Methodology Magazine - Winter/Spring 2022

METHODOLOGY

The Research and Education Magazine of Houston Methodist Winter 2022

Education Programs Empower Innovations Houston Methodist & Rice University Partner to Launch The Center for Translational Neural Prosthetics & Interfaces For more articles about Houston Methodist research, visit read.houstonmethodist.org/methodology

FEATURES

TAMU-Houston Methodist Awards & Program 10

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04

Collaborative Research Center for Translational Neural Prosthetics & Interfaces 06

Education Partnership and Programs at Houston Methodist 07

The Weill Cornell Graduate School Welcomes Its First Class in 2021 08

ENMED Program

Other Educational Partnerships and Programs at Houston Methodist 12

Challenges and Future Perspectives of T Cell Immunotherapies 14

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Math Model Enables More Personalized Cancer Treatment Smartphone App Could Revolutionize Stroke Diagnosis

A Q&A with Diego R. Martin, 24 Cellular Antiaging MD, PhD Therapy 16

Noninvasive Spinal Stimulation Enables Paralyzed People to Stand Unassisted 18

Gifts from George and Angela Kostas Leave a Lasting Legacy

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22

26

Reducing Barriers to Language Assistance During a Pandemic 27

Relief for Irritable Bowel Syndrome Could Be on the Horizon

NEWS HIGHLIGHTS

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12

28

COVID-19 Update 30

News Briefs 32

Awards 34

Recruitment 36

Upcoming Events

Find videos and additional resources in our online edition: read.houstonmethodist.org/methodology.

FROM THE PRESIDENT Houston Methodist Academic Institute

Although we continue to manage the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, we remain true to our broader academic mission. I will be forever grateful to our teams that reported to work every day and contributed to our system-wide COVID-19 response with outcome studies and clinical trials as well as making transformative advances in each of our Centers of Excellence.

Among our many exciting programs, neuro-restoration – the restoration of neurological functions and hope that have been lost to injury or disease and the consequential restoration of hope – is one of the most inspiring. The cover story introduces our new Center for Translational Neural Prosthetics and Interfaces, a partnership with Rice University that integrates scientists, clinicians, engineers and surgeons to provide engineering solutions to neurological injuries. One exciting new project in this center involves the development of a noninvasive device that may mimic the restorative function of sleep. The U.S. Army has awarded the Rice – Houston Methodist research

H. Dirk Sostman, MD, FACR Ernest Cockrell, Jr. Presidential Distinguished Chair, Houston Methodist Emeritus Professor of Radiology, Weill Cornell Medicine Distinguished Member, Houston Methodist Research Institute President, Houston Methodist Academic Institute Executive Vice President and Chief Academic Officer, Houston Methodist

group $2.8 million, the first installment of a multiyear grant through the Medical Technology Enterprise Consortium. Another important line of research being pursued by Dr. Sayenko is spinal stimulation to overcome the loss of motor functions due to spinal cord injury.

Several stories throughout this issue showcase our education programs, and the learners and educators who flourish in our culture of innovation. In 2021, the inaugural class of the Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences Physiology, Biophysics and Systems Biology doctoral program began their studies at Houston Methodist. ENMED welcomed its largest-ever class, with 49 students beginning this collaborative program designed to usher young “physicianeers” into a new era of medical thinking.

Scientific progress is powered by diversity of experience and thought. Accordingly, we continue to enhance programs to foster diversity among future generations of clinicians and academics through the Jones Futures Academy, Cristo Rey College Preparatory School and our summer internship programs.

We look forward to seeing our learners take up the mission of leading medicine. Our investment in education is creating a future where we are well positioned to solve physician-driven challenges. I hope

Edward A. Jones President and CEO, Houston Methodist Research Institute Chief Business Officer, Houston Methodist Academic Institute

you will enjoy this issue of Methodology, in which we share steps we are taking to ensure that future.

H. Dirk Sostman, MD, FACR Ernest Cockrell, Jr. Presidential Distinguished Chair, Houston Methodist Emeritus Professor of Radiology, Weill Cornell Medicine Distinguished Member, Houston Methodist Research Institute President, Houston Methodist Academic Institute Executive Vice President and Chief Academic Officer, Houston Methodist

Board of Directors • Houston Methodist Academic Institute

Timothy B. Boone, MD, PhD Craig C. Brown and Suzanne H. Smith Centennial Chair in Medical Education Director, Education Institute Professor of Urology Houston Methodist

Judge Ewing Werlein, Jr., Sr. Chair

Martha S. DeBusk

Gregory V. Nelson

John F. Bookout, III, Chair

W. Leslie Doggett

Joe Bob Perkins

Edward R. Allen, III

Antonio M. Gotto, Jr., MD, DPhil

Mary Eliza Shaper

David C. Baggett, Jr.

Edward A. Jones

Suzanne H. Smith

Marc L. Boom, MD

Evan H. Katz

H. Dirk Sostman, MD

Joseph R. “Rod” Canion

Edwin H. Knight

Douglas E. Swanson, Jr.

David T. Chao

Kevin J. Lilly

David M. Underwood, Jr.

Stephen I. Chazen

Steven S. Looke

Amy Waer, MD

Augustine M.K. Choi, MD

Ransom C. Lummis

Joseph C. “Rusty” Walter, III

Ernest D. Cockrell, II

David A. Modesett

Martha S. Walton

Martin S. Craighead

W. Benjamin Moreland

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FEATURES

A new way to solve an old problem A collaboration between Houston Methodist and Rice University brings cutting-edge technology into neurosurgery

by Donna Ostermayer, PhD

Rice University and Houston Methodist have forged a partnership to launch the Center for Translational Neural Prosthetics and Interfaces, a collaboration that brings together scientists, clinicians, engineers and surgeons to solve clinical problems with neurorobotics.

Gavin W. Britz, MD

Behnaam Aazhang, PhD

Rice University

“The Rice Neuroengineering Initiative was formed with this type

and Houston

of partnership in mind,” said center co-director Behnaam Aazhang,

Methodist have

PhD, Rice’s J.S. Abercrombie Professor of Electrical and Computer

partnered to

Engineering who also directs the neuroengineering initiative.

launch the Center

“Several core members, myself included, have existing collaborations

for Translational

with our colleagues at Houston Methodist in the area of neural

Neural Prosthetics

prosthetics. The creation of the Center for Translational Neural

and Interfaces.

Prosthetics and Interfaces is an exciting development toward achieving our common goals.”

This collaboration, led by center co-directors Gavin W. Britz, MD, of Houston Methodist and Behnaam Aazhang, PhD, of Rice University, brings together Houston Methodist neurosurgeons, seven engineers from the Rice Neuroengineering Initiative and additional physicians and faculty from both institutions to form the center's core team. The center will focus on areas including spinal cord injury, memory and epilepsy studies and cortical motor and sensation conditions.

Neurosurgery’s history of cutting diseases from the brain is morphing into a future in which technology will be implanted into the brain, where it may help restore function, movement, cognition and memory after patients suffer strokes, spinal cord injuries and other neurological disorders.

“This will be an accelerator for discovery. This center will be a human laboratory where all of us — neurosurgeons, neuroengineers, neurobiologists — can work together to solve biomedical problems in the brain and spinal cord. And it’s a collaboration that can finally offer some hope and options for the millions of people worldwide who suffer from brain diseases and injuries,” said Britz, who is the Candy and Tom Knudson Distinguished Centennial Chair in Neurosurgery at Houston Methodist.

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Space for the center is located at Rice Neuroengineering Initiative laboratories and in experimental spaces in the university's BioScience Research Collaborative. Houston Methodist’s West Pavilion also is undergoing an extensive build-out that includes operating rooms and a human laboratory. Ongoing patient/volunteer diagnosis and assessment, device fabrication and testing also will be available as well as opportunities for education and training. This space will be completed in early 2023.

“This partnership is a perfect blend of talent,” said Rice’s Marcia O’Malley, PhD, a core member of the new center. “We will be able to design studies to test the efficacy of inventions and therapies and rely on patients and volunteers who want to help us test our ideas.

The possibilities are limitless.”

Houston Methodist neurobiologist Philip J. Horner, PhD, describes the lab as “a merging of wetware with hardware,” where robotics, computers, electronic arrays and other technology — the hardware — is incorporated into the human brain or spinal cord — the wetware.

The centerpiece of this working laboratory is a zero-gravity harness connected to a walking track with cameras and sensors.

NEUROSTIMULATION THERAPY

SEND SIGNAL

ROBOTICS & BRAIN COMPUTER INTERFACE

ACQUIRE SIGNAL

PROCESS & DECODE PROCESS & DECODE MUSCLE CONTROL

DEVICE CONTROL

Center Collaborations Collaborations already are underway between the two institutions, which sit across Main Street from one another in the Texas Medical Center. Among them are the following: • Houston Methodist’s Dimitry Sayenko, MD, PhD, assistant

• Britz and Center co-director Behnaam Aazhang, PhD,

professor of neurosurgery, and Marcia O'Malley, Rice’s

Rice’s J.S. Abercrombie Professor of Electrical and

Thomas Michael Panos Family Professor in Mechanical

Computer Engineering, and Taiyun Chi, PhD, assistant

Engineering, will head the first pilot project involving the

professor of electrical and computer engineering at Rice,

merging of two technologies to restore hand function

are collaborating on the detection of mild traumatic brain

following a spinal cord injury or stroke. O’Malley will pair

injuries from multimodal observations and on alleviating

the upper limb exoskeleton she invented with Sayenko’s

mTBI using neuromodulations. This project is of particular

noninvasive stimulator designed to wake up the spinal cord.

interest to the US Department of Defense.

Together, they hope these technologies will help patients achieve a more extensive recovery — and at a faster pace.

• Britz, a neurosurgeon, and Lan Luan, PhD, Rice assistant

Center for Translational Neural Prosthetics & Interfaces

professor of electrical and computer engineering, are collaborating on a study to measure the neurovascular response following a subarachnoid hemorrhage, a life-threatening stroke caused by bleeding just outside the brain.

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FEATURES

Education partnership and programs at Houston Methodist At Houston Methodist, we believe in helping to shape the next generation of health-care providers and scientists. We partner with Houston-area high schools and universities to offer internships and partnerships, and we welcomed the first graduate student class from Weill Cornell in 2021.

Partnership with St. Thomas reinked The Houston Methodist Research Institute renewed its clinical partnership for a Master in Clinical Translation Management program with the University of St. Thomas.

The institute and the University of St. Thomas partnered on this degree program since 2014.

The program has become well established within the university and the Texas Medical Center with a number of accolades and two national rankings. The one-year online Master in Clinical Translation Management program that fast-tracks students through a rigorous curriculum and provides a robust understanding of the Life Sciences industry as well as the skills necessary to take on a career in this field. Most of the program is completed through online modules, but students also have the opportunity for in-person training, networking and professional development through residency periods and co-curricular offerings.

There also are three in-person residency periods during the program – the first in Houston, the second as part of an international study abroad program and the final for the annual Biotechnology

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Innovation Organization International Convention.

In addition to the three residency periods, students participate in a six-month-long practicum course and capstone project, both of which utilize project-based learning to integrate elements of the coursework into a hands-on experience. This practicum course includes the development of a business plan and pitch for a real-life biotech innovation of the student’s own choosing.

The Weill Cornell Graduate Other Education Partnerships School welcomes its first class in 2021

Rei Abe was born in Seattle, WA,

Enrolling in this program was a sort of homecoming

but grew up in Rochester, NY. He

for Mejia, who is a Houstonian. Mejia graduated from

attended New York University and

the University of Texas with a degree in chemical

graduated with a bachelor's in biology.

engineering. His goal is to stay in academia, becoming

He is familiar with Houston – he

the principal investigator of his own lab centered on

spent a few summers interning at the Research Institute

translational research with direct clinical application.

– and he fell in love with the diverse cuisine the city offers.

Rachel Dubuque is from Hartland,

INAUGURAL

We are pleased to introduce you to this inaugural class.

The students were asked a few questions about themselves, their interests and their plans.

Abe's work at the Research Institute has been in the

MI, and a graduate of Michigan State

Department of Cardiovascular Regeneration, where

University with a degree in biochemistry

he’s been investigating the molecular mechanisms

and molecular biology/biotechnology.

behind endothelial cell dysfunction, activation and

She was a research assistant in the

senescence in cardiovascular disease. Although he

Institute of Quantitative Health Science and Engineering

enjoys the research process, he believes designing

at Michigan State. The opportunity to perform research

hypotheses with the translational "bench to bedside"

in a translational setting and the ability to collaborate with

ideal is the ultimate goal of research. He hopes to be

the many neighboring institutions were part of the reason

involved in the identification of novel therapeutic targets

she chose this program, and Houston’s vibrant cultural

for pathological chronic disorders as well as the process

scene was a bonus.

of translating this mechanistic research toward the development of clinical therapies and patient treatment.

Dubuque is looking forward to learning more about the

field of biomedical research and expanding her research Julio Mejia enjoys using single-cell genomics and multiomics to help characterize the key stem cell and macrophage populations that take part in certain musculoskeletal and nervous system diseases and hopes to join a lab that can help combine traditional biomedical research with computational science to better understand the intricate biological systems.

interests to meet the needs of patients in a clinical setting.

Eventually, her goal is to lead a lab in a translational setting, performing research to improve the quality of life of cancer patients.

Houston Methodist is excited to welcome these students and we wish them the best of luck in their studies.

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FEATURES

ENMED ENMED, or Engineering Medicine, delivered in partnership with the Texas A&M University School of Engineering Medicine offers an educational opportunity for students interested in developing both their medical and engineering skills to design and create innovative technologies for health care use.

During the four-year curriculum, students are immersed in a fully integrated medical and engineering courses focused on innovation and entrepreneurship. Their goal is to gain insight and experience in innovation including research, design and commercialization.

The Houston Methodist Academic Institute, with funding support from donors and philanthropists, developed the ENMED Capstone Project. This program is designed to provide the top ENMED students with an opportunity to practice medicine and develop innovative research and technologies at Houston Methodist.

Capstone Projects are two years or more and are selected via an annual competition. Capstone Project Proposals are evaluated by the ENMED Capstone Program Review Committee, which consists of a panel of scientists, physician scientists, physicians and engineers from Houston Methodist and Texas A&M University. Submissions are awarded based on quality and availability of funds and laboratory availability.

The 2021 Capstone Projects Awards were announced at the ENMED Innovation Symposium in June. Each project received funding support of $10,000 or more per annum.

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The following projects received funding in 2021: Antisense Oligonucleotide-based Therapies for the Treatment of Osteoarthritis Principal Investigator: Madeline Franke, ENMED Class of 2024 Host Faculty Member: Francesca Taraballi, PhD (Center for Musculoskeletal Regeneration) Proposed Budget: $15,500

Metalloprotease Sensitive Nanoparticles in Early Ovarian Cancer Detection Principal Investigator: Cailin O’Connell, ENMED Class of 2023 Host Faculty Member: Biana Godin, PhD (Nanomedicine and Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology) Proposed Budget: $11,350

Cellular Delivery of mRNA using a Novel Electroporation Platform Principal Investigator: Johnny McMurray, ENMED Class of 2024 Host Faculty Member: John P. Cooke, MD, PhD (The Center for RNA Therapeutics) Proposed Budget: $24,000

Creation of RNA-Enhanced Scaffolds for Wound Healing Principal Investigator: Ashmi Patel, ENMED Class of 2023 Host Faculty Member: John P. Cooke, MD, PhD (The Center for RNA Therapeutics) Proposed Budget: $24,000

A Slit Lamp Biomicroscope for Every Patient: An Inclusive Redesign Principal Investigator: Zachary Richards, ENMED Class of 2023 Host Faculty Member: Andrew G. Lee, MD Proposed Budget: $17,340

2021 FUNDING

TAMU-Houston Methodist Awards

Texas A&M Houston Campus Programs Expanded

Ericka Greene, MD, was inducted into the 2021

Houston Methodist and the Texas A&M Health Science

Texas A&M University College of Medicine Academy

Center have an MD/PhD partnership program. In

of Distinguished Medical Educators in recognition of

2021-22, there are 150 Texas A&M students in

her demonstrated excellence in medical education

various locations through the Houston Methodist system.

both as educator and leader in education in the areas

These students can enroll in medical and graduate

of direct teaching, curriculum development, mentorship, leadership

science classes at Texas A&M Institute for Biosciences

and/or educational research. Greene has been instrumental in leading

and Technology in Houston and complete three to four

the Practice of Medicine courses for ENMED medical school program.

years of doctoral thesis work with a faculty mentor at

She also serves as the program director for the Houston Methodist

the Houston Methodist Academic Institute.

neurology residency program and was selected for the inaugural Houston Methodist Academic Institute Clinician Educator cohort.

Several collaborative clerkships are offered across multiple disciplines in which Texas A&M students

Amy Wright, EdD, Director, Educational Partnerships,

can learn from Houston Methodist researchers and

was named Assistant Dean of Student Affairs at Texas

physicians. Most of the clerkships last about six weeks

A&M School of Engineering Medicine.

and provide students with the opportunity to participate in clinical settings. These clerkships are available in

Texas A&M University

the Texas Medical Center and the Willowbrook area.

named the 2021 recipients of the inaugural annual Department of Medical Education Career Educator Awards to recognize and honor their dedication and outstanding teaching/leadership as an early- or mid-late-career educator from each of the regional campuses. Stacy Norton, MD, obstetrics and gynecology faculty at Houston Methodist Willowbrook, was recipient of the early-career educator award. Andrew Lee, MD, chair of the Department of Ophthalmology at Houston Methodist Hospital, and David Lim, MD, surgery clerkship director at Houston Methodist Willowbrook both received the mid-late-career educator award.

ENMED Holds Inaugural White Coat Ceremony for its Largest Class ENMED held its first White Coat Ceremony for the class of 2025. At the ceremony, ENMED students received their first white coats, the most common symbol of the medical profession for more than a century. The annual event encourages new medical students to begin their education by upholding the highest values and standards of their profession.

Rederic Pettigrew, PhD, MD, Dean of the School of Engineering Medicine and CEO of EnHealth, was

Ruby Shah, MD, MPH, received the 2020

joined by leaders from the Texas A&M The School

Innovations in Education Award from the Texas

of Engineering Medicine and Houston Methodist in

A&M College of Medicine Academy of Distinguished

welcoming the new class.

Medical Educators. The awarded project establishes an Interprofessional Telehealth Clinic for high-risk

The event featured a keynote address by Alan Lumsden,

patients in the Internal Medicine Department. Shah and her team

MD, Walter W. Fondren III Presidential Distinguished

successfully completed the pilot phase targeting patients lost to

Chair at the Houston Methodist DeBakey Heart &

follow-up care during COVID, involving MS1-MS3 students with a

Vascular Center, and chair of the Department of

team of internal medicine faculty and PharmD faculty completing

Cardiovascular Surgery at Houston Methodist.

approximately 200 telephone calls to get patients back into the clinic who had not been seen in over a year or more than six months for those older than 65. The project will continue to target telehealth follow-up with diabetic patients out of this same population.

ENMED’s class of 2025 consists of 49 students.

Of the class, 40% are female, 32% are from out of state, and the average GPA is 3.75.

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FEATURES

Other educational partnerships and programs at Houston Methodist Jones Futures Academy Jones Futures Academy is a high school within the Houston Independent School District. Its students fulfill high school graduation requirements while simultaneously earning industry certifications, college credits and an Associate of Arts degree.

The Houston Methodist Academic Institute is one of the Jones Futures Academy program’s industry partners and provides students an opportunity to embark on a course of study to learn valuable skills that, upon completion of the program, will make them hirable as well as academically advanced for those who choose to continue their education.

There are 40 students enrolled in the Academic Institute program who participate in virtual learning activities twice a week. Hands-on learning and experience include lectures, demonstrations, career panels and more. The practicum is taken concurrently with health science classroom instruction for high school seniors and offers career exploration and research exposure.

Cristo Rey Jesuit High School's Student Worker Program Students from Cristo Rey Jesuit High School's Student Worker Program once again are in attendance on Houston Methodist campuses.

Cristo Rey is a Catholic college prep school available to low-income families. Its Corporate Work-Study Program places students in Houston businesses and nonprofits where they work one day per week and earn up to 50% of the cost of their education.

The work study program allows students to gain professional experience and develop real-world corporate and life skills. Most

Image: cristoreyjesuit.org

students perform entry-level clerical work. They answer telephones, maintain files, sort and deliver mail, scan and fax documents, perform data entry and create documents with Microsoft Office and Excel. In the Houston Methodist Academic Institute, students will be in the departments of Human Resources, Education, Communications & External Relations, Administration and MITIE. Our students will be in the office on Tuesdays from 8 a.m. to

EDUCATION PA 4 p.m. for the duration of the 2021-2022 school year.

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Summer Undergraduate Research Internship The Summer Undergraduate Research Internship offers a rare opportunity to work with the nation's leading biomedical scientists. The Houston Methodist Academic Institute's summer internship program gives high school students an opportunity to gain hands-on laboratory experience while participating in ongoing biomedical research at the Research Institute in the heart of the Texas Medical Center. Students are matched with faculty members, medical students and college undergraduates as they focus on a single research project. Students are responsible for working on their own project over the 10-week period, which culminates in a final poster presentation of their work. Many interns work with their mentors to publish their data, and some even discover careers at Houston Methodist.

During the course, interns attend weekly seminars on career and professional development and didactic lectures presented by Houston Methodist’s scientists and physician researchers. Interns are supported and guided by leaders in their assigned labs and enjoy collaboration and networking opportunities. Interns also take part in various social

ARTNERSHIPS events that offer a well-rounded and stimulating summer experience.

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FEATURES

Challenges and future perspectives of

T cell immunotherapies

by Abanti Chattopadhyay, PhD & Heather Lander, PhD

Qing Yi, MD, PhD

A cancer patient’s T cells, engineered

tumors in human xenografted mouse models. This research

to carry a receptor found on the

study published in Nature Communications suggests a greater

surface of cancer cells, can

potential for clinical immunotherapy, which can lead to increased

aggressively attack tumors, with

frequency of complete remission, high survival rates and a decreased

the potential to revolutionize solid

rate of patient relapses after treatment. Engineering T cells with

tumor treatment. This is the basis

a CAR is justifiable, and human T9 CAR-T cell therapy is likely to

of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)

lead to better long-term remission amongst cancer patients.

T cell immunotherapy and CD8+ T cell-based immunotherapy, which

are useful for various cancers. However, neither strategy is fully effective. With CAR-T cell therapy, relapse is seen in most patients, including those with complete remission during early treatment stages. CD8+ T cell therapy entails tumor-induced T cell dysfunction that diminishes treatment efficacy. Factors such as patient age, starting state of T cells and the tumor microenvironment (TME) can affect the degree of success of both T cell immunotherapies.

TME is immunosuppressive and can induce dysfunction in T cells, including CD8+ T cells. Yi studied various TME components and learned that cholesterol accumulation in the TME induces CD8+ T cells to express a scavenger receptor called CD36. Building on that work, they found that in the absence of cholesterol, CD36 was not induced in CD8+ T cells, indicating that TME cholesterol upregulates CD36 expression on CD8+ T cells. CD8+ T cells lose their antitumor effector function in the TME by fatty acid uptake through

Qing Yi, MD, PhD, professor of oncology at the Houston

CD36, which induces an iron-associated cell death

Methodist Dr. Mary & Ron Neal Cancer Center, is one of the

mechanism called ferroptosis.

leading investigators in the fields of tumor immunology and immunotherapy and has contributed to our understanding of potential immunotherapies in human cancers. Yi’s team has been focused on enhancing the efficacy of both T cell immunotherapy strategies. In a research study aimed at improving the efficacy of CAR-T cell therapy, Yi created interleukin-9 secreting CAR-T cells with superior antitumor potency against CD-19-expressing acute lymphoblastic leukemia and GPC3-expressing liver carcinoma. Using mouse models and biological assays, Yi produced CAR-T cells that exert a greater antitumor efficacy against both liquid and solid

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In a separate research project, Yi’s team investigated how the

This results in reduced production of tumorkilling cytokines in the T cells. In addition, Yi found that in each of the cancers analyzed, patients with longer survival had decreased CD36 expression relative to T cells from patients with shorter survival.

This study, published in March in Cell Metabolism, presents CD36 as a novel therapeutic target to increase antitumor efficacy of T cell-based immunotherapy.

elucidating the mechanisms underlying how T cells “ By become dysfunctional in a tumor microenvironment, we can discern how to increase the effectiveness of cancer immunotherapy.

”

– Qing Yi, MD, PhD Ralph O'Connor Centennial Chair, Dr. Mary and Ron Neal Cancer Center Professor of Oncology Associate Director, Cancer Center Basic Research Programs, Dr. Mary and Ron Neal Cancer Center Houston Methodist

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QA FEATURES

&

Diego R. Martin, MD, PhD

Shares Insights Diego R. Martin, MD, PhD, chair of the Department of Radiology, arrived at Houston Methodist in December 2020. Here, he answers a few questions about his goals and vision for the department.

Q: Tell us about yourself. Where are you from? Where did you go to school? What drew you to medicine?

A: My grandfather was an engineer and mathematician who migrated to South America from Europe to help modernize mining and transportation, eventually marrying and settling there. I was born in South America and moved to North America at an early age with my family. My father was a clinician-scientist and I was raised in a family of scientists, engineers and physicians. I completed my medical, residency and fellowship training at the University of Toronto and an MRI research fellowship at the University of North Carolina Scatliff MRI Center, Chapel Hill. I have an active R01 and other grants and foundation initiatives submitted and under review or in progress, focusing on imaging theranostics applied to oncology and cardiovascular disease. My team’s approach to investigating disease and therapy is rooted in appreciating the cellular-molecular basis of disease and engineering diagnostic solutions through technological innovations. I have directed research collaborations and mentored and supported other faculty in their research career training and development. My team’s work has depended upon interdisciplinary partnerships within academics and through industry partnerships. We have a major focus on engineering “next-gen” imaging systems that will autonomously adapt and diagnostically image individual patients with minimal operator input or expertise, scan faster, extract biometrics, provide formulated reporting, improve reproducible diagnostic system performance, reduce variability, drive down costs and improve outcomes. We are rapidly expanding our machine learning and AI capabilities.

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Q: What drew you to Houston Methodist?

A: I joined Emory University in 2004, becoming the founding director of the MRI Research Program, and in 2011, I moved to become the department chair for medical imaging at the University of Arizona. There we built successful training and research programs. I moved to McGill University in Montreal, Canada, in 2019 as department chair, just prior to the pandemic. I joined Houston Methodist to pursue a unique and compelling

expertise at the “bedside” within the clinical scanning environment throughout the enterprise to effect clinical translation, training, safety, standardization, and uniform technology and process improvements throughout the clinical enterprise. This proposal will focus on the A) fast MRI virtual biopsy and B) molecular theranostics initiatives and C) building the digital systems platform for the department of the future.

The part A strategic roadmap includes assembling the

opportunity to lead a growing team of imaging scientists

team of scientists (research) and engineers (clinical systems)

and work with advanced imaging technologies at the

and other essential team members required to support

Research Institute Translational Imaging Center. Houston

the technology innovations and implement the operational

Methodist and its Research Institute are renowned for

systems that translate into the clinical practice. For this

their leadership, collaborative scientists and clinicians,

proposal, we focus on MRI systems.

and strong industry partnerships, including an innovation partnership with Siemens Healthineers. The organizational

We will also build the companion molecular theranostics

structure facilitates bench-to-bedside clinical translation

part B initiative, which synergizes with MRI technologies

with collocation of the Translational Imaging Center,

to provide the platform for the study and treatment of

integration with clinical systems and the support of

disease, including bringing ongoing investigations with

subspecialty trained highly skilled radiologists and

industry and pharmaceutical collaborations for the study

technical teams on a background of world-class

and treatment of stroke, traumatic brain injury, heart attack,

clinical and research programs.

respiratory disease (including COVID-19), and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and liver fibrosis.

Q: What is your plan/vision for the department?

A: Since innovation is at our forefront, we strive to advance the ability to peer into the human body at the molecular level to prevent, diagnose and manage disease. To do this, we aim to find commonalities across a multitude of diseases and utilize these common molecular pathways to develop precision molecular diagnostics and therapeutics.

The imaging department of the future strategic part C plans will combine with targeted recruitment and acquisition of digital systems in partnership with industry, including construction of an imaging-AI core that will support clinical practice with advances in image processing and display, system analytics, and remote machine control systems, which will be combined with the components of a digital imaging systems command center for workflow

An objective is to coordinate potentially siloed imaging

and operational controls to transform patient flow, experience

systems (both preclinical and clinical research and

and outcomes, from scheduling to cure.

clinical systems) and organize these to achieve a fluid and active connectivity between the clinical delivery systems

and the research, discovery and innovation pipelines, and between the radiology service line and the programs it serves. Technologies include imaging devices, digital and computational technologies related to image acquisition, processing and analysis, and imaging-based therapeutics, such as high-intensity focused ultrasound and molecular

For more details on the vision for the Department of Radiology, visit digital Methodology.

theranostics. Processes include introducing engineering

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FEATURES

Noninvasive spinal stimulation

Enables paralyzed people to stand unassisted

by Donna Ostermayer, PhD

Regaining the ability to control a full weight-bearing standing posture without assistance from weight-supporting devices or other people is a key goal for someone who is paralyzed. Not only does this ability provide a greater level of physical independence and mobility, maintaining balance when standing is the foundation for regaining the ability to walk, including stepping with assistance from robotic devices being developed at Houston Methodist and other places.

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In a well-controlled clinical study published in the Journal of Neurotrauma, people with spinal cord injuries who could not stand unassisted received noninvasive transcutaneous electrical spinal cord stimulation via electrodes Dimitry Sayenko MD, PhD

placed over the spinal cord three days per week for a month.

Following this treatment, all the participants could maintain an upright standing position either independently or with minimal external assistance applied to the knees or hips, using their hands for upper body balance as needed. The quality of their balance control improved with continued training. When the participants shifted their weight while standing, high levels of leg muscle activity emerged that depended on the amount of muscle loading. These findings suggest that the noninvasive stimulation therapy can modulate the spinal circuitry into a physiological state that enables sensory inputs during weight-bearing to serve as a primary source of neural control to maintain externally unassisted upright posture and balance. Sayenko has begun collaborating with ANEUVO to initiate a sponsored clinical trial evaluating the effects of spinal stimulation on upper limb function in individuals with spinal cord injury. ANEUVO is a multidisciplinary bioelectronics medical device company focused on developing neuromodulatory technologies to address chronic conditions that have previously defied conventional medical treatment.

Therapists: Catherine Martin and Cori Dullnig

“

Our clinical research program focuses on central nervous system plasticity throughout the course of motor learning and regaining lost sensorimotor function. We are especially interested in exploring the strategies for regaining functionality during daily life activities, as well as for improving control of motor and autonomic functions.

”

– Dimitry Sayenko MD, PhD Assistant Professor, Neurosurgery Houston Methodist

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FEATURES

George and Angelina Kostas Gifts Help Houston Methodist become a leader in heart and vascular nanotechnology research

by Erin Graham

“

George J. Kostas was born

The Kostas Research Center

in Massachusetts in 1919 but

has facilitated the interactions

spent his youth in Greece. At

of our cardiovascular physicians

unable to speak English yet

and scientists, with nanomedicine

After college, George moved

age 14, he returned to America determined to attend college. to Baytown to pioneer the

experts and bioengineers, in a

design and operation of the first synthetic rubber tire

very unique environment that

production plant during WWII

sparks innovation. I am so thankful for the support of the Kostas family, which is vaulting us to new heights in translational science, such as our development of novel mRNA nanotherapeutics.

– John P. Cooke, MD, PhD Chair, Department of Cardiovascular Sciences Houston Methodist

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”

George and Angelina Kostas

at General Tire and Rubber.

He was key to the U.S.

government's synthetic rubber manufacturing initiatives after World War II. His wife, Angelina (Lea), was a devoted lifelong member of Annunciation Greek Orthodox Cathedral and served as a member of the Philoptochos charitable society for 70 years. The couple was married 62 years.

George was grateful for America and wanted to give back for the opportunities he was given. He focused his attention on religious institutions and nanotechnology innovations to advance science, manufacturing, medical technologies, education and homeland security.

One of the beneficiaries of his generosity has been the Houston Methodist Research Center for Cardiovascular Nanomedicine.

ANNUAL FACTS HOUSTON METHODIST

8 Hospitals John P. Cooke, MD, PhD, & Cynthia Kostas at the Kostas Annual International Meeting on Oct. 18, 2021.

A generous gift from the Kostases allowed the Houston Methodist Academic Institute to begin operations at the George and Angelina Kostas Research Center for Cardiovascular Nanomedicine in 2014. The donation is the largest philanthropic gift in support of cardiovascular nanomedicine and could revolutionize the treatment of cardiovascular disease.

The center fosters international collaboration and brings together top laboratory and physician scientists from the Houston Methodist DeBakey Heart & Vascular Center and the Houston Methodist Department of Nanomedicine to investigate how emerging technologies in nanomedicine can be used to heal damaged hearts and vascular tissue.

The Kostas gift also has funded an annual international scientific meeting in Houston, the George and Angelina Kostas Research Center for Cardiovascular Nanomedicine Annual International Meeting, which is held in October.

2,509 Operating beds 1.76M Patient encounters $167.2M Research expenditures 6,691 Research collaborations $70.3M Extramural funding 1,387 Clinical protocols 60 GME programs 41,809 Total learners 27,947 Employees 4,737

Dave B, Gonzalez DD, Liu ZB, Li X, Wong H, Granados S, et. al. Role of RPL39 in Metaplastic Breast Cancer. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2016 Physicians Dec 31;109(6)

The Kostas Research Center is directed by Houston Methodist Academic Institute President and Chief Academic Officer H. Dirk Sostman, MD, and the Houston Methodist DeBakey Heart & Vascular Center Medical Director Alan B. Lumsden, MD, along with the executive committee. The center's program and working group leaders include some of Houston Methodist's best nanotechnology researchers and cardiovascular physicians and surgeons, such as Guillermo Torre-Amione, MD, PhD; Elvin Blanco, PhD; Miguel Valderrábano, MD; John P. Cooke, MD, PhD; Alessandro Grattoni, PhD; and William A. Zoghbi, MD. The groups work in sequence to translate discoveries quickly

1,036 Trainees-in-residence 2,110 Credentialed researchers 742 Faculty – Jenny Chang, M.D. Emily Herrmann Chair in Cancer Research & Director, Houston Methodist Cancer Center

into technologies for human clinical trials.

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FEATURES

Predicting efficacy of anticancer immunotherapies

Math model enables more personalized cancer treatment

by Donna Ostermayer, PhD

Immunotherapy has shown great promise in the fight against cancer. By activating Zhihui Wang, PhD

Vittorio Cristini, PhD

the body’s own immune

system to identify and attack cancer cells, these next-generation therapies offer the potential for highly targeted and efficacious cancer treatment with fewer negative side effects than traditional cancer therapies. Immunotherapies also may work more effectively on certain types of cancer that are known to respond poorly to other treatment methods.

Despite the substantial advances, immunotherapy still presents notable challenges.

While these therapies have been highly effective against certain types of cancer, more than 50% of cancer patients fail to respond to immunotherapies. Among patients who do respond, it often occurs more slowly than more traditional treatment regimens, making it challenging to determine when to alter the clinical approach.

Several promising biomarkers for immunotherapy response have been identified to help alleviate this issue, but they are often specific to a certain family of drug and disease combinations and may require extensive and invasive diagnostic testing.

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A team of researchers, led by Houston Methodist's Zhihui Wang, PhD, associate research professor of mathematics in medicine, and Vittorio Cristini, PhD, professor of mathematics in medicine, have developed, analyzed and validated a mathematical model that can quantify the sensitivity of a cancer cell type to a specific immunotherapeutic drug. This new analytic tool employs inputs that are already being measured in cancer patients to help optimize treatment approaches based on the individual’s specific disease and immune health, thus enhancing the chances for selecting successful treatments from a wide variety of cancer-immunotherapy drug combinations. The model establishes a framework for engineering personalized treatment strategies. The specifics of the mathematical model were published in Nature Biomedical Engineering in collaboration with researchers at MD Anderson

“

This work is innovative and practical in the field of cancer immunotherapy, as these mathematical markers cannot be simply determined through current, more traditional statistical, data mining or machine

Cancer Center.

learning approaches.

To test their model’s ability to accurately and reliably characterize

These results demonstrate

the specific strength of a cancer type to a specific immunotherapy treatment, the researchers obtained CT or MRI scan data of tumors from before, during and after immunotherapy in 124 patients with four different cancer types who were treated with one of two different immunotherapy agents, then further validated against four additional patient groups. These were then analyzed

convincing evidence that the model and its parameters may be broadly applicable

using the model to quantify the therapeutic response.

to many cancer and

They found that model-derived measures (i.e., mathematical

immunotherapy combinations.

markers) that quantify the presence and health of the immune presence within the tumor and the resulting kill rate of cancer cells by immunotherapy-activated immune cells could be combined into a single measure that was highly correlated with long-term

”

– Zhihui Wang, PhD Associate Research Professor Mathematics in Medicine Houston Methodist

tumor burden, thus providing a unique numerical score of the strength of response of that cancer to the specific drug. These results were further validated with data from 177 additional patients treated with one of the most common checkpoint inhibitor immunotherapies, anti-CTLA4 or anti-PD1/PDL1 monotherapies.

Without the need for new technology or extensive training, the mathematical model can potentially provide a much-needed bedside tool that can easily be implemented alongside other

For more information: Butner JD, Wang Z, Elganainy D, et al. A mathematical model for the quantification of a patient’s sensitivity to checkpoint inhibitors and long-term tumor burden. Nat Biomed Eng. 2021 Apr;5(4):297-308. doi: 10.1038/s41551-020-00662-0

clinical diagnostics, enabling health care providers to identify the treatment intervention needed to eliminate the disease on a patient-specific basis and to adjust the treatment plan accordingly early in the course of clinical intervention.

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FEATURES

Houston Methodist and Penn State researchers collaborate on a

smartphone app that could revolutionize stroke diagnosis

by Heather Lander, PhD

Diagnosing a stroke

Neurologists can effectively use physical exam and history

quickly in the ER is

scores for triage in stroke diagnosis, but these scores lack

crucial. With each

accuracy and require widespread training. And while it

passing minute,

would be ideal, it is not always possible to have a neurologist

millions of neurons

evaluate a patient in the ER.

are lost if a stroke John J. Volpi, MD

Stephen T.C. Wong, PhD

goes undiagnosed

To meet this diagnostic challenge, John Volpi, MD, and

and untreated. In

his team sought to develop an effective—and rapid—

addition, the best treatment options available should be given as quickly as possible. Severe strokes are obvious for physicians to diagnose, but more often than not, patients exhibit minor to moderate stroke symptoms that can be from stroke or other causes. If missed, these patients can end up waiting too long for the right diagnosis, thus delaying treatment and possibly missing an opportunity to receive the best treatment options.

The most effective diagnostic tool for ischemic stroke is the MRI, but it is limited by patient cooperation and has a prolonged turnaround time, delaying treatment, so it is not often used as a first-line test in the ER. CT scans are simple to perform, but they only show definite strokes and will miss early changes and small strokes. Also, in the case of a patient in whom the ER does not suspect stroke, no test will be performed.

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stroke diagnostic tool.

At a recent conference on medical image computing and computer-

To train the AI model, the researchers created a dataset from more than 250 Houston Methodist patients experiencing stroke symptoms. Using an

assisted intervention, the Houston

iPhone to record the encounter, each patient

Methodist research collaboration

communication. The results of the study were highly

of John Volpi, MD, and Stephen T.C.

performed a test to demonstrate their speech and significant. Their app was 93% correct in detecting a possible stroke compared to the ER physician rate

Wong, PhD, presented a paper on

of 71%, and the app was also better at avoiding

a smartphone app developed in

to the physician’s rate of 73%. Of note, the app

overdiagnosis with an accuracy of 79% compared

collaboration with researchers at

encounter took less than five minutes and did not

Pennsylvania State University. The

results or prior history that the physicians had.

app uses a machine learning algorithm

This rapid stroke assessment app will allow expedited

for computer-aided evaluation of facial

have any additional data included such as scan

diagnosis of stroke by physicians, which will enable faster delivery of the most effective treatment options.

movement weaknesses and speech

Future versions of the app already under development

in patients to determine the presence

caregivers, the ability to perform self-assessment

will also give those at higher risk for stroke, and their

of stroke. In other words, it emulates

immediately upon symptom presentation. This would

the ER triage process using a

treatment and significantly improve patient outcomes

smartphone.

further reduce the time from stroke onset to effective and increase the chances of survival and recovery.

By combining an AI tool with the emergency room physician’s clinical knowledge, this “augmented intelligence” innovation will expedite diagnosis and treatment for stroke patients and give caregivers peace of mind to make self-assessments. This novel approach will be a key advantage to surviving and preventing a stroke.

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FEATURES

Cellular antiaging therapy Cellular lifespan extension through telomere repair restores cell function and replication

by Erin Graham

Hutchinson–Gilford progeria syndrome

and a team of researchers tested the hypothesis that

is a rare disorder of rapid aging. The

transient expression of purified human telomerase (hTERT)

disease is caused by a mutation that

mRNA might restore telomere length, thereby reversing

occurs at the time of conception in

some of the rapid aging in phenotypes of patient cells.

a lamin A protein called progerin.

The syndrome severely disrupts cell

The study revealed that transient expression of human

architecture and function.

telomerase mRNA rapidly restores almost all functions

John P. Cooke, MD, PhD

to progeria cells without transforming cells. Progeria

Children with this form of progeria exhibit growth failure, alopecia,

cells treated with human telomerase mRNA behaved like

loss of body hair and fat, osteoporosis and aged-looking skin.

young healthy cells, with normal cell growth, function and

Patients often succumb to heart disease or stroke and have an

gene expression. This study and its proof-of-concept that

average lifespan of 15 years. The rapid aging of these children

mRNA technology can reverse aging of cells also led to

is associated with accelerated erosion of the telomeres.

a collaboration between Houston Methodist and AVITA Therapeutics on an mRNA-based approach to rejuvenate

Telomeres are structures at the end of a chromosome that

human cells that could be used in multiple areas.

gradually shorten as we age. Scientists do not yet know what mechanism causes rapid telomere erosion in progeria patients,

The area of study is a spray-on treatment developed by

but it is possible that telomere erosion contributes to rapid

AVITA Therapeutics that is used to help older patients with

aging.

burns that need skin grafting. The spray-on skin is first treated with the Houston Methodist RNA technology to

A recent study by researchers at Houston Methodist looked

rejuvenate old cells. The rejuvenated skin can then better

at how mRNA encoding human telomerase could treat

repair the burn wound.

Hutchenson-Gilford progeria syndrome. John P. Cooke, MD, PhD,

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are excited to see that “ We many of the features of aging can be reversed at the level of a human cell using our RNA therapy.

The immediate application of our work is to improve cell therapies. Longer term, we believe our RNA therapy

”

Epigenetic deregulation of lamina-associated domains (LADs) in Hutchinson–Gilford progeria syndrome (HGPS). Progerin-driven nuclear malformation in HGPS nuclei causes substantial, but potentially locally stochastic, epigenetic reconfiguration of LAD-specific chromatin.

will be useful for many age-related diseases.

”

– John P. Cooke, MD, PhD Chair, Department of Cardiovascular Sciences Houston Methodist

25

FEATURES

o t s r e i r r a b g n i Reduc

E C N A T S I S S A E G A U mic e d n a LANG p a g n i r u d Houston Methodist providers leverage their wearable communication devices to empower clinicians and patients to communicate effectively despite language barriers

by Heather Lander, PhD Early in the pandemic, Houston Methodist leveraged existing

a whole. To address the language barrier between clinicians

technologies to address language needs of COVID-19 patients

and patients during the COVID-19 pandemic, Houston Methodist

with limited English proficiency. These findings can be applied

providers utilized the Vocera communication devices they already

throughout health care.

wore to provide language assistance for LEP patients, enabling effective communication between LEP patients and their health

Health care systems in the U.S. are complicated enough for native

care providers.

English speakers. For patients with limited English proficiency (LEP), it can be nearly impossible to understand their treatment

In a “Notes in the Field” paper published in July in the Journal

options, advocate for themselves, or figure out what to expect.

of Immigrant and Minority Health, Houston Methodist providers

The disparity of services available to LEP patients relative to the

discuss their experience adapting Vocera technology to enable

number of LEP patients is disheartening and will only continue

language assistance for Houston Methodist LEP patients. This

to grow unless hospitals adapt to this increasing need.

article reminds us how important it is for health care providers to ensure that their patients are not merely bystanders to medical

26

Language assistance strategies in hospitals are particularly

care that happens to them but are integral members of their

important in large, multicultural cities such as Houston, with a

medical care journey. It reminds us that language rights are

population in which 46% of persons 5 years and older do not

human rights and at Houston Methodist, we strive to effect

speak only English at home, compared to 21% in the U.S. as

change for LEP patients in meaningful ways.

Relief for irritable bowel syndrome could be on the horizon Houston Methodist joined a clinical trial for Biomerica InFoods IBS Diagnostic Guided Therapy technology ®

by Erin Graham A clinical lab version of the InFoods® Diagnostic Guided Therapy was used in this trial. The InFoods® therapy can be used with or without pharmaceuticals to potentially improve patient outcomes.

Since the product is a diagnostic guided therapy, it has no drug-type Eamonn Quigley, MD

side effects. The trials were randomized, double-blind and placebo controlled.

Nearly 45 million Americans suffer from irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). It is a common condition with symptoms that are often triggered by food. However, most patients cannot identify the specific foods that trigger their symptoms.

InFoods® is designed to identify foods that, if removed from the diet, may alleviate a patient’s symptoms.

IBS can substantially affect the physical and mental well-being of a patient and his or her ability to function, and the estimated economic impact of IBS is around $80 billion per year. Patients with IBS suffer changes in bowel habits, abdominal pain and other symptoms, including abdominal bloating and rectal urgency with diarrhea. IBS also may be associated with difficulty with sexual function, muscle aches and pains, fatigue, fibromyalgia syndrome, headaches, back pain and sometimes urinary symptoms, and it affects women twice as often as men.

suffer from irritable “ Millions bowel syndrome. If we can discover which foods trigger symptoms, these patients might be able to alleviate many of their IBS symptoms and suffer less.

”

– Eamonn M. Quigley, MD David M. Underwood Chair of Medicine in Digestive Disorders Director, Lynda K. and David M. Underwood Center for Digestive Disorders Houston Methodist

Houston Methodist was a primary enrollment center for the clinical trial, with Eamonn Quigley, MD, as principal investigator.

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COVID-19 UPDATES

The impact of CURATOR on access to detailed RT COVID-19 data trends Health care data infrastructure must be powerful and adaptable to changing data needs, especially within a cross-disciplinary hospital network during a pandemic. Houston Methodist leadership anticipated the need for centralized COVID-19 research data and instituted the retrospective research task force, which in turn established CURATOR – the Houston Methodist COVID-19 Surveillance and Outcomes Registry.

As the clinical nerve center for COVID-19 in the Greater Houston area, Houston Methodist encountered an extraordinary need for validated datasets for effective decision making regarding clinical and observational studies. CURATOR was designed to meet this need and is populated directly with relevant data from electronic health records. It facilitates continuous data tracking from COVID-19 cases and controls and pre- and post-COVID-19 testing. CURATOR provides rapid access to data between Houston’s COVID-19 surges, enabling Houston Methodist to quickly adapt therapeutic strategies as needed.

Applying financial algorithms to predict COVID patterns – the effect of emotions on adherence to COVID preventive measures Using the idea that human emotions motivate financial decisions,

In finance, the Elliot Wave principle is based on crowd

the Elliot Wave principle accurately predicts financial market

psychology and states that collective mood swings create

fluctuations. Because human emotions can likewise drive decisions

wave patterns in market price movements.

about infection prevention measures in a pandemic, such as vaccination and mask wearing, Houston Methodist researchers

The Mathematics in Education Program, lead by Vittorio

investigated whether the Elliot Wave principle could be effective

Cristini, PhD, demonstrated that the Eliot Wave principle

in predicting the future trajectory of the COVID-19 pandemic.

accurately reproduced COVID-19 data patterns for various countries. The wave patterns they found accurately reflect the cycle of crowd psychology as fear of infection gives way to relaxation in government policies or disobedience to those policies driven by economic hardship and resentment.

Extrapolating from their results, Cristini’s team mapped out various possible pandemic trajectories based on different vaccination campaign success rates and varying levels of compliance with preventative measures.

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Booster shot update – first doses delivered Sept. 20

Prevalence of long-COVID among the young In a Houston Methodist study published in Nature’s Scientific Reports, Sonia Villapol, PhD, an assistant professor of neurosurgery at the Center

September 17, 2021

for Neuroregeneration, and her collaborators conducted a systematic

On September 17, the key scientific

in children and adolescents and to present the full spectrum of symptoms

advisory council of the FDA voted 16-2

present after acute COVID-19. PubMed and Embase to identify observational

to deny authorization of a Pfizer mRNA

studies published before Feb. 10, 2022, that included a minimum of

vaccine booster shot to the general public.

30 patients aged 0 to 18 years who met the National Institute for

Instead, the panel recommended the booster

Healthcare Excellence definition of long-COVID. The literature search

for those at high risk for severe COVID-19

yielded 21 studies that met the inclusion criteria, and a total of 80,071

and those age 65 and older. The committee

children and adolescents. The prevalence of long-COVID was 25.24%,

cited evidence that the initial doses seem

and the most prevalent clinical manifestations were mood symptoms

to provide robust protection against severe

(16.50%), fatigue (9.66%), and sleep disorders (8.42%). Children infected

illness leading to hospitalization and death, and they cited insufficient safety data in

review and meta-analyses to estimate the prevalence of long-COVID

by SARS-CoV-2 had a higher risk of persistent dyspnea, anosmia/ageusia, and/or fever compared to controls.

younger age groups. In a poll rather than a formal vote, panel members did agree that boosters would be beneficial for those at high risk for occupational exposure.

September 19, 2021 In a September 19 interview with Margaret Brennan, NIH Director Francis Collins said he expects the COVID-19 booster shot will be extended to those beyond the current recommended populations.

He then reminded us that we are seeing "Science sort of playing out in a very transparent way, looking at the data coming from multiple places, our country, other countries and trying to make the best decision for right now. That's what they did.”

Transplant biorepository/ COVID study team Houston Methodist Research Institute Transplant Research Biobank – Vaccine Study

September 20, 2021 The transplant biorepository/COVID study team established a specimen Houston Methodist began offering the

collection protocol for pre-vaccine and post-vaccine sample collection of

booster on September 20, and qualifying

transplant patients. In only three weeks they enrolled nearly 1000 patients

individuals are eligible for the booster eight

to get informed consent, specimen collection, processing and storage,

months after their second dose of either

and vaccination. The value of this data is more important than ever as we

the Pfizer or Moderna mRNA vaccine.

head into the booster phase of vaccination for many.

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NEWS BRIEFS

1

PCA summer externs Since 2008, Houston Methodist Hospital in collaboration with Communities in Schools has provided local at-risk high school graduates with the opportunity to participate in an eight week Patient Care Assistant Summer Externship Program. The requirements of the Summer Externship include a 40-hour per week commitment and an additional 3-hour per day per week commitment to attend Smithwood Medical Institute for Certified Nursing Assistant training.

In 2021, the program funded nine participants. All nine

1

successfully attained their certified nursing assistant credentials, and all participants enrolled in college programs for Fall 2021. Four participants applied to continue working part-time at Houston Methodist as a Patient Care Novice.

2

RNA therapeutics awards The Houston Methodist Center for RNA Therapeutics received the Vaccine Industry Award for the Best Academic Team Research Award at the World Vaccine Congress on May 5. The competing groups included Dr. Barney Graham’s group at the NIAID Viral Pathogenesis Laboratory,

2

who developed the sequence for the Moderna vaccine.

Moderna won the award for the best COVID-19 vaccine.

The center was recognized for its work as an academic research organization supporting small companies and academic groups in their development and testing of mRNA therapeutics. The Center for RNA Therapeutics also was awarded the Houston Business Journal’s 2021 Innovation Award. The honorees were featured in a special section of the Houston Business Journal's Sept. 24 weekly edition. They also were celebrated on Sept. 23 at the Marriott Marquis downtown.

3

Faculty development launches new online courses

2

The Faculty Development team has launched six new courses to help navigate through grants and manuscript writing. Those classes include How to Use NIH RePORTER; Grant Budget Basics; Introduction to NIH Grant Research Strategy; Advanced NIH Grant Research Strategy; Introduction to Manuscript Preparation; and Advanced Manuscript Writing. If you are considering applying for an NIH grant, please reach out to Faculty Development at facultydev@houstonmethodist.org.

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4

GME awarded a planning grant The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board announced that Houston Methodist was awarded a Graduate Medical Education Planning Grant to begin development of two family medicine residency training programs at Houston Methodist Sugar Land and Houston Methodist The Woodlands hospitals.

These funds will support the program leadership and help establish these programs, which will provide

4

primary care services to the patients in Fort Bend and Montgomery counties. Houston Methodist will receive a total of $250,000 during the current grant cycle from 2021-2023, with a total of $2,750,000 in planning grants for the creation of new residency programs awarded to colleagues across the state of Texas. Many thanks to the GME team for their successful receipt of this award as we extend our exceptional training programs into our community hospitals.

5 5

Head Cap That May Help Restore Sleep Function Houston Methodist, Rice University, and Baylor College of Medicine are designing noninvasive technology to aid removal of metabolic waste. Engineers at Rice University’s NeuroEngineering Initiative in partnership with the Institute of Biosciences and Bioengineering and physicians at Houston Methodist and Baylor College of Medicine will develop a “sleeping cap” to analyze the cleansing flow of fluid that drains the brain of common metabolic waste during sleep.

The $2.8 million award issued through the Medical Technology Enterprise Consortium is for the first year of what the research team anticipates will be a

4

multiyear grant from the U.S. Army. The primary goal is to noninvasively measure and modulate the flow of cerebrospinal fluid as it circulates through the brain and clears waste.

Ultimately, the team aims to develop a lightweight, portable skullcap that can analyze and stimulate proper flow to treat sleep disorders in real time.

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NEWS HIGHLIGHTS

Career Cornerstone Award Career Cornerstone Awards acknowledge junior faculty members who have successfully secured their first National Institute of Health R01grant. The R01 is the original grant mechanism used by the NIH to support health-related research and development.

Arshad Khan, PhD Assistant Research Professor of Pathology and Genomic Medicine, for his R01, “Novel Stem Cell Immunotherapy for MDR-Tuberculosis.” Funds will enable the development of a new method of stem cell therapeutic vaccination to control MDR tuberculosis.

Zhiqiang Zhang, PhD Associate Professor of Transplant Immunology in Surgery, for his R01, “Studies of a new checkpoint regulator in the control of intestinal inflammation.” The new funding will enable the team to address the molecular mechanisms in controlling proinflammatory cytokine-induced intestinal inflammation that may have therapeutic implications for colitis and lupus.

Excellence in education Joshua D. Harris, MD Associate Professor of Orthopedic Surgery. Throughout the pandemic, Dr. Harris has remained busy advancing his education through the completion of four postdoctoral certification courses at three of the most prestigious schools in the country.

Jae Ro, MD, PhD Anatomic Pathology, Clinical and Laboratory Pathology. To the residents and fellows in the Department of Pathology and Genomic Medicine at Houston Methodist, Dr. Ro has long been known for his unparalleled passion, dedication and commitment as an educator to the 40 trainees in the department.

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Excellence in peer reviewed publications John P. Cooke, MD, PhD Joseph C. “Rusty” Walter and Carole Walter Looke Presidential Distinguished Chair in Cardiovascular Disease Research, Department of Cardiovascular Sciences Chair, Department of Cardiovascular Sciences, Professor of Cardiovascular Sciences, Director, Center for Cardiovascular Regeneration, Medical Director, Center for RNA Therapeutics, for his paper, "Telomerase Therapy Reverses Vascular Senescence and Extends Lifespan in Progeria Mice,” published in the European Heart Journal. These studies bridge a critical gap in our knowledge of the aging process or senescence by demonstrating a direct correlation to telomere length, chromatin architecture and epigenetic regulation.

Kershaw V. Patel, MD Assistant Professor of Cardiology, Assistant Clinical Member, for his paper, "Association of Baseline and Longitudinal Changes in Body Composition Measures With Risk of Heart Failure and Myocardial Infarction in Type 2 Diabetes: Findings From the Look AHEAD Trial,” published in Circulation. This manuscript is clinically significant because obesity affects 42% of adults in the United States, which contributes to the more than 34 million adults with type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in this vulnerable population.

Qing Yi, MD, PhD Ralph O’Connor Centennial Chair, Dr. Mary & Ron Neal Cancer Center, Professor of Oncology, Director, Center for Translational Research in Hematological Malignancies, Associate Director, Cancer Center Basic Research Programs, for his paper, "CD36-mediated ferroptosis dampens intratumoral CDS+ T cell effector function and impairs their antitumor ability,” published in Cell Metabolism. This study reveals a new mechanism of CD36 regulating the function of CD8+ effector T cells and therapeutic potential of targeting CD36 or inhibiting ferroptosis to restore T cell function.

Excellence in research A. Osama Gaber, MD John F., Jr. and Carolyn Bookout Presidential Distinguished Chair in Surgery, Department of Surgery, Chair, Department of Surgery, Professor of Surgery, Program Director, Transplant Surgery Fellowship, Department of Surgery, and the transplant team, for his extraordinary efforts in quickly establishing a specimen collection protocol for pre- and post-vaccine sample collection of transplant patients.

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RECRUITMENT

NEWS HIGHLIGHTS

Cesar A. Arias, MD, PhD, Department of Medicine & the Center for Infectious Diseases.

Chief of Infectious Diseases at Houston Methodist Hospital and co-director of the Center for Infectious Diseases Research at Houston Methodist and Weill Cornell Medical College.

Previously, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. Founder, Center of Antimicrobial Resistance and Microbial Genomics at McGovern Medical School. Editor in Chief of ASM’s Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy.

Amanda Arrington, MD, MHM, Associate Professor, Surgical Oncology. Director, HIPEC Program.

Previously, Associate Professor of Surgery, Vice Chair for Community Outreach, Associate Program Director, ACES Advanced Gastrointestinal Minimally Invasive Surgery Clinical Fellowship at the University of Arizona College of Medicine.

Rodney J. Folz, MD, PhD, Pulmonary Division Chief, Department of Medicine.

Previously, Chief of Pulmonary Critical Care and Sleep Medicine at Cleveland Medical Center.

Visiting Professor at Case Western Reserve School of Medicine.

Amy D. Waterman, PhD, Director of Patient Engagement, Diversity & Education, Department of Surgery, Division Chief for Patient Engagement and Diversity, Center for Outcomes Research.

Previously, Professor in Residence, Division of Nephrology, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. Senior Quality Consultant, UCLA Kidney Transplant Program. Deputy Director of the Terasaki Institute for Biomedical Innovation.

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UPCOMING EVENTS

UPCOMING EVENTS Activities are tentative, subject to cancellation or change in date, location and format.

Visit attend.houstonmethodist.org for updates.

March 8, 2022

June 16, 2022

Grant Submission Process

March 15, 2022 Intro to Components of an NIH Grant/ How to Use NIH

Platform Technologies for Rapid Response Biological Countermeasures

June 18, 2022 Inaugural Transplant Oncology Symposium*

April 7-8, 2022

June 24, 2022

The Ultimate Hands-On Training in Minimally Invasive Cardiac Surgery:

Second Annual The Future of Transplant Conference: Increasing Awareness to the Underserved*

Eleventh Annual Re-Evolution Hands-on Summit*

April 22-23, 2022 Fourth Annual Critical Care Symposium*

April 30, 2022 Tenth Annual Symposium on Enhancing Geriatric Understanding and Education (SEGUE): Geriatric Ophthalmology for Non-Geriatricians*

May 21, 2022 Cardiology for the Non-Cardiologist *

The Research and Education Magazine of Houston Methodist

Managing Editor Erin Graham Design & Creative Lead Doris T. Huang Photographers Khalil Abusharekh Scott Jones Zachary Moore Contributing Writers Abanti Chattopadhyay, PhD Heather Lander, PhD Donna Ostermayer, PhD

Second Annual ENMED Innovation Symposium & Showcase

October 24, 2022 The George and Angelina Kostas Research Center for Cardiovascular Nanomedicine Annual International Meeting The New Frontier of RNA Nanotherapeutics * CME credit available. Learners can find more info about them at attend.houstonmethodist.org Houston Methodist is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

METHODOLOGY Editor-in-Chief Jennifer Walker

August 10, 2022

Public Relations Contact Gale Smith 832.667.5843 gsmith@houstonmethodist.org Find more online: read.houstonmethodist.org/methodology Office of Communications and External Relations Houston Methodist Academic Institute Houston Methodist news@houstonmethodist.org HMAINEWS-017 | 03.2022 | 1300