{"id":2291,"date":"2015-10-23T13:25:00","date_gmt":"2015-10-23T17:25:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/med.sites.unc.edu\/oor\/ttsa-teams-and-projects\/"},"modified":"2026-03-06T14:58:14","modified_gmt":"2026-03-06T19:58:14","slug":"ttsa-teams-and-projects","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/oor\/ttsa-teams-and-projects\/","title":{"rendered":"TTSA Teams and Projects"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Summary of TTSA projects funded since January 2014<\/h2>\n

TTSA Teams – January 2026<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Zibo Li, PhD <\/strong>(Radiology) & Nima Kokabi, MD, FRCPC <\/strong>(Radiology; Interventional Oncology)
\nA Transporter Targeted Radiotheranostic Platform for Precision Treatment of Glutamine Addicted Hepatocellular Carcinoma<\/em><\/p>\n

Erica Sparkenbaugh, PhD <\/strong>(Pathology and Laboratory Medicine) & Mofiyinfoluwa Obadina, MD, MSCR <\/strong>(Medicine, Division of Hematology)
\nHypoxemia\u2011Induced Platelet Activation in Sickle Cell Disease Pregnancy: Mechanisms and Therapeutic Targets<\/em><\/p>\n

Luther A. Bartelt, MD, DTM&H<\/strong> (Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases) & Adam Rosenthal, PhD<\/strong> (Microbiology and Immunology)
\nPhenotypic Heterogeneity During Prolonged Colonization with Highly Resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae Clinical Strains<\/em><\/p>\n

Janice Jin Hwang, MD, MHS<\/strong> (Medicine; Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism), Uzay Emir, PhD<\/strong> (Radiology; Biomedical Engineering), & Guorong Wu, PhD <\/strong>(Psychiatry)
\nEnergy Allocation Between Brain and Periphery in Children With and Without Obesity<\/em><\/p>\n

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TTSA Teams – January 2025<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Matthew Vogt, MD, PhD<\/strong> (Pediatrics) & Jason Whitmire, PhD<\/strong> (Genetics)
\nImmunologic determinants of enterovirus D68 neuropathogenesis<\/em><\/p>\n

Sylvia Becker-Dreps, MD, MPH<\/strong> (Family Medicine) & Premkumar Lakshmanane, PhD<\/strong> (Microbiology and Immunology)
\nDefining the immune response to rotavirus vaccines to guide next-generation vaccine development<\/em><\/p>\n

Tessa Andermann, MD, MPH<\/strong> (Medicine\/Infectious Diseases) & Brian Conlon, PhD<\/strong> (Microbiology and Immunology)
\nBeyond antimicrobial resistance: Bacterial strategies for persistence in the gut microbiome during antibiotic treatment<\/em><\/p>\n

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TTSA Teams – December 2023<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Leon Coleman, MD, PhD<\/strong>(Pharmacology) Zibo Li, PhD <\/strong>(Radiology) & Steven Rowe, MD, PhD<\/strong> (Radiology)
\nA New Translational Team for Early Diagnosis and Prevention of Alzheimer\u2019s Disease
\n<\/em>(Awarded Phase II in July 2025)<\/p>\n

William Kim, MD, PhD <\/strong>( Medicine, Genetics, Pharmacology), Brian Kuhlman, PhD <\/strong>(Biochemistry and Biophysics) & Shawn Yu, MD<\/strong> (Medicine)
\nMultispecific T-cell engagers targeting intracellular cancer-testis antigens in urothelial carcinoma<\/em><\/p>\n

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TTSA Teams – 2021-22<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Johanna Smeekens, PhD <\/strong>(Pediatrics) & Scott Commins, MD, PhD<\/strong> (Medicine)
\nEarly-life Th2-skewing as a risk factor for allergic sensitizations<\/em><\/p>\n

Silvia Kreda, PhD<\/strong> (Medicine & Biochemistry), Margaret Leigh, MD<\/strong> (Pediatrics) & Lawrence Ostrowski, PhD<\/strong> (Pediatrics)
\nOligonucleotide-Based Therapy and Precision Medicine Platform for Primary Ciliary Dyskinesia<\/em><\/p>\n

Brandi Reeves, MD <\/strong>(Medicine\/Hematology) & Rafal Pawlinski, PhD<\/strong> (Medicine\/Hematology)
\nHypoxia Inducible Factors alpha in Myeloproliferative Neoplasm-Associated Thrombosis
\n<\/em>(Awarded Phase II in December 2023)<\/p>\n

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TTSA Teams – April 2019<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Antonio Amelio<\/strong> (Oral and Craniofacial Health Sciences), Trevor Hackman<\/strong> (Otolaryngology), Joel Parker<\/strong> (Genetics), Siddharth Sheth<\/strong> (Medicine), Renee Betancourt<\/strong> (Pathology and Laboratory Medicine), Wendell Yarbrough<\/strong> (Otolaryngology)
\nMolecular Subtyping of Salivary Mucoepidermoid Carcinoma (MEC) for Risk Stratification and Guiding Therapeutic\u00a0Decisions<\/em><\/p>\n

Paul Armistead<\/strong> (Medicine), Nilu Goonetilleke<\/strong> (Microbiology and Immunology)
\nTargeting HLA-E Restricted Epitopes for Immunotherapy Against Cancer<\/em><\/p>\n

Yevgeny Brudno<\/strong> (Biomedical Engineering), Gianpietro Dotti<\/strong> (Microbiology and Immunology), Natalie Grover<\/strong> (Medicine)
\nIn Situ Recruitment, Reprogramming and Release of CAR-T Cells<\/em><\/p>\n

David Lalush<\/strong> (Biomedical Engineering), Tracy Rose<\/strong> (Medicine), William Kim<\/strong> (Medicine), Naim Rashid<\/strong> (Biostatistics), Amir Khandani<\/strong> (Radiology), Matthew Milowsky<\/strong> (Medicine), Hung-Jui Tan<\/strong> (Urology) Sara Wobker<\/strong> (Pathology and Laboratory Medicine)
\nQuantitative PET-MRI Imaging Correlated with Transcriptome Analysis for Noninvasive Characterization of Renal Cell Carcinomas<\/em><\/p>\n

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TTSA Teams – April 2018<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Melinda Beck<\/strong> (Nutrition), Raza Shaikh<\/strong> (Nutrition), Timothy Farrell<\/strong> (Surgery)
\nMechanisms by which gastric-bypass surgery improves lymphocyte immunometabolism<\/em><\/p>\n

Yuliya Pylayeva-Gupta<\/strong> (Genetics), Paul Dayton<\/strong> (BME), Autumn McRee<\/strong> (Medicine)
\nRevitalization of anti-tumor immune responses using image-guided sonoporation in pancreatic cancer<\/em><\/p>\n

Beh Calhoun<\/strong> (Medicine), Melissa Troester<\/strong> (Epidemiology), Sarah Nyante<\/strong> (Radiology)
\nIntegration of Molecular, Epidemiologic, and Histopathologic Markers for Risk Stratification of Benign Breast Disease<\/p>\n

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TTSA Teams – April 2017<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Timothy Gershon<\/strong> (Neurology), Kirk Wilhelmsen<\/strong> (Genetics)
\nAnalyzing clonal diversity to improve risk stratification and therapy for medulloblastoma
\n<\/em>(Awarded Phase II in August 2018)
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

Xian Chen<\/strong> (Biochemistry & Biophysics), Kristalyn Gallagher<\/strong> (Surgery)
\nProteogenomic discovery of patient-specific, phenotypic markers for early diagnosis of invasive lobular carcinoma<\/em><\/p>\n

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TTSA Teams – April 2016<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Fernando Pardo Manuel de Villena<\/strong> (Genetics), Wesley Burks<\/strong> (Pediatrics)
\nDevelopment and characterization of an improved translational model of peanut allergy
\n<\/em>(Awarded Phase II in April 2017)<\/p>\n

James Garbutt<\/strong> (Psychiatry), Todd Thiele<\/strong> (Psychology & Neuroscience), Mark Tommerdahl<\/strong> (BME), Robyn Jordan<\/strong> (Psychiatry)
\nAssessing Changes in the Brain Melanocortin System and Sensory Processing in Response to Alcohol to Advance our Understanding of the Pathophysiology and Psychopharmacology of Binge Drinking<\/em><\/p>\n

Rich Davis<\/strong> (Ophthalmology), Matt Hirsch<\/strong> (Ophthalmology), Brian Gilger<\/strong> (NCSU Veterinary School)
\nPrevention of Cornea Graft Rejection using AAV Gene Therapy<\/em>
\n(Awarded Phase II in April 2017)<\/p>\n

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TTSA Teams – April 2015<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Toni Darville, MD<\/strong> (Pediatrics), Scott Randell, PhD<\/strong> (Cell Biology and Physiology), Uma Nagarajan PhD<\/strong> (Pediatrics), Catherine O\u2019Connell PhD<\/strong> (Pediatrics), Pris Wyrick PhD<\/strong> (Pediatrics), Mehmet Kesimer PhD<\/strong> (Biochemistry and Biophysics), Adrienne Cox PhD<\/strong> (Pharmacology), Kim Boggess, MD<\/strong> (Ob Gyn) and Matthew Zerden, MD<\/strong> (Ob Gyn).
\nPrimary human fallopian tube cell models for research on Chlamydia trachomatis –<\/em>induced disease.
\n<\/em>(Awarded Phase II in December 2016)
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

Richard F. Loeser, Jr., MD<\/strong> (Medicine), Pauline Kay Lund, PhD<\/strong> (Cell Biology and Physiology), M. Andrea Azcarate-Peril, PhD<\/strong> (Cell Biology and Physiology), Joann Jordan, MD, MPH<\/strong> (Medicine\/Rheumatology), Ryan Balfour Sartor, MD (Medicine), Todd A. Schwartz, DrPH (Biostatistics), Jenny P. Ting, PhD (Genetics).
\nThe Role of the Microbiome in Osteoarthritis<\/em><\/p>\n

Francisco A. Sylvester, MD<\/strong> (Pediatrics), Ian Carroll PhD<\/strong> (Medicine), Kinh N. Truong, PhD<\/strong> (Biostatistics).
\nEffects of a dysbiotic intestinal microbiome present in Crohn disease on skeletal health and linear growth<\/em><\/p>\n

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TTSA Teams – September 2014<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Evan Dellon, MD, MPH<\/strong> (Medicine), Michael Kulis, PhD<\/strong> (Pediatrics ), Brian Vickery, MD<\/strong> (Pediatrics)
\n<\/i>A novel T-cell directed approach to dietary therapy in patients with eosinophilic esophagitis
\n<\/i>(Awarded Phase II in April 2015)<\/p>\n

James Faber, PhD<\/strong> (Cell and Molecular Physiology), David Huang, MD<\/strong> (Neurology), William Powers, MD<\/strong> (Neurology), Yueh Lee, MD, PhD<\/strong> (Radiology), Kirk Wilhelmsen, MD<\/strong> (Genetics)
\nGENEtic Determinants of Collateral Status in StFroke – The GENEDCSS Study<\/em><\/p>\n

David Gerber, MD<\/strong> (Surgery), Jude Samulski, PhD<\/strong> (Pharmacology), Caibin Cui, PhD<\/strong> (Medicine), Chengwen Li, PhD<\/strong> (Pediatrics)
\nPatient-derived chimeric mouse models for studying liver disease<\/i><\/p>\n

Penny Gordon-Larsen, PhD<\/strong> (Nutrition), Barry Popkin, PhD<\/strong> (Nutrition), Annie Green-Howard, PhD<\/strong> (Biostatistics), Amanda Thompson, PhD<\/strong> (Anthropology)
\nGut microbiome markers of cardiometabolic disease in transition to a Western diet
\n<\/em>(Awarded Phase II in April 2015)<\/p>\n

Brian Jensen, MD<\/strong> (Medicine), Gary Johnson, PhD<\/strong> (Pharmacology), Cary Anders, MD<\/strong> (Medicine), Sean Gomez, PhD<\/strong> (BME\/Pharmacology), Joel Parker, PhD<\/strong> (Genetics)
\nIntegrated profiling of the kinome and transcriptome to predict cardiotoxicity of kinase inhibitors
\n<\/i>(Awarded Phase II in August 2018)
\n<\/i><\/p>\n

Kristy Richards, MD<\/strong> (Medicine), Dirk Dittmer, PhD<\/strong> (Microbiology and Immunology), David Suter, VMD, PhD, MS<\/strong> (NCSU)
\nDisrupting EBV lymphomagenesis as a novel strategy for the treatment of human and canine lymphoma<\/i><\/p>\n

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TTSA Teams – January 2014<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

James Bear, PhD<\/strong> (Cell Biology and Physiology), David Rubenstein, MD, PhD<\/strong> (Dermatology), Donna A. Culton, MD, PhD<\/strong> (Dermatology)
\nAccelerating cutaneous wound healing through inhibition of O-GlcNAc transferase<\/i><\/p>\n

Mohanish Deshmukh, PhD<\/strong> (Cell Biology and Physiology), Charles Cairns, MD<\/strong> (Emergency Medicine), Praveen Sethupathy, PhD<\/strong> (Genetics), Ned Sharpless, MD<\/strong> (Medicine and Genetics)
\nmiR-29 as a Novel Biomarker and Regulator of Aging<\/i><\/p>\n

<\/i>Flavio Frohlich PhD<\/strong> (Psychiatry) and Haewon Shin MD<\/strong> (Neurology)
\n<\/span>Discovering the Mechanisms of Targeted Enhancement of Brain Activity and Cognition by BrainStimulation using Intracranial Electrophysiology in Epilepsy Patients<\/i><\/i><\/p>\n

<\/i>Yueh Z. Lee, MD, PhD<\/strong> (Radiology), Otto Zhou, PhD<\/strong> (Physics & Astronomy), Jianping Lu, PhD<\/strong> (Physics & Astronomy), Marianne Muhlebach, MD<\/strong> (Pediatric Pulmonology), Scott Donaldson, MD<\/strong> (Pulmonary Medicine), Jennifer Goralski, MD<\/strong> (Pulmonary Medicine), Richard Boucher, MD<\/strong> (Pulmonary Medicine), Katherine Birchard MD<\/strong> (Radiology), Casey Sams, MD<\/strong> (Radiology), Lynn Fordham <\/strong>(Radiology)
\n<\/span>Stationary Chest Tomosynthesis for Imaging Young Cystic Fibrosis Patients<\/i>
\n<\/em>(Awarded Phase II in October 2014)<\/p>\n

P. Kay Lund, PhD<\/strong> (Cell Biology and Physiology), Ric Boucher, MD<\/strong> (Pulmonary Medicine), Scott Randell, PhD<\/strong> (Cell Biology and Physiology), Scott Magness, PhD<\/strong> (Cell Biology and Physiology), Evan Dellon, MD, MPH<\/strong> (Gastroenterology), Shengli Ding, PhD<\/strong> (Cell Biology and Physiology), Raluca Dumitru, PhD<\/strong> (Genetics), Martina Gentzsch, PhD<\/strong> (Cell Biology and Physiology)
\nIntestinal epithelial cell culture systems to advance personalized research and therapy in Cystic Fibrosis (CF) and other gastrointestinal (GI) diseases<\/i>
\n<\/em>(Awarded Phase II in October 2014)<\/p>\n

Shehzad Sheikh, MD<\/strong> (Gastroenterology) and Terry Furey, PhD<\/strong> (Genetics)
\nIdentifying Genetic- and Microbial-based Molecular Markers of Inflammatory Bowel Disease<\/i><\/p>\n

Maureen Su, MD<\/strong> (Microbiology and Immunology),Mike Cohen, MD<\/strong> (Infectious Disease), George Fedoriw, MD<\/strong> (Pathology), Terry Magnuson, PhD<\/strong> (Genetics), Jason Whitmire, PhD<\/strong> (Genetics)
\nHistone modifications in the clearance of chronic viral infections<\/i>
\n(Awarded Phase II in October 2014)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Summary of TTSA projects funded since January 2014 TTSA Teams – January 2026 Zibo Li, PhD (Radiology) & Nima Kokabi, MD, FRCPC (Radiology; Interventional Oncology) A Transporter Targeted Radiotheranostic Platform for Precision Treatment of Glutamine Addicted Hepatocellular Carcinoma Erica Sparkenbaugh, PhD (Pathology and Laboratory Medicine) & Mofiyinfoluwa Obadina, MD, MSCR (Medicine, Division of Hematology) Hypoxemia\u2011Induced … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4933,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"class_list":["post-2291","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","odd"],"acf":[],"_links_to":[],"_links_to_target":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/oor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2291","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/oor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/oor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/oor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4933"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/oor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2291"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/oor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2291\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6740,"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/oor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2291\/revisions\/6740"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/oor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2291"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}