The Emory Specialized Center of Research Excellence (SCORE) on Sex Differences has received a five-year, $7.4 million renewal from the National Institute on Aging to continue its efforts in the advancement of women’s health by investigating the influence of sex on infectious diseases.
SCORE is an integral part of the National Institutes of Health’s Office of Research on Women’s Health initiative to establish institutional cores to explore and serve as leaders in the research of sex-based differences to improve women’s health outcomes. Sex differences are the biological differences between males and females that affect various health conditions. Emory SCORE was originally awarded in 2018 and is one of 12 SCORE programs nationally.
“There is evidence of sex differences in basic aspects of human biology, and these differences impact the etiology and pathophysiology of many diseases,” says Cecile Lahiri, MD, Emory SCORE principal investigator. “While these differences are increasingly recognized, they have long been underappreciated and underexplored. Rigorous consideration of sex in research studies will inform the development and testing of prevention and treatment strategies in both sexes.”
Since the program’s inception, Emory SCORE has fostered a strong foundation in sex differences and women’s health research. Through innovative research, impactful collaborations and events that have engaged researchers at all professional levels nationally, Emory SCORE looks forward to increasing awareness and providing developmental opportunities.
“Opportunities include pilot grant funding for investigators new to sex differences research, participation in our annual international workshop on ‘How to incorporate sex as a biological variable (SABV) into your research,’ and self-paced statistics tutorials to guide analytical plans,” says Lahiri.
SABV is a term used for the intentional consideration of biological sex (being male or female) in research studies. Specifically, how to incorporate sex in the design of research studies, when planning analyses and when interpreting results.
Emory SCORE will maintain its three pivotal cores: Leadership Administrative Core (LAC); newly expanded Biostatistics and Bioinformatics Resources Core (BBRC); and Career Enhancement Core (CEC).
To lead the LAC, which coalesces the efforts of all cores and research, Vas Michopoulos, PhD, MSCR, is joining Lahiri as an multiple principal investigator (MPI), previously held by Igho Ofotokun, MD, MSc, during the inaugural project period. Christina Mehta, PhD, and Yan Sun, PhD, will lead the BBRC, which promotes research rigor and reproducibility. Kimbi Hagen, EdD, MEd, and Alicia Smith, PhD, will lead the CEC, which supports career development.
During the inaugural funding cycle, Emory SCORE used HIV as a model to study how biological sex influences the interaction between the host and chronic infections. Researchers found that women with HIV experience a higher burden of age-related comorbidities, possibly due to inflammation caused by both the virus and decreased estrogen.
The renewed grant will support three projects that aim to investigate how HIV and decreased estrogen may act together to damage the gut, leading to inflammation, immune dysregulation and development of chronic diseases:
- Bone Disease, led by Neale Weitzmann, PhD
- Trauma and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, led by Vas Michopoulos, PhD, and Gretchen Neigh, PhD
- Heart Disease, led by Arshed Quyyumi, MD
“This renewal is critical to continuing the important work that was started in 2018, namely to advance women's health and sex differences research through the conduct of research, education and outreach activities that promote, support and translate the normalization of SABV at Emory and beyond,” states Lahiri. “Importantly, Emory SCORE is committed to grow and organize a community of SABV science across the institution and globally.”
Visit the Emory SCORE website to learn more.
Research reported in this publication was supported by the National Institute on Aging of the National Institutes of Health under award number U54AG062334. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.