Internally Funded Awards

• Researcher: Dr. Kathaleen Briggs Early, Department of Biomedical Sciences  
• Award Amount: $20,000 
• Project Summary: Inflammation is involved in a wide variety of physiological processes. However, in certain disease states such as diabetes and diabetes-related complications, inflammation can contribute to pain. This project evaluates inflammation before and after an osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT) in healthy adults. We are looking at proteins in the blood called “cytokines”, which can be pro-inflammatory or anti-inflammatory. We think OMT will reduce pro-inflammatory cytokines and increase anti-inflammatory cytokines, and we have selected 4 cytokines (out of more than 30) that we believe are most likely to change over a brief time period. We are recruiting a small group of healthy adults (approximately 25 total) to conduct this study. This project will lay the essential groundwork for future research where we will study the effects of OMT in persons with diabetes (DM) and diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN). DPN is a common complication of DM, affecting more than half of all people with type 2 diabetes, and currently has few treatment options. This study will help us determine the potential effectiveness of OMT as a treatment for DPN, which has not been previously investigated. 

• Researcher: Dr. Janelle Mapes, Department of Anatomy 
• Award Amount: $20,000 

• Researcher: Dr. Tiffany Salido, School of Physical Therapy 
• Award Amount: $9,518 
• Project Summary: Reactive step training on a perturbation treadmill has been shown to improve step reactions and reduce falls in people with Parkinson’s disease (PwPD).  This feasibility study will compare changes in reactive stepping parameters, balance outcome measures, and fall rates in PwPD. Participants will be randomized to receive either volitional step training to a visual target, resisted volitional step training to a visual target, or perturbation balance training on a Balance Tutor Perturbation Treadmill. This study will establish if recruitment, eligibility, participation, intervention procedures, and outcome measures are adequate to initiate a randomized control trial. 

• Researcher: Dr. Christian Heck, College of Osteopathic Medicine – Anatomy  
• Award Amount: $10,000 

• Researcher: Dr. Kathaleen Briggs Early, College of Osteopathic Medicine – Biomedical Sciences  
• Award Amount: $9,962 

• Researcher: Dr. Kimberly Taylor, College of Osteopathic Medicine – Biomedical Sciences  
• Award Amount: $3,233 
• Project Summary:  

Dental caries (“cavities”) presents a significant global burden of disease whose prevalence consistently and adversely demonstrates a socioeconomic dependence. Cavities result from dysbiosis of the normal flora of the mouth (AKA “the oral microbiome”) and when the disease state occurs between birth and 71 months of age is referred to as Early Childhood Caries (ECC); formerly known as “baby bottle caries” or “nursing caries.” According to the WHO, in 2022 more than a half of a billion children suffered from caries of the primary teeth. The ongoing value of understanding the biotic and abiotic factors affecting oral flora dysbiosis and its resulting pathologies is apparent.  The Human Oral Microbiome Database (HOMD), founded in 2008, allows for rapidly expanding and shared knowledge of the genetic basis of bacterial members of the oral cavity. The database’s taxon descriptions include various media cultivation references, with variant results reported for bacterial colony development on various media.   

The Taylor Lab is currently conducting in vitro studies regarding the influence of various abiotic factors on select oral microbiome members. The selected taxa include specific members of the viridans streptococci, as well as other newly identified oral microbiome isolates indexed in the HOMD and found to be involved in ECC pathology (e.g., Scardovia wiggisiae, Veillonella spp.). Research goals include determination of bacterial growth characteristics and biochemical changes associated with bacterial metabolism across media types, oxygen environments, and supplied fermentable carbohydrates versus sugar alcohols. Growth densities and other phenotypic characteristics are being evaluated to inform future studies on the taxa in related areas such as antibiotic susceptibilities and interspecies synergism. 

• Researcher: Dr. Janelle Mapes, Department of Anatomy 
• Award Amount: $10,000