Title: Deciphering the Impact of Interkingdom Dynamics on Pathogenesis in Neonates 

Award Amount: $10,000 

Group B streptococcus and Candida albicans often lead to fatal complications like meningitis in neonates; however, are generally non-lethal to mothers who may possess normal quantities of these microbes in the genital tract. The Randis lab recently observed that Candida is associated with increased GBS burden in the intestinal tract of mice. They have also reported the involvement of immune pathways, TGF- β and MAPKs. However, the mechanisms shaping interkingdom dynamics of bacteria and yeast on pathogenesis in neonates remain understudied. Here, I propose developing (and using) Caenorhabditis elegans, a well-established model of innate immune responses to study this dynamic. The model provides cost-effective, statistically sound data, using genetic screens to uncover the molecular mechanisms involved. Incidentally, two virulence factors of GBS, laminin binding protein and c3 peptidase are located near prophages in GBS. Our labs are investigating how prophages affect interkingdom interactions in bacteria-yeast interaction. Deleting these genes and studying the role of these virulence factors on innate immune response by leveraging C. elegans knockouts for previously identified pathways will establish preliminary data for collaborative R grants, inspiring collaborations within Peds and across our college. This project will help shine a light on the intricacies of host-pathogen interactions in neonates.

Title: Decreasing Healthcare Worker Stigma Toward Pregnant Persons with Opioid Use Disorder

Award Amount: $10,000 

Stigma toward pregnant and parenting people with Opiate Use Disorder (OUD) is a significant barrier to treatment and quality care. The objective of our study was to decrease stigma held by neonatal nurses toward persons with OUD during the perinatal period. The methods included two 10-minute education sessions about stigma and OUD in pregnancy followed by a 45-minute small group interaction with persons with lived experience of OUD. Participants completed identical surveys pre- & post-intervention. Survey data showed significant reductions in desired social distance in social and workplace settings, significant improvements in recognition of OUD as a physical illness and chronic medical illness comparable to other chronic illnesses, significant reductions in the endorsement of harmful stereotypes, and significant improvements in the belief that medications for OUD (MOUD) is an effective treatment for OUD and should be available to people who want it. These findings support a combination of education and contact as an effective intervention for reducing stigma and improving attitudes towards pregnant and parenting people with OUD among NICU nurses.  

Title: Short and Long-term Outcomes in Periviable Infants 

Award Amount: $10,000 

There is increasing survival in periviable infants born between 22-25 weeks’ gestation. However, these infants often experience significant complications because of their prematurity. Complications can include medical device placement including gastrostomy tube placement and tracheostomy placement, both of which result in prolonged outpatient therapies that can affect the infants neurodevelopment and contribute to increasing healthcare costs. There currently is wide variation in practice and data is lacking on the associated clinical and demographic factors associated with need for medical device and time of discharge and length of duration for need of these medical devices specifically for the population of periviable infants. The purpose of our project will be to assess risk factors associated with the need for medical devices at time of discharge and at two years of age in periviable infants by creating an automatic database from the electronic medical record to include prenatal to NICU to outpatient follow-up clinical information.

Title: Transcriptional regulation of age-associated B cells (ABCs) in immune dysregulation in partial recombinant activating gene deficiency (pRD) 

Award Amount: $10,000 

Inborn errors of immunity often result in immune dysregulation that are hard to treat. Cross-talk between translational clinician-scientists, molecular biologists and immunologists is essential to create bioinformatic pipelines to evaluate transcriptional and functional programs of the adaptive immune cells. These studies can decipher mechanisms that influence the participating immune cells’ behavior and functions and promote targeted therapies. Age-associated B cells (ABCs) are often expanded in immune dysregulation; however, their contribution to the disease progress is not fully understood. We aim to investigate changes in ABC transcriptional program and chromatin accessibility in immune dysregulation caused by partial recombination activating gene deficiency with or without chronic TLR stimulation. In our experiments, we will sort three different B cell compartments (transitional, follicular B cells and ABCs) from the spleen of the healthy and pRD mice and perform bulk RNA and ATAC sequencing. With our newly developed multiplatform integrative analysis, we will track the transcriptional changes and the chromatin accessibility. We expect to identify key molecules which determine the behavior of the ABCs in disease.

Title: A Culinary Medicine Elective for Medical Trainees: Addressing the Gap in Nutrition 

Award Amount: $10,000 

Nutrition plays a pivotal role in managing and preventing obesity and metabolic syndrome, yet medical trainees do not complete any standardized nutrition curriculum during medical school or residency. This proposal seeks to implement a culinary medicine curriculum at the University of South Florida to address five core nutrition competency gaps identified by an expert panel and published in JAMA in 2024.