The Washington University Institute of Clinical and Translational Sciences (ICTS) Precision Health function is pleased to announce its Precision Health Innovation Precision Health Innovation 2023 Awardees.
The purpose of the awards is to advance initial discovery pilots for Precision Health ICTS investigators.
This year’s awarded partnerships are:
Siyan Cao, MD, PhD, WashU Medicine: Department of Medicine – Gastroenterology
Proposal Title: The Immune Signature of IL-23- Responsive Cells in Predicting Response to Anti-IL-23 Therapy in Refractory Crohn’s Disease
Description: Interleukin (IL)-23 is a small protein that plays an important role in Crohn’s Disease (CD), by activating immune cells (called “IL-23-responsive cells”) that cause chronic inflammation. An antibody that inhibits IL-23, resankizumab, has recently been approved for CD. We intend to characterize the IL-23-responsive cells from patients with refractory CD using mass cytometry, a new technology able to study many types of cells at the same time. We hypothesize that the cellular characteristics before and/or after the initiation of risankizumab may help predict how individual patients will improve on this treatment. This study may open avenues for personalized treatment for CD.
Stephanie Perkins, MD, PhD, WashU Medicine: Department of Radiation Oncology
Proposal Title: Precision Functional Mapping and Long-Term Cognitive Outcome in Pediatric Brain Tumor Survivors
Description: Despite improvements in treatments, pediatric brain tumor (PBT) survivors often experience moderate-to-severe, life- long cognitive sequelae. Our objective is to study how tumors and the treatments required for cure lead to disruptions in brain organization. We will assess this using functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) which allows for precise functional mapping of networks. In this project we will determine the long-term trajectory of functional brain network organization in PBT survivors and its relationship with cognitive outcome.
Edon Rabinowitz, MD, WashU Medicine: Department of Pediatrics, Division of Critical Care and Cardiology
Proposal Title: Blood Flow Mechanics & Hemostasis in Congenital Heart Disease
Description: We seek to utilize routine imaging studies as the basis to generate computational blood flow models which will then be leveraged to establish propensity for the occurrence of clotting and/or bleeding. We will pay particular attention to children with congenital heart disease in the critical care setting and study the effect of individualized blood flow mechanics on clinical hemostasis. We anticipate that this will enable a novel and accessible approach to individualized hemostatic management at the bedside.