Trio of Investigators Receive NUCATS Pilot Funding
Can better communication help individuals living with a congenital heart disease (CHD)?
That’s the question Rachel Zmora, PhD, MPH, will explore with the help of a new Northwestern University Clinical and Translational Sciences (NUCATS) Institute Translational Science Pilot Award.
“This is a critical area of study because, while individuals with CHD often focus on managing their congenital condition, they are at an increased risk of developing acquired cardiovascular diseases,” says Zmora, assistant professor of Preventive Medicine in the Division of Epidemiology. “If we don't address traditional heart disease risk factors early — like high blood pressure, cholesterol, and obesity — these individuals could face severe complications later in life.”
This is a critical area of study because, while individuals with congenital heart disease often focus on managing their congenital condition, they are at an increased risk of developing acquired cardiovascular diseases.”
By understanding how doctors might better counsel and involve patients in decisions, Zmora’s goal is to create tools that can lead to earlier, more effective interventions and better long-term health outcomes.
Zmora, Zhitao Li, PhD, and Matthieu Chardon, PhD, each recently received NUCATS Pilot Awards.
“It’s an honor to receive this grant as the funding will allow me to start my data collection as a first step towards accumulating information for a larger award in the future,” says Li, research assistant professor of Radiology in the Division of Basic and Translational Radiology Research. “The application process also provided me valuable grant-writing experience.”
Li’s pilot project is aimed at translating a novel quantitative MR imaging technique for detecting chronic pancreatitis in its early stage. The hope is that by identifying the disease early, physicians can provide better and more effective care for patients that directly results in enhanced treatment outcomes.
“One advantage of our technique is that it can provide high-resolution and high signal-to-noise ratio quantitative maps of the pancreas, not only showing the details of its anatomy, but also providing quantitative measurements of the tissue characteristics, which are associated with the disease,” says Li. “The technique's translation will involve a new way to collect data at the MR scanner, and a corresponding image reconstruction technique that's based on state-of-the-art optimization algorithms.”
Chardon will use his pilot to collect data on a novel device able to measure spasticity directly from a tendon tap. Spasticity is abnormal muscle tightness caused by prolonged muscle contraction and is often seen in individuals with cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, and other neurological conditions. When a clinician directly taps a muscle’s tendon, they can observe the patient’s response, however it is difficult to measure and track changes over time
We believe that this device can be translated to the bedside, but a pilot study on its reliability is needed to pursue that goal ... The NUCATS grant meets that gap and provides ideal funding to gather the data we need to get us to the next stage.”
“We’ve developed a computer-controlled tendon tapper able to deliver extremely precise taps onto the tendon and measure its reflex response,” says Chardon, research assistant professor of Neuroscience. “We believe that this device can be translated to the bedside, but a pilot study on its reliability is needed to pursue that goal. This makes our project just too risky right now for a large funding mechanism. The NUCATS grant meets that gap and provides ideal funding to gather the data we need to get us to the next stage.”
A bedside device that can provide spasticity measurement would revolutionize treatment options for millions who suffer from spasticity. Chardon anticipates the tool’s cost to be drastically reduced as the device moves beyond the research setting, with a long-term goal of seeing it as commonplace as the use of blood pressure cuffs to monitor cardiovascular health.
The NUCATS Translational Science Pilot Awards program annually seeks proposals for highly innovative, multi-disciplinary pilot projects that will advance translational science. Research reported in this publication was supported, in part, by the National Institutes of Health's National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, Grant Number UM1TR005121. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.
Written by Roger Anderson
