VCOM 2022 Annual Report

Louisiana Campus

serve as investigators, along with colleagues from Virginia Tech’s Department of Biochemistry and Radford University’s Department of Psychology. P. Gunnar Brolinson, DO • VCOM ICTAS (matching funds from VT ICTAS): Acute Effects of Routine Head Impact Exposure in Sports: Ocular Motor Function and Saliva Based Biomarkers. A collaborator from VT Biomedical Engineering and Mechanics serves as Co-PI along with Dr. Brolinson. • VCOM & VMCVM One Health Program: A Novel Rehabilitative Loading Approach for Improved Musculotendinous Healing. Dr. Brolinson is Co-PI on this project with a collaborator from VMCVM. This is a two-year project continuing into 2022. • VCOM ICTAS (matching funds from VT ICTAS): Development of an image-guided focused ultrasound system for the non-invasive treatment of injured tendons. A collaborator from VT Biomedical Engineering and Mechanics serves as Co-PI along with Dr. Brolinson. Brad McCrady, DO, and a faculty member from VT Biomedical Engineering and Mechanics serve as investigators. • VCOM ICTAS (matching funds from VT ICTAS): Mechanisms of mild traumatic brain injury in snow sports. Dr. Brolinson is Co-PI on this project with a collaborator from VT Biomedical Engineering and Mechanics.

• VCOM ICTAS (matching funds from VT ICTAS): Pharmacological Characterization of NMDA Receptor Modulators: Using Engineered Microenvironments Representing Brain Disorders. Dr. Costa serves as Co-PI on this project with a faculty member from Biomedical Engineering and Mechanics. This is a two-year project continuing into 2022. Microbiome to Estimate Vaginal Health in Gynecology Patients Presenting with Vaginitis. Carrie Champine, DO serves as Co-PI, and this project is in partnership with a biotech company. Chris Reilly, PhD • VCOM & VMCVM One Health Program: A novel role of transcription factor EGR2 in regulating pathogenic plasma B cell differentiation in lupus. A collaborator from VMCVM serves as Co-PI with Dr. Reilly on this project. Robin Varghese, PhD • REAP: Linking the gut microbiome, female reproduction and obesity: Identifying protective molecular acid, in ovarian and placental cells against obesity-induced cellular stress. Dr. Varghese serves as Co-PI with Melissa Lipsmeyer, PhD on this project. mechanisms of the bacterial metabolite, Indole-3-propionic Jim Mahaney, PhD • REAP: Evaluation of Vaginal

Melissa Lipsmeyer, PhD • REAP: Linking the gut microbiome, female reproduction and obesity: Identifying protective molecular mechanisms of the bacterial metabolite, Indole-3-propionic acid, in ovarian and placental cells against obesity-induced cellular stress. Dr. Lipsmeyer serves as Co-PI with Robin Varghese, PhD on this project. Pawel Michalak, PhD • VCOM & VMCVM One Health Program Experimental evolution of SARS-CoV-2 as a new tool to identify adaptive changes in the viral genomes with implications for replication, infectivity, and COVID-19 outbreaks. Dr. Michalak is Co-PI on this project with a collaborator from VMCVM. • REAP: Next-gen vector-borne disease surveillance across VCOM subtropical and tropical sites. Lin Kang, PhD, Dean Sutphin, PhD and Kasia Michalak, MSc serve as investigators on this project as well as collaborators at Virginia Tech’s Fralin Institute and VMCVM. This is a multi-year project ending in 2022. Osteopontin in Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension. Dr. Morrow serves as Co-PI with Rebekah Morrow, PhD on this project. This is a multi-year project ending in 2022. Rebekah Morrow, PhD • REAP: The Role of Intracellular Osteopontin in Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension. Dr. Morrow serves as Co-PI with K. Adam Morrow, PhD on this project. This is a multi-year project ending in 2022. Virginia Campus Ramu Anandakrishnan, PhD • REAP: Investigating the effect of a rare mutation in Fetuin-B on the progression of Acute Myeloid Leukemia. Robin Varghese, PhD and Katherine Baumgarner, MS K. Adam Morrow, PhD • REAP: The Role of Intracellular

Carrie Champine, DO • REAP: Evaluation of Vaginal

Microbiome to Estimate Vaginal Health in Gynecology Patients Presenting with Vaginitis. Jim Mahaney, PhD serves as Co-PI, and this project is in partnership with a biotech company.

Blaise Costa, MPharm, PhD • VCOM & VMCVM One Health Program: Identification and

Characterization of Mechanically Distinct Novel Anti-Viral Agents. A collaborator from VMCVM serves as Co-PI with Dr. Costa on this project.

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RESEARCH