Research and Grants

Furthering the Pursuit of Innovation and Exploration in Healthcare and Education

An important resource for students, faculty and staff, the Office of Research provides support and guidance for research activities, such as statistical consulting, an intramural grant program, and a searchable database of extramural grant opportunities.

Publications

Amanda Brooks, PhD, Director of Research and Scholarly Activities, published a paper with her graduate students and colleagues entitled “Development and processing of novel heparin binding functionally modified spider silk coating for a catheter, providing dual antimicrobial and anticoagulant properties” in the journal Materialia. It describes not only the connection between infection and thrombosis but also the novel use of a biologically inspired molecule, a heparin binder, to disrupt both pathologies. The heparin binding molecule was embedded in a spider silk protein to produce a robust surface coating. The team found that such an approach could prevent both blood clot formations, as well as adhesion of bacteria and infection of the surface.

Dr. Brooks also published a paper entitled, “Echogenic exosomes as ultrasound contrast agents” in the journal Nanoscale Advances, a member journal of the Royal Society of Chemistry. In the article, Dr. Brooks and her colleagues describe how exosomes, which are naturally secreted bilayer vesicles, can be isolated and modified to be echogenic, a particularly useful modification for ultrasound imaging. The work is continuing toward preclinical evaluation at the University of Washington and North Dakota State University.

Dr. Brooks also published an extensive review entitled, “Additive Manufacturing Techniques for Fabrication of Bone Scaffold for Tissue Engineering Applications.” The review considers the utility of 3D printing and other similar techniques for bone tissue engineering. The article was published in the journal Recent Progress in Materials.

Jesse Dewey, OMS IV, has published research in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology. His research, titled, "Man with recurrent necrotic papules," describes two patients who presented with various lesions. These lesions began as erythematous nodules, became ulcerated with central eschar, healed without scarring, then recurred in new locations.

Fernando Gomez, MD, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Professor of Pathology, published research in Allergy and Asthma Proceedings titled, “COVID-19 in children: Pathogenesis and current status.” The article reviews and critically assesses published studies on severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection and COVID-19 disease in children. It covers the clinical presentations, immunology, and pathogenesis of two distinct but overlapping phases of COVID-19 disease in children: the first phase is triggered by the SARS-CoV-2 infection and some patients progress to a second phase termed multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) caused by a host hyper immune response. The article highlights that although MIS- C may have symptoms similar to Kawasaki disease it is a distinct entity from Kawasaki disease.

Marcus Oliver, OMS IV, Ben Robbins, OMS IV, and Eryn Reager, OMS III, published research, titled "BMI & Body Fat Changes in Medical Students," originated from SD Oliver's own observations. After noticing unhealthy weight changes in fellow classmates and himself, he became interested in conducting a research project about how medical school can affect a student's body weight in the first year. The research, which was presented by the student doctors to various Utahan physicians in August, delved into those changes, the potential long-term sequelae, and where it is headed.

Amanda Brooks, PhD, Director of Research and Scholarly Activities, and Ben Brooks, PhD, Assistant MSBS Program Director, recently published an article in the journal Materials. The article entitled, “An antibiotic-releasing bone void filling (ABVF) putty for the treatment of osteomyelitis”, describes the preclinical studies of a new ABVF material Drs. Brooks have been developing for over a decade. The new material composition facilitated bone healing in a rat osteomyelitis model while simultaneously providing protection from Staphylococcus aureus infection in that model. They have a business founded on the idea and are proceed toward clinical trials and FDA approval. Furthermore, their article was selected for the cover art of the published issue.

Alissa Lenz, OMS IV, Rebecca Ryznar, PhD, Associate Professor of Molecular Biology, David Ross, DO, FACEP, Director of the Rural & Wilderness Medicine Track, Susan Carter, MD, FACOG, FACS, Chair of Office of Simulation in Medicine and Surgery, and Anthony LaPorta, MD, FACS, Professor of Surgery, published research in the Journal of Disaster Medicine. The article entitled, “The Next Nine Minutes: Lessons Learned from the Large-Scale Active Shooter Training Prior to the STEM School Shooting”, identified strengths and weaknesses in pre-hospital and inhospital care. These included what roles agencies play in a true event, specific timing in establishing areas such as the warm zone and casualty collection point, transportation, and logistics at the accepting hospital. Only after the barriers to success were identified and addressed did the timing of casualty movement drastically improve. The lessons learned from this training were ultimately used to save lives at the STEM Academy, Highlands Ranch, Colorado Shooting. This in-situ immersion training should be practiced as a whole system.

Isain Zapata, PhD, Assistant Professor of Research and Statistics, Alissa Lenz, OMS IV, Rebecca Ryznar, PhD, Associate Professor of Molecular Biology, and Anthony LaPorta, MD, FACS, Professor of Clinical Surgery, published an article in Frontiers in Psychology titled, “Medical Students Immersed in a Hyper-Realistic Surgical Training Environment Leads to Improved Measures of Emotional Resiliency by Both Hardiness and Emotional Intelligence Evaluation.” The authors considered the hardiness and emotional intelligence of the physicians in relation to the all too prevalent burnout. Hyper-realistic immersion simulation training for military medical students was conducted and the hardiness and emotional intelligence of those undergoing the training was then measured. The study concluded that such realistic simulations can improve these outcomes. The team continues to study the issue.

Joseph Fike, OMS IV, Edwin Fundingsland, OMS IV, and Joshua Calvano, OMS IV, published research titled, "204 Website Usability Analysis of the United States Emergency Medicine Residencies," in the Annals of Emergency Medicine. This research analyzes the effectiveness of a residency's digital representation via a website during the application cycle of 2020-2021.

Ben Brooks, PhD, Assistant MSBS Program Director, Francina Towne, PhD, MSBS Program Director, Matthew McMaster, OMS IV, Kelly Mohr, II, and Austin Page, III, published an article in the journal Expert Opinion on Biological Therapy titled, “Epitope Characterization of Anti-drug Antibodies—A Tool for Discovery and Health.” The market for monoclonal antibody (mAb0) therapies is growing rapidly as the pharmaceutical industry expands its development across a broad spectrum of diseases. Unfortunately, as shown in the recent failure of bococizumab by Pfizer, these treatments often stimulate formation of problematic antidrug antibodies (ADAs). ADAs can cause side effects and limit efficacy for many patients. To increase efficacy and decrease safety concerns from ADAs, immunogenicity characterization is needed early in the drug development process. This article presents emerging techniques that hold promise to improve ADA assays and their potential applications to pharmaceutical development and personalized medicine.

Presentations

Congratulations to those that did presentations in November and December!

A special congratulation to Anthony J. La- Porta, MD, FACS, Professor of Clinical Surgery, who was a keynote speaker at the 2020 Virtual Annual Clinical Assembly for the American College of Osteopathic Surgeons. During his address, titled "Changing the Face of Training," he discussed a series of hyper-realistic active shooter simulation drills conducted by South Metro Fire Rescue and involving multiple agencies. Several students also presented posters virtually at this conference.

Dr. Anthony LaPorta: "Continuous Video and Trauma Data While En Route to and in a Trauma Center during Mass Casualty." American College of Surgeons Virtual 2020 Clinical Congress. October 3-7, 2020.

Dr. Anthony LaPorta: "Just because they are empowered does that mean they can do the task effectively? Examining civilian ability to STOP-THE-BLEED." Trauma Association of Canada. March 25-28, 2020. Halifax CA. Covid Interrupted-Virtual November 16-20, 2020.

Dr. Anthony LaPorta; Bryan Eldreth, OMS IV: "Stopping the Bleed in the most difficult of places, The Role of Difficult Sea Based Resuscitation Surgery." Trauma Association of Canada. March 25- 28, 2020. Halifax CA. Covid Interrupted-Virtual November 16-20, 2020.

Anthony LaPorta; Rebecca Ryznar, PhD, Associate Professor of Molecular Biology; Alissa Lenz, OMS IV; Joseph LaPorta, DO '18. "WARM ZONE CARE – Lessons Learned from Large-Scale Active Shooter Training Prior to the Stem School Shooting." Trauma Association of Canada. March 25- 28, 2020. Halifax CA. Covid Interrupted-Virtual November 16-20, 2020.

Anthony LaPorta; Ryan Carney, OMS IV; Alissa Lenz, OMS IV; Dr. Rebecca Ryznar: "Identifying Triage Priorities and Logistics in Mass Casualty Events Prior to Arrival at the Hospital." Trauma Association of Canada. March 25-28, 2020. Halifax CA. Covid Interrupted-Virtual November 16- 20, 2020.

Michael Kreiser, OMS II; Brieanna Hill, OMS II; Dikchhya Karki, OMS II; Elke Wood, OMS II; Isain Zapata, PhD, Assistant Professor of Research and Statistics; and Dr. Anthony LaPorta. "Point-of-Care Ultrasound Use by EMS Providers in Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest." AMSUS The Society of Federal Professionals. Covid Interrupted-Virtual December 8, 2020.

Sarah Pederson, OMS IV; Amanda Andersen, OMS IV; Austen Anderson, OMS IV; Krysta Sutyak, DO '20; Camille Bentley, DO, MPH, FACOFP, Chair of the Department of Tracks and Special Programs; and Dr. Isain Zapata. After more than two years of research, RVUCOM students and faculty won second place at the American Osteopathic Association’s Bureau of International Osteopathic Medicine abstract competition. They gave a virtual presentation about their research, "Utilization of Traditional vs Contemporary Medicine in Global Indigenous Populations: the Maasai of Kenya", at the BIOM International Seminar in October.