The School of Medicine spent Thursday evening celebrating its outstanding staff members during the 7th annual Dean's Staff Excellence Awards.

The event, hosted by Toni Ganzel, MD, dean of the School of Medicine, and Glenn Gittings, PhD, chief of staff, honored staff members nominated by their colleagues for their outstanding excellence exhibited over the last 12 months.

"The nominations tell a compelling story about the excellence, creativity, and personal dedication of a great number of our staff who lean in each and every day to help us carry out our mission," said Ganzel, "The Dean’s Staff Awards recognizes a thriving SOM support system full of staff members that have made a significant impact and contribution to the life of others here at the School of Medicine."

Over 30 staff members were nominated for seven different award categories. The awards were presented to:

• Brigitte Warren, for Performance Excellence in an Administrative Office
• Katherine Linzy, for Performance Excellence in a Clinical Department
• Russ Howard, for Performance Excellence in a Basic Science Department
• Robert Peck, for Heart of the School
• Jan Ke-McCue, for the Anti-Racism, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Award
• Green Dot, for Team of the Year
• Beth Williams, for Employee of the Year
• Gordon Stout and Sherri Gary, co-awardees for the Dean’s Lifetime Achievement Award

The celebration was the conclusion to a day-long event for School of Medicine Staff members.

"Investing time, energy, and resources into our staff is the key to making the School of Medicine the place it is today. Without our staff, we couldn't operate at the high capacity we do daily," said Gittings, "Their hard work never goes unnoticed, and I hope the resurgence of S.M.A.R.T. Staff events will help our colleagues feel better supported in their daily efforts."

View photos from the event here.

Fourth-year medical student, Luca Petrey (they/them), was recently awarded the 2022 RIME Underrepresented in Medicine Research Award from the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC).  Petrey, in collaboration with Emily Noonan, PhD, and Laura Weingartner, PhD, were recognized at the 2022 AAMC Conference in Nashville, Tennessee, for their paper titled “Gender Diverse Representation in Patient Simulation: A Scoping Review.”

Petrey dedicated their research towards the advocacy of transgender and non-binary patient simulation. Petrey was inspired when they recognized a lack of medical education surrounding transgender and non-binary patients within medical simulations. When these medical simulations were portrayed, they were performed by actors who were hired to take on a specific gender identity. This removed the authenticity of the medical simulation. Additionally, the study identified there was an overwhelming amount of data collected on transgender individuals, but less on non-binary patients.

“Receiving the Underrepresented in Medicine research award from the AAMC for this work is a very encouraging marker of increasing interest in competent, respectful care for gender diverse people,” said Petrey. “It also signals the value that people with lived experience bring as medical educators, and that realization will drive medicine forward in so many areas.”

Petrey created a three-step goal for educator development: to establish a relationship between transgender and non-binary communities and the University of Louisville to identify casting limitations and create a specialized clinical simulation to overcome those limitations, and. to document the gender identities of the characters in specific cases and of those hired to portray the patients.

“It’s students like Luca who are identifying problems within medical education and creating plans to overcome those for future generations of medical students,” said Toni Ganzel, dean of the School of Medicine. “I could not be prouder of them for publishing their research and receiving the RIME award.”

Petrey’s research, along with the work of many of their colleagues, set an expectation for the diversity and inclusion efforts of the School of Medicine. The School of Medicine admires the efforts of Petrey, Noonan and Weingartner toward advancing the medical education curriculum to create a more inclusive space.

“The UofL School of Medicine has a team of dedicated researchers who focus on LGBTQ+ healthcare competencies in the undergraduate medical curriculum,” said Petrey. “I have been so honored to work with many of these wonderful folks who continue every day to make things better for our community, and to make sure that we are represented with competence and respect within the curriculum. Their work continues to be groundbreaking, and I am so looking forward to what the future holds for this incredible team at ULSOM.”

A study at the University of Louisville found that overall psychological well-being corresponds to lower risk factors for heart disease.

Researchers in UofL’s Christina Lee Brown Envirome Institute surveyed more than 700 people on a broad spectrum of psychological well-being factors and at the same time, tested the participants’ cardiovascular disease risk factors, including cholesterol levels, blood pressure, triglyceride levels and arterial stiffness, which is associated with the progression of heart disease. They found that participants who scored higher on the well-being survey also had lower levels of cardiovascular disease risk factors.

One of the strongest findings in the study, which was published in the Journal of the American Heart Association, was that well-being moderated the association between age and arterial stiffness. While study participants with the lowest well-being scores were more likely to have increased arterial stiffness with age, there was no association between age and arterial stiffness for those with high levels of well-being.

Previous studies have showed a correlation between optimism and happiness and lower risk of cardiovascular health events. The survey for this study took a broader approach to assess psychological well-being, said Alison McLeish, associate professor of clinical psychology at UofL and first author of this study.

“In addition to happiness and optimism, overall well-being includes something we call flourishing. It’s when you're doing things in your work or in your personal life that use your personal strengths and in which you're striving to reach a goal,” McLeish said. “It might not always bring you happiness in the moment, but there's an outcome that is exciting and brings you joy and a sense of accomplishment.”

The study’s authors suggested that health care providers may want to incorporate psychological well-being evaluation when assessing cardiovascular risk and recommend well-being interventions to mitigate the effects of age-related decline in cardiovascular health.

Rachel Keith, UofL associate professor of medicine and co-author who coordinated cardiovascular health assessments for the study, said that having an additional option to reduce heart disease that does not involve medication is appealing.

“When clinicians address heart health without medications we typically think about diet, exercise and tobacco cessation. Given that cardiovascular disease is so prevalent in our society, incorporating new and novel approaches that address risk, such as assessing and educating on ways to improve psychological well-being, may provide exciting opportunities to increase health, especially in an aging population,” Keith said.

Individuals can take steps on their own to maximize psychological well-being. McLeish suggested practicing mindfulness activities, for one. This could be seated meditation or intentionally being present in the moment while doing daily tasks such as walking, washing the dishes or even eating. In addition, she suggested what she calls positive psychology interventions.

“Part of that is identifying your strengths and your values so you can start to craft your life and your activities to build on those strengths and utilize them in different ways. You can do activities that use those strengths as a way to feel a sense of accomplishment as well as joy and happiness,” McLeish said.

McLeish said that while more research is needed to determine the extent to which improving well-being will improve cardiovascular disease risk, this study supports the idea that improving mental health can have a positive impact on physical health.

“The absence of disease doesn't necessarily indicate health or well-being. It just gets you to neutral,” McLeish said. “A lot of times, both clinical psychology as well as medicine are focused on the absence of disease. We are trying to say let's go a little bit further than that.”

The 4^th annual Dean's Celebration of Faculty Excellence was hosted on November 2 on the Health Sciences Campus. The event was attended by School of Medicine faculty and leadership in honor of our faculty who bring distinction to our university through their commitment to the areas of service, teaching, and research.

This was a record-breaking year, with 40 nominations for faculty members and some being nominated multiple times. The Leonard Tow Humanism in Medicine Award sponsored by the Arnold P. Gold Foundation was added to the program this year, as well as engraved memorabilia recognizing all nominees. 

“I am continually in awe of the passion our faculty brings to the School of Medicine,” said Toni Ganzel, MD, dean of the School of Medicine. “To all of our nominated faculty members, thank you for your dedication to our students, our school, and to our profession. Your hard work does not go unnoticed.”

The 2022 Awardees are as follows:

Outstanding Scholarship, Research and Creative Activity Awards:

• Basic & Applied Sciences award
  J. Christopher States, PhD
  Professor, Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology

• Career Achievement in Research award
  Janice E. Sullivan, MD
  Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Pediatric Clinical Research Unit

Distinguished Service Awards:

• Service to UofL award
  Jennifer P. Daily, MD
  Associate Professor, Department of Family and Geriatric Medicine

• Service to Profession award
  Robert Martin, II, MD, PhD
  Professor, Department of Surgery, Division of Surgical Oncology

• Service to the community, Commonwealth or Region award
  Melissa L. Currie, MD
  Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Forensic Medicine

• National/International Service award
  Mark Slaughter, MD
  Professor, Department of Cardiovascular & Thoracic Surgery, Division of Adult Cardiac Surgery

• Career of Service award
  Susan Galandiuk, MD
  Professor, Department of Surgery, Division of Colon and Rectal Surgery

Educator Awards:

• Gratis Faculty Teaching award
  Patricia M. Purcell, MD, MBA
  Clinical Associate Professor Gratis, Department of Pediatrics

• Outstanding Educator award
  Russell W. Farmer, MD
  Associate Professor, Department of Surgery, Division of Colorectal Surgery

• Career Achievement in Education award
  Kathy M. Vincent, MD
  Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences

Multicultural Teaching Award:
       John Chenault, PhD
       Associate Professor, Office of the SOM Dean, Division of Undergraduate Medical Education

Leonard Tow Humanism in Medicine Award:
       Sheridan R. Langford, MD
       Associate Professor, Department of Pediatrics

Mental health services provided to adults and older adults by the University of Louisville Trager Institute/Republic Bank Foundation Optimal Aging Clinic now are backed by an international accrediting agency.

The Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF) has accredited the Behavioral Health Service Organization at Trager for three years for outpatient treatment of adults and older adults. Trager is one of only 10 organizations around the globe accredited by CARF for mental health services for older adults.

“Accreditation is a public statement that our organization strives to ensure that our services are of the highest possible quality,” said Joe D’Ambrosio, the Trager Institute’s director of behavioral health. “At Trager, we are committed to reducing risk, addressing health and safety concerns, respecting cultural and individual preferences and providing the best possible quality of care.”

Mental health is an important aspect of overall health and well-being, particularly among older adults, D’Ambrosio said. Losses that can occur with aging – social activity, identity and physical health – put individuals at higher risk for developing behavioral health issues.

However, signs of mental illness in older adults often are overlooked or dismissed as normal symptoms of aging. Without treatment, conditions such as depression and anxiety can lead to further physical decline. Behavioral health services are provided as part of the clinic’s comprehensive care to help individuals maintain health as they age.

In order to be CARF-accredited, programs and services must demonstrate that they conform to internationally recognized standards for service delivery and are committed to continuous quality improvement and a consumer-driven focus.

CARF International is an independent, nonprofit accreditor of health and human services providers in aging services, behavioral health, child and youth services, durable medical equipment, employment and community services, medical rehabilitation, opioid treatment programs and vision rehabilitation services.

“For our Trager team, accreditation demonstrates our belief that all people have the right to be treated with dignity and respect, have access to needed services that achieve optimum outcomes and are empowered to exercise informed choice,” D’Ambrosio said.

D’Ambrosio said that during Trager’s accreditation survey, the CARF surveyor commended the institute’s FlourishCare^TM service, an integrated lifelong wellness care approach focused on lifestyle and preventative medicine for adults of all ages, as well as the use of student interns and telehealth, increasing accessibility to services.

Trager’s aging services include the FlourishCare assessment, care coordination, family support, medication management and education, organized education programs, end-of-life care and grief support, all available in a nationally recognized, age-friendly clinic.

The University of Louisville School of Medicine is committed to the success and promotion of our faculty and learners. To serve our constituents more fully, the School of Medicine has launched the Faculty Leadership for Inclusion and Growth in Health by Transformation, or FLIGHT program.

The FLIGHT program is a yearlong development program that seeks to build an infrastructure that reinforces the promotion, tenure and long-term success of our current and future faculty. Its goal is to increase the numbers of underrepresented minorities in medicine (URiM) among our faculty ranks by taking an extra step in development, support, and community building. Those that qualify for the FLIGHT program include junior faculty, senior residents, fellows, postdocs and all but dissertation (ABD) doctoral students.

“Within a few months of being in my role at the School of Medicine, I identified the need to establish a program that would especially support our unit in retaining strong faculty that are URiM,” said Chris Seals, PhD, assistant professor and assistant dean for faculty affairs and advancement. “The bottom line is that our students do better when they learn from those who look like them and who can relate to them; this program will help to ensure that our students are taught by the best faculty from all backgrounds.”

Flight members will participate in an 8-month curriculum focused on communication, emotional intelligence, motivation, leadership, and personal wellness. In addition, members will be paired with multiple mentors to help along the journey as a young professional in the academic medical field.

“I’m delighted to see the FLIGHT program leave the ground,” said Ron Paul, MD, professor and vice dean for faculty affairs and advancement. “Investing in the FLIGHT program and our URiM faculty and post-docs shows a strong commitment to create a stronger sense of belonging and inclusivity at the School of Medicine. Retaining our current faculty and post-docs, while recruiting for new faculty, aid in making the School of Medicine such a great place to work.”

On October 25, 2022, the program took flight by welcoming its inaugural cohort of 14 members, including:

• Dr. Landry Konan, Trainee in Anatomical Sciences
• Dr. Jeffrey Kim, Faculty member in Comparative Medicine Research Unit
• Dr. Noel Verjan-Garcia, Postdoctoral Fellow in the Brown Cancer Center
• Dr. Monica Chamorro, Faculty member in Family Medicine
• Dr. Mohammad Malik, Postdoctoral Fellow in the Envirome institute
• Dr. LaTisha Frazier, Trainee in OBGYN
• Dr. Abou Bakr Salama, Postdoctoral Fellow in Cardiology
• Dr. Jessica Kline, Faculty in OBGYN
• Jane Bartonjo, ABD Doctoral student in Anatomical Sciences
• Dr. Daniel Medina Aguinaga, Postdoctoral Fellow in Anatomical Sciences
• Dr. Danova Lopez Fajerstein, Trainee in Infectious Disease
• Dr. Kesley Cage, Trainee in the Department of Surgery
• Dr. Andrew Villasenor, Trainee in Internal Medicine
• Dr. Malaviak Prasad, Faculty in Pediatric Nephrology

The University of Louisville has been awarded $10.8 million in renewed funding for the UofL Superfund Research Center, part of the Christina Lee Brown Envirome Institute, by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. The funds will enable researchers to expand studies to monitor environmental toxins and understand their effects on human health.

The five-year funding renewal represents a 62% increase over the previous funding cycle for the UofL center, one of just 23 multiproject centers across the U.S. conducting research into the health effects of chemicals and compounds found at hazardous waste disposal sites known as Superfund sites.

UofL was named one of five new superfund research centers in 2017. Since that time, UofL researchers in the center conducted research into the health effects of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), gases emitted by combustion and from liquid and solid chemicals, found at the Lee’s Lane Superfund Site in southwest Louisville.

“This funding ensures that UofL researchers will continue and accelerate the important work to reduce the effects of these toxins on the health of residents in Jefferson County, our state and our country,” said Lori Stewart Gonzalez, interim president of UofL. “The significant increase in funding shows just how successful our center has been in advancing this knowledge under the leadership of Dr. Sanjay Srivastava.”

The Superfund program, created in 1980, is part of a federal government effort to clean up land contaminated by hazardous waste and identified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as a potential risk to human health or the environment. The program was started in part due to the discovery of a waste site near Louisville in Bullitt County known as the “Valley of the Drums,” which contained thousands of steel drums and contamination from 140 different chemicals.

Superfund Research Centers conduct multidisciplinary research in the detection and investigation of the health effects of specific chemicals and compounds and train young investigators in this area of research. The research at the UofL center is focused on understanding how exposure to VOCs contributes to heart disease, inflammation and liver disease, collectively called cardiometabolic disease.

During its first five-year cycle, the UofL Superfund Research Center engaged in three key project areas where they:

• Developed two portable devices to detect airborne volatile organic compounds in neighborhoods and homes
• Assessed effects of VOCs and other toxins on cardiovascular and immune health in human participants
• Conducted lab studies of health effects of VOCs including acrolein, benzene, xylene, vinyl chloride and trichloroethylene

UofL researchers developed two types of technology to detect and monitor VOCs in the environment. First, collaborating with investigators at Washington University in St. Louis, they designed and built a portable device to monitor and measure VOCs inside and outside of homes to compare indoor and outdoor exposure levels.

Second, chemists and chemical engineers at UofL developed a small “lab on a chip” that can be used in a wearable device to monitor an individual’s exposure in various environments, capturing VOCs for analysis in the lab.

Field studies with both technologies will begin in January 2023.

To study health effects of VOC exposure, UofL researchers enrolled about 700 individuals living in south and west Louisville in a human study program to assess exposure and health changes over time. The initial results of this study indicated that low-level exposure to VOCs could increase blood pressure and damage blood vessels and impair their repair. These effects are important markers for heart disease.

Although planned follow-up studies for the human study were delayed by the pandemic, laboratory and animal studies confirmed these effects.

“This research is revealing and decoding the factors that affect our health outcomes,” said Kevin Gardner, UofL’s executive vice president for research and innovation. “By better understanding these factors, such as VOC exposure, we can develop new interventions that help people here in Louisville and around the world live lives that are not just longer, but healthier and more resilient.”

Next studies expand area, add wastewater monitoring and address mitigation

Over the next five years, center researchers will apply the tools and data from the initial phase to expand the studies. They will broaden the human study to include 1,200 participants across Jefferson County, begin monitoring wastewater for VOCs and launch research to develop VOC mitigation methods.

The broader human health study will enable researchers to compare health changes and exposure levels in different parts of the metro area. Participants will be reassessed periodically over several years for changes in their health and to determine whether the toxins have greater impact on older or younger individuals and those with existing health conditions.

The team will begin monitoring wastewater in Jefferson County for the presence of both VOCs and metabolites shed by individuals, indicating exposure to VOCs. It also may reveal sources of VOC contamination.

“We will measure the metabolites of VOCs in the urine of the participants and in the wastewater, so we will have the environmental exposures and personal exposures. Then we will look at all the health outcomes and see the associations,” said Sanjay Srivastava, professor of medicine and director of the center. “We hope to gain better knowledge of how these chemicals exert toxicity and at what levels the toxicity occurs, as well as how exposures may exacerbate other conditions.”

Technology to monitor wastewater for VOCs and metabolites is an outgrowth of methods developed during the pandemic to detect COVID-19 and its variants in wastewater.

Center investigators also will launch remediation research. They will collaborate with researchers at Yale University who are developing methods to break down VOCs using heat to reduce or eliminate VOCs at hazardous waste sites or in a home or business.

In conjunction with the Green Heart Project, UofL researchers also are investigating whether increasing the tree canopy will decrease levels of VOCs and other toxins and improve the health of residents in the area.

“Our work is unique in that it focuses on the effects of these toxins on heart disease,” said Aruni Bhatnagar, director of the Christina Lee Brown Envirome Institute. “Most people have heard of cancer-causing chemicals, but we are finding that these chemicals also lead to heart disease, the leading cause of death in the world.”

The University of Louisville Alumni Awards are the highest honor bestowed by Louisville Alumni. For more than 30 years, the Alumni Awards have honored and celebrated the achievements of graduates from the University of Louisville. These awards recognize distinguished graduates who are exemplary ambassadors for the university and their college or school. The Alumni Award honorees reflect the high standing and character of their alma mater and are recognized at a ceremony during Homecoming week.

The School of Medicine proudly awarded Dr. Christa-Marie Singleton because of her career accomplishments, philanthropic endeavors, and contributions to her community. Nominations were received in the Spring and reviewed by a select committee at the School of Medicine.

Singleton knew from a very early age that she wanted to pursue medicine, but it wasn’t until later in life that her passion for medicine and advocacy met in the middle, leading her to where she is today. The journey wasn’t easy, but her passion ran deep; she accepted challenges without fear. Her story is inspiring to others facing similar challenges. While in Louisville, Dr. Singleton met with a group of students on October 21 to discuss overcoming challenges and following your dreams. We later interviewed Dr. Singleton on her own inspirations and continued dreams for the future.

1.    What inspired you to go into medicine? 

In my early life, I was a frequent visitor in my pediatrician’s office due to frequent illnesses. By age 11, I knew I wanted to be a pediatrician just like my doctor, Dr. Eleanor Stafford. Dr. Stafford inspired me to go into medicine because she took the time to tell me, and remind me, that it was important to take the time to talk to people and listen to their situation in order to help people heal.  

2.     What are some of your greatest accomplishments you’re proud of; what challenges did you face to get to where you are today?

I consider my greatest accomplishment to be the honor and privilege of being a parent to my now 16-year-old son; I’m also honored to have had the experience and opportunity to be able to use my medical and public health policy training to help translate my patients’ health priorities into better health access for communities. I am very grateful that one day during my pediatric internship one of my teachers or attendings said to me, “You, young lady, I can see, have a career in government.”  He introduced me to the concept of public health as a way to blend science into clinical medicine and not just impact one person’s individual health, but to improve the community’s health.  Instead of being one person’s doctor, I could be the community’s doctor.  I suspect he had heard about my health advocacy experience with the Kentucky Medical Student Section of the AMA that I began at UofL. He convinced my residency program to allow me to take a trial public health class at Johns Hopkins (about 1.5-2 hours down the road – pre online education). The agreement was that if I made a B or better in that class, the program would allow me to go to public health school while in residency. So, I rearranged my residency call schedule so that I could commute from Delaware to either suburban Washington D.C. or downtown D.C. Wednesday nights and Saturday mornings to pursue a Master of Public Health degree in health policy at the same time as my pediatric residency. The thought of a person pursuing two simultaneous programs was relatively unheard of at the time, and as I look back on that time, I think the things that got me through it was a simmering sense of “do” – stoked by seeds of my faith in God planted by my parents and by lots of questioning “why” and “how” evidence-based science could be used at the bedside of patients coming into the world and leaving the world. Those experiences gave me the opportunity to find strength to find my way “to not try but to do.” 

3.     What’s the greatest piece of advice you would offer to this generation of medical students?

I am a big fan of the character “Yoda” from the Star Wars movies and the line “Do or no do…no try.” In answering these questions related to my “to do,” I’d also like to share with you the “the power of “be.” In the words of Lisa Kohn, it is important, even essential, that leaders don’t just “try” but that they “do.” Leaders get things done, move projects forward, and sometimes too much doing can also be an issue. Lisa’s reminder to add the second sentence to Yoda’s mantra, “There is no do, only be,” makes this concept even more real, and more pertinent to what this generation of medical students can be for this world. Time and time again we can get caught up in too much doing to try to rush to solve a patient’s chief complaint and to move on the next patient. However, there are times when, in order to heal our patients, we must stop and reflect. To sit and simply “be” with the patient issues at hand, so that our next steps to support our patients’ health are intentional, evidence-based, thoughtful, and effective. I’d also advise students to respect the power of be. When we get too caught up in action and doing, we lose sight of who we really are, what we really believe, and, at times, what is really important. When we can look at the world with where we’ve been, as well as the experience of what others have been, we can better make an imprint on the lives we know…and those we may never know. I hope that this generation of medical students will not only go on “to do” – and to “go be great.”

4. What’s something you’re hopeful for in the future of medicine?

I hope that this generation of medical students will use their interests and passion in evidence-based medicine, social justice, and holistic health “to do” and to make an imprint on someone’s life. I have had the privilege to work in settings outside the comfortable life all of us have been blessed to have – to see first-hand health access – or the lack thereof – both in our country or challenged by another language and culture ---and most recently, the challenge of creating scientific, evidence-based public policy recommendations to improve community health. My goal when I left high school was to go off to college, medical school and return for private pediatric practice in a comfortable setting like the physicians with whom I had trained. But along the way, by working in public health emergency preparedness in Baltimore communities, at CDC in their State and Local preparedness departments, in my current work on evidence-based prevention policy, and during the COVID-19 response I found my “do” and my “be” – the calling to take evidence-based science and “have the community” as my “to do” that can make an imprint on multiple lives. Public health, particularly through the governmental lens - has been that “do” for me – because it’s the merger of evidence-based science, medicine and public policy that allows the opportunity and the privilege to take the nuts and bolts of clinical science that can physically improve a part of a single person’s life and then “do” that for a larger group of people. I’m now what one calls a preventive medicine public health physician which is a blend of training in scientific methods, clinical patient care, prevention, health policy, and government.  I hope that UofL medical students and all future medical students will now get to “do patient care” through the creation of public policies, social justice, and health programs that hopefully will protect the public’s health for a larger group of people. For me – in order to be effective in trying to improve a community’s health it was - and is important for me to have spent time in multiple facets of the health and policy arenas. I had to have some semblance of not just “do-ing” via classroom theory but “be-ing” – and actually have been there. I am trying to pass that mantra of not just do – but to be - onto the students that come behind me as well. I encourage this generation of medical students to go and to be – to be in as many places as you can be, not just in your comfort zone of what is usual and customary. We aren’t any help to each other if we are only being one same size, one type, one thing.  

As the nation gets set to celebrate Veterans Day on Nov. 11, a pair of new state-of-the-art microscopes have been provided by the Veterans Health Administration to the University of Louisville.

UofL researchers will use the microscopes to continue their close working relationship with the Clinical Research Foundation (CRF) at the Robley Rex VA Medical Center to understand how environmental exposures cause health effects in military veterans.

The multiphoton confocal microscopes, valued at nearly $2 million, will help the researchers discover the mechanisms behind health effects that have been documented by veterans and their health providers and finding ways to prevent or reduce their impact. The new instruments provide 3-D images of thicker tissue samples than were previously accessible, allowing the researchers to better see changes in biological tissues and metabolic functions in response to specific substances such as benzene and aldehydes.

The new microscopes are housed in spaces allocated by the UofL School of Medicine to the VA hospital, one in the Center for Cardiometabolic Science (formerly the Diabetes and Obesity Center), part of the Christina Lee Brown Envirome Institute, where it will be used to study heart and vascular functions, as well as immune responses in animal models. The other is in the Hepatobiology and Toxicology Center for Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) and will be used to understand the effects of environmental toxins on the liver.

“We are exceptionally grateful to the VA for providing this new technology, which will allow our researchers to have a greater understanding of the impacts and effects of wartime exposure on the health of our veterans,” said Toni Ganzel, dean of the UofL School of Medicine. “And we are pleased that the UofL School of Medicine is partnering with the VA and Clinical Research Foundation to improve care for our veterans as well as citizens of Kentucky and beyond.” 

Most imaging methods enable scientists to see only small, thin sections of tissue at a time. The images from the larger, thicker samples captured by the new multiphoton microscopes allow scientists to study the metabolic processes taking place.

“The multiphoton microscope uses lasers that can penetrate more deeply into a much thicker section of tissue rather than a very thin slice,” said Steven P. Jones, director of the Center for Cardiometabolic Science and professor of medicine. “Using the system, we can look in real time at what is happening in immune cells that may be trafficking to the liver, skeletal muscle, adipose depots and the heart.”

Matthew Nystoriak, associate professor of medicine, investigates the effects of inhaled substances on the cardiovascular system.

“We can look at the molecular processes behind different disease development that affect a broad section of the population,” Nystoriak said. “One of the things we want to look at is vascular inflammation. With this instrument, we can track immune cells leaving the bloodstream and infiltrating the walls of blood vessels.”

The liver research, led by Matthew Cave and Craig McClain, both professors of medicine at UofL and physicians and researchers affiliated with Robley Rex VA Medical Center, will include evaluating the effects of environmental exposures on liver diseases and the metabolic syndrome, studying interactions of environmental exposures with nutrition and with alcohol intake, and investigating clinically-relevant exposures such as those related to Camp Lejeune and to burn pits.

The VA has increased this research as a result of the PACT Act, recently signed into law to help veterans suffering negative health effects from war and peacetime exposures related to burn pits and other service-related activities. The act improves access to medical care for conditions resulting from these exposures through VA Medical Centers and helps the VA improve research, staff education and treatment related to those exposures.

“The VA enjoys a close relationship with UofL researchers, and this state-of-the-art equipment will be utilized to advance the research agenda of the VA , including allowing VA-affiliated researchers to apply the latest scientific methods to the investigation of respiratory, gastrointestinal, liver and metabolic diseases that commonly affect veterans,” said Gerald Dryden, professor of medicine at the UofL School of Medicine and associate chief of staff for research and development at Robley Rex VA Medical Center. “This will be especially important as we begin to look into the causes and effects of chronic burn pit and other environmental exposures on veterans’ health.”

The CRF is a nonprofit corporation that provides the administrative infrastructure dedicated to Robley Rex VA Medical Center researchers under the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). The CRF also works with UofL to provide groundbreaking research opportunities to veterans and active military in the Louisville area.

Nonprofit corporations (NPCs) such as CRF were established to provide a more efficient mechanism for VA researchers to participate in research and educational programs funded by private and non-VA public sources. There are more than 80 NPCs nationally, each affiliated with a VA medical center, who collectively have a resource and voice through the National Association of Veteran Research and Education Foundation.

Michael Book, executive editor of the CRF, underscored what this investment means for the partnership in the future.

“These microscopes further advance the research capabilities of the incredible investigators in our region,” said Michael J. Book, executive director of the CRF. “The equipment will aid in attracting other investigators to the groundbreaking work being done at Robley Rex VA Medical Center and the University of Louisville. Beyond the technological advancement, the investment also signifies the importance of the strong relationship between VAMC, the University of Louisville and the Clinical Research Foundation. We are excited to be a part of the innovation that lies ahead.”

A new study from University of Louisville researchers in the Christina Lee Brown Envirome Institute has found that exposure to e-cigarette aerosols can cause heart arrhythmias in animal models — both in the form of premature and skipped heart beats. The study findings, published Oct. 25 in Nature Communications, suggest exposure to specific chemicals within e-cigarette liquids (e-liquids) promote arrhythmias and cardiac electrical dysfunction.

“Our findings demonstrate that short-term exposure to e-cigarettes can destabilize heart rhythm through specific chemicals within e-liquids,” said Alex Carll, assistant professor in the UofL Department of Physiology who led the study. “These findings suggest that e-cigarette use involving certain flavors or solvent vehicles may disrupt the heart’s electrical conduction and provoke arrhythmias. These effects could increase the risk for atrial or ventricular fibrillation and sudden cardiac arrest.”

The researchers tested the cardiac impacts of inhaled e-cigarette aerosols solely from the main two ingredients in e-liquids (nicotine-free propylene glycol and vegetable glycerin) or from flavored retail e-liquids containing nicotine. They found that for all e-cigarette aerosols, the animals’ heart rate slowed during puff exposures and sped up afterwards as heart rate variability declined, indicating fight-or-flight stress responses. In addition, e-cigarette puffs from a menthol-flavored e-liquid or from propylene glycol alone caused ventricular arrhythmias and other conduction irregularities in the heart.

Conducted in collaboration with Daniel Conklin and Aruni Bhatnagar, professors in the UofL Division of Environmental Medicine, this work adds to a growing body of research on the potential toxicity and health impacts of e-cigarettes reported by the American Heart Association Tobacco Regulation and Addiction Center, for which UofL serves as the flagship institute.

“The findings of this study are important because they provide fresh evidence that the use of e-cigarettes could interfere with normal heart rhythms – something we did not know before,” Bhatnagar said. “This is highly concerning given the rapid growth of e-cigarette use, particularly among young people.”

As e-cigarette use has grown nationwide, the potential advantages and harms of vaping have been debated. Since vaping does not involve combustion, it exposes users and bystanders to little if any carbon monoxide, tar or cancer-causing nitrosamines compared with conventional cigarettes. However, e-cigarettes can deliver aldehydes, particles and nicotine at levels comparable to combustible cigarettes. Vaping might help smokers quit combustible cigarettes, but the appeal and addictiveness of e-cigarettes may encourage youth to vape amidst unknown long-term risks or take up smoking. More than 25% of high schoolers and 10% of middle schoolers in the U.S. reported using e-cigarettes before the pandemic.

Additional research by Carll and Matthew Nystoriak, an associate professor of medicine at UofL, to determine the effects of vape flavorings on the heart recently received $3.6 million in research funding from the National Institutes of Health.

“Our team’s findings that specific ingredients in e-cigarette liquids promote arrhythmias indicates there is an urgent need for more research into the cardiac effects of these components in both animals and humans,” Carll said.

The Central High School Pre-Medical Magnet Program is giving west Louisville students an up-close and personal experience with a career in medicine. Students are able to shadow UofL School of Medicine and UofL Health doctors during rounds at UofL Hospital, scrub into operating rooms and witness surgeries, and also get practice performing simpler procedures, like sutures through this immersive curriculum.

“The Central High School Pre-Medical Magnet Program is what I’ve dreamed of being able to create since I graduated medical school,” said Edward Miller, assistant professor and director of maternal fetal medicine at UofL and provider with UofL Physicians – OB/GYN & Women’s Health “This is a chance for students in west Louisville to not only know doctors that look like them, but to call them a mentor and friend.”

“UofL Health is proud to support Central High School and inspire the next generation of health care workers,” said Tom Miller, UofL Health CEO. “This program complements our commitment to reduce barriers to care by reducing barriers for employment. Together, with our fully funded UofL tuition program, we are investing to ensure our community is well prepared for the future.”

The pre-medical pipeline program launched in August and offers educational opportunities, mentorship, college credit and hundreds of thousands of dollars in scholarships. Its creation is in partnership with UofL Health, the UofL School of Medicine, Falls City Medical Society and Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS).

“I am so proud of our students and so excited to see their success,” Central High School Principal Dr. Tamela Compton said. “Our first pre-medical magnet class has already learned so much – from gaining hands-on first aid and emergency response experience in Central High School classrooms to scrubbing into surgeries at the hospital. Just two months into the program, these students are flourishing.”

More than 20 Central High seniors are currently rotating through different specialties, including OB/GYN, anesthesia and cardiothoracic surgery, while learning from UofL Health physicians and local physicians through the Falls City Medical Society. The Falls City Medical Society is committed to advancing the art and science of medicine for people of African descent and is playing a key role in ensuring student experience in the Pre-Medical Magnet Program is integrated into the Louisville physician community. Students shadow these physicians twice a week, earning college credit.

Later this month, the program will open up to Central High School juniors, who will rotate through each of the 10 core specialties.

“We are proud of our continued and strengthened partnership with Central High School and the opportunities it provides our faculty and students,” said Toni Ganzel, dean of the UofL School of Medicine. “Working alongside school administrators to enact quality learning for underserved youth is a strategic goal of the School of Medicine. We aim to fill our classrooms with diverse and talented students that reflect the world around us, and it is partnerships such as this that will create that transformative change.”

Students in the Central High School Magnet Career Academy (MCA) are selected for admission through a competitive process that includes achievement test scores, grade point average (GPA), personal essays and other teacher recommendations. Central has the second-highest number of Governor’s Scholars in the district. Central is one of two high schools in Kentucky to offer Montessori education.

“This program is already changing lives,” JCPS Superintendent Dr. Marty Pollio said. “Central’s pre-medical magnet students will graduate with knowledge many don’t gain until college. Opportunities like this are what we are working hard to provide to all JCPS students, so they graduate college and career ready.”

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – In recognition of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the Kentucky Cancer Program is hosting a series of events throughout October to increase access to screening tests and to ensure women across Kentucky are educated about breast cancer. For more information on any of these events, contact: Pam Temple-Jennings, 502-852-6318, pam.templejennings@louisville.edu.

Mobile Mammography Screenings:

Women aged 40 and over are encouraged to schedule a mammogram at one of the mobile mammography unit stops. Advance appointments required. Proper ID and insurance card are required. All insurance is filed with University of Louisville Hospital. Financial assistance is available for uninsured patients who qualify.

• Saturday, Oct. 1 – Redeemer Lutheran Church, 3640 River Park Dr., Louisville
• Thursday, Oct. 6 – Christian County Health Department, 1700 Canton St., Hopkinsville, Ky.
• Saturday, Oct. 15 – First Baptist Church, Jeffersontown, 10600 Watterson Trail, Louisville
• Monday, Oct. 17 – Churchill Downs backside, Christ Chapel (employees and family only)
• Tuesday, Oct. 18 – Centre on Main, 425 S. Main St. Leitchfield, Ky.
• Wednesday, Oct. 19 – Oxmoor Center, 7900 Shelbyville Rd., Louisville
• Saturday, Oct. 22 – Think Pink 5K run/walk for Breast Cancer Awareness at James Beville Park Pavilion, 810 Nature Trail, Leitchfield, Ky.
• Wednesday, Oct. 26 – Sun Valley Community Center, 6505 Bethany Lane, Louisville

All events are 8:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. Schedule an appointment by calling Kentucky Cancer Program at 502-852-6318.

All COVID guidelines followed. If you have tested positive for COVID or been in contact with someone testing positive for COVID, you are not eligible the day of the screening. 

Free Pink Ribbon Tea Party: 

Mothers, daughters, sisters, friends and ladies of all ages are invited to a fun tea party honoring the memory of Harriett B. Porter, who loved to bring people together to socialize and share information to help others. The event honors Porter whose husband, Woodford Ray Porter established the Harriet Bibb Porter Cancer Education and Prevention Endowment at the UofL Health – Brown Cancer Center. The tea party will include special guests, artists Elmer Lucille Allen and Sandra Charles, refreshments, a breast cancer update and special gifts.

Saturday, Oct. 8, 1:30-2:30 p.m., 1720 W. Broadway, Suite 205, Louisville

Reservations: Call the Kentucky Cancer Program, 502-852-6318.

Sista Strut 3K Breast Cancer Awareness Walk:

Sista Strut's mission is to increase awareness of breast cancer and provide information on community resources and funding to area programs. A portion of the proceeds from the Sista Strut 3k will benefit Kentucky African Americans Against Cancer. Sponsored by REAL 93.1 the Beat of Louisville and Kentucky Association of Health Plans and presented by Baptist Health Cancer Care and Humana Health Horizons in Kentucky.

Saturday, Oct. 15, 8 a.m. - noon.

3029 W. Muhammad Ali Blvd., Louisville

Register at: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/sista-strut-louisville-2022-tickets-191066413787 

Horses and Hope Pink Mustang Tour across Western Kentucky:

Horses and Hope was started in 2008 by former First Lady Jane Beshear and the Kentucky Cancer Program, University of Louisville, with the support of the Pink Stable, a committee of Kentucky horse owners, riders, trainers, farm owners, jockeys, and others. The mission is to increase breast cancer awareness, education, screening and treatment referral among Kentucky's signature horse industry workers and their families, many of who are uninsured and underserved. Special events are held throughout the state to honor breast cancer survivors and to raise funds for Horses and Hope. Friends of Horses and Hope including Churchill Downs, Keeneland, the North American Championship Rodeo and others who continue to support programs. Today, Horse and Hope has been expanded to offer cancer prevention and early detection programs along with screening and treatment referrals for many different cancers through the mobile van.

The Horses and Hope Pink Mustang was the pace car for the World Sprint Cup.

• Saturday, Oct. 8 – Twisted Pink Tennis Tournament at Ruff Park, 831 North Dr., Hopkinsville
• Friday, Oct. 14 – Pink Night in the Park at Calvert City Memorial Park, 1072 5^th Ave. SE, Calvert City
• Thursday, Oct. 20 – Breast Cancer Screening & Awareness Event at Deaconess Henderson Hospital, 1305 N. Elm St., Henderson
• Friday, Oct. 21 – Horses and Hope at Ohio County HealthCare, 1211 Old Main St., Hartford
• Monday, Oct. 24 – Breast Cancer Survivors’ Luncheon at Texas Roadhouse, 2900 James Sanders Boulevard, Paducah (RSVP Required)
• Tuesday, Oct. 25 – Western Kentucky Diagnostic Imaging, 1635 Scottsville Rd., Bowling Green
• Friday, Oct. 28 – Christian County Pink Out, WKDZ Radio, 19 D.J. Everett Dr., Cadiz

For more information about all events, visit www.kycancerprogram.org or call 1-877-326-1134.

About the Kentucky Cancer Program

Kentucky Cancer Program is the state-mandated cancer control program administered jointly by the University of Louisville and the University of Kentucky Lucille Parker Markey Cancer Center. KCP has 13 offices across the state, staffed by cancer control specialists who coordinate cancer prevention and early detection programs, patient and family services, professional education and training and who mobilize communities through coalitions and partnerships to address local cancer problems. Learn more at www.kycancerprogram.org.

University of Louisville research could help spur new medicines by extending the usable life of test heart tissue from one day to 12. The findings were published in the journal Nature - Communications Biology.

Biomedical researchers use slices of heart tissue to test the effectiveness and toxicity of new drugs, drug candidates and gene therapies. Until recently, the limited, 24-hour usable life of those slices created a major barrier to drug discovery, slowing down the development of new, potentially life-saving medications.

UofL methods, developed by a multidisciplinary team from the School of Medicine and J.B. Speed School of Engineering, extended the tissue’s usable life first to six days with a discovery in 2019, and now to 12 days, by mimicking the conditions experienced by a living heart. The tissue ‘lives’ in a pneumatic chamber, receiving electrical stimulation and nutrition and pumping air instead of blood.

“We’ve created a complete cardiac cycle within the chamber, so the heart tissue stays pumping and viable for longer,” said Tamer M. A. Mohamed, an associate professor of medicine who led the research. “This system will save time and costs of clinical trials during Phase 1 research, which includes testing for toxicity and proof of efficacy.”

Because of the short shelf-life of human heart tissue, many drug candidates today are tested in ways that poorly emulate living heart tissue or use tests that otherwise don’t show the full range of potential side effects related to cardiotoxicity. This causes some drug candidates to fail Phase 1 clinical trials or, worse, be taken off the market after being launched for clinical use. The UofL team believes their method can help solve this problem, potentially leading to better, safer medications.

“A longer shelf-life, as using our method, gives them more time for proper testing and access to the right materials,” said Jessica Miller, a graduate student researcher and an author on the paper. “That could lead to faster advancements in how we treat heart-related conditions.”

The UofL methods and culture device are patent-pending and available for license through the university’s Office of Research and Innovation. The researchers also have been working with the entrepreneurs in residence team — part of the office’s entrepreneurial arm, UofL New Ventures — to explore potential paths to market.

Each new academic year brings new opportunities for advancement in education, research, and patient care. The addition of our new faculty members creates additional excitement for the School of Medicine, and this year the school welcomed 65 new faculty members to its Basic and Clinical departments.

Dr. Gerard Guillot and Dr. Les Gilmer are two of the newest members to the Departments of Anatomical Sciences and Neurobiology, respectively.

Both Dr. Gerard Guillot and Dr. Les Gilmer have national reputations in the field of teaching with unique backgrounds and experiences.

Beyond his training in medicine, Guillot has a robust history in the arts; notably, a degree in medical illustration. Guillot has a large grant sponsored by the American Anatomical Association designed to provide anatomical images of different ethnicities, races, and genders. It is the first of its kind and will create opportunities for the School of Medicine to further its mission to create an equitable healthcare system in our Commonwealth. Understanding patients from different backgrounds will better prepare our students for a lifelong career in medicine.

Gilmer was raised in the rural Appalachian area and has a deep commitment to providing educational opportunities for those in marginalized parts of Kentucky. As an institution, we are being intentional about recruiting diverse faculty to expand our perspective and promote our new vision of health. Gilmer will help amplify our presence in underserved areas, shrinking the equity gap in healthcare.

“I’m thrilled to be joining the team at the University of Louisville School of Medicine,” Gilmer said. “This position offers another opportunity to funnel resources into reaching unmet needs in populations typically underrepresented in medicine. Beyond helping and educating those in Appalachian Kentucky, UofL School of Medicine students can learn from a new perspective to better prepare a responsible workforce.”

The University of Louisville strives to increase representation in the workplace and classroom. “Our faculty help to shape the future generation of physicians,” said Dr. Chris Seals, assistant dean for Faculty Affairs and Advancement, “by increasing the diversity in our faculty presence, we are in turn, changing the landscape of medicine.” Seals recently teamed with the local Fall City Medical Society to host a welcome event titled “Cookout for the Culture.” This event particularly welcomed all new underrepresented minorities in medicine faculty, trainees, students, and postdocs to the School of Medicine community.

“Bringing our faculty together outside the workplace is extremely important to the School of Medicine,” said Dr. Toni Ganzel, dean of the School of Medicine. “It’s so easy to get caught up in the day-to-day operations; it’s easy to feel isolated, especially if you’re new here. The work Dr. Seals brings to the School of Medicine improves the faculty experience ten-fold, thus improving the overall health and vitality of the community.”

All faculty hired between October 1, 2021-September 30, 2022, will be welcomed at an in-person workshop on September 29. 

The University of Louisville has been awarded $3.7 million from the National Institutes of Health to further innovative research that could help combat future pandemics.

Infectious disease researcher Donghoon Chung will lead the work at UofL as part of the newly created NIH Midwest Antiviral Drug Discovery (AViDD) Center for Pathogens of Pandemic Concern. The multi-institution center, led by the University of Minnesota, is one of nine across the U.S.

At UofL, Chung’s research will target the viruses’ genome – viral RNA. Inside the body, viruses use this RNA as a blueprint to create copies of themselves, spreading the infection. Chung hopes that by finding a way to stop this process, new therapeutics to fight potential pandemics can be developed.

“Once inside the body, viruses ‘commandeer’ host cells as factories and the viral genome becomes manufacturing instructions on how to make more Zika virus, for example,” said Chung, an associate professor in the Department of Microbiology & Immunology. “The goal is to stop them from successfully copying that genome.”

As part of this research, Chung will work closely with UofL’s Center for Predictive Medicine and its Regional Biocontainment Laboratory, one of only 12 regional and two national biocontainment labs in the United States and the only one in Kentucky. Established with support from the NIH to conduct research with infectious agents, the lab includes Biosafety Level 3 facilities built to the most exacting federal safety and security standards.

The new funding supporting Chung’s work is part of a $577 million effort by NIH to develop antiviral candidates to combat COVID-19 and other viruses with higher potential to cause a future pandemic. Researchers like Chung will identify and validate the candidates, with the most promising moving toward late-stage preclinical development.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the need for new antiviral drugs, especially those that could easily be taken by patients at home while their symptoms are still mild,” Anthony Fauci, director of the NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), said in a release. “Decades of prior research on the structure and vulnerabilities of coronaviruses greatly accelerated our response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and we hope that similar research focused on antivirals will better prepare us for the next pandemic.”

Friendly competition ensued as students competed in the annual College Cup on August 6 at the Student Recreation Center on the Belknap Campus. Tony Simms, director of student wellness for the School of Medicine, stated this was the 11^th year the event took place. Teams were divided up based on the student’s assigned Advisory College, which is determined upon matriculation to the School of Medicine.

“The Advisory Colleges are a unique aspect of the School of Medicine. Few other universities offer such programs, so when we started it here in 2011, it was a big draw for students to have an automatic built-in support system,” said Simms. Each college is named after either a past Dean of University of Louisville School of Medicine or a significant historical member of the medical community.

“The Advisory Colleges are great because they focus on connecting our incoming students with upperclassmen. It fosters strong relationships and reminds students that wellness is extremely important while in medical school,” said Simms.

College Cup is one of several events over the course of the academic year involving the Advisory Colleges. The event itself contains few events requiring serious athleticism, but instead focuses on activating the mind, creativity, and spirit. “We try to host multiple events that aren’t reliant entirely on physical strength and are welcoming to all sorts of people,” said Cynthia Morse, coordinator of student programs. This year’s events included dodgeball, tug of war, rock-paper-scissors tournament, art competition, relay race, capture the flag, musical chairs, and eating competitions.

Morse said College Cup reminds students to have fun, take care of themselves, be social, be a part of a community, be a whole person, and take breaks from studies to avoid burn out. “The event is a comradery building event to foster community among the [advisory] colleges that students are assigned to when they enter their M1 year.  It is a great way to get to know people and share in a common goal.”

“College Cup is a great way to showcase all the various talents and enthusiasm that ULSOM students have to offer, but more than this, College Cup is a time for first-year medical students to continue meeting their classmates be encouraged by upperclassmen to remember there's a work-life balance to value when entering medical school,” said Alexis Harris (M2).

Participation in College Cup is voluntary, but this year saw nearly a quarter of the SOM student body population compete. “My favorite part of College Cup is when there are events that widdle down to only a few participants (musical chairs/paper-rock-scissors tournament) and so the entire focus of all attendees shifts to one place and a few people.  Everyone circled around a small group of people.  It is really fun to see the entire crowd cheering on the remaining participants, start chants, and cheer on someone they just met a week prior,” said Morse.

The winning team takes home the College Cup trophy and receives bragging rights for the year. Looks like this year bragging rights will be shared amongst two colleges as there was a tie! Congratulations to Fitzbutler and Moore colleges on winning the Cup!

It is estimated that about one in four individuals worldwide have nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), in which fat builds up in the liver. NAFLD can advance to inflammation and damage in the liver, a condition known as nonalcoholic steatohepatitis or NASH.

University of Louisville researcher Zhong-bin Deng has received a new grant from the National Institutes of Health to investigate how a high-fat diet contributes to these conditions and identify processes that may reduce liver inflammation and lead to new treatments.

Deng’s previous research revealed mechanisms in which dietary fat causes changes in the structure of epithelial cells, which comprise the lining of the walls of the intestines. When gaps form between these cells, toxins are allowed to move directly from the gut to the liver, where they cause an immune response and inflammation.

Building on this work, Deng, assistant professor in the Division of Immunotherapy, within the Department of Surgery in the UofL School of Medicine, has been awarded $2 million from the NIH over five years to further investigate how these toxins cause the immune response in the liver, as well as test interventions that may reduce it.

“We are looking at how a high fat diet affects epithelial cells, allowing toxins to escape the gut and travel to the liver, leading to an immune response by macrophages in the liver and inflammation,” Deng said. “Also, we are trying to find a new therapy that could modulate the gut environment to control fatty liver disease.”

Deng’s research seeks to further understand the mechanism that leads to the gaps in the epithelial cells, which allow toxins produced by bacteria in the gut to move to the liver via the portal vein, known as the gut-liver axis. Deng and his team believe that the toxins cause the immune response of inflammation by changing Kupffer cells, white blood cells that reside in the liver. That inflammation can lead to liver cell damage.

“We propose that gut microbiota or the gut epithelial cells produce a signal that affects the Kupffer cells, causing inflammation in the high fat condition and may damage hepatocytes,” Deng said.

As part of the project, the researchers also will test whether an oligosaccharide found in human breast milk can be used to regulate the gut environment and mitigate the impact of the high fat diet on liver inflammation.

“We are trying to find out how to regulate this macrophage condition from an inflammation condition to an anti-inflammation condition,” Deng said.

"Dr. Deng's new research evaluates highly novel aspects of nutrition in NAFLD,” said Craig McClain, professor and associate vice president for health affairs/research at UofL.

Jun Yan, director of the Division of Immunotherapy, said the research may lead to increased understanding of the causes of liver cancer.

“The research findings from this grant may also help understand how this type of liver inflammation leads to hepatocellular carcinoma, which causes approximately 30,000 deaths annually in the U.S.,” Yan said.

Results from Deng’s previous research were published in the journal Hepatology in 2021.

The University of Louisville School of Medicine continued its 185^th anniversary year with the orientation and induction of the class of 2026. On Sunday, July 31, the students were officially welcomed into the School of Medicine at the annual White Coat Ceremony.

The ceremony marked the official start of the students’ medical education. Each of the 159 students was welcomed individually by faculty, staff and other respected school leaders and a white coat was placed on their shoulders. As part of the ceremony, the students recited the Declaration of Geneva, a commitment to the humanitarian standards of medicine.

Joseph Holland, a second-year medical student, offered seven points of advice to the incoming class.

“Do not listen to everyone all at once; find a dedicated study space; practice questions make perfect; do not panic, channel your anxiety; always ask for help; failure sets you up for success; and, to build endurance, you must endure. Remember, you’re in this for the long haul. This was never a sprint; it’s a marathon,” Holland said.

For the School of Medicine, the event represents another opportunity to cultivate the next generation of health care professionals.

“We are thrilled to welcome our new class of medical students,” said Toni Ganzel, dean of the School of Medicine. “The White Coat Ceremony is a momentous occasion that signifies the hard work these students have put into their studies already and the opportunities they have to look forward to with a life in medicine.”

Christopher M. Jones, endowed professor in transplant surgery and the event’s keynote speaker, advised the students, “to innovate, collaborate and deliver care with the highest integrity.” He implored them to, “strive for mastery, humbly learn from our shortcomings, seek self-improvement and build mutual trust with all of our patients, especially those in marginalized communities.”

The White Coat Ceremony was the culmination of a week-long orientation for the students, which included basic life-support training, student wellness sessions, the introduction of the curriculum and course directors, lunch with the Advisory Colleges and a session led by Ganzel on the joy of medicine.

The class of 2026 represents 21 states, 62 colleges and universities and 30 undergraduate majors. It is one of the most diverse cohorts in the school’s history, with 61% of the class identifying as female, 22% from groups underrepresented in medicine, 16% from rural counties in Kentucky and 14% age 27 and older.

“The variety of backgrounds shared in the classroom will offer an unparalleled educational experience for all of our medical students, better preparing them for a lifelong career in medicine,” said Ann Shaw, vice dean for undergraduate medical education.

Welcome, class of 2026!

View photos from White Coat Ceremony here.

University of Louisville student-athletes will benefit mightily with a new, comprehensive medical partnership between Cardinal Athletics and an impressive local health provider. UofL Health, a fully integrated regional academic health system affiliated with the University of Louisville School of Medicine, has been named as the Official Health Care Provider for the Louisville Cardinals.

“This is an exciting day for the University of Louisville,” Vice-President/Director of Athletics Josh Heird said.  “Our number one priority will always the well-being of our student-athletes and whenever we can create a partnership that provides our student-athletes with world-class services, we want to celebrate it. The commitment UofL Health is making to our student-athletes and our department will allow us to be a national leader in the medical and mental health care we provide our student-athletes.”

The new partnership that extends for eight years addresses medical coverage for all 23 UofL sports programs, plus basic training coverage for the Cardinals’ cheer and dance teams.   There will be a comprehensive brand presence for UofL Health throughout Louisville Athletics facilities.

“Academic health care offers unique advantages, especially for world-class athletes like those at UofL. Our sports medicine team understands the complexities needed to keep athletes at the top of their game,” said Tom Miller, UofL Health CEO. “We have been taking care of the Cardinal athletes since the 1980’s, starting with the innovative sports medicine program developed by Dr. Raymond Shea. There was a brief hiatus from the sidelines for some of our providers, but we never stopped providing care and this agreement formally puts us all back on one team for the benefit of the athletes, our university and our community.”

The level of support for Cardinal student-athletes will significantly increase with added personnel as well as health and performance equipment upgrades.  UofL Health will provide access to its network of sports health physicians, orthopedic surgeons, neurologists and primary care providers.

“Maintaining good health is essential for any athlete, especially student-athletes,” said Dr. Jennifer Daily, medical director of UofL Heath Sports Medicine. “We have the expertise, and we have technology, such as DARI which provides movement data analytics to help athletes regain their game. We also have the comprehensive resources to make sure they never lose ground in the classroom.”

Mental health services were a point of emphasis with the new partnership, with at least 10 dedicated mental health and mental performance professionals planned for UofL student-athletes, in addition to other generally available mental health services.  Two dedicated staff members were in that role previously.

Also included are additional services and equipment for injury rehabilitation, medical coverage at athletics events, and supporting UofL’s new sports science department within athletics.

UofL Health is a fully integrated regional academic health system with six hospitals, four medical centers, 200+ physician practice locations, 700+ providers, Frazier Rehab Institute, Brown Cancer Center and the Eye Institute.

With more than 12,000 team members—physicians, surgeons, nurses, pharmacists and other highly skilled health care professionals—UofL Health is focused on one mission: delivering patient-centered care to each and every patient each and every day.