October Researcher Spotlight: Kevin Donahue | |
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In this month’s Researcher Spotlight, we highlight the work of Kevin Donahue, MD, the David J and Barbara D Milliken Professor of Preventive Cardiology, professor of medicine in the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, director of Electrophysiology Research at UMass Chan Medical School, and an attending cardiac electrophysiologist at UMass Memorial Health. He also serves as a co-director of the Transdisciplinary Training in Cardiovascular Research T32 training grant.
Dr. Donahue’s research focuses on elucidating the mechanisms of and developing therapies for cardiac arrhythmias. His work in his lab and in the invasive electrophysiology laboratory has yielded important achievements and groundbreaking discoveries, including the first-ever report of gene transfer to treat cardiac arrhythmia, which was published as the cover article of Nature Medicine in December 2000. Additionally, studies from his lab have yielded important findings showing the complete elimination of ventricular arrhythmia inducibility after gene transfer in an animal model of post-myocardial infarction ventricular arrhythmias, a novel mechanism for post-infarction ventricular tachycardia, and control of atrial fibrillation with a novel epicardial gene painting method, which he developed in his lab.
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This month, we are excited to feature Romana Rashid, PhD, as our Postdoc Spotlight! Dr. Rashid is a postdoc in the labs of Drs. Douglas Golenbock and Kate Fitzgerald. Here, she describes her primary research focus, why she chose UMass for her postdoctoral studies, and her growing interest in sports.
"My aspiration was to be part of an exceptional immunology lab and institution that fostered personal and professional growth while offering opportunities to engage with diverse communities."
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From Protocols to Publications, Daniel Mbusa Gains Valuable Experience in the PRISM Program
PRISM program clinical research coordinator, Daniel Mbusa, BS, was inspired to pursue a career in medicine and clinical research through formative experiences in high school. Originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Daniel spent most of his childhood living in Uganda. He came with his family to the United States in 2013 and settled in Worcester where he attended North High School. “I started to become interested in medicine when I took Human Physiology and Pathology in high school,” said Daniel. “I enjoyed learning about the systems and organs of the body, different diseases and conditions, and prevention and treatment.” As a senior in high school, he also interned in a cancer research lab at UMass Chan Medical School.
Daniel earned his BS in Biology and Biotechnology from Worcester Polytechnic Institute, and after graduation, took a gap year to broaden his patient interaction experiences and study for the MCAT. Seeking opportunities to learn more about health care and interact with patients, he applied and was accepted into the Pipeline for underRepresented Students in Medicine (PRISM) program in 2022. PRISM is a program in the McManus lab that offers undergraduate and post-graduate students from diverse backgrounds an introduction to clinical research and health care opportunities.
As part of his work in PRISM, Daniel has participated on various study teams including on the clinical trial, “Leveraging Evidence-based Practices for Ambulatory VTE and Other Patients to be Safe With Direct Oral Anticoagulants: LEAVE Safe with DOACs.” Led by Alok Kapoor, MD, MS, professor of medicine in the Division of Hospital Medicine, investigators from the Department of Medicine along with colleagues across UMass Chan Medical School and UMass Memorial Health aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a multi-component intervention for reducing clinically important medication errors (CIMEs) in patients beginning or resuming direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) in an ambulatory setting. He gained experience in clinical research by compiling data for the team’s analysis and coordinating outcome assessment meetings with pharmacists and physicians to review post-intervention health outcomes. During the outcomes assessment meetings, he was able to experience the processes of data review by observing and recording discussions on findings and classifications of events, among others. He also assisted with manuscript proofreading and revisions based on reviewer feedback. The team’s work ultimately led to three published papers, including in the Journal of General Internal Medicine in which he was third author. Through this and other studies he has worked on as part of PRISM, Daniel has developed critical skills in conducting and reporting on clinical research. “[This study was my] first time working on papers and I am glad that I had the chance to do that,” he said. “It's been a great experience being a part of this study team and I have learned a lot.”
Daniel is currently on the study team for two other projects as part of PRISM, and continues to prepare to apply to medical school, deepening his skills through clinical research experiences as well as volunteering with patients at UMass Memorial Medical Center.
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Students in the Fitzgerald Lab Partner with Vanderbilt Program to Create Scientific Art
During the summer, Kristy Chiang, Mingqi Dong, and Shrutika Mintri, graduate students in Dr. Kate Fitzgerald’s lab, partnered with students in the Vanderbilt VI4 Artist-in-Residence Program, to artistically represent their science through drawing and digital art. Dr. Fitzgerald, the Worcester Foundation Chair in Biomedical Sciences, professor of medicine, chief of the Division of Innate Immunity, vice chair for research in the Department of Medicine, and director of the Program in Innate Immunity, and members of her team, applied to participate in this program, whose mission is to cultivate a meaningful, equitable, and multidisciplinary community through an entirely virtual environment that expands the impact of cutting-edge research through art. Below are the final projects of the artists-in-residence.
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Kristy Chiang’s work focuses on the role of STING activation in autoinflammatory disease. She worked with Aimee Lee, a student at Carnegie Mellon University, who created a graphic of SAVI disease (top) and a line and pencil drawing of a model for inflating murine lungs, with a focus on ergonomics (bottom). | |
Mingqi Dong’s thesis is on STING signaling in the brain. He worked with Chloe Kim, a student at Vanderbilt, who created digital artwork that represents STING signaling in the brain (red color highlights microgliosis, an indicator of neuroinflammation). | |
Shrutika Mintri is studying phagocytosis and downstream signaling events involved when dendritic cells uptake curli-DNA, a B-amyloid found in bacterial biofilms. She worked with Ellyce Whiteman, a student at Vanderbilt, who created digital art to represent this work. | |
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Honghuang Lin’s Work Featured in USA Today as Part of Framingham Heart Study’s 75th Anniversary
Honghuang Lin, PhD, professor of medicine in the Division of Health Systems Science and a director in the Program in Digital Medicine, had his study titled “Association Between Electrocardiographic Age and Cardiovascular Events in Community Settings: The Framingham Heart Study,” featured in the USA Today article “How One’s Health Study, inspired by FDR’s death, Changed Life in America Forever,” as part of the Framingham Heart Study’s 75th anniversary. The Framingham Heart Study has changed how Americans and their doctors view heart disease over the course of three generations.
Dr. Lin's study applied a deep neural network model to predict biological age from standard 12-lead ECG collected in the Framingham Heart Study and included 9,877 participants with 17 plus-minus 8 years of follow-up. Accelerated aging was found to be associated with a significant increase in all-cause mortality (HR 1.28, 95%CI 1.14-1.45), as well as multiple adverse cardiovascular outcomes, suggesting the potential of an ECG-based age predictor as a scalable biomarker of future cardiovascular risk.
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CAPCaT Awarded $8.9 Million Award from the National Institute of Health
UMass Chan Medical School recently received an $8.9 million award from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for renewed support of their initiative to advance the development of home-based and point-of-care health technologies. The Center for Advancing Point of Care Technologies (CAPCaT) in Heart, Lung, Blood, and Sleep Disorders, which was created as an offshoot of the Massachusetts Medical Device Development Center (M2D2) at UMass Lowell and UMass Chan, is one of the seven centers nationwide that received five-year awards as part of the NIH’s Point of Care Technology Research Network.
Led by co-principal investigators David McManus, MD, ScM, the Richard M. Haidack Professor of Medicine, chair and professor of medicine in the Department of Medicine, and Dr. Nathaniel Hafer, of Molecular Medicine, CAPCaT has supported over 20 projects since receiving funding in 2018 and aims to support new tools to address heart, lung, blood, and sleep disorders in underserved populations.
Speaking to UMass Chan news, Dr. McManus said, “There’s what’s considered a ‘valley of death’ in the development of technologies between the time when someone comes up with a really good idea and starting a company, but they need resources to evaluate the technology and develop it. Few companies actually make it…CAPCaT’s goal is to identify that earlier-stage company, which is high risk but potentially high reward, bring in regulatory expertise and commercialization experts, and brainstorm with the team about other applications of the technology.”
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David McManus and Neil Marya Featured on Voices of UMass Chan Podcast | In a new Voices of UMass Chan Podcast out today, October 18, David McManus, MD, ScM, the Richard M. Haidack Professor in Medicine and chair of the Department of Medicine and executive sponsor in the Program in Digital Medicine (PDM), and Neil Marya, MD, assistant professor of medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology and a director in the PDM, discuss the potential impact of artificial intelligence on health care. | |
News from the Clinical Research Core | |
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Mohan Pahari (left), a clinical research coordinator in the Department of Medicine's Clinical Research Core, participated in the 25th Annual UMass Cancer Walk that took place on Sunday, September 24, at Polar Park.
The UMass Cancer Walk has become the largest, one-day, single-location fundraising event in the area raising over 16 million dollars since starting in 1999. Mohan was proudly supporting the fight against cancer and promoting Lupus study trials at UMass Chan.
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RFA: Digital Health Insights Grant Program (DIGI Grant)
Sponsor: UMass Memorial Health Center for Digital Health Solutions (CDHS)
Application Deadline: Wednesday, November 1, 2023
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Herman G. Berkman Diabetes Clinical Innovation Fund, Call for Proposals & Eligibility Guidelines
Do you have an idea for a project that could directly improve the lives of people living with diabetes? The Herman G. Berkman Diabetes Clinical Innovation Fund is now accepting proposals through November (Diabetes Awareness Month).
Simply provide a brief description of your project, and selected applicants will be invited to submit a full proposal.
Prior funded projects have brought diabetic eye screening into the family medicine clinic, helped people navigate between the Emergency Department & subspecialty diabetes care, improved inpatient diabetes care, and is improving care access for at-risk patients with diabetes.
Deadline to apply is Thursday, November 30, 2023.
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NHLBI Early Career Resources and Opportunities
Click the button below to learn more about the two K Awards being offered, career development, and early-stage investigator resources.
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