dhc newsletter - cincinnati children's hospital … cynthia c. wetzel, phd bench-to-bedside...
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By: Cynthia C. Wetzel, PhDBench-to-Bedside Research in Pediatric Digestive DiseaseDHC NewsletterA Quarterly Publication from the Digestive Health Center
IN THIS ISSUE:• 2014PilotandFeasibility
Recipients• ResearchonJournalCover• ScanningElectronMicro-
scopeUpgrade• NIHPublicAccessPolicy• 2014BalistreriLecture• MembersReceiveHonors• NewDHCMembers
June2014Volume11Issue1
2014 Pilot and Feasibility Recipients
David Haslam, MDCincinnati Children’s Dept. of Pediatrics; Division of Infectious Diseases
“Role of the Intestinal Microbiome in Defense Against Clostridium difficile-associated Disease”
Clostrium difficle infection is among the most common hospital-associated infections, accounting for considerable morbidity and occasional mortality. The diagnosis and man-
agement of C. difficile infection is challenging since many children carry the organism without having any symptoms and others develop severe colitis. Dr. Haslam has developed a mouse model of C. difficile infection to study the role of the intestinal microbiome on host defense against C. difficle.
The Digestive Health Center (DHC) is pleased to announce the recipi-ents of its 2014 Pilot & Feasibility grants. We received a large number of competitive applications and faced a difficult task to select 3 recipients. Below we introduce the awardees and their research programs.
Joseph Sherrill, PhDCincinnati Children’s, Dept. of Pediatrics; Division of Allergy and Immunology
“Characteriztion of the Antimicrobial Peptide RNase 7 in Eosinophilic Esophagitis”
Eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) is a chronic, allergic inflammatory disorder of the esopha-geal mucosa. Little is known regarding the potential of the esophageal microbiome and its regulation on disease pathogenesis. Dr. Sherrill’s preliminary analysis of whole-genome expression data identified a 12 fold reduction in RNase 7, a potent cationic ribo-
nuclease with broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity in the esophageal mucosa of patients with EoE. His pilot study will investigate the impact of RNase 7 dysregulation on the esophageal microbiome.
Timothy Weaver, PhDCincinnati Children’s, Dept. of Pediatrics; Perinatal Institute; Co-Director, Division of Pulmonary Biology
“Star-Related Lipid Transfer Domain Protein (StarD7) in Intestinal Epithelial Barrier Function and Food Sensitization”
As much as 20% of the world’s population is affected by atopic disease. An emerging concept in the allergy field is that predisposition to atopic disease is primarily due to a
defect of epithelial barrier function. Preliminary data identified a strong link between intestinal epithelial specific deletion of StarD7 (a lipid transporter that specifically binds and transports phosphatidylcholine between membranes) and epithelial barrier dysfunction. Dr. Weaver will test the hypothesis that StarD7 is a novel nuclear co-factor that promotes expression of genes involved in epithelial barrier function.
ical Hepatology and Associate Chair for Clinical Research in the Department of Internal Medicine. Her research focuses on the treatment of hepatitis B and C and the prevention of liver cancer. Dr. Lok will present her research on Tuesday December 2 as part of the DHC Seminar Series. Additionally, Dr. Lok will participate in “Balistreri Rounds”, an op-portunity to discuss a complex liver patient case on Wednesday December 3.
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DHC Seminar Series- Summer BreakThere will be no seminars in July or August.
Our fall seminar series will begin on Tuesday Sep-tember 9. Seminars are held on Tuesdays at noon in CCHMC Location S Room 6.125. Bring your
lunch. Soft drinks and desserts are provided. The enrichment series includes distinguished speakers from outside the Academic Medical Center as well as conferences by investigators from Cincinnati.
The research work of DHC member Rohit Kohli, MD, a pre-vious Pilot and Feasibility re-cipient, was published on the cover of the March issue of Liv-er International. Dr. Kohli and colleagues demonstrated that the loss of the mixed lineage
kinase 3 (MLK3) in mice is protective against high fat high carbohydrate diet-induced nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, in a weight-independent fashion, through the attenuation of c-Jun N-terminal Kinase (JNK) activation. These results suggest that MLK3 could be a potential therapeutic target for the treat-ment of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis in humans.
Member’s Research Highlighted on Journal Cover
Save the Date- 2014 William and Rebecca Balistreri LectureDr. Anna Suk-Fong Lok will be
the 2014 William and Rebecca Bal-istreri Lecturer for Translational Research in Hepatology. Dr. Lok is the Alice Lohrman Andrews Re-search Professor in Hepatology in the Department of Internal Medi-cine at the University of Michigan
Health System. Dr. Lok is also the Director of Clin-
Scanning Electron Microscope UpgradeThe Pathology Research Core has updated the
Scanning Electron Microscope facility by adding a Field Emission Electron Microscope. This new microscope is able to produce clearer, less electro-statically distorted images with a resolution that is 3 to 6 times better than the conventional Scanning
Electron Microscope. For more information contact:
Kerri [email protected]
NIH Public Access Policy and Acknowledge DHC GrantThe National Institutes of Health (NIH) Public
Access Policy requires that the final version of any peer-reviewed journal article resulting from NIH funding must be submitted to the NIH Manuscript Submission (NIHMS) system in order for the pub-lication to be included in the PubMed Central re-pository. Please note: not all journals will submit the article on behalf of the authors. Processing an article through the NIHMS system requires time and the author approving the submission twice. Articles must have a PubMed Central ID number (PMCID) within 3 months from the publication
date. Currently, the NIH is delaying the release of funds if publications resulting from the grant are not compliant.
If you have received a Core subsidy from the DHC, please acknowledge the DHC grant in your publication by stating:
“This work was supported by NIH grant P30 DK078392 (insert here name of core used) of the Digestive Disease Research Core Center in Cincinnati.”
Help the DHC to be compliant by acknowledg-ing the grant and ensuring your publication has been submitted to the NIHMS system.
of the Center for Clinical and Translational Science and Training. He did an outstanding job in his pre-vious NASPHGAN leadership roles. If you are a member of NASPHGAN, please vote for Dr. Heubi.
Lentsch Becomes NIH Study Sec-tion Chair
Alex Lentsch, PhD Professor in the Department of Surgery and Senior Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs and Development at the University of Cincinnati has been appointed to serve as the chair of
the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Hepatobili-ary Pathophysiology Study Section.
Waltz and Zavros Serve on NIH Study Section
Susan Waltz, PhD is Professor in the Department of Cancer Biology at the University of Cincinnati has accepted the invitation to serve on the NIH Cancer Molecular Pathol-ogy Study Section.
Yana Zavros, PhD is Associate Professor in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Physiology at the University of Cincinnati has been asked to serve on the NIH Gastrointestinal Mucosal Pathobi-ology Study Section.
Weaver New DHC Member Timothy Weaver, PhD is Profes-
sor in the Division of Pulmonary Biology, Department of Pediatrics at Cincinnati Children’s. Dr. Weav-er’s digestive disease research program focuses on identifying the link between StarD7 (a lipid
transporter that specifically binds and transports phosphatidylcholine between membranes) and epithelial barrier dysfunction.
We congratulate these DHC Members on their outstanding accomplishments.
Strauss Receives Daniel Drake MedalArnold Strauss, MD was one of 3
physicians who received the 2014 Daniel Drake Medal, the highest honor bestowed by the Universi-ty of Cincinnati, College of Medi-cine. The medal is given annually to honor distinguished faculty and
alumni. Dr. Strauss is the Rachford Professor of Pediatrics at Cincinnati Children’s.
Blackard Receives Teaching AwardJason Blackard, PhD received
the 2014 Excellence in Teaching Award. The award is presented each year by the University of Cin-cinnati Honors Program in recog-nition of exceptional dedication to student learning within the con-text of honors education. Dr. Blackard is Associate Professor in the Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Digestive Diseases at the University of Cincinnati and is the Director of Global Health in the College of Medicine.
Cohen Elected to AAPMitchell Cohen, MD, DHC Associ-ate Director, was elected to the Association of American Physicians (AAP). He is the Division Director of Gastroenterology and Vice-Chair of Clinical Affairs at Cincinnati Children’s. Dr. Cohen has joined a highly prestigious organization
that was founded for the advancement of scientific and practical medicine. The following DHC mem-bers are AAP members: Drs. Fred Finkelman, Peggy Hostetter, Marc Rothenberg, and Jeff Whitsett.
Heubi on Ballot for President Elect of NASPGHAN
James Heubi, MD has been nom-inated to run for President Elect of the North American Society for Pe-diatric Gastroenterology, Hepatolo-gy, and Nutrition (NASPGHAN). Dr. Heubi is Professor of Pediatrics, Di-vision of Gastroenterology and is the Co-Director
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DHC Member Highlights and New DHC Member
FormoreinformationvisittheDHCwebsite.Director:JorgeBezerra,MD;AssociateDirectors:MitchCohen,MD,ChipMontrose,PhD,AaronZorn,PhDProgramManager:CynthiaWetzel,PhD
Request for Pilot and Feasibility ApplicationsThe Digestive Health Center
(DHC) is accepting applications for pilot projects to conduct basic, trans-lational, patient based, or outcomes research broadly relating to pediatric digestive disease. Funds are intend-ed to allow investigators to collect preliminary data sufficient to sup-port an application for independent
research through traditional NIH mechanisms. Funding for projects will range from $40,000 to $50,000 depending on budgetary needs and number of selected applications. Eligible applicants must have a faculty appointment. DHC membership is not required.
Applications are due Monday December 1, 2014 at 5:00 pm. The ap-plication forms and submission guidelines are available on the website.
For further information contact: Aaron Zorn, PhD, Pilot and Feasibility Program Director at [email protected] or Cindy Wetzel, PhD, DHC Program Manager at [email protected].
The DHC will host its Annual Scientific Symposium and External Ad-visory Board Meeting on Tuesday March 3, 2015. The day will include a poster session and keynote address by Dr. Jacquelyn Maher from the University of California, San Francisco.
Abstracts are due Friday February 13, 2015. You do not have to be a member of the DHC to submit an abstract.
This is an outstanding opportunity to present your digestive disease related work. Prizes will be given to students and trainees for the best poster presented at the meeting. Stay tuned for more details.
Save the Date - Annual Scientific Symposium
sociation for the Study of Liver Diseases governing board. Her research focuses on the treatment of hepatitis B & C and the prevention of liver cancer.
Dr. Lok will present the Balistreri lecture on Tuesday December 2 at noon as part of the DHC Seminar Series. Additionally, Dr. Lok will partici-pate in the discussion of a patient with complex liver disease in the “Balistreri Rounds,” at 7:30 am on Wednesday December 3.
2014 William and Rebecca Balistreri LectureDr. Anna Suk-Fong Lok will be
the 2014 William and Rebecca Bal-istreri Lecturer for Translational Research in Hepatology. Dr. Lok is the Director of Clinical Hepatol-ogy and Associate Chair for Clini-cal Research in the Department of Internal Medicine at the University
of Michigan. She is a member of the American As-
February
132015
March
32015
IN THIS ISSUE:• RequestforPilotand
FeasibilityApplicationsDHC• AnnualScientificSymposium• 2014BalistreriLecturer• NewExternalAdvisoryBoard
Member• TransitiontoFullMembership• KeystoneSymposia• DHCMemberSurvey• MembersReceiveAwards• NewDHCMembers• DHCLeadershipChanges• UpcomingSeminars
By: Cynthia C. Wetzel, PhDBench-to-Bedside Research in Pediatric Digestive DiseaseDHC NewsletterA Quarterly Publication from the Digestive Health Center
DHC
Cincinnati
Digestive Health Center
September2014Volume11Issue2
Dr. Stavra Xanthakos, Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Pediatrics at Cincinnati Chil-dren’s, received her first NIH R01 award from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive Kidney Diseases. The title of her grant is “Outcome of NASH in Adolescents
after Bariatric Surgery vs Lifestyle Intervention”. She used preliminary data from her DHC Pilot and Feasibility Award for her R01 grant application.
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Transition to Full Membership - Drs. Xanthakos and MooreDr. Sean Moore, Division of Gas-
troenterology, Department of Pe-diatrics at Cincinnati Children’s received the Grand Challenges Ex-plorations Phase II grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to develop a mouse model of envi-ronmental enteropathy.
Congratulations to both Drs. Xanthakos and Moore for transitioning to Full Membership status in the DHC.
Keystone Symposia - Endoderm Lineages in Development & DiseaseDrs. James Wells (DHC
member) and Aaron Zorn (DHC Associate Director) are part of the Scientific Organiz-ers for the Keystone Symposia on Endoderm Lineages in De-velopment and Disease. Each section of the meeting will discuss the current research
on the development, function, and regeneration of endoderm organs (liver, pancreas, intestine and lung) and how basic research has led to successful efforts in generating organ tissues from stem cells.
The meeting will take place in Keystone, Colo-rado from February 8-13, 2015. The discounted abstract deadline is October 7, 2014.
Visit the Symposia website for more informa-tion and online registration.
DHC Members Survey - Core Services
New External Advisory Board MemberStephen Duncan, D. Phil. has
joined the External Advisory Board of the DHC. He is the Marcus Pro-fessor of Human and Molecular Ge-netics and is the Vice-Chairman of Cell Biology, Neurobiology & Anat-omy at Medical College of Wiscon-
sin. Additionally, Dr. Duncan is the Director of the Program in Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell
Biology. His research focuses on the molecular mechanisms underlying mammalian development.
Dr. Klaus Kaestner (University of Pennsylvania) will rotate off the committee. Dr. Duncan will join the other current External Advisory Board Mem-bers, Jacquelyn Maher (University of California, San Francisco), Brent Polk (Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles) and Phillip Tarr (Washington University in St. Louis.
The DHC has provided state-of-the-art core ser-vices to investigators at Cincinnati Children’s and University of Cincinnati for several years. In the next few weeks, the DHC will survey its members to gather suggestions on how to improve services and explore opportunities to meet the needs of digestive disease research.
The survey will be brief and should not take more than 5 mintues to complete.
Thank you in advance for taking time out of your busy schedules to complete the survery.
New DHC Members Sang-Wook Cha, PhD is Assistant
Professor in the Division of Devel-opmental Biology, Department of Pediatrics at Cincinnati Children’s. Dr. Cha’s research program focus-es on investigating the molecular mechanism of intestinal morpho-genesis.
Yael Haberman Ziv, MD, PhD is Assistant Professor and a new faculty member in the Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition, Department of Pediat-rics at Cincinnati Children’s. She is using state-of-the-art sequenc-ing approaches on ileal biospy
samples to detect microbial shifts and changes in host gene expression of pediatric patients with Crohn’s Disease.
Nikolai Timchenko, PhD is Pro-fessor and a new faculty member in the Divison of Pediatric General and Thoracic Surgery, Department of Surgery at Cincinnati Children’s. He is Director of the Liver Tumor Biology Program. Dr. Timchenko studys the effects of aging on liver regeneration and the molecular mechanisms of liver cancer.
We congratulate these DHC Members on their outstanding accomplishments.
Hoebe on List of Most Influential Scientific MindsKasper Hoebe, PhD was on the
2014 list of the World’s Most Influ-ential Scientific Minds. Thomson Reuters creates the list by analyz-ing data from their Web of Science and InCites platforms to identify researchers who have highly cited
publications from 2002-2012. Dr. Hoebe is Associ-ate Professor of Pediatrics, Division of Immunio-biology whose research focus on using forward genetic analysis of immune-mediated liver disease using ENU mutagenesis.
Heubi President Elect of NASPGHANJames Heubi, MD has been elect-
ed as the next President of the North American Society for Pedi-atric Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition (NASPGHAN). He will be president-elect for 2 years before becoming the president in October 2016. Dr. Heubi is Inter-im Division Director, Division of Gastroenterology and is the Co-Director of the Center for Clinical and Translational Science and Training.
Liu Serves on NIH Study SectionMin Liu, PhD, Professor in the De-partment of Pathology and Labora-tory Medicine at the University of Cincinnati, has accepted the invita-tion to serve on the NIH Neuro-endocrinology, Neuroimmunology, Rhythms and Sleep Study Section.
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DHC Leadership ChangesDr. Mitchell Cohen, DHC found-
ing Director and overseeing the Clinical Component, has left Cin-cinnati Children’s to become Pro-fessor and Chair of the Department of Pediatrics in the School of Medi-cine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and Physician in Chief
of the Children’s Hospital of Alabama.
Dr. Marshall “Chip” Montrose, DHC Associate Director, has be-come the Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School at the Uni-versity of Cincinnati.
Drs. Bezerra, Zorn and Wetzel are working to fill these two roles. We wish both Drs. Cohen and Montrose all the very best in their new positions.
DHC Member Highlights and New DHC Members
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Seminar Series- Tuesdays at Noon, Room S6.125
Date Presenter Title
9/30/14Takanori Takebe, MDStanford University
“De Novo Generation of Human Organ Bud from iPSC”
10/7/14Timothy Weaver, PhD
CCHMC: Pulmonary Biology “Phosphatidylcholine Transport Proteins:
Novel Modulators of Allergic Disease”
10/14/14Tanja Gonska, MD,
The Hospital for Sick Children“Cystic Fibrosis: New Ways of Measuring CFTR Function”
10/21/14Sandra Wright, MD
CCHMC: Gastroenterology“Heritability of Serum GM-CSF Antibody
Levels in Pediatric Crohn’s Disease”
10/28/14Joseph Sherrill, PhD
CCHMC: Allergy and Immunology
“Esophageal Microbial Dysbiosis: A New Etiology or a Consequence of
Eosinophilic Esophagitis”
11/4/14Aliye Uc, MD
University of Iowa Children’s Hospital“INSPPIRE to Study
Pediatric Pancreatitis”
11/11/14 No Conference due to American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases Meeting
11/18/14Jeffrey Schwimmer, MD
University of California, San Diego
“Fatty Liver, Diabetes and Obesity Reach New Heights - You May Now Use Ap-
proved Portable Electric Devices, but it is Not Yet Time to Move About the Cabin”
11/25/14 Thanksgiving Week - No Conference
12/2/14*distinct
location Res. Auditorium
Anna Suk-Fong Lok, MD,University of Michigan
“Cure for Hepatitis C:How to Apply the Tools We Have?”
12/9/14Shekhar Gandhi, PhD
CCHMC: GastroenterologyUC: Dept. Surgery
“GFER Deficiency and NASH Development”
12/16/14Benjamin Wilkins, MD, PhD
Childrens’ Hospital of Philadelphia“Ribosome Biogenesis and Human
Disease: Insights from Zebrafish Models”
FormoreinformationregardingtheDHCvisitour website orcontactoneofthefollowing:Director: JorgeBezerra,MD [email protected]: AaronZorn,PhD [email protected]: CynthiaWetzel,PhD [email protected]
By: Cynthia C. Wetzel, PhDBench-to-Bedside Research in Pediatric Digestive DiseaseDHC NewsletterA Quarterly Publication from the Digestive Health Center
DHC
Cincinnati
Digestive Health Center
December 2014 Volume 11 Issue 3
Poster Session: 9:30 to 11:45 am Location S Room 1.203 and 1.204
Keynote Address: Jacquelyn Maher, MD Location R Room 3381 (Research Auditorium) 12:00 pm
Members’ Research on Stem Cells Receive National PressThe research work of DHC member Dr. Mike Helmrath and lead authors Drs. Carey
Watson and Maxime Mahe was featured on the cover of the November issue of Nature Medicine. They successfully engrafted in vitro generated human intestinal organoids from human embryonic stem cells or induced pluripotent stem cells to the kidney of a mouse. The mouse provided the blood supply to allow the organoid cells to expand and mature into functional intestinal tissue. This study represents a major step towards the long term goal of growing tissues to replace damaged human intestine.
Additionally, the research work of DHC members Drs. James Wells and Yana Zavros with lead author Kyle McCracken received national attention for their work published in Nature. The team used direct differentiation of human plu-ripotent stem cells to generate in vitro 3-D human gastric tissue. The develop-ing in vitro human gastric organoid progressed through similar molecular and morphogenetic stages as an in vivo developing mouse stomach. When the re-search team infected the human gastric organoids with Helicobacter pylori (the bacteria that causes stomach ulcers and cancer), the organoid had the same pathophysiological response as a human stomach. The development of human gastric organoids is a promising starting point for rel-evant studies to model gastric function and disease, and to generate other foregut tissues.
Congratulations to both research teams for having their work receive national attention.
Cross Section of the lining of the stomach organoid.
The Digestive Health Center (DHC) will host its Annual Scientif-ic Symposium and External Advisory Board Meeting on March 3, 2015. The day will include a poster session and keynote address by Dr. Jac-quelyn Maher from the University of California, San Francisco. Build-ing on the success of previous years, the poster session will feature work related to any area of digestive disease, including the four DHC themes: 1) Chronic Liver Disease 2)InflammatoryandDiarrhealDiseases 3) Obesity and the Digestive System 4) Development and Digestive Diseases
You do not have to be a member of the DHC to submit an abstract. Prizes will be given to students and trainees for the best poster presented. Visit the DHC website for abstract submission form and instructions. Abstracts must be submitted electronically by Friday February 13, 2015 to [email protected].
Annual Scientific Symposium Tuesday March 3, 2015
IN THIS ISSUE:• AnnualScientificSymposium• Members’ Research Receive
National Attention• NewInternalAdvisoryBoard
Member• New DHC Associate Director• NewSubsidyforRNA-Seq
AnalysisofSmallSampleSize
• CORESBillingSystem• Members Receive Awards• MemberHighlights• UpcomingSeminars
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New Internal Advisory Board MemberThe DHC Internal Advisory
Board (IAB) consists of leaders throughout Cincinnati Children’s and the University of Cincinnati. The Board ensures that the stra-tegic objectives of the DHC are aligned with the strategic goals of
Cincinnati Children’s and the University of Cincin-nati, College of Medicine.
Dr. Yi Zheng has joined the DHC IAB. He is the Co-Director of the Cancer and Blood Diseases Institute and the Director of Division of Experi-mental Hematology and Cancer Cell Biology in the Department of Pediatrics at Cincinnati Children’s.
Dr. Zheng joins the other IAB members: • Dr. Sandra Degen, Associate Chair of Pediat-
rics for Academic Affairs
• Dr. James Heubi, Interim Division Director of Gastroenterology and Co-Director of the Center for Clinical and Translational Science and Training
• Dr. Kristine Justus, Assistant Director Cin-cinnati Children’s Research Foundation and Vice President for Research Operations and Management
• Dr. Patrick Tso, Director Mouse Metabolic Phenotype Center.
CORES Billing System Update
James Wells, PhD Joins DHC LeadershipWe are pleased to announce
that Dr. James Wells has become an Associate Director of the DHC. He will provide instrumental guid-ance to the operation of the DHC and will oversee the Enrichment Program for the Center. Dr. Wells
has been a long-standing member of the DHC and is the Director of the Pluripotent Stem Cell and Organoid Core. We are excited Dr. Wells has joined the DHC Leadership team that includes Drs. Jorge Bezerra (Director), Aaron Zorn (Associate Director, overseeing the Pilot and Feasibility Program), and Cindy Wetzel (Program Manager).
Cincinnati Children’s Research Foundation con-tinues to implement CORES Billing (Core Order-ing and Reporting Enterprise System). CORES Bill-ing is a web-based software system designed to provide a one-stop shop to facilitate the purchase of products and services from all of the Research Shared Facilities at Cincinnati Children’s.
Below is a list of DHC supported services that are part of the CORES Billing System:• Analyzer Usage and Luminex Assay at the
Flow Cytometry Core
• All Services at the DNA Sequencing Core• Small Sample RNA-Seq Analysis at the Gene
Expression Core• All Services at the Pluripotent Stem Cell and
Organoid CoreMembers receive the DHC subsidy only when
a budget number that supports digestive disease research pays for a service that is listed above.
If you have any questions about receiving the DHC subsidy please contact Cindy Wetzel, PhD at [email protected].
The DHC leaders worked with Dr. Steve Potter, Director of the Cincinnati Children’s Gene Expres-sion Core, to support RNA Sequencing Analysis of samples with small quantities of total RNA (as low
as 1.0 nanogram). The DHC will provide 25% of the total cost for the service.
For more information contact Shawn Smith at [email protected] or 513-636-0290.
New Subsidy for RNA-Seq Analysis of Small Sample Sizes
conducts a secondary review of all funded ap-plications. Dr. Hershey is the Division Director of Asthma Research in the Department of Pediatrics at Cincinnati Children’s.
New DHC Member
Theresa Alenghat, VMD, PhD is Assistant Professor and a new fac-ulty member in the Division of Im-munobiology, Department of Pedi-atrics at Cincinnati Children’s. She is investigating epigenomic path-ways that regulate epithelial and
immune cell homeostatis in the intestine.
We congratulate these DHC Members on their outstanding accomplishments.
Hui will lead Metabolic Diseases Research CenterDavid Hui, PhD has become the
Director of the Metabolic Diseases Research Center at the University of Cincinnati. The Center will bring together researchers who study obesity, fatty liver disease, diabetes, lipid metabolites, and cancer me-
tabolism. He is Professor in the Department of Pa-thology and Laboratory Medicine who investigates lipid disorders.
Hershey Serves on NIH Study SectionGurjit Hershey, MD, PhD was
appointed to the Advisory Coun-cil of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD). The Advisory Council oversees the research portfolio of NICHD and
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DHC Member Highlights and New DHC Member
Forallpublications,pleaseacknowledgetheDHCasfollows:“This project was supported in part by PHS Grant P30 DK078392 (insert name of
core that you used) of the Digestive Disease Research Core Center in Cincinnati.”
Interested in Becoming a Member?By becoming a DHC member, you will receive
subsidies on many core services and resources. Your orders will receive priority at the cores. Mem-bership is open to all Cincinnati Children’s and
University of Cincinnati faculty members involved in digestive disease research. If you are interested in joining the DHC, visit our website for further instructions.
Winter/Spring Seminar SeriesThe DHC winter/spring seminar series will be-
gin on Tuesday January 13, 2015 at noon in Loca-tion S Room 6.125 with Xavier Ramnik, MD, PhD from the Massachusetts General Hospital.
The series will include the following external distinguished speakers:
• Dean Yimlamai, MD, PhD; Boston Children’s Hospital on February 17, 2015
• Mario Strazzabosco, MD, PhD; Yale University on March 24, 2015 See page 4 for a complete schedule.
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Seminar Series- Tuesdays at Noon, Room S6.125
Date Presenter Title
1/13/15Ramnik Xavier, MD PhD
Massachusetts General Hospital“Autophagy and Checkpoints for Intracellular Pathogen Defense”
1/20/15Mehdi Keddache, PhD
CCHMC: DHC DNA Sequencing Core “New Applications of Next Generation
Sequencing Available at CCHMC”
1/27/15Stephen Woods, PhD
UC: Dept Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience
“Peptides, Food Intake and Body Weight:Get Your Facts Straight”
2/3/15James Wells, PhD
CCHMC: Developmental Biology“Human Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Tissues as Models for GI Development and Disease”
2/10/15Sean Moore, MD MS
CCHMC: Gastroenterology“Understanding and Reversing Environmental Enteropathy”
2/17/15Dean Yimlamai, MD PhD
Boston Children’s Hospital“Roles for Liver Hippo Signaling
in Homeostasis and Disease”
2/24/15Shiva Kumar Shanmukhappa, BVSc PhD
CCHMC: DHC Morphology Core“Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy:
Principles and Application in Research”
3/3/15
DHCAnnualScientificSymposiumKeynote Address by: Jacquelyn Maher, MD
University of California, San Francisco“Fatty Liver Disease: From Nutrients to New Pathways”
*Distinct Location: Research Auditorium
3/10/15Michael Rosen, MD, MSCICCHMC: Gastroenterology
“IL-33inUlcerativeColitis:Pro-InflammatoryCytokine or Protective Response”
3/17/15Theresa Alenghat, VMD PhD
CCHMC: Immunobiology“The Host-Commensal Relationship
and Intestinal Homeostasis”
3/24/15Mario Strazzabosco, MD PhD
Yale University“Polycystin-2 in the Pathophysiology of
Polycystic Liver Diseases and Ductular Reaction”
3/31/15Sang-Wook Cha, PhD
CCHMC: Developmental Biology“Wnt/PCP Signaling in Establishment of
Polarized Intestinal Epithelium”
FormoreinformationregardingtheDHCvisitour website orcontactoneofthefollowing:Director: JorgeBezerra,MD [email protected]: JamesWells,PhD [email protected] AaronZorn,PhD [email protected]: CynthiaWetzel,PhD [email protected]
By: Cynthia C. Wetzel, PhDBench-to-Bedside Research in Pediatric Digestive DiseaseDHC NewsletterA Quarterly Publication from the Digestive Health Center
DHC
Cincinnati
Digestive Health Center
March 2015 Volume 11 Issue 4
DHC Members Receive U19 GrantAn interdisciplinary team of DHC basic scientists and physicians were
recently awarded a $4.6 million multi-project U19 grant entitled “Intestinal Organoids as a Model System for Studying Enteric Disease” from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Dr. Alison Weiss from Depart-ment of Molecular Genetics at University of Cincinnati and Dr. Jim Wells from Division of Developmental Biology at Cincinnati Children’s lead the team consisting of Drs. Michael Helmrath, Christian Hong, Chip Montrose, Sean Moore, Ardythe Morrow, Bruce Yacyshyn, and Yana Zavros. The goal of the grant is to develop human gastrointestinal organoids as model systems to study gastrointestinal infectious diseases such as infections of Helicobacter pylori, and Clostridium difficile.
IN THIS ISSUE:• AnnualScientificSymposium• Members Receive U19 Grant• Member’s Research High-
lighted on Journal Cover• NewPolicyRegarding
Access to Biostatistical SupportthruCCTST
• Members Receive Awards• New DHC Member• UpcomingSeminars
Highlights from the Annual Scientific Symposium
The Digestive Health Center (DHC) held its Annual Scientific Sympo-sium on Tuesday March 3. Dr. Jacquelyn Maher from the University of California, San Francisco presented the keynote address “Fatty Liver Disease: From Nutrients to New Path-ways”. A total of 44 posters were displayed by researchers from Cincinnati Children’s and University of Cincinnati. There were also 7 posters highlighting core services. Prizes were awarded for the best posters:
First Place: Nurit Azouz, PhD (Research Fellow, Cincinnati Children’s, Allergy and Immunology, mem-ber of Dr. Marc Rothenberg’s lab) for “SPINK7 Regulates Esophageal Epithelial Barrier Function”.
Tie for Second Place: Akihiro Asai, MD PhD (Research Associate, Cincinnati Children’s, Gastroenterol-ogy, member of Dr. Jorge Bezerra’s lab) for “Interaction with Endothelial and Mesenchymal Cells Facilitates Hepatocyte Differentiation and 3D Organoid Formation by Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells”. Daniel Giles (Graduate Student, Cincinnati Children’s, Immunobiology member of Dr. Senad Divanovic’s lab) for “Envi-ronmental Modulation of the Innate Immune Response Regulates NAFLD Pathogenesis”. Jing Li (Gradu-ate Student, University of Cincinnati, Department of Molecular and Cellular Physiology, member of Dr. Yana Zavros’ lab) for “Helicobacter pylori Alters the Expression of Circadian Clock Components PER2 and BMAL1 During Infection”. Kodandaramireddy Nalapareddy, PhD (Research Fellow, Cincinnati Children’s, Experimental Hematology and Cancer Biology, member of Dr. Hartmut Geiger’s lab) for “Restoration of Canonical WNT Signaling Ameliorates Decline of Intestinal Stem Cell Function During Aging”.
See Page 2 for more highlights from the Annual Scientific Symposium.
Human intestinal organoid supporting growth of non-pathogenic E. coli
Poster Winners from Left to Right: Nurit Azouz, PhD, Akihiro Asai, PhD, Kodandaramireddy Nalapreddy, PhD; Daniel Giles, and Jing Li.
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The DHC continues its partnership with the Center for Clinical and Translational Science and Training (CCTST) to provide its members with access to biostatistical and data management sup-port. To optimally serve the needs of the research community, only faculty members at the Associate Professor and Professor level are allowed to submit a request for assistance. This will allow the CCTST to easily track the faculty research projects.
The faculty member requesting the service will
need to be a member of the CCTST. To become a member, just visit their website and complete the online form. If you have any questions regarding CCTST membership contact Elizabeth Heubi at 513-803-2612 or [email protected].
Change in How to Access Biostatistical & Data Management Support
The research work of DHC member Chandrashekar Gan-dhi, PhD was published on the cover of the February is-sue of Gastroenterology. Dr. Gandhi and colleagues gen-erated mice with liver-spe-cific deletion in augmenter of liver regeneration (ALR, a
hepatocyte growth factor encoded by GFER) and demonstrated that it is required for mitochondrial function and lipid homeostasis in the liver. These ALR liver specific knockout mice developed heavy steatosis within 2 weeks after birth, followed by steatohepatitis, fibrosis and hepatocellular carci-noma by one year. This unique mouse model will aid in the understanding of the evolution of steato-hepatitis to hepatocellular carcinoma.
Member’s Research Highlighted on Journal Cover
Photos and Highlights from Annual Scientific Symposium Continued
Thanks to the judges and outstanding organizers!
Left to Right Corlynn Raleigh, Jill Soldano, Angie Cain, Sandy Geideman, and Talithia Bankston
We would like to specially thank: Jill Soldano, Talithia Bankston, Angie Cain, Sandy Geideman and Corlynn Raleigh, for their superb organiza-tional efforts and assistance with the Annual Sci-entific Symposium.
We also thank those who reviewed posters: Drs. Alenghat, Barski, Cha, Denson, Divanovic,
Flick, Fulkerson, Gandhi, Guasch, Han, Hildeman, Hoebe, Hogan, Hommel, Hong, Hui, Huppert, Ka-plan, Kohli, Minar, Naren, Palumbo, Perez-Tilve, Rosen, Sasaki, Shivakumar, Wang, Way, Zavros, and Zingarelli.
Tiao Receives Clinical Care Achievement AwardGregory Tiao, MD received the Cincin-nati Children’s Clinical Care Achieve-ment Faculty Award. Dr. Tiao is the Richard and Geralyn Azizkhan Chair in Pediatric Surgery and is the Surgi-cal Director of the Liver Transplanta-
tion Program.
Steatohepatitis Center Receives Team AwardDHC members Rohit Kohli, MBBS and Stavra Xanthakos, MD along with Kristin Bramlage, MD received the Cincin-nati Children’s Team Fac-ulty Award for the Ste-atohepatitis Center. The Center was founded by Co-Directors Drs. Kohli
and Xanthakos in 2007. The team are members of the Gastroenterology Division.
New DHC MemberRajat Madan, MD, PhD is Assistant
Professor and a new faculty member in the Division of Infectious Disease, Department of Internal Medicine at University of Cincinnati. His re-search focus is on defining the role
of leptin in directing mucosal immune responses during C. difficle colitis.
We congratulate these DHC Members on their outstanding accomplishments.
Fulkerson Receives ASCI Young Physician-Scientist Award
Patricia Fulkerson, MD, PhD received the 2015 Young Physician-Scientist Award by the American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI). This award recognizes physician-scientists who are early in their careers and
have made notable achievements in their research. Dr. Fulkerson has over 30 publications studying eosinophil development. Current DHC members that are members of ASCI include Drs. Jorge Bezer-ra, Fred Finkelman, Gurjit Hershey, Peggy Hostetter, Marc Rothenberg, Sing Sing Way, and Jeff Whitsett.
Rosen and Shivakumar Elected to SPRMichael Rosen, MD
and Pranavkumar Shi-vakumar, PhD were se-lected as new members of the Society for Pedi-atric Research (SPR).
Drs. Rosen and Shivakumar are members of the Gastroenterology Division at Cincinnati Children’s. They join 23 other DHC members who have been elected to the Society for Pediatric Research.
Hogan and Wells Receive Mentoring AwardSimon Hogan, PhD
and Susa Wells PhD re-ceived the Cincinnati Children’s Mentoring Achievement Faculty Award. Dr. Hogan is
member of the Allergy & Immunology Division and Dr. Wells is a member of the Division of Oncology.
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DHC Member Highlights and New DHC Member
Forallpublications,pleaseacknowledgetheDHCasfollows:“This project was supported in part by PHS Grant P30 DK078392 (insert name of
core that you used) of the Digestive Disease Research Core Center in Cincinnati.”
Interested in Becoming a Member?By becoming a DHC member, you will receive
subsidies on many core services and resources. Your orders will receive priority at the cores. Mem-bership is open to all Cincinnati Children’s and
University of Cincinnati faculty members involved in digestive disease research. If you are interested in joining the DHC, visit our website for further instructions.
From Left to Right: Drs. Bramlage, Kohli, and Xanthakos
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Seminar Series- Tuesdays at Noon, Room S6.125
Date Presenter Title3/24/15
* distinct time and location
10:00 am S1.203
Mario Strazzabosco, MD PhDYale University
“Polycystin-2 in the Pathophysiology of Polycystic Liver Diseases
and Ductular Reaction”
3/31/15Sang-Wook Cha, PhD
CCHMC: Developmental Biology“Wnt/PCP Signaling in Establishment of
Polarized Intestinal Epithelium”
4/7/15Flora Szabo, MD
CCHMC: Gastroenterology“Early Management of
Acute Pancreatitis”
4/14/15Dean Yimlamai, MD, PhD
Boston Children’s Hospital“Roles for Liver Hippo Signaling
in Homeostasis and Disease”
4/21/15Jennifer Kaplan, MD, MSCCHMC: Critical Care
“Obesity Alters Inflammation in Sepsis”
4/28/15Ethan Mezoff, MD
CCHMC: Gastroenterology
“A Human Milk Carbohydrate Improves the Long-Term Adaptive Response to Intestinal Resection in Mice ”
5/5/15Jessica Woo, MHSA, PhD
CCHMC: Biostatistics and Epidemiolgy
“Jumping the Track: The Timing of Development of Severe
Early-Onset Obesity”
5/12/15David Galloway, MD
CCHMC: Gastroenterology
“A Journey Shared with t he Intestinal Flora:
A GI Fellow’s Perspective”
5/19/15 No Seminar due to Digestive Disease Week Annual Meeting
5/26/15Karla Hicks Vaz, MD
CCHMC: Gastroenterology
“The Evaluation of a Novel Educational Adherence Tool
in Adolescents with Inflammatory Bowel Disease: The NEAT Study”
FormoreinformationregardingtheDHCvisitour website orcontactoneofthefollowing:Director: JorgeBezerra,MD [email protected]: JamesWells,PhD [email protected] AaronZorn,PhD [email protected]: CynthiaWetzel,PhD [email protected]