Penn State College of Medicine FY2024 Annual Report

DEFINING WHAT MEDICINE MEANS

A New Era Begins

On September 1, 2023, Karen E. Kim, MD, MS, the Dorothy Foehr Huck and J. Lloyd Huck Chair in Rural Health Research and Professor, started her tenure as the dean of Penn State College of Medicine. Kim brings more than 25 years of wide-ranging clinical, educational, research and administration expertise with her to Hershey.

“I am excited and honored to be the new dean at the College of Medicine,” said Kim. “The admiration faculty, staff and students have for Penn State is palpable and its reputation as a leading public research university is outstanding. To have the opportunity to join this esteemed institution is

incredible – I am excited to build on my colleagues’ successes and further Penn State’s impact across Pennsylvania and beyond, including among underserved rural and underrepresented populations.”

Kim will lead the College of Medicine in furthering its education, research and clinical missions, and will maintain and continue to build a strong culture of innovation and team-based interdisciplinary collaboration. As Physician in Chief, Kim will play a critical role in shaping the clinical environment of the academic health system, including how the College’s academic research, education and innovation missions enhance equitable and inclusive clinical care.

College of Medicine dean makes leadership gift, issues scholarship challenge

In February 2024, Dr. Karen Kim committed to giving $250,000 over the next five years to bolster medical student scholarships and to challenge alumni, friends, faculty and staff to follow her lead. She is joined in her philanthropy by her husband, Dr. Randy Chang, an anesthesiologist with Penn State Health Medical Group.

“I believe that enriching scholarship resources is vital to the college’s

continuing excellence and the success of our medical students, who will shape the future of health care,” said Kim. “Our gift is intended to affirm that belief.”

Since the challenge began, 11 new endowed scholarship funds have been established, with commitments totaling $925,000.

To join this challenge, call Development at 717-531-8497.

Learn more about Dr. Karen Kim

Dear College of Medicine community,

This inaugural 2023-2024 Annual Report exemplifies Penn State College of Medicine’s dedication to our core missions of leading-edge research, field-defining patient care, innovative education and impactful community service. Throughout my first year as dean, I have witnessed the drive, determination, creativity and pursuit of excellence that define our students, faculty and staff which are highlighted within this report. And I have been inspired by the generosity of the many thousands of alumni, faculty, staff and friends who have supported these accomplishments and so much more.

We are proud to celebrate the contributions of our academic health system to Penn State University’s research portfolio with over $160 million in total awards ranking highest among any college at the University. The diversity of our research and scholarship is tremendous – from foundational discoveries and novel therapeutics to developing interventions to improve rural community health.

The quality of our education continues to be a point of pride, deeply rooted in the humanities, health systems science, global and rural health, and integrated research. Our approach to training the next generation of scholars addresses real-world challenges through hands-on learning in partnership with our health system and exceptional faculty. The 2024 MD Class had a 100% match rate with 41% staying in Pennsylvania and 25% entering primary care. This match success supports our dedication to serving the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania by training providers equipped to serve underserved and rural populations through the growth of the primary care workforce.

This academic year highlights the success of the College of Medicine’s vision as an academic health system of lasting eminence. It has been an honor to lead this College as we transform to be a leading academic health system dedicated to improving the health of our communities through research, education and clinical innovation. I look forward to continuing to grow, learn and impact our communities together.

Sincerely,

Karen E. Kim, MD, MS Dean

Dorothy

Foehr Huck and J. Lloyd Huck Chair in Rural Health Research

Penn State College of Medicine

RESEARCH & INNOVATION

EDUCATION

By the Numbers

Penn State College of Medicine

Only medical school in the nation with #1

Ranking within Penn State University in the following areas

Highest NIH-funded college

100% Match Rate

$60.4M

102 Student Interest Groups

1.6%

Admissions Rate Incoming Class of 2028

4 yr Global Health Program

1 st medical school in the nation with Humanities and Family & Community Medicine Departments HSS Nationally recognized Health System Science curriculum

5,100+

U.S. News

Nationally ranked for Pediatric Cancer, Neurology & Neurosurgery and Orthopedics

The Pennsylvania State University

$1.24B Annual research expenditures

Top 6%

World-class university –QS World University Rankings, 2024

Top 30

U.S. research university

#1

Home to the world's largest studentrun philanthropy, THON™, benefiting Four Diamonds to support pediatric cancer research and patient care

775K+

Largest alumni network in the world

1 of

3

Institutions in the nation accorded Land Grant, Sea Grant, Sun Grant and Space Grant status

WHY Penn State College of Medicine?

Amber Carr, MD Class of 2027

Recipient of the Dean's University Scholarship

As a nontraditional student, I wanted to attend a school that values my past experiences and unique path to medicine. In all my interactions with Penn State faculty, staff and students during the admissions process, I have felt that my background is not only valued, but sought after. I also wanted a school that would support my research interests in the humanities, and Penn State College of Medicine has the oldest in-house humanities department in the country. I could not have asked for a better fit for my medical education than Penn State.

Brianna Evans, MD/PhD Medical Scientist Training Program

Recipient of the College of Medicine, MD, PhD Program Endowment

While interviewing at various MD/PhD programs, my interview and experience at Penn State College of Medicine was the most inviting of all the places I interviewed and visited. My time in the medical program has fostered a supportive and collaborative environment, which I have found immensely beneficial. I was also drawn to the integration of humanities into the curriculum. For my graduate studies, the strong emphasis on research collaboration and the specialized focus of the Addiction Center for Translation at Penn State College of Medicine aligned well with my interests in addiction research. Here, I have found a program where both my educational and research interests can thrive.

WHY?

Dillon Duttera, Physician Assistant Class of 2025

Recipient of the Jeffries Scholarship for Physician Assistant Students

I chose to attend Penn State's PA Program for many reasons, but to me what stands out most about Penn State is their commitment to giving back to the community. Growing up in Pennsylvania, THON™ and Mini-THON® fundraisers were always a huge event in my hometown, a rare event that brought together people of all walks of life to contribute to a singular cause. A few families in my town were Four Diamonds families, and hearing firsthand about how Penn State helped these families to navigate through the most difficult time in their lives always resonated with me. I’ll never forget the mom of the boy with leukemia who lived down the street from me coming to speak at Mini-THON about how she didn’t ever have to worry about the burdensome cost of her son’s treatment, and the generosity that Penn State demonstrates year after year is exactly what I sought out in a PA Program. No other school I considered has such a proven track record of generosity, kindness, and tenacity, and those values are inseparable from the medical education we are receiving right now.

Christopher Tseng, MD, otolaryngology resident

Recipient of support from the Kia Kermani Foundation Research Fund for Personalized Medicine

I was drawn most to Penn State’s strong support and funding for research, collaborative environment and diverse clinical experiences for residents. As someone interested in exploring technology in medicine, the College of Medicine’s commitment to advancing artificial intelligence in clinical applications has been especially encouraging.

WHY?

Marina Chulkina, postdoctoral scholar

The College of Medicine is deeply committed to the training and success of early career-stage investigators, with numerous available resources, seminars and workshops provided by various departments, state-of-the-art core facilities, the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs and the Office of Research Development.

Section I

COMMUNITY IMPACT

Like many states across our nation, Pennsylvania is 70 percent rural which requires a collective, multisector approach to improve the health of each of these vulnerable communities. Bolstered by engagement and financial support from community partners and research awards, the College of Medicine embodies the University’s land-grant mission by training the next generation of health care providers, researchers, public health scientists and community members dedicated to working together to develop an inclusive and innovative approach to combat the rural health disparities in Pennsylvania and beyond.

VENDING MACHINES AREN’T JUST FOR SNACKS

As Pennsylvania’s only land-grant university, Penn State College of Medicine is committed to improving the health and well-being of communities throughout Pennsylvania. By partnering with community organizations and government officials the College is addressing diseases of despair and health disparities.

The College of Medicine collaborated with community partners to launch two new ‘Health To Go’ vending machines connecting users to community services and providing free health, wellness and personal care items.

The vending machines are the first in Pennsylvania and accessible to the public 24/7.

“These vending machines will be able to provide free wellness and personal care items to people who need it, and connect them to local services to address social determinants of health. The data collected

24/7 availability 1st in PA

through this project will allow us to make sure the supports and services people need in the community are readily available to them,” said co-lead primary investigator Alice Zhang, MD, MPH, assistant professor and family medicine physician in the College of Medicine Department of Family and Community Medicine. “A key part of this project was making sure that we worked with the local communities so that the vending machine could serve their needs, and so we would like to thank our community partners for their partnership and efforts in making this project possible.”

The interactive, smart vending machines dispense free health, wellness and personal care items and connect users to community services and resources like food, shelter, medical care and social services. Common items available for dispensing include opioid overdose reversal kits, medication

disposable bags, personal care items, condoms and pregnancy tests.

One of the additional features of the vending machines is they will inherently collect information about how the vending machine is being used. For example, the time of day, what items are being viewed and subsequently dispensed. Additionally, the vending machines will ask the user questions about their demographics and human services needs. No identifying information will be collected, but the information will help inform future projects and study the needs of the community.

“Unfortunately, certain communities have been deprived of equal access to addiction treatments and health care. Additionally, the disease of addiction is marginalized and stigmatized yet it is prevalent in our communities. As the College of Medicine for Pennsylvania’s public land-grant university, we are trying to change this,” said Aleksandra Zgierska, MD, PhD, endowed professor and vice chair of research for Family and Community Medicine. “The vending machine project was developed in collaboration with our community partners to serve its members. We look forward to seeing the impact this project has and welcome feedback to improve the vending machines.”

Learn more about how the College of Medicine is using innovative ways to address health disparities in our communities

Actively addressing needs in rural Pennsylvania

As future providers, students at the College of Medicine gain first-hand experience in caring for and creating opportunities to improve the health of rural Pennsylvanians. The LION Mobile Clinic, led by Michael McShane, MD, assistant professor in the Department of Medicine, uses a student-led free clinic model to increase access to health care, address food insecurity, promote economic development and enhance sustainability practices in under-resourced communities across the Commonwealth. The clinic is helping to prepare the next generation of community-centered clinicians and empowering residents in rural communities to become healthier.

”Discover more in the video

Penn State addresses rural health through community informed research, outreach

As Pennsylvania’s only land grant institution, Penn State faculty, staff and students are improving the lives of rural Pennsylvanians through research collaborations, outreach and training programs. With more than 24 campuses and locations scattered across Pennsylvania’s 67 counties, Penn State is positioned to impact rural communities through groundbreaking research and dedicated community outreach efforts.

Unfortunately, many rural Pennsylvanians experience poorer health outcomes, known as health disparities. Health disparities are preventable differences in the burden, or impact, of a disease or injury or fewer opportunities to achieve optimal health that are experienced by socially disadvantaged populations.

“Despite the significant advances medicine has made, not all communities benefit,” said Jennifer Kraschnewski, MD, Penn State Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) director. “Our CTSI’s vision is to advance rural health equity by ensuring our discoveries and

outreach programs are reaching our rural communities. Successfully addressing rural health disparities requires engagement with community organizational leaders to understand current challenges faced and creating partnerships with our academic researchers, staff and trainees so we can work towards collaborative solutions.”

Penn State College of Medicine and Penn State CTSI are on the front lines of the mission to improve rural health and address health disparities by ensuring rural communities have access to the resources and partnerships to improve their quality of life.

“Our partnership with Penn State is helping to improve health in our community,” said Bonnie Kent, director of the Northern Dauphin Human Services Center. She’s worked with Penn State on various initiatives to enhance community health and wellness in northern Dauphin County, where an estimated quarter of the population is living below the poverty line. “Whether it’s funding to build our community garden, research into ways to break down barriers to health care, education and housing, or Penn State medical students volunteering their time to help our community members live healthier lives, this collaboration has been wonderful.”

With the support of CTSI’s community-engaged research core, Penn State hosts community engagement studios where researchers solicit feedback from community members about their proposed research projects. To date, CTSI has hosted more than 23 engagement studios and faculty members say the community feedback helps them move their research forward.

Kristin Sznajder, PhD, an assistant professor of public health sciences, leads the Pennsylvania – Maternal and Infant Health in a Pandemic study, which is investigating how the COVID-19 pandemic is impacting pregnancy

“Successfully addressing rural health disparities requires engagement with community organizational leaders to understand current challenges faced and creating partnerships with our academic researchers, staff and trainees so we can work towards collaborative solutions.”

”outcomes. The community engagement studio she participated in helped her refine her recruitment strategy and some of the questions in her study’s survey.

“Community engagement benefits both the researcher and the community,” Sznajder said. “For the researcher, it ensures the study will be of value to the community and that the methods and documents make sense to potential participants. It also gives community members a chance to have their voices heard by asking questions and resolving potential concerns.”

Read more about how community engagement drives research in action

Penn State College of Medicine, partners receive grant to improve health, environment in disadvantaged communities

Penn State College of Medicine has been selected to receive a $1.19 million pollution-prevention grant to improve human health and the environment in disadvantaged communities across Pennsylvania and New York. A partnership program between Penn State, ISSA – The Worldwide Cleaning Industry Association, and The City University of New York School of Medicine (CUNY Medicine), the College of Medicine is one of 24 recipients across the country selected by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

“Cleaning products are household items that we each use in our daily lives. What we may not realize is often

products have irritants that not only hurt us but also the environment,” said Penn State College of Medicine professor Rebecca Bascom, MD, MPH. “This project will provide education and technical assistance to businesses to ensure the people using the cleaning products can do their jobs safely, regardless of the language they speak or other socio-economic factors.”

EJScreen, the EPA’s Environmental Justice Screening and Mapping Tool, identifies over 3,200 disadvantaged communities in Pennsylvania and over 4,900 in New York. The goal of the project is to work with minority populations in these communities to gain

important insights and suggestions for how the Safer Choice program can be successfully implemented.

Penn State College of Medicine’s proposed project will provide technical assistance to business sectors in central Pennsylvania to develop a university-trade association-stakeholder partnership that increases the knowledge, demand, and use of 1,900 Safer Choice labeled products. Technical assistance will include conducting focus groups and stakeholder interviews, designing community-based solutions, and offering Safer Choice training to businesses and end-users.

During the spring of 2020, College of Medicine alumna and Cancer Institute staff member, Sol RodríguezColón, MPH '08 (center), saw an opportunity to support Hispanic/Latino communities in their fight against cancer.

Ensuring equitable health for all

Since people were asked to stay home during the COVID-19 pandemic – which included delayed screenings and cancer care – Sol Rodríguez-Colón and her colleagues developed the idea of doing a webinar series conducted solely in Spanish that could talk about cancer and COVID-19 as well as other cancer-related topics.

“There is a lot of misinformation about cancer among the Hispanic/Latino community. Cancer is a scary word. Not many people want to talk about it, but talking about it brings knowledge and that helps with prevention, early detection and hopefully survival.”

”Read more about how the College of Medicine is partnering with community organizations to meet the needs of vulnerable populations

“Growing up in Puerto Rico, I observed how social determinants of health could limit access to care,” Rodríguez-Colón said. “These same barriers also affect access to care in central Pennsylvania. By working with community organizations, patient navigators, community health workers and clinical research teams, we’re developing solutions to overcome these challenges and close health equity gaps.”

Rodríguez-Colón has more than a decade’s worth of public health work under her belt. As part of her efforts at the Penn State Cancer Institute’s Office for Cancer Health Equity, she established the Hispanic/Latino Cancer Community Advisory Board (CAB) in 2018. Comprised of 18 stakeholders from various organizations serving the Hispanic/Latino communities in central Pennsylvania, the group –

mostly Hispanic/Latino community leaders and health professionals –advises the cancer institute on different aspects related to cancer prevention, cancer risk, cancer research, health care and health outcomes in Hispanic/ Latino communities.

“There is a lot of misinformation about cancer among the Hispanic/Latino community,” Rodríguez-Colón said.

“Cancer is a scary word. Not many people want to talk about it, but talking about it brings knowledge and that helps with prevention, early detection and hopefully survival.”

The CAB recognized there was a gap in cancer education opportunities for Spanish-speaking populations in central Pennsylvania.

So, Rodríguez-Colón organized a team to develop a program.

¡ Hola!

A first of its kind

Penn State Clinical and Translational Science Institute connects people, institutions to cultivate research collaborations

When it comes to innovation in health care, the saying “if you want to go far, go together” couldn’t be more apt. And Penn State Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) is working to connect people and institutions to cultivate community research collaborations that improve population health and rural health equity.

Nicole Tarr, director of collaborative partnerships and research development for the CTSI, is busy leading efforts to make connections among researchers, local institutions and the community. Tarr led the planning and coordination of the most recent Research Match and Community event in Sharon, Pennsylvania, held this spring in collaboration with the CTSI administration, the Primary Health Network (PHN) and Penn State Shenango.

The two-day Research Match and Community event took place April 13-14, 2024, and served to cultivate partnerships among community partners, Penn State and CTSI researchers and faculty, and PHN, including administrators and providers. These collaborations are focused on advancing clinical and translational research and rural health initiatives. This event served as a chance to collaborate and identify a research agenda for the partnerships moving forward.

Community partners offered an overview of their organizations, including what they do in the community and potential ways CTSI and PHN can partner with them.

Community partners that attended included the Buhl Regional Health Foundation, an organization committed to improving the health and well-being of western Pennsylvania communities through education, grants, scholarships, and partnerships with local organizations; the Community Food Warehouse, a non-profit organization and a

One researcher stated, “I’m in the right place. I’m right where I needed to be — in a place where other people are passionate about rural health and I have begun to build relationships and there is significant potential to launch my program of research and new role with Penn State.”

”partner food bank of Feeding America in Mercer County; Hope CAT [Center for Arts and Technology], a non-profit organization that provides free after school youth arts programs and adult training programs; the Buhl Club, a wellness center that provides recreational, social, fitness and education programs in Sharon; and the PHN Charitable Foundation, which supports the Primary Health Network’s mission by raising funds to build and sustain healthcare programs and improve the health and quality of life of the community.

Locally, this event was the first of its kind. In December 2021, a similar event was held but was virtual. That initial meeting included CTSI and Penn State faculty as well as PHN providers, staff, and administration. The purpose of the virtual meeting was to begin conversations, with a focus on PHN to guide them in seeing the major challenges in the community and the most pressing issues involved in patient care. Discussions centered around how these issues were being currently addressed, and where Penn State researchers might help to connect needs with outcomes.

George Garrow, MD, (Med '85), CEO at Primary Health Network and 2023 recipient of the Penn State Alumni Association's Alumni Fellow Award, and Jennifer Kraschnewski, MD, director of Penn State Clinical and Translational Science Institute, at Research Match/Community Day.

Learn more about how providers, administrators and researchers are engaging as equal partners in improving community health

Section II

RESEARCH & INNOVATION

Penn State College of Medicine is a key part of the University's interdisciplinary research. Here, we are receiving funding for new and innovative research projects, bringing new technologies to market and educating the next generation of researchers and scholars. We are driving field defining research, from bench to bedside, to improve human health now and for generations to come.

Strengthening our commitment to curing childhood cancer

In the fall of 2023, Penn State College of Medicine and Penn State Health strengthened their commitment to curing childhood cancer by recruiting Giselle Saulnier Sholler, MD, an internationally known physician-scientist, and her research consortium to Hershey.

Sholler serves as the division chief of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology at Penn State Health Children’s Hospital and the director of pediatric oncology research at Penn State College of Medicine. The College of Medicine provides oncology team members with dedicated research space and opportunities to explore and identify treatments in the field of pediatric oncology. Additionally the College of Medicine is now the home of the Beat Childhood Cancer Research Consortium, a worldwide network of more than 55 universities and children’s hospitals dedicated to discovering new therapies and cures for children with cancer. The research consortium has enrolled more than 1,800 pediatric cancer patients in more than 23 trials.

Four Diamonds, a leader in childhood cancer care, treatment and innovative research, provided support to bring Sholler and the research consortium to the Children's Hospital and the College of Medicine.

“There is significant value in housing the consortium within an academic medical center, where we can combine the pillars of research and care to advance knowledge, drive medical discoveries and change lives,” said Sholler.

”“The consortium team and its international infrastructure ensure that these children have access to a full range of medical services, including more targeted therapies such as precision immunotherapy to fight neuroblastoma, brain tumors, sarcomas and rare cancers in a more directed way.”

Read more about the consortium’s vital research and patient trials making enduring impacts across the globe

Four Diamonds child Harmony Chiccarine

FDA approves pediatric neuroblastoma drug providing hope for families worldwide

In 2003, the first year of her fellowship in pediatric oncology, two of Giselle Saulnier Sholler’s first three patients had died from neuroblastoma, closely matching the 30% survival rate expected at the time for high-risk neuroblastoma. She knew research was the only way to change these outcomes. Now, 20 years later, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the first drug — based on Sholler’s research and clinical trials she led through the Beat Childhood Cancer Research Consortium — to reduce the risk of relapse for pediatric high-risk neuroblastoma patients.

“Neuroblastoma is rare, with only 800 cases diagnosed in the United States each year,” said Sholler, who is now the division chief of pediatric hematology and oncology at Penn State Health Children’s Hospital and the director of pediatric oncology research at Penn State College of Medicine. “I am so thankful that our research studying this drug, both in our laboratory and through clinical trials, over the past 14 years has brought so much hope to our pediatric oncology teams and the families of children with high-risk neuroblastoma.”

Neuroblastoma is a cancer that develops primarily in children less than 6 years old. It originates in immature nerve cells found in several areas of the body, most commonly in the adrenal gland and next to the spine. About 50% of the patients already have advanced

metastatic disease by the time they are diagnosed, with spread to lymph nodes, bones, bone marrow and liver most commonly. Of these high-risk patients, Sholler emphasized that about 40% of those who enter remission will relapse within four years, and of those, fewer than 10% will survive five more years.

The drug, called eflornithine (DFMO) and newly branded as IWILFIN by US WorldMeds, reduces the risk of relapse for pediatric high-risk neuroblastoma patients achieving at least a partial response after multiagent, multimodality therapy including immunotherapy by more than 50%.

This finding was the result of a trial analysis led by Sholler and the Beat Childhood Cancer Research Consortium in collaboration with US WorldMeds, funded by the Beat Childhood Cancer Foundation and published in Journal of Clinical Oncology on Oct. 23. According to Sholler, the evidence provided by this study led directly to FDA approval.

“Dr. Sholler and her team have an unwavering singular focus on doing what is best for the children in the clinic today,” said Patrick Lacey, who founded the Beat Childhood Cancer Foundation and has a child with neuroblastoma. “That belief drives everything they do and mirrors the indefensible hope that we have as parents of children with cancer that something

“It’s amazing — together, we have made a difference. With the help of the families, our research partners, US WorldMeds and so many others, it’s clear that research extends beyond testing drugs. It provides hope for every family affected by pediatric cancer.” – Sholler

”can be done. This drug approval has the potential to dramatically change the landscape for kids with neuroblastoma, and it all started with the belief that it was possible — followed by the sheer determination to take every step necessary to achieve that goal. We are fortunate to be able to help to fund these efforts to help improve survival for children who need our help.”

Read more about Giselle Saulnier Sholler reflecting on 20 years working to change cancer outcomes for children

For The Kids® $236M

total raised to date

THON™, the largest student-run philanthropy in the world, assists Four Diamonds in its commitment to conquer childhood cancer. Money raised helps our academic health system to uniquely support our community by fueling Penn State College of Medicine research and clinical trials to find new and better treatments for patients at Penn State Health Children’s Hospital and around the world. It also supports cancer patients and their families with ongoing, comprehensive support. Their purpose – For The Kids®. You can learn more about Four Diamonds at fourdiamonds.org.

4.7K families helped

Watch the THON 2024 story here to learn more about the impact on curing childhood cancer

Research that makes vaccines possible

Meet Neil Christensen, MSc, PhD, director of the Gittlen Laboratories for Cancer Research, supported by the Jake Gittlen Memorial Golf Tournament, and professor in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at Penn State College of Medicine.

Twenty-five years ago, Dr. Christensen discovered neutralizing monoclonal antibodies for the human papillomavirus (HPV) which led to the development of the original HPV vaccine — Antibodies that are still being used by vaccine manufacturers to quality control test vaccines as part of their drug development programs.

Dr. Christensen’s life’s work has resulted in several vaccines being developed and commercialized — he is an example of what makes us Penn State College of Another Breakthrough Medicine.

Watch Dr. Christensen’s incredible story on his impact to vaccine development worldwide

Can weight loss drugs help in addiction treatment?

In recent years, the popularity of drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy has skyrocketed. While this new class of drugs, called GLP-1 receptor agonist drugs, are approved for use in diabetes and for weight loss, researchers have found that they might help with other conditions too, like cardiovascular disease and addiction. They’ve made such a splash that the journal Science named GLP-1 drugs the 2023 Breakthrough of the Year.

Among those investigating the potential of GLP-1 drugs for the treatment of addiction are Patricia “Sue” Grigson, MS, PhD, professor and chair of the department of neural and behavioral sciences at Penn State College of Medicine, and Scott Bunce, PhD, MA, associate professor in the department of psychiatry and behavioral health at Penn State College of Medicine.

In the United States, one person dies from an overdose every five minutes, according to the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. Grigson and Bunce are among the first to investigate whether GLP-1 drugs could play a role in the treatment of opioid use disorder. In February, Grigson presented early results from a small clinical trial at the American Association for the Advancement of Science conference in Denver.

According to Grigson, the results look promising. Later this year, Grigson and Bunce plan to begin a larger clinical trial of a GLP-1 drug to treat opioid addiction in the outpatient setting.

Penn State News caught up with Grigson and Bunce to discuss their work.

Q: There’s a lot of buzz about drugs like Ozempic and how they may be helpful for more than just weight loss. When did you start to think that they might have a role in addiction medicine?

“We saw a 40% reduction in opioid craving among participants who were taking the GLP-1 drugs compared to those who received the placebo. It was a significant reduction, equivalent to the percent reduction in craving that Scott and his team have previously seen following two weeks of intensive residential treatment at Caron.” – Grigson

”Grigson: For decades people have thought about addiction as hijacking the brain’s reward pathway. We started thinking about people’s behavior and the lengths they will go to satisfy their need for their substance of choice. If it’s a physiological need, we wondered if a drug that elicits satiety or fullness could be helpful. That led us to GLP-1 receptor agonists.

In our lab, we mostly look at opioid use disorder. We completed our first preclinical study in 2017. Since then, we’ve found that GLP-1 agonists work very nicely in preclinical models. We’ve found that they reduce relapse to heroin and fentanyl seeking whether elicited by cues, stress, or the drug itself and reduce heroin and fentanyl-induced seeking behavior in both male and female rats.

But we wanted to translate our data and study this in human participants. Scott and I joined forces and were awarded a grant from the NIH Heal Initiative. We started a small clinical trial in 2019.

To read the full Q&A visit the link on the right > >

Learn more about the work being done behind the scenes to impact the opioid crisis in our rural communities

Defining what medicine means through research

At Penn State College of Medicine, basic scientists and clinicians are collaborating to understand the mechanisms of disease, reduce health disparities facing rural Pennsylvanians, develop next-generation therapeutics and medical devices, utilize advanced imaging and biomedical artificial intelligence, to improve health now and for generations to come.

Discover more in the video

A simple test to diagnose a concussion?

What if a simple saliva test could diagnose a concussion and predict its severity? Physician scientist Dr. Steven Hicks and a research team from Penn State College of Medicine are working with local high school and college students who are lending their spit to a good cause – leadingedge research that could revolutionize concussion care. This is how we protect what matters. He is an example of what makes us Penn State College of Translating Science Medicine.

Discover more in the video

Inventing the future of reconstructive surgery

Dino Ravnic, DO, MPH, MSc, and his team, including a medical student research fellow, are investigating ways to develop reconstructed, vascularized bone in the lab. Bone loss is a frequent problem after events such as traumatic injuries. The interdisciplinary team of Penn State surgeons, biomedical engineers and material scientists is seeking to address this need for new therapies by developing engineered bone flaps that have the same mechanical stability as bone. The principles of this research may also be applied to soft tissue reconstruction, for the future of surgical innovation.

Discover more in the video

Using Artificial Intelligence in biomedical research

Fadia Kamal, PharmD, PhD, discusses the research she and her colleagues are conducting to develop an Artificial Intelligence (AI)-assisted method to analyze osteoarthritis radiographs. This new method will help improve the reproducibility of future research.

Discover more in the video

Investigating Artificial Intelligence to better health outcomes

“The College of Medicine, with our health system, Penn State Health, is uniquely situated to advance AI at the intersection of health and technology. With our extensive data resources and outstanding faculty, we are reimagining biomedical research, education, health outcomes and value-based patient care.”

Read more about the College's AI strategies

College of Medicine updates trustee committee on AI portfolio and strategies

The Penn State Board of Trustees Committee on Academic Affairs, Research and Student Life discussed the University’s artificial intelligence (AI) portfolio and strategies to build upon the University’s current AI footprint during its meeting on June 20.

Joining committee members were Karen Kim, MD, MS, dean of the College of Medicine, and Dajiang Liu, PhD, MA, distinguished professor and vice chair for research in the Department of Public Health Sciences and director of bioinformatics and AI in the college. Together, they highlighted how the college is poised to be a leader in AI by fully leveraging science, technology and practical applications to enhance health.

“As Pennsylvania’s only rurally located academic health system and the Commonwealth’s only land-grant University, we are using data to improve the lives of our community members.”

”Kim outlined College of Medicine strategies to leverage AI into four tracks:

• Maximizing patient-related outcomes through predictive models for health and fair AI applications to improve the future of health

• Reimagining the role of AI in advancing scientific discovery

• Employing AI to address operational efficiencies and streamline work for faculty and staff

• Lessening administrative workloads by using AI to improve administrative efficiencies in a cost-effective way

AI continues to be a strategic priority at the College of Medicine, Kim said. In 2023, the college issued pilot funding to support AI projects, and faculty have built upon that initial investment to further their research.

Across the College of Medicine, researchers are participating in projects related to artificial intelligence with a variety of goals, including identifying risk factors to

“The College of Medicine has been committed to making artificial intelligence a research priority long before it was a buzzword.”

”provide better preventative medicine, prevent recurrence of major health events or provide earlier and more accurate diagnoses for health conditions.

In addition to utilizing the expertise of researchers and clinicians at the College of Medicine and Penn State Health for artificial intelligence projects, the college is working with collaborators across Penn State, including at Commonwealth Campuses, and partnering with Highmark Health to leverage data science to maximize predictive models and patient-related outcomes.

“The College of Medicine has been committed to making artificial intelligence a research priority long before it was a buzzword,” Liu said. “Our interdisciplinary faculty experts have the tools and drive to make our research competitive at the national level. I look forward to our progress and the future.”

College of Medicine leads NIH grant investigating the use of artificial intelligence to improve outcomes for stroke patients

Researchers at Penn State College of Medicine were awarded more than $2 million by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke to develop a multi-center validated artificial intelligence-based model to predict the mortality and recurrence of ischemic stroke for enhancing secondary prevention.

The four-year grant will seek to expand and improve predictive models through the creative use of vetted electronic health records data for ischemic stroke patients. By partnering with two additional health systems and universities in both urban and rural areas, Geisinger, Johns Hopkins, and the University of Memphis, they will explore how social determinants of health impact the clinical data for more than eight million people.

“For those with limited access to health care, establishing predictive models are lifesaving treatment measures.”

College of Medicine faculty receive biomedical artificial intelligence grants

Penn State College of Medicine leaders awarded $225,000 in pilot funding to researchers as part of goal two of its strategic plan focused on artificial intelligence and biomedical informatics. Faculty will apply cutting-edge approaches in biomedical artificial intelligence, machine learning and informatics to help make rapid advances in biomedical research.

Nine investigators received seed funding for their proposed research projects to address biomedical and health challenges using state - of- the - art technology and computational innovation. The goal of the awards is for faculty to develop research ideas into proposals that lead to external funding from the National Institutes of Health and other leading research-funding institutions, and translate those discoveries into improved health and health care for the diversity of communities the College of Medicine and Penn State Health serve and humanity at large.

“Machine learning and AI have the potential to transform both the speed and accuracy with which life-saving discoveries can be made.”

CTSI seed grants awarded to exploratory AI-enabled biomedical research projects

Four research teams have been awarded funding through Penn State Clinical and Translational Science Institute's (CTSI) Seed Grant Program for 2024-25. The goal of this seed grant program is to establish collaborations needed to realize the promise and potential of artificial intelligence (AI) in biomedical and health research.

CTSI seed grants will support interdisciplinary teams to explore promising but high-risk research projects and obtain preliminary results to support competitive proposals to [the National Institutes of Health], [the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute] and other funders.

“Powered by large data sets, AI offers unprecedented opportunities for advancing biomedical discoveries and individual and population health outcomes.”

LEARN MORE

Essential mechanism for bacterial gut colonization discovered

New light has been shed on a key event that contributes to the successful colonization of bacteria in the gut of mice, according to a new study from Yale University and Penn State. The study, published in Science, reveals that a physical process called “liquid-liquid phase separation” is essential for the survival and colonization of the beneficial bacteria Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron in the gut.

“In our field we are trying to understand how bacteria can colonize your gut and what the molecular components are that allow these organisms to reside in your intestines, because not all bacteria can,” said Guy Townsend, PhD, assistant professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at the Penn State College of Medicine and an author on the paper. Prior to this work, researchers did not understand the mechanisms that allowed B. thetaiotaomicron to thrive in the gut of mammals.

Townsend and the team’s findings could be a step toward significant implications for human health, as manipulating the gut microbiota could lead to medical interventions that promote gut health and treatments for diseases of the gut.

The researchers demonstrated the crucial role played by an “intrinsically disordered domain” (IDR) within a particular protein in the bacterium, called Rho, that facilitates liquid-liquid phase separation.

Liquid-liquid phase separation is when two liquids that don’t mix well separate into different parts because of their chemical differences. This process helps cells create structures that don’t have a membrane and are important for many cell functions.

3M

U.S. adults are affected with Crohn's disease and colitis

Read more about the work Townsend and his team members from the Yale School of Medicine are doing to tackle this issue

12M U.S. adults think about suicide every year 2M attempt suicide annually

Call 988 if you or someone you know is experiencing suicidal thoughts or behaviors

‘First-of-its-kind study’ reveals how various demographic factors intersect to affect a person’s risk of having suicidal thoughts and behaviors

Non-Hispanic and Hispanic Black bisexual women who live in rural areas have the highest prevalence of experiencing suicidal thoughts and behaviors, according to a Penn State-led study. The researchers said this “first-of-its-kind study,” published in JAMA Psychiatry, revealed how various demographic factors intersect to affect a person’s risk of having suicidal thoughts and behaviors.

An estimated 12 million adults in the United States think about suicide every year, with nearly two million attempting suicide annually. While previous studies have examined how individual demographic factors, like race and gender, individually associate with suicide risk, no studies have demonstrated how different factors combine to influence overall risk. Lauren Forrest, PhD, assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral health

at Penn State College of Medicine, analyzed annual National Survey on Drug Use and Health responses from more than 189,000 individuals who provided information on their gender, race, sexual orientation, ethnicity and how rural their environment is, to study how these factors intersect or combine to affect risk of suicidal thoughts and behaviors. The researchers analyzed data from 2015 to 2019.

“We already know that some groups — like LGBTQIA+ individuals or women — are at increased risk for suicidal thoughts and behaviors,” Forrest said. “However, every person possesses multiple identities — including gender, race and sexual orientation, to name a few. Some combinations of identities, for example, Black bisexual women, may be associated with unique suicide risk profiles. But we can’t see these unique risk profiles if we only look at one identity at a

time, which is what we’ve been doing thus far in research. It’s important to investigate how prevalence of suicidal thoughts and behaviors varies across intersectional identities, so we can identify populations most at risk and develop interventions specifically for those groups and their unique experiences driving their suicidal thoughts and behaviors.”

The researchers found that the intersectional group with the highest prevalence of suicidal ideation was Hispanic bisexual women living in rural areas — 20% of whom had thought about killing themselves in the last year before they took the survey. By contrast, the intersectional group with the lowest prevalence of suicidal ideation was Hispanic heterosexual men living in large metropolitan counties, where only 3% had contemplated suicide in the year before completing their surveys.

Learn more about how research is helping determine groups most at risk and develop and implement effective interventions for the underlying causes of health disparities and inequities

30 trillion estimated number of cells in the human body

ADVANCED IMAGING GIVES RESEARCHERS FRONT ROW

VIEW OF CELLULAR JUNCTIONS

College of Medicine team discovers new molecular complex at cellular junctions

Penn State College of Medicine researchers are using advanced imaging techniques to study how life functions at the atomic, cellular, tissue and organism levels. These research projects are driven by diseases observed in clinic, and the discoveries scientists are making in the lab could someday lead to new treatments for patients with skin diseases, cancers, neurological conditions and other disorders.

One of these projects is led by Andrew Kowalczyk, PhD, professor of dermatology and of cellular and molecular physiology, who uses rare skin diseases as the context for studying how cells adhere to each other, or form connections. Scientists estimate there are more than 30 trillion cells in the human body, and the ability for these cells to connect to form tissues and respond to stress is essential for normal tissue and organ function.

“Rare diseases affect few people, but they can reveal so much about fundamental biology that we take for granted,” said Kowalczyk, the Department of Dermatology Endowed Professor. “Our lab’s goal is to make critical discoveries about cell function in the context of rare diseases that can be applied to a multitude of biomedical problems.”

Kowalczyk’s team consists of postdoctoral scholars, graduate students, staff, faculty and international collaborators. With their combined expertise in live cell imaging, machine/ deep learning and other techniques, the team aims to make fundamental discoveries about contacts between human cells.

“We’re bringing the brightest minds from multiple scientific disciplines together to answer fundamental questions about how living cells function at the molecular level. Our faculty, staff and trainees are making discoveries that will shape the future of medicine.” – Leslie Parent, MD, vice dean for research and graduate studies

”In particular, the Kowalczyk lab studies desmosomes, which are cellular adhesion structures essential to the function of organs like the skin and the heart. In their latest work, published in Nature Cell Biology, the researchers described the architecture and dynamics of a complex formed between desmosomes and the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) — a membranous system within cells involved in protein folding, modification and transport. They made what they called an “unexpected” discovery in the cellular junctions: the ER associates with desmosomes and keratin intermediate filaments, a cytoskeletal network that allows skin cells to resist mechanical stress.

The idea of an association between ER and desmosomes was first proposed by Sara Stahley, PhD, an assistant professor of dermatology and of cellular and molecular physiology, based on her observations of rare skin diseases like Darier’s disease that link ER and desmosome function.

Navaneetha “Nav” Krishnan Bharathan, PhD, a postdoctoral scholar in the Kowalczyk lab, took on the challenging task of developing methods to study the hypothesized ERdesmosome complex. He assembled tools for visualizing the ER, including an approach to fluorescently label ER tubules — tiny tubes comprising the ER. He then developed live cell imaging techniques that provided the lab with its first evidence of stable ER-desmosomal associations in cell-cell junctions in a mirror-like arrangement.

Read more about how the Kowalczyk lab is using advanced imaging and artificial intelligence to study life at all scales

A study that could close global health equity gaps and change pregnancy care guidelines

Penn State College of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania study indicates maternal sensitization to fetal red blood cell antigen rarely happens in first trimester pregnancies

A special immune treatment may not be necessary until after the first trimester of pregnancy, according to a new Penn State and University of Pennsylvania study. The researchers said their results could change pregnancy care guidelines and possibly close global health equity gaps.

They published their findings on Sept. 26 in JAMA.

Human red blood cells have proteins on their surface called antigens. One of those proteins, Rh immunoglobulin, is what makes a person’s blood type “positive” or “negative.” An Rh-negative person can become pregnant with a fetus who is Rh-positive, since that trait can be inherited from the other parent. At a certain point, the pregnant person’s blood becomes exposed to the new antigen, causing the body to mount an immune response, known as Rh sensitization.

Read more about the potential world-wide impact of this research study

“Rh sensitization isn’t a bad outcome on its own,” said Sarah Horvath, MD, assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Penn State College of Medicine, who led the study investigating if the first trimester is too early to treat for Rh sensitization. “If someone becomes sensitized during their first pregnancy, it only becomes problematic if they have a second pregnancy and if the fetus is Rh positive and if there is a high enough concentration of fetal red blood cells in the pregnant person’s blood to then illicit an immune response.”

When that immune response happens, fetal anemia could develop, requiring blood transfusions at birth, or in some cases, before birth. In a small handful of instances, fetuses could develop fatal hemolytic diseases. To prevent these immune responses, scientists treat Rh-sensitized pregnant people with Rh immunoglobulin to “block” their immune systems from reacting to Rh-positive fetal red blood cells.

Previous population-level evidence found only 9% to 10% of patients negative for Rh ever become

“By conserving this vital human blood product, we can have cost savings for patients in higher-resourced countries and allocate treatments to lowerresourced countries that may benefit from increased access to supply.” – Horvath

”sensitized during a full-term pregnancy. By routinely implementing Rh immunoglobulin treatment at delivery, only 1.1% to 1.6% of people became sensitized. Additional prophylactic treatment at 28 weeks of pregnancy decreased that rate to 0.2%. But this rate was not reduced anymore in high resource countries that adopted Rh immunoglobulin treatment even earlier in pregnancy, which led scientists like Horvath to wonder if administering treatment early in pregnancy was necessary.

New AI algorithm may improve autoimmune disease prediction and therapies

A new advanced artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm may lead to better — and earlier — predictions and novel therapies for autoimmune diseases, which involve the immune system mistakenly attacking their body’s own healthy cells and tissues. The algorithm digs into the genetic code underlying the conditions to more accurately model how genes associated with specific autoimmune diseases are expressed and regulated and to identify additional genes of risk.

The work, developed by a team led by Penn State College of Medicine researchers, outperforms existing methodologies and identified 26% more novel gene and trait associations, the researchers said. They published their work today (May 20) in Nature Communications.

“We all carry some DNA mutations, and we need to figure out how any one of these mutations may influence gene expression linked to disease so we can predict disease risk early. This is especially important for autoimmune disease,” said Dajiang Liu, PhD, MA, distinguished professor, vice chair for research, and director of artificial intelligence and biomedical informatics at the Penn State College of Medicine and co-senior author of the

study. “If an AI algorithm can more accurately predict disease risk, it means we can carry out interventions earlier.”

Genetics often underpin disease development. Variations in DNA can influence gene expression, or the process by which the information in DNA is converted into functional products like a protein. How much or how little a gene is expressed can influence disease risk.

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS), a popular approach in human genetics research, can home in on regions of the genome associated with a particular disease or trait but can’t pinpoint the specific genes that affect disease risks. It’s like sharing your location with a friend with the precise location setting turned off on your smartphone — the city might be obvious, but the address is obscured. Existing methods are also limited in the granularity of its analysis. Gene expression can be specific to certain types of cells. If the analysis doesn’t distinguish between distinct cell types, the results may overlook real causal relationships between genetic variants and gene expression.

The research team’s method, dubbed EXPRESSO for EXpression PREdiction with Summary Statistics Only, applies a more advanced artificial intelligence algorithm and analyzes data from single-cell expression quantitative

14 autoimmune diseases analyzed 26% more novel gene and trait associations identified

“If an AI algorithm can more accurately predict disease risk, it means we can carry out interventions earlier.”

”

trait loci, a type of data that links genetic variants to the genes they regulate. It also integrates 3D genomic data and epigenetics — which measures how genes may be modified by environment to influence disease — into its modeling. The team applied EXPRESSO to GWAS datasets for 14 autoimmune diseases, including lupus, Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis and rheumatoid arthritis.

“With this new method, we were able to identify many more risk genes for autoimmune disease that actually have cell-type specific effects, meaning that they only have effects in a particular cell type and not others,” said Bibo Jiang, PhD, MA, assistant professor at the Penn State College of Medicine and senior author of the study.

The team then used this information to identify potential therapeutics for autoimmune disease. Currently, there aren’t good long-term treatment options, they said.

“Most treatments are designed to mitigate symptoms, not cure the disease. It’s a dilemma knowing that autoimmune disease needs long-term treatment, but the existing treatments often have such bad side effects that they can’t be used for long. Yet, genomics and AI offer a promising route to develop novel therapeutics,” said Laura Carrel, MA, PhD, professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at the Penn State College of Medicine and co-senior author of the study.

Read more about how the team is using AI for better — and earlier — predictions of diseases

Medicine

A College of Medicine-led research team custom programmed a clock face for the Fitbit Versa smart watch, which will set personalized goals for study participants after synthesizing information about a wearer’s daily physical activity.

Researchers develop app to encourage long term physical activity, reduce Alzheimer’s risk

Penn State College of Medicine researchers are exploring a new way to keep people physically active long-term, and in doing so, they said they hope to prevent the development of Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative diseases. With a $3.6 million, two - phase grant from the National Institute on Aging (NIA), the team will study whether training people to set and monitor their progress toward short-term, everyday physical activity goals encourages them to stay physically active long term.

According to Jonathan Hakun, PhD, assistant professor of neurology and lead researcher on the project, engaging in regular light intensity physical activity may have significant health benefits, including advantages for cognitive and brain health. While federal guidelines maintain that regular engagement in high intensity exercise is ideal for long-term health and disease prevention, light intensity physical activity may offer another avenue to positive health outcomes that may be more accessible to individuals transitioning into an active lifestyle.

“Step counting, which has become an almost universal feature of fitness and smart watches these days, is a very accessible method of tracking total physical activity levels,” Hakun said. “But, instead of just having the device keep track of our step counts each day, we’re hoping to use a ‘bite-sized’ goal setting approach to encourage people to learn how and when they might make steady progress toward health promoting levels of daily physical activity.”

Hakun hypothesizes that maintaining activity goals by setting small, achievable targets will not only help people achieve their day-to-day goals, but that it will lead to long - term, positive health outcomes.

Embracing activity to prevent brain disease

One of the health outcomes researchers want to avoid is Alzheimer’s disease — a condition that more than six million Americans live with. Research shows that overweight and obese people are at increased risk for developing Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias, but getting and staying physically active in midlife may reduce the risk of developing dementia.

“I’m excited to develop the knowledge and infrastructure needed to run a nuanced and technology-driven study like this, which could help reduce risk for neurodegenerative diseases. This project is a unique blend of data science, programming, psychological and clinical research.” – Hakun

”According to Hakun, researchers have conducted numerous lifestyle intervention clinical trials to improve cognitive and brain health, but one question still remains unanswered at the end of these trials — are people sticking with the new habits they’ve developed?

Hakun and his team will use wearable devices to deliver interventions designed to promote long - term maintenance of light intensity physical activity in middle-aged adults at increased risk for Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias.

They developed a custom clock face for the Fitbit Versa smart watch. While the clock face initially appears as just a time and battery level display, it synthesizes information about the wearer’s daily physical activity patterns. Over time, the clock face will leverage that information

to set personalized goals using an algorithm developed by the team.

First, the clock face app will calibrate participant’s activity levels for a few weeks. Then, the clock face switches into a “training” mode where the daily step goal intervention begins. All participants will be offered adaptive, daily step goals and have the ability to self- monitor their progress. But, one group will be randomly assigned to an experimental condition involving interim goal setting every few hours.

“What I love about this study is that everybody gets the ‘intervention’, which is a month-long, adaptive light intensity physical activity intervention,” Hakun said. “Everyone will have the opportunity to make a positive change in their health, and that’s really exciting.

Hakun said he believes these intermittent, short- term goal prompts, known as ecological momentary interventions, will promote long-term adherence to physical activity.

Read more about where data and programming meet psychological research

Penn State connects community to research studies with upgraded registry

Explore the innovative Penn State clinical trials and research studies available to participants worldwide

Penn State’s clinical research database now makes it easier for community members and patients to find studies related to their medical history and interests. StudyFinder, the University’s clinical research study database, now allows users to create a personalized profile and receive communications about available studies that align with their submitted medical conditions and demographic information.

“Participating in clinical research gives participants a way to be a part of tomorrow’s health care breakthroughs,” said Neal Thomas, MD, associate dean for clinical research at Penn State College of Medicine. “Penn State is always looking for

people who are willing to participate in studies, so that our researchers can better understand how to diagnose, treat and prevent diseases and conditions.”

StudyFinder allows potential participants to quickly and easily identify studies across Penn State that need volunteers. Some studies are looking for people with a specific condition, while others need healthy volunteers. On the StudyFinder portal, participants can find studies that may be right for them based on their medical condition, age, location or other demographic information. They can also register to be contacted about participating as a healthy volunteer for studies.

$3.8M NIH grant funds 3D tissue and organism visualization project

Read more about how the team is crafting ways to democratize visualization and analysis for the scientific community

Keith Cheng, MD, PhD, distinguished professor of pathology, of pharmacology and of biochemistry and molecular biology at the Penn State College of Medicine, has been awarded a four-year, $3.8 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to further develop novel methods for 3D imaging tissue.

Cheng, who is also affiliated with the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, Penn State Cancer Institute and Institute for Computational and Data Sciences, said he plans to broaden the new form of 3D imaging his team has developed, which he called “X-ray histotomography,” to characterize all tissues and cell types. Cheng’s efforts will focus largely on whole traditional models of human biology and disease, such as fruit flies and zebrafish. His team will also image parts of larger organisms like mice and humans.

Like computed tomography (CT) scans, Cheng’s technique uses X-ray beams to take sets of pictures at thousands of angles in two dimensions (2D). These sets of 2D images are then converted into 3D images to create models of plant and animal samples up to a centimeter in diameter.

“We are creating models of the entire nervous system in a whole animal from a single 3D image captured in about an hour — a first,” Cheng said.

Increasing diversity in clinical trials

Penn State Cancer Institute researcher Stuthi Perimbeti, MD, has received the Robert A. Winn Diversity in Clinical Trials Career Development Award from the Bristol Myers Squibb Foundation (BMSF). The award is part of a two-year program designed to support diverse early-stage investigator physicians or those who have demonstrated a commitment to increasing diversity in clinical trials research within their local communities.

Perimbeti, an assistant professor of medicine at Penn State College of Medicine and oncologist at Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, primarily focuses on the treatment of genitourinary cancer. Her research focus is precision oncology with the goal to improve cancer care equity. Leveraging her biostatistics and artificial intelligence background, Perimbeti’s work identifies biomarkers and harnesses data to conduct clinical trials that reduce disparities and optimize precision cancer care.

“This is a dream interdisciplinary project with applications across biology, medicine, agriculture and AI and involves collaboration with industry and multiple government agencies,” Cheng said. “I love to keep asking, ‘What of great importance can we accomplish together that none of us can do alone?’”

”This new technology promises potential advancements in cancer diagnosis, according to Cheng, as diagnoses rely on the microscopic study of all the cells and their arrangements in pathology tissue samples. In fact, his lab’s project, “Building a Wide-field, High-resolution Histotomography Resource for Biology,” was inspired by a problem in cancer diagnosis.

“Dr. Cheng’s vision and leadership in the field of advanced imaging is an asset not only to our College of Medicine, but science as a whole,” said Karen Kim, MD, MS, dean of Penn State College of Medicine. “By providing unprecedented insights into the intricate details of tissues and cells, this research has the potential to revolutionize the field of medical imaging and significantly impact the diagnosis and treatment of cancer and other diseases.”

Learn more about how the college is ensuring treatments are more effective and inclusive of patients

“It is imperative to increase representation in clinical trials,” Perimbeti said. “The training, development and mentorship provided by this grant will equip me to increase clinical trial diversity to help ensure equitable progress in cancer prevention, early detection and treatment for the benefit of all patients.”

My sister and I do a lot together, including getting our annual mammograms. It keeps us honest. On Dec. 7, 2022, we had our routine screenings. Hers was fine. Mine was another story.

I was diagnosed with breast cancer. You could have knocked me over with a feather. The irony ― I am a cancer nurse and have been all my career. I am also the director of the Penn State Cancer Institute Clinical Trial Office.

My office manages all of the cancer clinical trials for all types of cancer. Clinical trials are so important in cancer care. They are what lead to Food and Drug Administration approvals, which make the drugs we use to treat cancer today possible. Without clinical trials, there would be no cancer treatment.

People like me would have no hope. The following month was a whirlwind.

Without clinical trials ‘people like me would have no hope’ ”

It appeared that we caught the cancer while it was contained to one breast. Then came biopsies, test after test to see if it had spread anywhere else, doctor visits galore, and finally, on Jan. 4, my first dose of chemotherapy.

Researchers have been refining the use of chemotherapy since the dawn of the 20th century. In 1919, a clinical trial was conducted on a patient with advanced lymphosarcoma using mustard gas. Just this year, Penn State Cancer Institute has participated in 10 treatment trials for breast cancer alone. All clinical trials at Penn State Health are conducted through Penn State College of Medicine.

Every week for 12 weeks I was given drugs to shrink my breast tumor and attempt to keep the cancer limited to one breast. Chemotherapy is tough. The side effects are tough. How it makes you feel about yourself as a woman is tough. Getting

“Every drug I have received so far is the result of men and women participating in clinical trials that have shown these drugs are safe and effective in the treatment of breast cancer. The same applies to drugs for other cancers. The research toward a cure continues. The brave men and women that volunteer know that they are making a difference in the future treatment of breast cancer.”

out of bed is tough. Did I mention that I worked during the entire treatment? Yep, that was tough too.

But here’s the thing ― I’m thankful for every one of these painful, uncomfortable moments. They save lives. They’re saving my life. And we owe all of it to clinical trials – to the people who volunteer to use their own bodies to further the science and to the researchers who tirelessly work to find new ways to stop what once seemed unstoppable. I’m also thankful for the team that I work with. Without them, I would have never made it.

I lost my hair about five weeks after I started. Wigs ― what can I say. They serve

a purpose but squeezing into one is like wearing a too-tight hat all the time. My eyebrows and lashes also disappeared.

Two weeks later, surgery. I received a bilateral mastectomy, and then came another surprise. The cancer had spread to two of my lymph nodes. I had known that the cancer in my breast had responded beautifully to the treatment, but I would need more chemotherapy.

Watch Doris’ story and discover more about the importance of clinical trials

Doris Shank is the director of the Penn State Cancer Institute Clinical Trial Office and breast cancer survivor

College of Medicine receives $20M grant to research alternative tobacco products

Penn State College of Medicine received a five-year, $20 million federal grant to investigate the harmful effects of alternative tobacco products, research that will help with better regulation and improve public health.

The College is one of just seven sites across the country to receive the grant as part of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) Tobacco Centers of Regulatory Science (TCORS) funding that was awarded in the fall.

The TCORS award will fund a trio of studies, led by the College’s Center for Research on Tobacco and Health, that explore how the design of alternative tobacco products can affect their toxicity and addictiveness.

“Our center is unique in that we are addressing both the chemical toxicity of tobacco products (the part that causes

Read more and sign up to participate in the studies

harms directly to the human body), and the addictiveness of tobacco products (the characteristic that results in people using tobacco products for decades rather than a few months or years),” said Jonathan Foulds, PhD, one of the principle investigators (PI) and professor of public health sciences, psychiatry and behavioral health. “It is the combination of these two factors that determines the overall health effects.”

The single largest contributor toward preventable premature death in the U.S. is cigarette smoking-caused disease, he added, so this research could have a significant ripple effect for public health and policy.

“The benefits to the public are two-fold,” he said. “One is that the scientific results of our studies will be able to clarify the relative harmfulness and benefits of these new products so the public can make better choices. Two,

“In 1997, 25 percent of high school seniors were daily cigarette smokers. Now, less than 2 percent of high school kids smoke cigarettes,” Foulds said. “That 18 to 25 age group is now using e-cigarettes and nicotine pouches rather than cigarettes, and we need to assess the potential health effects.”

through our research, we can also inform the FDA of the harmfulness and benefits of these products so they can better regulate them in the interest of public health.”

The funding also supports three distinct units as part of the Center for Research on Tobacco and Health, called “cores,” that bring multidisciplinary teams to the table.

The Biostatistics and Data Management Core lends a team of statisticians to help researchers properly analyze research data, while the Biomarker and Analytical Chemistry Core guides the biochemical analyses of each of the three research projects.

The Career Enhancement Core (CEC), co-led by Andrea Hobkirk, PhD, assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral health, public health sciences and neural and behavioral sciences, and Jessica Yingst, DrPH, assistant professor of public health sciences, is a unique component of the TCORS funding: It expands the reach of TCORS to directly involve learners and trainees from different career stages in the tobacco research. The CEC includes undergraduate and medical student summer interns, predoctoral scholars enrolled in doctoral programs at the College, postdoctoral fellows and faculty investigators new to tobacco regulatory science.

The College’s Summer Undergraduate Research Internship Program provides a pipeline for the TCORS CEC and its applicants come from all over the country, Hobkirk said, while the medical students are selected from the College’s medical school programs.

All TCORS research centers are required to have a CEC and each site develops training opportunities that are unique to their own research and expertise –opportunities that are available to trainees at TCORS sites across the country. The chance for learners and trainees to get involved, Yingst said, helps to mold the next generation of tobacco regulatory science researchers.

“Trainees involved with the TCORS and the CEC will be connected with a diverse network of researchers and policy makers across the United States, providing access to unique opportunities and experiences that trainees typically do not receive working in only one laboratory,” she said.

Anyone who is interested in joining in the training didactics or research with the Penn State TCORS team should email TCORS@psu.edu.

WHAT THE TCORS TEAM WILL BE STUDYING

Project 1 | E-cigarettes

Project 1 will explore the question of whether inhaled e-cigarette oxidants and their potential for harm are influenced by product design features. Generally speaking, an oxidant is a chemical that is highly reactive with other chemicals, which can create new chemicals and thus increase the risk for cancer and other diseases. It will also test whether the biological effects of these oxidants can be measured through biomarkers (like urine samples) of both exposure and harm.

Project 2 | Little cigars

Project 2 will investigate the potential toxicity related to oxidant production in little cigars (like Swisher Sweets), as well as any product design features that might affect human exposure.

Project 3 | Nicotine pouches

Project 3 is led by Foulds and it comprises a randomized controlled clinical trial to investigate the effects of smokers using nicotine pouches to reduce their cigarette smoking.

College of Medicine scientists receive $27.8M in research funding for conditions including obesity, cancer, diabetes and autism spectrum disorder

From the beginning of January through the end of March 2023, Penn State College of Medicine researchers received 173 awards and contracts totaling $27.84 million.

Faculty and their teams will develop new models to study disease and develop new therapeutic strategies for obesity, cancer, diabetes, autism spectrum disorder and other conditions.

Read on to discover more about the 12 projects > >

Section III

EDUCATION

At Penn State College of Medicine, we are committed to enhancing health by preparing the next generation of clinicians, educators and scientists to be future leaders of 21st-century medicine and research.

We meet this goal through our rich humanities-based curriculum, the integration of health systems science and research, collaboration with outstanding faculty mentors and the generous financial support of alumni and friends.

Preparing the future generation of students to care for someone with a disability

Meet Lydia Smeltz, third-year medical student at Penn State College of Medicine and recipient of multiple scholarships. Learn how she took advantage of the opportunity to create a curriculum through the College’s health systems science program and the impact she is having to prepare the future generation of students to care for someone with a disability at the College of Medicine.

Watch Lydia’s story to learn more about how the Health Systems Science Office sponsors students to create curricula and health care delivery projects of their own

Return of the Global Health Exchange Program

After a three-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Penn State College of Medicine resumed its Global Health Exchange Program (GHEP) in July. The class, comprised of two Penn Staters and 16 international students, recently wrapped up its three-week training program in Hershey.

The immersive program, embedded in Penn State’s Master of Public Health (MPH) and Doctor of Public Health (DrPH) graduate programs, is designed to give participants a comprehensive view of health through an intercultural learning experience. This year’s group of students come from various backgrounds and are pursuing degrees related to medicine, public health, nutrition and health care management.

“Our program is responsible for modeling best practices for our students, teaching the importance of equity and ethics in global health partnerships. This kind of mutual engagement among institutions, educators and learners can result in powerfully important global dialogue,” said Julie Lentes, senior instructor and manager of Public Health Sciences’ Global Health Program.

Penn State students, along with students from Taiwan, Grenada, Nepal, Ecuador, Brazil, China and Bahrain, completed the summer program. Through their studies, they gained insight on global health topics, including social determinants of health, disease prevention, medical-legal issues, One Health and emergency preparedness.

“The wealth of knowledge and experiences that each person brings from different corners of the globe make for very rich and engaging learning experiences,” said N. Benjamin Fredrick, MD, professor of family and community medicine, Doctors Kienle Chair for Humane Medicine and director of the Global Health Center. “I always enjoy interacting with the participants.”

As part of the three-credit colloquium, students attended faculty lectures, participated in discussions, and visited various locations and governmental sites, including the Pennsylvania Department of Health and Pennsylvania General Assembly. For their final projects, students compared health challenges in the U.S. to those in other countries and presented possible solutions.

“After we put the program on hold for three years because of the pandemic, GHEP 2023 returned to the Hershey campus stronger than ever. This year, GHEP carried a special meaning, and participants felt it, too, that public health and global health are in fact inseparable and that culture and health are indeed intertwined,” said Wenke Hwang, PhD, associate professor of public health sciences.

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“Being able to see how different professional fields connect to human health has made my judgment better, as an aspiring physician, to look at something holistically rather than separately.” – Alexandra Bascombe from Grenada

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Class of 2023 adds to Heather Skonier-Baer Endowment, enhances financial guardrail for students

Two years after the death of Penn State Health nurse Heather Skonier-Baer, medical and physician assistant students who face unexpected financial challenges are receiving timely support from the student emergency assistance endowment created in her memory.

The College of Medicine Class of 2023 chose the Heather Skonier-Baer Endowment as the beneficiary of their class gift, adding $13K to the endowment principal.

“With our class gift we wanted to address the financial strain that many students feel, especially when a situation arises that can threaten to derail a medical career,” said Ashley Wong, DO, member of the Class of 2023.

Wong said her class’s experience earning medical degrees

during a global pandemic meant they didn’t have the social and other events that would have tapped their funds. She said they wanted to direct the funds to something meaningful that would make a difference for others. They also saw this gift as a way to remember their classmate, Cyril “Simo” Tankam, who died in a drowning accident in his home country of Cameroon in December 2022.

“Simo truly embodied the We Are spirit,” Wong said. “By supporting the Heather Skonier-Baer Endowment, we hope future students will know the college community has their back if a crisis arises.”

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Penn State College of Medicine receives $2.8M to train next generation of physician scientists

Penn State College of Medicine has received a nearly three million dollar training grant from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences for its Medical Scientist Training Program. The award provides tuition support to students aspiring to complete both a Doctor of Medicine (MD) and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree. Receipt of this training grant from the National Institutes of Health gives prospective students an additional reason to consider Penn State, according to program co - director Robert Levenson, PhD.

“Funding support is competitive among MD/PhD programs across the country and this award signals to our peers and prospective trainees that we are among the best in the nation,” Levenson said.

Learn more about how we are preparing the next generation of students

A summer of opportunities

Penn State College of Medicine hosts first cohort of clinical research interns

Six Penn State students are better prepared for careers in clinical research thanks to a summer internship program at Penn State College of Medicine. For eleven weeks, the interns took active roles in existing research projects, immersed themselves in the conduct of research and learned more about careers in clinical research.

Students from Penn State Greater Allegheny and Penn State University Park formed the first group of clinical research interns at the College of Medicine. The internship is part of the Penn State Undergraduate Clinical Research Training Program

housed at Greater Allegheny and supported by the College of Medicine and Penn State Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI).

The program starts when students take HHD: 410 Clinical Research, a course offered through Penn State Greater Allegheny and taught by Andrea Stevens, PhD, assistant professor of biology. The course equips students from Greater Allegheny, University Park, Penn State New Kensington and Penn State Harrisburg with the skills and knowledge to pursue careers in or related to the conduct of clinical research.

Penn State places fourth out of 31 teams in global health competition

Penn State students Elijah Akinade, Mahmoud Azqul, Jasmine Mackley, Samantha Murphy and Belle Peterson proposed a solution to curbing a “twindemic” public health crisis in India that won them fourth place among 31 teams from across the U.S. at the 2024 Emory Morningside Global Health Case Competition, held in Atlanta on Saturday, March 23.

“I am immensely proud of our students for their outstanding performance at the case competition,” said Kristin Sznajder, PhD, assistant professor of public health sciences and associate director of international initiatives for Penn State College of Medicine’s Public Health Graduate Program. “Their victory is a reflection of their outstanding dedication, teamwork and innovation, and their ability to compete on a global stage.”

Learn more about how our students are leading the charge towards a better future

Learn more about how our interns are impacting medicine

MD/PhD student wins prestigious NIH fellowship in bioinformatics and genomics

Havell Markus, a MD/PhD student at Penn State College of Medicine and a past trainee of the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences’ Computation, Bioinformatics, and Statistics (CBIOS) training program, has been awarded the NIH F30 Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award Individual Predoctoral MD/PhD Fellowship Award by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences.

His funded research and thesis proposal titled “Genetic regulation of genes on active and inactive X chromosome and their contribution to sex-biased diseases” is co-mentored by Dajiang Liu, PhD, MA, and Laura Carrel, MA, PhD.

The proposed research will seek a better understanding of how our DNA influence the risk of developing autoimmune diseases such as lupus, rheumatoid arthritis and type 1 diabetes. Autoimmune diseases affect nearly 10 percent of the world

Read more about how Bond is blending data science, genomics and molecular genetics to improve patient outcomes

populations and often have no cure. In their advanced stages, these diseases cause substantial morbidity and mortality and significantly reduce the quality of life.

At a basic level, the immune system is designed to defend the body against harmful invaders like bacteria, viruses and other pathogens. However, in autoimmune diseases, the immune system mistakenly recognizes some parts of the body’s own tissues as foreign and begins to attack them. This misdirected immune response can cause damage to various body tissues and cause autoimmune diseases. A most notable feature of autoimmune disease is sex bias, where females are disproportionately affected.

“My research lies at the intersection of biology, medicine, statistics and machine learning, and seeks to understand what causes sex differences,” said Markus.

Read more about Havell and his work addressing significant health issues

Graduate student awarded prestigious fellowship from National Science Foundation

Paige (Elizabeth) Bond, a doctoral student in the biomedical sciences graduate program at Penn State College of Medicine, has been selected as a fellow for the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) in 2024. Bond is the first student from the College of Medicine to be selected for this fellowship.

The GRFP recognizes graduate students who are advancing research and teaching science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Bond, whose background is in biochemistry, is one of the 1,500 fellows selected from over 12,000 applicants.

For the five-year fellowship, Bond will focus on identifying deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) changes that influence traits and disorders more prevalent in women than men, such as many autoimmune diseases. She is particularly interested in finding genes on the sex chromosomes since role of these gender determinants in human genetic disorders is often ignored.

Under the joint supervision of Laura Carrel, MA, PhD, and Dajiang Liu, PhD, MA, Bond will use a combination of experimental and computational approaches to link DNA alterations to genes that are disrupted in autoimmune disorders to better understand disease mechanisms and find people who are at highest risk.

“Paige is a very worthy recipient of this award,” Liu said. “Her science is at the forefront of human genetics. Her ability and interest in utilizing multiple approaches will be key for understanding the molecular basis of autoimmune disorders.”

NSF fellows are required to translate their scientific knowledge and findings to the general public. Bond is building a website that will describe what her studies find on the X chromosome. This site will include information of interest to high school and college students and clinical geneticists alike.

Two College of Medicine graduate students receive prestigious Penn State awards

Mason

Breitzig and Mayura Dhamdhere recognized for impactful research

Two graduate students at Penn State College of Medicine have received the Penn State Alumni Association Dissertation Award as part of Penn State’s most prestigious annual graduate student recognition awards led by the Graduate School.

This award recognizes outstanding achievement in scholarship and professional accomplishment and highlights doctoral students whose dissertations will have the greatest impact.

Mason Breitzig, a doctoral candidate in epidemiology, and Mayura Dhamdhere, a doctoral candidate in biomedical sciences with a dual title in clinical and translational sciences, were named recipients of the award.

“Our graduate students tackle fundamental questions in biomedical research and public health sciences. It is truly inspiring to observe their talent and dedication to making discoveries that ultimately help improve human health,” said Daniela Zarnescu, PhD, associate dean for graduate education and post-doctoral training and professor of cellular and molecular physiology at the College of Medicine. “Mayura also finds time to contribute to the community, and Mason finds time to teach undergraduates at Elizabethtown College. These outstanding students epitomize the amazing caliber of the graduate trainees in the College of Medicine.”

Breitzig’s research is focused on developing new quality control metrics to enhance treatment practices and guidelines for depression and other mood disorders. Selecting effective treatment strategies for mood disorders remains a significant challenge for modern psychiatry. To address this, Breitzig developed the GCA-8, an algorithmic approach to evaluating whether real-world depression treatment matches evidence-based guidelines. His research showed that the innovative metric can identify gaps in treatment for future clinical research, practice and guideline development.

“The College is the perfect place for this type of research," Breitzig said, "partly because of the collaborative interdisciplinary relationship between the departments of public health sciences and psychiatry and behavioral health.”

”Dhamdhere’s research goal is to understand the mechanisms behind Neuroblastoma, a common childhood cancer, with an aim of developing efficient treatment. Roughly half of diagnosed children have advanced stage metastatic disease, and many of these do not respond to the current combinations of therapies, often resulting in relapsed tumors. Her work pioneered a new genetic regulator, termed IGF2BP1, that is associated with neuroblastoma progression, and she is now exploring ways to target this as a therapeutic approach.

“Since my undergrad, I was always inclined toward studying the in-depth molecular basis behind diseases, which led me to do internships at several research labs focusing on infection, immunology and cancer progression,” Dhamdhere said. “During my time at MD Anderson Cancer Center, I got an exposure to the intriguing and complicated questions faced in cancer, which built a passion in me to work toward the betterment of cancer therapeutics, which has strengthened even more while pursuing my PhD work.”

Dhamdhere’s research can help to develop improved treatments for these clinically resistant Neuroblastomas. Her dissertation project has also led to new modeling techniques that will greatly benefit the neuroblastoma research community.

“The College is closely connected to Penn State Cancer Institute and Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center,"

Dhamdhere noted, and this connection – as well as the ongoing cancer research in basic and translational science – was key in her decision to apply for graduate school here.

”Learn more about how our students are being change agents of 21st-century medicine and research

100% Matched

In March, Penn State College of Medicine medical students and their families and friends celebrated Match Day—the day in which fourth-year medical students open their envelopes and find out where they will be doing their residency, marking the next step on these students’ journey to becoming a physician. The annual celebration is made possible by a generous endowment from the Penn State Alumni Association.

CLASS OF 2024 | WHERE THEY’RE GOING

See more from the Match Day celebration and a complete list of where the class will be completing their residency training > >

25% ENTERING PRIMARY CARE 41% STAYING IN PENNSYLVANIA 32% ENTERING RESIDENCY AT PENN STATE HEALTH while others will join residency programs in 22 other states and the District of Columbia

1 SERVING IN THE MILITARY

102 STUDENT GROUPS

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