Research News

The NC TraCS Institute has awarded John A. Batsis, MD, and the Division of Geriatric Medicine a 1-year, team science grant to study the early detection of sarcopenia.

Hyman Muss, MD Hyman Muss, MD, the Mary Jones Hudson Distinguished Professor of Geriatric Oncology in the Division of Oncology, recently received three research awards. From the Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF), Muss received $190,000 in funding for “p16INK4a Expression, Chemotherapy Toxicity, and Aging in Women with Breast Cancer.” There is significant variability in chemotherapy-related toxicity … Read more

Jonathan Serody, MD, the Elizabeth Thomas Professor of Medicine, Microbiology and Immunology, and chief of the Division of Hematology, received an NIH (NHLBI) R01 grant of $3.4M to evaluate epigenetic changes in innate lymphoid cells as a mediator of acute Graft-Versus-Host Disease (GvHD) after stem cell transplantation. The grant is in collaboration with Samantha Pattenden, … Read more

Jonathan Parr, MD A major tool against malaria in Africa has been the use of rapid diagnostic tests, which have been part of the “test-treat-track” strategy in Ethiopia, the second most-populated country in Africa. But researchers studying blood samples from more than 12,000 individuals in Ethiopia now estimate these tests missed nearly 10% of malaria … Read more

Tracy Rose, MD, MPH A new study is the first to report the beneficial use of chemotherapy plus immunotherapy before surgical removal of the bladder in muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC). Researchers at the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center led the study, reporting that the regimen reduced the invasiveness of the cancer in 56 percent of … Read more

Jessica Lin, MD MSCR CRISPR-based diagnostics are a new class of highly sensitive and specific assays with multiple applications in infectious disease diagnosis. SHERLOCK, or Specific High-Sensitivity Enzymatic Reporter UnLOCKing, is one such CRISPR-based diagnostic that combines recombinase polymerase pre-amplification, CRISPR-RNA base-pairing, and LwCas13a activity for nucleic acid detection. Researchers from the division of infectious … Read more

Carlton Moore, MD, MS Carlton Moore, MD, professor of medicine in the division of infectious diseases, is first author of a retrospective observational study design of patients hospitalized in 2015 from four hospitals participating in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study. Using free-text clinical notes and reports from hospitalized patients, the study team wanted … Read more

Anthony Mazzella, MD UNC Cardiology Fellow Anthony Mazzella, MD, is first author of a paper published in Cardiac Failure Review. Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) has developed substantially since its inception. Improvements in valve design, valve deployment technologies, preprocedural imaging and increased operator experience have led to a gradual decline in length of hospitalization after TAVR. … Read more

David Phillips, MD, and Josh Zeidner, MD Patients with acute myeloid leukemia with myelodysplasia-related changes (AML-MRC) have historically poor outcomes with conventional chemotherapy regimens. Davis Phillips, MD, internal medicine resident, and Josh Zeidner, MD, associate professor of medicine in the division of hematology, published an article that reviews the data for existing therapeutic options for patients … Read more

Myron Cohen, MD Myron Cohen, MD, is the lead investigator of a study recently published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) that shows bamlanivimab monotherapy reduced the incidence of infection in skilled nursing homes and assisted living facilities with high risk of SARS-CoV-2 exposure. The randomized phase 3 clinical trial included 966 … Read more

John Buse, MD Results of the five-year GRADE trial, designed to understand the best second-line agent for patients with type 2 diabetes already taking metformin, were reported at the virtual American Diabetes Association (ADA) 81st Scientific Sessions and published in Medscape Medical News. Researchers found the injectable drugs Lantus (glargine) and Victoza (liraglutide) outperformed the pills … Read more

Sue Kirkman, MD Two medications, liraglutide and insulin, were better at keeping A1C (a measurement of average blood glucose) levels less than 7% in recent GRADE study. The UNC Diabetes Care Center, lead by site principal investigator Sue Kirkman, MD, professor of medicine, in the division of endocrinology and metabolism, was one of the 37 … Read more