Four ACPHS faculty were recently awarded 2026-2027 Scholarship of Discovery Intramural Grants. Awardees include Life Sciences Associate Professor, Kelly Hallstrom, PhD; Chair of the Department of Life Sciences and Associate Professor, Eric Yager, PhD; Pharmaceutical Sciences Associate Professor, Andy Zheng, PhD; and Life Sciences Professor, Ross Krawczyk, PhD
These grants support scholarly activity that expands knowledge within an investigator’s field. Projects may be scientific, clinical, historical, cultural, literary or interdisciplinary. The goal is to encourage research that results in peer-reviewed presentation, publications and successful application for external funding.
“Each of these proposals offers a glimpse of the creative, forward-looking research being done by ACPHS faculty, and the College is glad to support it,” said Director of Research and Sponsored Projects, Joseph Carreno’10, PharmD, MPH. “These awards are intended not as an endpoint but as a launchpad, and we look forward to seeing how this seed investment grows into the next chapter of each researcher’s work.”
Characterizing the Development of Antibiotic Resistance in Natural Environments
Kelly Hallstrom, PhD, Life Sciences
We all rely on antibiotics to treat everything from common infections like strep throat to more serious conditions like pneumonia. But bacteria continue to develop resistance to these lifesaving medications and contribute to the rise of antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
“AMR is so pressing that the World Health Organization lists it as a top threat to global public health that could cause an estimated 40 million deaths globally by 2050 without any significant changes,” said Dr. Hallstrom.
In addition to needing new antibiotics, it is critical for us to understand the range of natural processes that lead to AMR, which this project addresses. While soil is known to be an important environment for the development of AMR, why this happens, especially in soil with limited human involvement, is not fully understood. Knowing how soil bacteria naturally develop AMR is important for developing better ways of using existing drugs and for developing new drugs that are less likely to exacerbate the problem.
Role of SAMD9 Protein in Flavivirus Replication
Eric Yager, PhD, Life Sciences
Though most infections are mild, mosquito-transmitted Zika and Dengue viruses can cause serious health issues such as birth defects, miscarriages, Guillain-Barré syndrome, dengue hemorrhagic fever, and death. An estimated 3-6 billion people live in regions globally suitable for Zika virus or Dengue virus transmission, making large-scale outbreaks a significant threat.
Currently, there is no approved antiviral or vaccine for Zika. Though a Dengue vaccine exists, it is only recommended for children 9-16 years of age and it can increase the risk for severe disease and hospitalization in children who have no prior DENV infection.
“Increased understanding of how human cells naturally defend themselves against Zika and Dengue virus infections has the potential to reveal new antiviral strategies and lay the foundation for future research aimed at developing host directed therapies against other emerging flaviviruses,” said Dr. Yager.
Developing Endocannabinoid Biomarkers from Skin Surface for Eating Disorders
Andy Zheng, PhD, Pharmaceutical Sciences and Ross Krawczyk, PhD, Life Sciences
Eating disorders (EDs) are characterized by disturbances in eating behavior and body image and have some of the highest mortality rates of all psychiatric disorders. They are primarily understood as psychiatric issues, but are heavily associated with metabolic disorders, either causatively or consequentially.
Endocannabinoids (eCBs) directly moderate appetite, reward circuits, and eating behavior. Circulating eCBs have been shown to be related to disordered eating in both animal models and human clinical trials.
Establishing circulating eCBs as biomarkers will enable clinicians and patients to know their “endocannabinoid tone” and confirm their metabolic subtypes/disorder, so personalized therapies can be prescribed more precisely for optimized clinical outcomes.
Researchers, clinicians, and patients would benefit from a better understanding of the relationship between eCBs and EDs and using validated lipidomic methods to study more similar biomarkers for related diseases.
“We have been doing endocannabinoid research for years at ACPHS,” said Dr. Zheng. “This translational collaboration is timely and needed to confirm our hypothesis by clinical diagnosis with practical approach, to guide proper, precise and personalized usage of cannabinoid-based products, including identifying the populations and individuals that are not suitable for cannabis-use, because it can worsen their condition with additional risks.”
Read the full research abstracts below.
The continued rise of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is one of our most pressing modern global public health crises. While antimicrobials save millions of individuals each year, continued misuse has fueled the evolution of drug-resistant pathogens. Moreover, the integration of antimicrobials into commercial agricultural and farming practices has further driven the development of superbugs by creating persistent streams of antibiotic pollution into soil environments.
Soil is rich with microbial life. In these dense communities, bacteria are in constant competition, adapting to changing environmental conditions in order to survive. In densely populated soil environments, the combination of naturally produced antimicrobials from microbial competitors and opportunities for horizontal gene transfer (HGT) create the perfect conditions for bacteria to develop antimicrobial resistance.
Prior studies focusing on agricultural farms investigated the mechanisms of AMR development in soil heavily polluted with synthetic antibiotics. While such studies help us understand how human use of antibiotics drives AMR, they reveal little about naturally occurring AMR processes. Experts argue that combating AMR will require not only new drug development, but a One Health approach that also emphasizes a deeper understanding of how natural ecosystems contribute to and drive this process.
To begin to understand naturally occurring AMR, I previously investigated a distinctive, dense soil community available locally. This preliminary work revealed populations of tetracycline-resistant soil bacteria in areas shielded from human development activities. Based on these unexpected findings, I aim to use whole genome sequencing and metagenomic bioinformatics to
1) identify these bacteria, and
2) identify the breadth of antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs) present within the soil.
These goals will be achieved by studying cultured soil isolates, while also performing metagenomic analyses of DNA extracted directly from the soil samples. Results will serve as the basis for future longitudinal studies investigating patterns of naturally occurring AMR bacteria thereby addressing our current knowledge gap regarding the natural selective pressures that lead to AMR. Such information is critical for the informed development of antimicrobial management plans and development of new antimicrobials to combat the AMR crisis.
Flaviviruses—including Zika, Dengue, West Nile, and Yellow Fever viruses—pose a persistent global health threat, yet the host factors that restrict or enable their replication to remain undefined.
One protein, SAMD9, has recently been identified as a strong antiviral factor activated by interferon, yet its specific role during flavivirus infection remains unclear. Our early findings show that cells infected with Zika or Dengue significantly increase production of both SAMD9 RNA and protein. We also observed that when SAMD9 protein levels are high, infected cells no longer show detectable levels of the viral NS1 protein—suggesting that SAMD9 may block a key step in viral replication.
We propose that SAMD9 and its closely related partner, SAMD9L, slow or stop flavivirus replication by interfering with how viral RNA is translated into viral proteins. To test this idea, we will conduct experiments to silence SAMD9/9L gene expression to determine whether reduced levels allow these viruses to replicate more efficiently. Conversely, we will activate SAMD9/9L expression to test whether boosting these genes suppresses viral replication.
This project fills an important gap in our understanding of how human cells naturally defend themselves against flaviviruses. By defining how SAMD9 and SAMD9L function during viral infection, this work could reveal new antiviral strategies and lay the foundation for future research aimed at developing host directed therapies against emerging flaviviruses.
Eating disorders (EDs) are characterized by disturbances in eating behavior and body image. EDs are among the highest mortality rates of all psychiatric disorders, with a prevalence rate of approximately 1.9%, and a significantly higher rate of 2.6% in females.
There are three eating disorders recognized in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5-TR; American Psychiatric Association, 2022)
- Anorexia nervosa (AN)
- Bulimia nervosa (BN)
- Binge eating disorder (BED)
AN is typically characterized by severe calorie restriction and underweight, with the lowest prevalence of 0.2% approximately. BN is characterized by binge eating and compensatory behavior (e.g. purging), with an approximate prevalence of 0.6%. BED is characterized by episodic loss of control overeating but not compensatory behavior, with the highest prevalence at 1.5% (Qian et al., 2021).
Endocannabinoids (eCBs) directly moderate appetite and food intake behaviors through both peripheral and central mechanisms. Recent research indicated that concentrations of circulating endocannabinoids were related to disordered eating in both animal models and human clinical trials. Therefore, we hypothesized that selected eCBs can be developed as biomarkers to identify specific metabolic disorders within specific ED population subtypes, which will be invaluable for diagnosis and personalized medicine by behavioral intervention and/or pharmacotherapies. Establishing circulating endocannabinoid as biomarkers will enable clinicians and patients to know their “endocannabinoid tone” and confirm their metabolic subtypes/disorder, so personalized therapies can be prescribed more precisely for optimized clinical outcome. Therefore, faculty and students in Albany have been collaborating to translate our lab bioanalytical expertise into clinical advancement.
Furthermore, we propose to develop non-invasive methods to quantify endocannabinoid lipidomic profiles by refined and standardized Liquid Chromatogram Mass Spectrometry (LCMS). To establish, calibrate and validate this innovative approach, this proposal plans to collect and analyze samples from the skin surface and blood from a small group of healthy volunteers and patients from eating disorder clinic (n~12). Obtained data will be used to select suitable eCBs as biomarkers and find lipidomic correlation between the skin and the blood, with further links to psychological indicators. The results from this 1-year project will establish the groundwork to further develop novel and practical diagnostic approaches and products of great clinical value and market potential.
These advancements will enable clinicians and patients to know their “endocannabinoid tone” and confirm their metabolic subtypes/disorder, so personalized therapies can be prescribed more precisely for optimized clinical outcomes.
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