Department announces grants, publications

Department announces grants, publications

Department faculty members have been awarded six new grants. In addition, faculty members’ research work has generated 26 manuscript publications.

New grants:

PI: Ken Bayles
Funder: DHHS/NIH/NIAID
Title: The role of pyruvate acquisition in the survival of Staphylococcus aureus within an intracellular environment
Amount: $384,101 (direct cost)
6/16/26-5/31/27

PI: Rey Carabeo
Funder: DHHS/NIH/NIAID
Title: Post-translational modulation of a host purine biosynthetic enzyme by Chlamydia trachomatis
Amount: $275,000 (direct cost)
6/2/26-5/31/28

PI: Horswill, University of Colorado
Co-investigators: Paul Fey, Vinai Thomas
Funder: University of Colorado-Anschutz
Title: Staphylococcus aureus metabolic requirements during skin colonization
Amount: $152,788 (direct cost)
6/16/26-5/31/31

PI: Tammy Kielian
Funder: DHHS/NIH/NIAID
Title: Immune reprogramming with bioengineered scaffolds for the treatment of biofilm infection
Amount: $498,305 (direct cost)
6/24/26-5/31/27

PI: Scott Koepsell
Funder: Abbott Laboratories
Title: (Body juice) Alinity h-series system body fluid design validation clinical study protocol
Amount: $213,065 (direct cost)
6/9/26-5/5/31

PI: Joshua Santarpia
Funder: National Strategic Research Institute
Title: Blueprint FILTR
Amount: $325,175 (direct cost)
7/19/26-7/1/27

New publications (June 2026-current):

Chitosan-coated silver nanoparticles amplify glycopeptide efficacy against Staphylococcus aureus.

Khairnar SV, Sommers A, Muldiiarova E, Bayles KW, Oupický D, Thomas VC, Sadykov MR, Romanova S. Front Microbiol. 2026 Jun 24;17:1787175. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2026.1787175. eCollection 2026. PMID: 42422740

Variation in Chronic Automated Red Cell Exchange Practices for Sickle Cell Disease: Insights Into Isovolemic Hemodilution Use.

Jones JM, Aldarweesh F, Aqui N, Bobr A, Brunker P, Covington ML, Guarente J, Hagar R, Karafin M, Lamba DS, Lee G, Lu W, Mack EA, Muthur G, Nazli S, Olaniyan H, Onyenekwu CP, Raval JS, Setya D, Tanhehco YC, Thant M, Vivero A, Wu Y, Wong ECC, Yurtsever N, Zheng Y, Shi PA, Webb J. J Clin Apher. 2026 Jun;41(3):e70146. doi: 10.1002/jca.70146. PMID: 42316838

Immunomodulation by platelet-derived DKK1: potential for controlling disease and pathology in leishmaniasis and implications for other infectious diseases.

Ihedioha OC, McMahon-Pratt D, Bothwell ALM. Front Immunol. 2026 Jun 2;17:1862987. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2026.1862987. eCollection 2026. PMID: 42311685

Dordaviprone Maintenance After Allogeneic HCT for High-Risk Acute Myeloid Leukemia and Myelodysplastic Neoplasm.

Bhatt VR, Wichman CS, Bouska A, Ellithi M, Haddadin M, Iqbal J, Talmadge JE, Maness LJ, Gundabolu K. Am J Hematol. 2026 Sep;101(9):2288-2296. doi: 10.1002/ajh.70428. Epub 2026 Jun 26. PMID: 42359621

Distribution of vector abundance and infection rates in relation to human vector-borne disease cases in Nebraska.

Uhm SA, Smith H, Chen S, Iwen PC, McCutchen EL, Bartling AM, Cortiñas R, Brett-Major D, Broadhurst MJ, Hamik J, Fauver JR. J Med Entomol. 2026 Jul 1;63(4):tjag114. doi: 10.1093/jme/tjag114. PMID: 42424506

Climate and other environmental factors predict tick abundance and Lyme cases in Minnesota one and two years in advance.

Angell KE, Jarnefeld J, Schiffman EK, Broadhurst MJ, Dong JJ, Degarege A, Cortinas R, Brett-Major DM. One Health. 2026 Jul 3;23:101507. doi: 10.1016/j.onehlt.2026.101507. eCollection 2026 Dec. PMID: 42472018

Anti-SARS-CoV-2 nucleoprotein IgA is associated with worse disease severity in critically ill COVID-19 pneumonia patients.

Brett-Major DM, George DS, Morrell ED, Mikacenic C, Carstens JM, Evans LE, Wurfel MM, Bhatraju PK, Broadhurst MJ. Front Immunol. 2026 Jul 14;17:1870217. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2026.1870217. eCollection 2026. PMID: 42523694

A Case of IDH-Mutant Astrocytoma Harboring an IDH2 R172_H173delinsSN Variant.

Auen T, Chen J, Shonka N, Cathcart S. Neuropathology. 2026 Apr;46(2):e70048. doi: 10.1111/neup.70048. PMID: 41736408

Inhibition of Proteus mirabilis growth through gallium-based disruption of iron and heme metabolism.

Kumar D, Hirz JG, Choi SR, Stevenson JS, Narayanasamy P, Britigan BE, Michaud JE. J Antibiot (Tokyo). 2026 Jun 23. doi: 10.1038/s41429-026-00941-z. Online ahead of print. PMID: 42337371

Effects of Nicotine on Urinary Bladder Carcinogenesis.

Suzuki S, Cohen SM. Pathol Int. 2026 Jul;76(7):e70151. doi: 10.1111/pin.70151. PMID: 42458916

Retraction of the landmark glyphosate safety publication by Williams, Kroes and Munro (2000) should be reversed.

Borgert CJ, Abdollahi M, Ansell JM, Aschner M, Bates CA, Berry SC, Bolon B, Boogaard PJ, Budinksy RA, Burgoon LD, Burin G, Bus JS, Clewell H, Cohen SM, Colnot T, Darby PS, Dekant W, DeSesso J, Dietrich DR, Djukic M, Docea AO, Domingo JL, Eaton DL, Engelhardt JA, Fairbrother A, Felsot A, Fenner-Crisp PA, Gentry R, Goodman JI, Gori GB, Greim H, Heslop-Harrison JS, Hengstler JG, Jaeschke H, Kaminski NE, Kacew S, Kim J, Kiorpes AL, Klaassen C, Klaunig JE, Loccisano A, MacDonald JS, Mally A, Marquardt HWJ, Marty MS, Matthews JC, McClellan RO, Meeks RG, Millner GC, Pariza MW, Paustenbach D, Pelkonen O, Sarvadi D, Savolainen K, Simon TW, Smith CJ, Solomon KR, Tarka SM Jr, Tsatsakis AM, Tsuji J, Vermeulen NPE, Wallace KB, Wernke M, Williams JP, Witorsch RJ, Yamazaki H. EXCLI J. 2026 Jul 14;25:1107-1116. doi: 10.17179/excli2026-9644. eCollection 2026. PMID: 42517087

Distinct glycosyltransferase expression governs organ-specific survival in pancreatic cancer metastasis.

Varadharaj V, Leon F, Krishna Kumar N, Nallasamy P, Raut P, Kaur AB, Arikath K, Petersen W, Rauth S, Gayen N, Alsafwani ZW, Mathivanan P, Marimuthu S, Mallya K, Bommideni M, Cox JL, Talmon GA, Grandgenett PM, Hollingsworth MA, DiMaio DJ, Grem JL, Batra SK, Ponnusamy MP. Oncogene. 2026 Jul 30. doi: 10.1038/s41388-026-03896-5. Online ahead of print. PMID: 42533113

Malignant craniopharyngiomas: Institutional experience and literature review.

Auen TJ, Zhang IW, Zhang W, Burr JM, Carda ML, Wisecarver JL, Shonka N, Cox JL, Cathcart SJ, Cushman-Vokoun A, Chen J. Brain Pathol. 2026 Jul;36(4):e70068. doi: 10.1111/bpa.70068. Epub 2026 Jan 5. PMID: 41491589

Deletion of phosphatidylethanolamine methyltransferase promotes the spontaneous development of hepatic steatosis, inflammation, and fibrosis in young mice.

Perumal SK, Rajamanickam R, Arumugam MK, Chava S, Bellamkonda R, Mahalingam S, Osna NA, Trujillo-Gonzalez I, Fisher KW, Rasineni K, Kharbanda KK. Clin Sci (Lond). 2026 Jul 15;140(7):1535-1549. doi: 10.1042/CS20250454. PMID: 42275195

Differences in collagen structure and organization in primary and metastatic pancreatic cancer and the effects of FOLFIRINOX treatment.

Seilstad C, Lyden ER, Fisher KW, Grandgenett PM, Hoagstrom KV, Jensen-Smith HC, Hollingsworth MA. Matrix Biol Plus. 2026 Mar 17;30:100193. doi: 10.1016/j.mbplus.2026.100193. eCollection 2026 Jun. PMID: 42281885

Real-World Application of the WHO Reporting System for Lymph Node Cytopathology in the Context of the 5th Edition of the WHO Classification of Hematolymphoid Neoplasms.

Yuil Valdes AG, Hafeez S, Lynn TJ, Khoury JD. Acta Cytol. 2026 Apr 16:1-25. doi: 10.1159/000551968. Online ahead of print. PMID: 41989978

Beyond the Surface: Duodenal-Type Follicular Lymphoma Diagnosed Despite Normal-Appearing Duodenal Mucosa and Absence of Focal Duodenal FDG Uptake.

Vinton Z, Schulz C, McGuire W, Hafeez S, Malik S. Case Rep Gastrointest Med. 2026 Jun 16;2026:1030883. doi: 10.1155/crgm/1030883. eCollection 2026. PMID: 42312190

The WHO Classification of Genetic Tumour Syndromes: Considerations for Genetics.

Cree IA, Arends MJ, Khoury JD, Denton ERE, Gill AJ, Lazar AJ, Frayling IM, Pfister SM, Rubin MA, Leite KRM, Dalgleish R, Bruford EA, Plon SE, Hamosh A, Walsh MF, Goldman-Lévy G, Wijesinghe H, Foulkes WD, Lokuhetty D. Clin Genet. 2026 Sep;110(3):389-401. doi: 10.1111/cge.70195. Epub 2026 Jun 16. PMID: 42304730

p53 Immunohistochemistry Is a Reliable Method for Assessing TP53 Allelic and Functional Status in TP53-Mutated Cases.

Fang H, Khoury JD, Tang Z, Wang SA, DiNardo CD, Loghavi S, Wang WJ, Dimopoulos YP, Hu S, Yin CC, El Hussein S, Zhang H, Senapati J, Chien K, Andreeff M, Medeiros LJ, Wang W. Am J Hematol. 2026 Sep;101(9):2481-2485. doi: 10.1002/ajh.70426. Epub 2026 Jul 10. PMID: 42432818

DNA methylation signatures distinguish extranodal NK/T-cell lymphoma and EBV-positive nodal T/NK-cell lymphoma and identify prognostic subgroups.

Phyu T, Leong SM, Chen S, Gu W, Fischer A, Sun QY, Yang H, Syn NL, Deng L, Low LCY, Chuang SS, Kato S, Khoury JD, Ko YH, Ban KHK, Poon L, Quintanilla-Martinez L, Siebert R, Ding LW, Ng SB. Leukemia. 2026 Jul 15. doi: 10.1038/s41375-026-03043-9. Online ahead of print. PMID: 42457877

Blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell neoplasm: ontogeny, immunophenotype, genetics and epigenetics, immune dysregulation, skin tropism and therapeutic implications.

Xia C, Pradhan D, Wang W, Tang Z, Khoury JD. Leukemia. 2026 Jul 28. doi: 10.1038/s41375-026-03067-1. Online ahead of print. PMID: 42521777

Tumor-to-Tumor Metastasis of Merkel Cell Carcinoma to Warthin Tumor.

Poombal FNU, Xu P, Lele SM, Wagner DG, Renavikar PS, Bell EB, Sangueza OP, Shaker N, Pradhan D. Int J Surg Pathol. 2026 Jun 10:10668969261457878. doi: 10.1177/10668969261457878. Online ahead of print. PMID: 42267443

Orchestrating multiple signal inputs: conducting secondary differentiation in the obligate intracellular bacterium Chlamydia trachomatis.

Singh V, Fisher DJ, Ouellette SP. mBio. 2026 Jul 20:e0103126. doi: 10.1128/mbio.01031-26. Online ahead of print. PMID: 42474171 renavikar

Virology laboratory biohazards: infectious MS2 aerosols emitted from common procedures and accidental laboratory scenarios in a controlled chamber study.

Ravnholdt AR, Ackerman DN, Rivera DN, Ware JL, Herrera VL, Lucero GA, Klug EA, Ratnesar-Shumate SA, Santarpia JL. Appl Environ Microbiol. 2026 Jul 21:e0040826. doi: 10.1128/aem.00408-26. Online ahead of print. PMID: 42478802

Cutting to the core: Proteases in the tumor-bone interface and metastatic progression.

Bhola R, Sturgeon R, Singh RK. Biochim Biophys Acta Rev Cancer. 2026 Apr;1881(2):189567. doi: 10.1016/j.bbcan.2026.189567. Epub 2026 Feb 27. PMID: 41765208

The β-lactam adjuvant guanosine potentiates anti-folate antibiotics and pyrimidine synthesis inhibitors by depleting thymidine in methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.

Nolan AC, Kelly JB, Ahn J, Shinde D, Thomas VC, Zeden MS, O’Gara JP. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 2026 Jul;70(7):e0037726. doi: 10.1128/aac.00377-26. Epub 2026 Jun 10. PMID: 42268235