DRIVING THE FIELD FORWARD: UNDERSTANDING NEC

Necrotizing Enterocolitis (NEC)

In April of 2023, Division Chief of Pediatric Surgery Dr. Catherine Hunter became the first surgeon-scientist within the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine Department of Surgery to receive an R01 grant from the National Institutes of Health.

Dr Hunter was awarded a $2 5 million grant for her research on the molecular pathogenesis of necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) and neonatal sepsis

NEC is an abnormal response to bacteria in the gastrointestinal tract that typically impacts premature babies.

“Our central hypothesis is that the response of the intestinal barrier in premature infants to injury is altered and is characterized by changes in epithelial ROCK signaling, aberrant tight junction regulation, increased inflammation, sepsis, and epithelial cell death,” Dr Hunter said

Dr. Hunter explained this grant will help fund this research which will be conducted in her lab on campus. “Our major goals are to test this hypothesis by determining whether inhibition of tight junction protein expression and redistribution or caveolin-1-mediated endocytosis prevents paracellular permeability increases, inflammatory responses, and epithelial cell death in experimental sepsis and NEC,” she said.

According to Department of Surgery Chair Dr. Barish Edil, Dr Hunter composed various articles that established the foundation of the grant “I found these articles to demonstrate elegant work and vision as she continues to study this disease process that impacts the neonatal population,” Dr Edil stated

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Dr. Hunter has researched NEC for several years and hopes the grant will serve as a means to help develop a better understanding of the disease’s function.

“The grant will be used to continue to drive the field forward and try and identify why some babies develop NEC as well as to try and prevent this disease,” she said

Dr Hunter explains that it is important to learn as much as possible about NEC so she and others in her specialty can develop better treatments and preventive measures against the disease.

“I research this disease because it affects about five percent of all of our newborns in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit And of those that get NEC, up to 80 percent require surgery Sadly, even after having everything possible done, there can be negative outcomes including death or resultant short gut syndrome,” Dr Hunter said

Dr. Edil explained it is a great accomplishment to receive the type of funding Dr. Hunter was awarded.

“Dr. Hunter is a wonderful example of a physicianscientist,” Dr Edil said “An R01 is an amazingly difficult accomplishment that takes years of work; many strive for it, but a small minority of surgeons achieve it ”