Through close collaborations with investigators in the Division of Infectious Diseases, the IGSP's research in genomic medicine has launched a progressive program in infectious disease genomics. Our aim is to develop a more precise means of guiding anti-infective therapeutics in the acute care setting using multidimensional genomic signatures.
These efforts have largely been made possible with funding from The Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA) Defense Services Office (DSO) under its Predicting Health and Disease (PHD) program. This DARPA program is dedicated to creating new methodologies for assessing human health and decreasing potential performance impact due to illness. The final objective is to develop a field portable, point of care, health assessment system that would allow for early detection of infectious disease prior to onset of disease symptoms. To reach that goal, researchers in genomic medicine and Duke Medicine have partnered with those in the Pratt School of Engineering.
Dr. April Brown recieved her B.S.E.E. from North Carolina State University in 1981, her M.S.E.E. and Ph.D. from Cornell University in 1984 and 1985, respectively. She joined Duke University as Professor and Chair in July 2002. She is currently Sr. Associate Dean for Research in the Pratt School of Engineering at Duke.
Lawrence Carin earned the BS, MS, and PhD degrees in electrical engineering at the University of Maryland, College Park, in 1985, 1986, and 1989, respectively. In 1989 he joined the Electrical Engineering Department at Polytechnic University (Brooklyn) as an Assistant Professor, and became an Associate Professor there in 1994. In September 1995 he joined the Electrical Engineering Department at Duke University, where he is now a Professor.
Geoffrey S. Ginsburg, M.D., Ph.D. is the founding Director of the Center for Genomic Medicine in the Duke Institute for Genome Sciences & Policy. He is also Professor of Medicine and of Pathology at Duke University Medical Center. His research interests are in the development of novel paradigms for developing and translating genomic information into medical practice and the integration of personalized medicine into health care.
Christopher W. Woods MD, MPH is the Co-Director of the Hubert-Yeargan Center for Global Health. He is an associate professor in the Departments of Medicine and Pathology at Duke University; an adjunct assistant professor in Epidemiology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Public Health; and Chief of Infectious Diseases and clinical microbiology, and hospital epidemiologist for the Durham VA Medical Center. Dr. Woods is board-certified in internal medicine, infectious diseases, and medical microbiology.
Aimee Zaas received a B.S. in Psychology magna cum laude from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1994. She then received an M.D. from Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine in 1998. She completed her internal medicine residency training at the Johns Hopkins Hospital, where she also served as an Assistant Chief of Service (Chief Resident).
Viral Challenge Studies:
This program is focused on predicting incipient viral illness using a series of experimental human viral challenge studies. - Viral challenges with rhinovirus, respiratory syncytial virus, and influenza (H3N2 and H1N1) have been completed. Three repeat viral challenges have been conducted with rhinovirus and influenza (H1N1) and influenza (H3N2) and RSV are currently being planned. The repeat viral challenges are being conducted to further validate the viral signatures. The challenges are being done in partnership with Ron Turner, MD at the University of Virginia, Duke Clinical Research Unit at Duke University and Retroscreen Virology Ltd.
An Index Cluster Longitudinal Cohort Study:
This is ongoing on the Duke University campus to validate experimentally derived molecular signatures for infection. The study design involves monitoring a heavily exposed group (students living in dorms) who are presymptomatic and exposed.
Infectious Disease Validation Study:
An ongoing 7-year project continues to determine the utility of blood expression profiling to classify the etiology of fever in the emergency room setting. This study was originally funded with CAPSOD (Vance Fowler, Chris Woods) and has now been adapted to focus on defining a blood based RNA gene expression signature for community acquired respiratory tract infections (CARI- bacterial, viral and fungal) now being funded by DARPA. This study is being done in partnership with Durham Veterans Administration, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Northwestern University.
Prototype Platform Development:
The focus of this project is to utilize models to identify biomarkers and classifiers that can be used to predict basic health status and potentially predict type of infection, stage of infection, and length of infection. This project is being done in partnership with the Pratt School of Engineering. For more information, visiti the Molecular Diagnostics Lab.
Genomic Signatures Predictive of Invasive Candidiasis:
This project has a goal of extending work in viral and bacterial infections to the development of early and precise prediction of the fungal infection known as candidemia. Murine models have been developed for invasive candidiasis that have been interrogated with various molecular and genomic tools over time. Using microarray analysis of peripheral blood several factors have been identified that are highly sensitive for early detection of infection. Temporal specific factors have also been identified that have been validated in a two cohorts of animals. A longitudinal cohort of high-risk patients is being ascertained for validation in human cohorts.
Early Detection of Healthcare Associated Infections Using the Host Response: Focusing on Ventilator Associated Pneumonia:
This project is a collaboration with investigators in the Division of Infectious Disease (Drs. Chris Wood, Aimee Zaas, Vivian Chu, Ephraim Tsalik, Vance Fowler and Karen Welty-Wolfe) and has been funded by Novartis Vaccine and Diagnostics, Inc. The project has a goal of developing early and precise prediction of Ventilator Associated Pneumonia. Building on our experiences, our aim is to identify and characterize the pathophysiology of VAP focusing on the etiologic pathogen and the host response. Using transciptomic, proteomic (biased and unbiased) and metabolomic profiles of VAP patients, we plan to develop a diagnostic tool that can potentially fill the gap of our understanding and management of VAP.
Aimee Zaas
aimee.zaas@duke.edu
919.613.5106
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