The KL2 Visiting Scholars Exchange Program is a collaboration between the Georgetown-Howard Universities Center for Clinical and Translational Research (GHUCCTS) and the Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) C. Kenneth and Dianne Wright Center for Clinical and Translational Research. This collaboration provides KL2 Scholars at each institution an opportunity to present their research at the partnering school. We believe this program offers valuable learning and career development experiences with the goal of sharing Science across disciplines, networking, and formation of new team science collaborations.
Here is a list of our recent webinars, featuring KL2 scholars from both GHUCCTS and VCU.
Barriers to Attendance of Prenatal and Well-Child Visits
KL2 Scholar: Dr. Elizabeth R. Wolf, MD, MPH
Tuesday October 13, 2020, 12-1 PM EST
ABSTRACT: Prenatal care (PNC) attendance is associated with improved health outcomes including decreased low-birth weight, decreased prematurity and decreased infant mortality. Well-child visit (WCV) attendance is associated with decreased emergency department utilizations and hospitalizations. Despite these well-established benefits, many mothers and children continue to miss preventive visits. Poor attendance of preventive visits is a two- generation problem – a mother’s poor PNC attendance is associated with the poor WCV attendance of her child. Studies have found that a mother who has adequate PNC was almost twice as likely to have a child with adequate WCV attendance. This could be because the same factors that decrease a mother’s likelihood to attend her own PNC visit may also affect her ability to bring her child to his/her WCV. We aimed to determine if the factors affecting maternal and child attendance are the same or different. We will discuss the findings of our study and their relevance to current health policies.
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Differences in the Cervicovaginal Microbiomes of Women Who Naturally Control HIV Progression
KL2 Scholar: Dr. Katherine G. Michel, PhD, MPH
Tuesday August 25, 2020, 12-1 PM EST
ABSTRACT: Much research has focused on understanding the etiology of how a small percentage of HIV-positive people naturally control HIV viral levels without using antiretroviral medications. HIV-positive controller status does not seem to associate with demographic, social, or behavioral factors, nor does it develop through infection with replication- incompetent HIV. Data suggest HIV-positive controllers have unique immune phenotypes and gut microbiome compositions, however little research has focused on the potential role of other mucosal microbiomes. Our preliminary data suggest altered cervicovaginal microbiomes in women who naturally control HIV, particularly elevated populations and increased genetic diversity of key Lactobacillus sub-species.
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Deliver Nanomedicines to Lymph Nodes and Tumor to Potentiate Melanoma Immunotherapy
KL2 Scholar: Dr. Guizhi Julian Zhu, PhD
Wednesday June 17, 2020, 12-1 PM EST
ABSTRACT: The ultimate goal of my research group is to develop clinically translatable cancer therapeutics. In this talk, we will discuss a novel and simple drug delivery systems based on reversibly albumin- binding prodrugs for efficient delivery to tissues and cells in cancer immunotherapy, gene therapy, and chemotherapy. We will discuss the delivery of multiple types of drugs including small molecule immunostimulants, oligonucleotides, peptides, and chemotherapeutics, for the delivery to tumor tissues or cells as well as lymphoid tissues and antigen-presenting cells. Such albumin-binding technology enhanced the in vivo half-lives and tissue delivery efficiencies by up to 2 orders of magnitudes, while reducing off-target dissemination and toxicities. The efficient drug delivery potentiated the therapeutic efficacy for tumor, including a combination melanoma immunotherapy based on albumin-binding vaccines and immune checkpoint blockade. Worth noting, the reversible albumin binder is derived from Evans blue that has been used in the clinic for nearly a century, and the resulting Evans blue derivative was validated for tumr or lymph node targeting with undetectable toxicities in clinic trails, which should facilitate the clinical translation of this type of drug delivery system.
Event Page | Download PDF | Webinar Recording
Developing a Culturally Adapted Telephone Genetic Counseling Intervention to Enhance Genetic Risk Assessment in Underserved Latinas at Risk of Hereditary Breast Cancer
KL2 Scholar: Dr. Alejandra Hurtado de Mendoza, PhD
Tuesday November 19, 2020, 12-3 PM EST
Dr. Hurtado de Mendoza will discuss disparities in genetic counseling and testing uptake among Latina women at-risk of Hereditary Breast and Ovarian cancer and the process of adapting an evidence-based telephone genetic counseling intervention for at-risk Latina women to overcome barriers and reduce disparities and reduce disparities in counseling and testing uptake in this population.
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