to be associated with cancer and provides tools for diagnosis and treatment. In this pathway, the kinase Mnk1 and the transcription factor NRF1 were identified as personalized diagnostic biomarkers and therapeutic targets in triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) and lung cancer
Steering Committee of CAD-AE Summit 2021
 
Dr. Osman is a member of the organizing committee of the Cell Architecture and Dynamics Area of Excellence (CAD-AE) Summit that has been rescheduled to October 2021 to be held here at UT. She has secured the invitation of Nobel Laureate Dr. Martin Chalfie of Columbia University to be the keynote speaker of this regional conference on basic and translational biomedicine. The other members are Drs. Tomer Avidor-Reiss and Rafael Garcia-Mata from the Biology Department and several other faculty and graduate students assist with different aspects of the conference. The abstract submission and registration will open soon. Everyone is invited to submit abstracts for poster sessions and talks. Proceedings of the conference will be published in a special Issue of the UT journal Translation published from COMLS [https://press.utoledo.edu/index.php/translation/about]. Dr. Osman serves on the committee of Translation and will be responsible for the special issue.
SAVE THE DATE: DEPARTMENT OF MEDICINE RESEARCH GRAND ROUNDS
This month's presentation comes from Sandeep K. Mallipatu, M.D., FASN of the Stony Brook University.

Join us Thursday, August 27th via WebEx from 8:00 a.m. - 9:00 a.m. to learn about "Krüppel-Like Factors: Three Fingers in Control of Kidney Disease."
DoM Research-in-Progress Updates
August 2020
Thursdays, 9:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m. via WebEx: Join Here
August 6th: Catherin Rajendran; JingYuan Liu Lab

August 13th - Josh Breidenbach; Haller and Kennedy Labs 

August 20th - Xiaoming (Simon) Fan, Ph.D.; Raj Gupta Lab
Outlook Calendar Tip – Accepting/Declining Recurring Meetings

When a meeting organizer invites you to a recurring meeting (e.g., every Tuesday at 3:00 p.m.), you want to be sure that your initial response to the invitation accurately reflects your intention.
For example, if you cannot make the first occurrence of a recurring meeting, but will attend future occurrences of the meeting, you should accept or tentatively accept the meeting invitation. Once you've accepted the invitation, you can then click on the first occurrence of the meeting within your calendar to decline that single occurrence, maintaining the accepted response for all other occurrences.
By declining the initial recurring meeting invitation, you decline ALL occurrences of the meeting and remove them from your calendar.
Finally, if the meeting invitation is for a large standing meeting or conference, it is not necessary to send a reply to the meeting organizer.
The Research Project Center is open and ready to serve you! Come visit us. The DoM Research Project Center is located in the basement of the Ruppert Health Center, Suite J

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Research
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