As an academic research institution, Emory’s faculty and staff conduct studies across every discipline, from the sciences to the humanities. This compilation of published research findings and the newest grant awards illustrates how Emory researchers are cutting a path toward groundbreaking discoveries.
Grants
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Emory announces recipients of new seed grants funded by former falcons QB
Three School of Medicine faculty were recently awarded individual $50,000 seed grants — funded by former Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan — to support their research on health equity related research, including:
Christine Tompkins, MD, associate professor, Department of Medicine: Improving Sex and Racial Disparities in the Management of Atrial Fibrillation
Raymond Givens, MD, assistant professor, Department of Medicine: Investigating the Role of Racial Bias in Selection of Deceased Organ Donors and Heart Transplant Outcomes
Joshua Chan, MD, assistant professor, Department of Surgery: Disparities in Health-Related Quality of Life Following Left Ventricular Assist Device Implantation: Mitigating Individual and Social Determinants
Team science grant tackles health disparities in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma
Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma is the most common form of blood cancer, but survival rates are lower for certain groups, including patients who are African American and patients with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), which is common in Latin America. Limited representation of these populations in research has hindered understanding of the molecular drivers behind these disparities.
To better understand and address these disparities, lymphoma researchers from Emory University, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Weill Cornell Medicine, and Georgia Tech have been awarded a five-year, $5 million grant from The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Specialized Center of Research (SCOR) Program. Leading the initiative is Winship Cancer Institute researcher Jean Koff, associate professor of hematology and medical oncology at Emory University School of Medicine.
Emory receives R25 grant for pioneering advanced research in training in social determinants of health
Three Emory faculty members received an R25 grant from the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR) to develop the Advanced Research Training in Social Determinants of Health (ART) program.
Led by School of Nursing Professor and principal investigator Jill Hamilton, PhD, along with School of Nursing Professor Drenna Waldrop, PhD, and Claire Sterk, PhD, Candler professor at the Rollins School of Public Health, the initiative aims to train early- and mid-career researchers in studying how social factors influence health outcomes.
Building on a prior four-year effort at the School of Nursing, the ART program will offer advanced research methods, foster independent research careers, and integrate social determinants of health (SDOH) into curriculum and research practices. The program supports NINR’s mission to reduce health disparities and expand SDOH research.
Alzheimer’s Association supports School of Nursing faculty member’s culturally tailored dementia care initiative
Kalisha Bonds Johnson, PhD, assistant professor in the School of Nursing, has received a grant from the Alzheimer’s Association for her project, “Developing a Primary Care Algorithm for Black American Dyads/Families.” This two-year initiative aims to improve dementia care for Black American families by addressing racial disparities in health care.
Older Black American adults have nearly double the Alzheimer's prevalence of non-Hispanic Whites, with higher rates of preventable hospitalizations. These disparities highlight the need for culturally informed care.
With a shortage of dementia specialists, primary care providers are crucial in managing dementia. Nurses and medical assistants, often the first point of contact, can help improve communication between families and providers. Bonds Johnson’s project will create a culturally relevant algorithm for triage that will guide conversations between health care providers and Black American families managing dementia.
School of Nursing’s Mroz receives K22 Career Development Award for dementia caregiving research
Emily Mroz, PhD assistant professor in the School of Nursing, has received a K22 Career Development Award from the National Institute on Aging (NIA) for her project, “Preparedness for Caregiving in Experienced Caregivers of Persons Living with Dementia.” This is one of the first such awards within the School of Nursing.
Mroz’s research focuses on developing a measure of caregiver preparedness and exploring how past caregiving experiences influence caregivers' readiness and psychological health. Her goal is to create a narrative-based intervention that improves caregivers’ preparedness and mental well-being.
By examining how personal caregiving stories shape caregiving capacity, Mroz aims to develop resources to reduce caregiver stress and improve outcomes for both caregivers and persons living with dementia. This research will lay the foundation for future interventions and clinical trials, as Mroz seeks to expand her work through an R01 proposal.
Pew Charitable Trusts selects chemist Christine Dunham for Innovation Fund Project
The Pew Charitable Trusts named Christine Dunham, professor of chemistry, to its 2024 class of Innovation Fund investigators. The 16 scientists in the class, paired in teams of two, are alumni of the Pew Scholar in Biomedical Science Program, which funds early stage investigators who show promise in the advancement of human health.
Dunham and her Pew Innovation Fund collaborator, Maria Barna, associate professor of genetics at Stanford University, will receive $270,000 to investigate global protein synthesis, or the rate at which proteins are produced throughout an organism. Small molecules can increase protein production by the ribosome, which has been shown to alleviate the effects of certain diseases. The underlying mechanisms behind this process, however, have eluded scientists and there are no pharmacological approaches that leverage human protein synthesis to overcome diseases that result in low production of specific proteins.
Hoping to change this, Dunham and Barna working to unravel the mechanisms behind the specific compounds that enhance protein production and evaluate their role in diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and Diamond Blackfan anemia. The goal is to open a new pathway for treating disease through ribosome reprogramming.
Collaboration with University of Witwatersrand, South Africa explores interaction of constitutional structures and national crises
Robert W. Woodruff Professor of Law Martha Fineman received a grant, working in conjunction with Associate Professor Martin Sybblis, Professor of Practice Atieno Samandari, and postdoctoral scholar Bojan Perovic, from Emory’s Halle Institute for Global Research. Through a collaboration with co-investigators at the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa, the grant funds comparison of the constitutional structures of the U.S. and South Africa. The research team is examining how different philosophical and pragmatic understandings of constitutional structures, such as property rights, impact governmental abilities during crisis situations, including public health pandemics and environmental crises. The collaboration will culminate with an in-person workshop at Emory in June 2025.
Research Publications
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Woodruff Health Sciences Center
Emory researchers begin to untangle mystery of why COVID-19 vaccines fail to deliver long term protection
A team of Emory researchers recently discovered an important clue to the puzzle of why the messenger RNA (mRNA) COVID-19 vaccine doesn’t deliver long-term protection against the virus when other vaccines continue to protect against as influenza virus, measles virus, and tetanus toxoid for many years.
In their study, published in Nature Medicine, the principal investigator F. Eun-Hyung Lee and researchers looked at the vaccine’s ability to create antibody-secreting cells (ASC) – a form of white blood cells that create protective antibodies – in bone marrow. This is a key part of the process that creates immunity to disease. Their study measured levels of ASC specific to influenza, tetanus, and COVID-19 in the marrow of 19 adults who had received the COVID-19 mRNA vaccine up to 33 months earlier. All individuals had ASC for influenza, tetanus, and COVID-19 in at least one bone marrow ASC compartment. However, only the ASC specific to influenza and tetanus were detected in long-lived plasma cells (LLPC) – a subset of ASC found in the marrow that can survive for decades. COVID-19 specific ASC were mostly absent from the LLPC.
AI-powered tool combines “multi-omics” data to detect tissue structures in cancer
Jian Hu, PhD, Emory assistant professor of human genetics in the School of Medicine, recently co-developed a cutting-edge AI-powered tool named MISO (Multi-modal Spatial Omics) to analyze tissue samples with capabilities surpassing those of expert human pathologists. MISO can detect immune cells and subtle variations in tumor biopsies, and allows researchers to integrate several types of data, such as histology images, measurements of gene expression, and metabolic activity within cells.
A paper describing MISO’s performance across multiple tissue types was published recently in Nature Methods. Beyond cancer pathology, MISO can be used to analyze and classify brain cells in a tissue sample. As an unsupervised algorithm, MISO requires user interpretation to link spatial features to biological or disease-relevant structures.
Emory researchers find new links between granulin and brain disorders in mice
A team of researchers in the School of Medicine recently showed that gene expression of a single protein called granulin, acting by itself, can improve a range of brain disorders in mice. Their research, published in Cell Reports, found a single granulin – a component of progranulin and a protein critical for brain health long linked to neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and dementia – improves a range of disorders including neuroinflammation, dysfunctions of the cell organelles called lysosomes, lipid abnormalities, and accumulation of the aging-related pigment known as lipofuscin, to the same extent as full-length progranulin. Their findings have important implications for developing potential therapies for neurodegenerative diseases previously connected with progranulin deficiency.
School of Medicine professor publishes research on ethical complexity of medical treatment affordability
Birju Rao, MD, a fellow at the Emory Clinical Cardiovascular Research Institute, and Neal Dickert, MD, associate professor in the School of Medicine, are co-authors of a recent paper that addresses decision-making related to cost of medications for patients with heart failure. When patients cannot afford medication, clinicians face a difficult ethical dilemma, compounded by the fact that they frequently do not know what the ultimate cost of medication will be for the patient.
Rao believes the question of cost information can potentially be overcome with more price transparency. At the same time, physicians are working to meet clinical quality metrics that usually do not factor in financial factors such as patient ability to pay.
Department of Ophthalmology researchers identify key protein linked to regeneration of retinal cells
Researchers at School of Medicine’s Department of Ophthalmology recently released a preprint in BioRxiv of a study with implications for treatment of degenerative ocular diseases. The research, led by Eldon E. Geisert, PhD, professor of ophthalmology, in partnership with the Center for Neuropathology and Prion Research at the University of Munich, focuses on how the functional regeneration of the retinal ganglion cell (RGC), a specialized neuron that relays visual information from the retina to the brain, will revolutionize treatments for glaucoma and other ocular diseases with progressive degeneration of RGCs. Results of the study found that reducing or overexpressing the action of the gene that produces the protein Dnajc3 resulted in decreased or increased regeneration.
School of Medicine researcher Arezou Khosroshahi discovers new therapy for IgG4-related disease
Emory School of Medicine researcher Arezou Khosroshahi, MD, recently led a team that found a new, more effective therapy for immunoglobulin G4-related disease (IgG4-RD), a rare, chronic inflammatory ailment that can affect multiple organs, leading to many symptoms including weight loss, fatigue, enlarged organs, thyroid inflammation, and shortness of breath. IgG4-RD currently has no approved therapy, and most patients are given temporary relief with anti-inflammatory drugs such as corticosteroids or glucocorticoids, which have significant side effects. Khosroshahi, an associate professor in the Department of Medicine, and her collaborators used inebilizumab, a monoclonal antibody that targets B cells, a type of immune cell that drives the inflammation. In the study, published in New England Journal of Medicine, a randomized placebo-controlled trial showed that the therapy was well tolerated by patients and effective for reducing disease inflammation and promoting remission, paving the way for targeted treatment, which previously did not exist.
Emergency Medicine-Led Study Reveals Severe Health Risks of Drug-Saturated Paper Strips in Correctional Facilities
A recent study by the Emory Department of Emergency Medicine, published in JAMA Network Open, highlights the growing public health challenge posed by "strips," pieces of paper that are soaked in synthetic drugs, smuggled into correctional facilities, and then divided into small sections (“strips”) and smoked. The use of these strips is an emerging issue in correctional facilities worldwide.
Containing synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonists (SCRAs), opioids, and other substances, strips pose unique dangers due to uneven drug distribution and variable drug content, increasing the risk of overdose. The study, led by Joseph Carpenter, MD, assistant professor of Emergency Medicine, analyzed patients presenting to the emergency department from a local county jail and found clinical effects that included bradycardia, hypothermia, central nervous system depression, and seizures, with one fatality reported. Laboratory testing of confiscated strips confirmed the presence of potent SCRAs including MDMB-4en-PINACA, alongside nitazene opioids and other synthetic drugs. Treatment included benzodiazepines and atropine being given to patients that experienced seizures and bradycardia, respectively.
The findings emphasize the need for comprehensive prevention strategies, including advanced detection methods for strips being smuggled, and expanded mental health and substance use disorder services for incarcerated populations.
Read the full paper.
AI tool uses CT scans to predict atrial fibrillation’s return
Researchers at Emory’s Empathetic AI for Health Institute have developed an artificial intelligence (AI) tool that predicts whether atrial fibrillation (AF), an irregular heartbeat that overcomes the heart’s normal rhythms, will return after treatment. The tool analyzes routine CT scans, focusing on pulmonary veins, and identifies features linked to recurrence of AF. Validated on approximately 1,000 patients across multiple institutions, the study, published in Circulation: Arrhythmia and Electrophysiology, offers strong evidence of AI’s ability to improve care for this common heart condition.
Groundbreaking gene therapy study for Hemophilia A
Emory researchers recently led a pioneering study to evaluate a novel gene therapy for severe hemophilia A. Using genetically modified hematopoietic stem cells, the therapy achieved stable factor VIII expression and reduced bleeding episodes to zero during the trial.
The study, published in The New England Journal of Medicine, was co-authored by Winship Cancer Institute researcher H. Trent Spencer PhD, Christopher Doering PhD, and John S. "Pete" Lollar III MD, all professors of pediatrics at Emory University School of Medicine, along with researchers at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and Christian Medical College in Vellore India. The team’s innovative approach involves using lentiviral vectors, a novel method of inserting genes into an organism, to deliver a new factor VIII transgene that reprograms patients' cells to produce clotting factor VIII. This breakthrough offers hope for a durable, one-time treatment for hemophilia A, addressing significant limitations of current therapies and representing a major advancement in gene therapy for bleeding disorders.
Study drives FDA approval for new leukemia therapy
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved obecabtagene autoleucel for adults with relapsed or refractory B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), a fast-growing blood cancer that starts in the bone marrow and affects the body’s ability to fight infection. The approval follows results of a landmark study, published in The New England Journal of Medicine and co-authored by Winship Cancer Institute researcher Martha Arellano, MD, professor of hematology and medical oncology in the School of Medicine. The FDA’s approval was based on findings from the pivotal phase 2 FELIX trial, which demonstrated a complete remission rate of 42% within three months of infusion and a median duration of remission of 14.1 months.
Uninterrupted Medicaid coverage improves survival for kids with cancer
Research published in JCO Oncology Practice finds that continuity of Medicaid coverage increases the survival rates of children and adolescents with cancer and provides critical insights into how gaps in Medicaid coverage can lead to significantly poorer survival for patients with pediatric cancer.
Study authors include Emory University School of Medicine faculty members Xin Hu, PhD, assistant professor of radiation oncology, and Xu Ji, PhD, assistant professor of pediatrics, both researchers at Winship Cancer Institute and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta (Children’s).
The research team analyzed Medicaid enrollment patterns for 1,800 children and teens diagnosed and treated with cancer at Children’s, discovering that fewer than half of those with Medicaid had continuous coverage before, during and after their cancer diagnosis. The findings also show that those who gained Medicaid only at or after diagnosis faced a comparatively higher risk of all-cause death and cancer-specific death.
Practice-changing clinical trial reveals better treatment for advanced Hodgkin lymphoma
A phase 3 clinical trial co-led by researchers at Winship Cancer Institute and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta has revealed a new standard of care for advanced stage classic Hodgkin lymphoma. The study, published in The New England Journal of Medicine, shows that patients treated with nivolumab-AVD have significantly improved outcomes, paving the way for better treatment options for adolescents and young adults. Co-authors include Emory University School of Medicine faculty members Sharon Castellino, MD, professor of pediatrics and pediatric study chair for the trial, and Kristie A. Blum, MD, professor of hematology and medical oncology and co-director Winship Cancer Institute’s Lymphoma Program.
Immune cell discovery offers new potential for cancer immunotherapy
Emory researchers have identified a novel type of immune cell, called the stem-like CD4 T cell, which plays a pivotal role in anti-tumor immunity. The pre-clinical findings, published in Nature, highlight the potential to activate these cells to fight tumors more effectively, offering new hope for broader treatment success, particularly in patients with cancer that is unresponsive to current immunotherapies.
Study authors include Maria Cardenas, a doctoral student in Emory’s Immunology and Molecular Pathogenesis Graduate Program, and Winship Cancer Institute researcher Haydn T. Kissick, PhD, assistant professor of urology at Emory University School of Medicine.
Emory University School of Law
Antidiscrimination, AI, and health care
Jessica Roberts, professor of law, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and data science at Emory’s School of Law, recently published “Antidiscrimination Law Meets Artificial Intelligence: Health Care Providers’ and Insurers’ New Responsibilities” in JAMA Health Forum. The article, written in collaboration with Stanford professor Michelle Mello, evaluates a final rule published in May 2024 by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights addressing discrimination in AI-enabled health care. Roberts and Mello explain that some anxieties provoked by the rule are misplaced, but that the rule does pose important implications for fairness and innovation in the development and use of AI in health care.
Corporate law as decolonization
Martin Sybblis, associate professor of law, recently published “Corporate Law as Decolonization,” in UCLA Law Review. While casting off imperialism is viewed as the first step to establish independence, Sybblis’ article highlights the role of economic strength as more important than constitutional authority, to achieve a nation’s self-determination. “While political power, such as the political authority made possible through sovereignty, is a significant milestone in any community’s development, it alone is an insufficient vehicle to self-determination,” he writes.
“The choice of nonsovereignty by some jurisdictions, such as the corporate law ‘market dominant small jurisdictions’ of Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, and the Cayman Islands should not automatically be interpreted as a failure to achieve the fruits of decolonization,” he writes. “On the contrary, their choice of sub-sovereign status to the United Kingdom has led to greater autonomy and self-determination than achieved by neighboring sovereign states in the Caribbean.”
Emory College of Arts and Sciences
New insight into superconducting power of magic-angle graphene
In recent years, a complex carbon structure called twisted bilayer graphene has offered a uniquely controllable platform to investigate the underlying mechanisms of unconventional superconductivity.
Experiments by physicists at Oxford University, Shanghai Tech University, and Princeton University, together with theoretical interpretations by Yao Wang, assistant professor in Emory’s Department of Chemistry, recently discovered a novel “replica” spectral fingerprint called magic-angle twisted bilayer graphene, whose emergence and disappearance correlate closely with superconductivity.
These results, published in Nature, demonstrate that this electron-phonon coupling likely plays a pivotal role in unconventional superconductivity. Moreover, the integrated experimental and theoretical approaches established here provide powerful tools for the design and exploration of new quantum materials.