UAMS Investigators: Gohar Azhar, M.D., professor, Department of Geriatrics; director of Clinical Research, director of the Pat Walker Memory Clinic and Research Center, and co-director of the Cardiovascular Aging Program, UAMS

Jeanne Y. Wei, M.D., Ph.D., the Jackson T. Stephens Professor of Geriatrics; chair, Reynolds Department of Geriatrics, College of Medicine; executive director, Reynolds Institute on Aging, UAMS, and

Summary: The Pragmatic Evaluation of Events and Benefits of Lipid-Lowering in Older Adults (PREVENTABLE) trial is a multi-center study that will follow adults ages 75 and above without cardiovascular disease for five years as they receive either atorvastatin 40 mg or a placebo.

Significance: This large study aims to demonstrate the benefit of statins for reducing the primary composite of death, dementia and persistent disability and secondary composites including mild cognitive impairment and cardiovascular events.

TRI Services: Medicare coverage analysis, study budget development, regulatory management, biomedical informatics/clinical data extracts through the TRI-supported UAMS/Arkansas Clinical Data Repository (AR-CDR) and Epic support.

Sponsor/Clinical Coordinating Center: Duke University

Funding Agency: National Institute on Aging

Patients previously hospitalized with COVID-19 had a 45% higher risk of heart failure than other hospitalized patients, according to the first national study of its kind, which was co-authored by a University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) researcher.

Lead author Husam M. Salah, M.D., at UAMS said the findings reported in Nature Communications also revealed an even higher risk of heart failure for younger, white patients previously hospitalized with COVID-19, surprising the research team.

“We were seeing this increased trend in heart failure among patients previously hospitalized for COVID-19, but until our study, we did not have evidence to confirm the relationship to COVID-19,” said Salah, chief medical resident in the College of Medicine Department of Medicine. “Inflammation of the heart muscle and the coronary arteries as well as formation of small clots in the coronary arteries caused by COVID-19 may be major players in the association between COVID-19 and heart failure.”

Previously hospitalized COVID-19 patients under age 65 were at 53% greater risk of heart failure compared to a 38% increased risk in those 65 and older. Patients who were white (all ages) saw a 49% increased risk compared to a 36% risk in nonwhite or Hispanic patients.

“This really surprised us,” Salah said. “We don’t have an explanation. It might be that these patients had a more severe cardiac inflammatory response.”

The study analyzed de-identified data of 587,330 patients in the National COVID Cohort Collaborative (N3C) database, created by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and its National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, which also funds the UAMS Translational Research Institute.

The study of the heart failure association with previously hospitalized COVID-19 patients was the first using such a large-scale nationally representative population, according to the article.

“The N3C was one of the very few databases that had nationally representative de-identified COVID-19 related data,” Salah said.

The findings will be of value to doctors who treat previously hospitalized COVID-19 patients, he said.

“As a physician, it’s important to know the complications of COVID-19,” he said. “Knowing the association with heart failure will help guide the care for previously hospitalized COVID-19 patients.”

UAMS is among the early contributors of de-identified patient data to the N3C. It continues to aid the national effort with expertise and leadership by Fred Prior, Ph.D., chair and distinguished professor in the College of Medicine Department of Biomedical Informatics, and Ahmad Baghal, M.D., Ph.D., who directs the Arkansas Clinical Data Repository, a UAMS database of historical patient data.

Their efforts have been supported by the UAMS Translational Research Institute, led by Laura James, M.D., who co-chairs the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences Clinical and Translational Science Awards Program Steering Committee.

“The Nature Communications article is a great example of the translational research that is possible with the N3C,” said James, also UAMS associate vice chancellor for Clinical and Translational Research. “It is especially gratifying to see the N3C database contributing to such important work with a UAMS researcher as part of the team.”

Other study co-authors are from Duke University, University of Colorado Anschutz, Johns Hopkins University, University of North Carolina, North Carolina State University and Palantir Technologies.

In this month’s TRIbune newsletter, we’re highlighting the success of three TRI entrepreneurship trainees: Samir Jenkins, Ph.D., Amanda Stolarz, Ph.D., and Aaron Storey, Ph.D. Stolarz participated in a 2016 TRI-supported training, and Jenkins and Storey were part of the 2019 inaugural class of TRI Health Science Innovation and Entrepreneurship (HSIE) Program. All are advancing translational research using their TRI supported training and NIH small business funding. 

Our TRI Study of the Month features UAMS’ Gohar Azhar, M.D., and Jeanne Y. Wei, M.D., Ph.D., and their work on a multi-center study of lipid lowering in older adults.

We also highlight the six UAMS researchers who are part of two research projects that received TRI Team Science Voucher Awards.

Read The TRIbune.

UAMS’ Erhan Ararat, M.D., and Laura Gressler, Ph.D., have been named TRI Data Scholars for 2022.

Ararat is an assistant professor in the College of Medicine Department of Pediatrics.

Project title: “Evaluation of Metformin for the Symptoms and treatment of Asthma on a Pediatric Population.”

Gressler is an assistant professor in the College of Pharmacy Division of Pharmaceutical Evaluation and Policy.

Project title: “Leveraging Natural Language Processing Methodologies for the Refinement of Signal Detection Algorithms in Electronic Health Records.”

As part of the one-year program, data scholars receive close mentoring from UAMS faculty in conducting a data-oriented research project. They also receive 20% salary support and reimbursement for tuition and fees up to $5,000 to support coursework in data science or data analytics.

This month’s TRIbune newsletter highlights the successful use of a TRI Pilot Award to secure an NIH grant by Se-Ran Jun, Ph.D., in the Department of Biomedical Informatics. Jun’s translational  research could play a significant role in the treatment of antibiotic-resistant infections.

We also include the announcement of our nine new KL2 Scholars and the recipient of our inaugural Team Science Champion Award, Tuhin Virmani, M.D., Ph.D., who will use the funds to investigate the potential for remote assessment of people with Parkinson’s disease.

Our TRI Study of the Month features Krishna Nalleballe, M.D., and his clinical trial of a new thrombolytic agent.  Read The TRIbune

TRI is proud to release its 2022 Annual Report, a magazine-style showcase of translational research achievements at UAMS and our partner institutions.

This report highlights researchers’ innovative efforts to address the health issues of Arkansans. TRI has played both leading and supporting roles in these endeavors, thanks to our NIH/National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences Clinical and Translational Science Award as well as institutional support. 

The report also covers the many ways TRI is working to help UAMS-affiliated researchers reach their goals, and it includes some great success stories.  View it here.

Could this be a cure for writer’s block? Join the Summer 2022 Writing Challenge for friendly competition and motivation to write and submit your manuscripts! The challenge runs through Aug. 31.

You are eligible to participate in the summer writing challenge if you have received a TRI award, utilized a service or resource and/or if you have been partially or fully supported since Jan. 1, 2017.

The challenge is open to personnel at UAMS, Arkansas Children’s Research Institute and the Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System.

Last year’s competition boasted 85 separate manuscripts submitted. This year’s competition hopes to bring additional submissions.

At the conclusion of the challenge, TRI will host a mixer with food, fun and announcements of this year’s prizewinners at both the Little Rock and Northwest Arkansas campuses.

Submit your writing at this link. Need writing resources? Visit the TRI website here.

Join the fun!

The UAMS Translational Research Institute today announced Tuhin Virmani, M.D., Ph.D., as the recipient of its first $75,000 Team Science Champion Award, allowing his further investigation of the potential benefit for remote assessment of people with Parkinson’s disease.

Remote assessment ­— or digital health — is a broad term used to describe the services clinicians can offer long-distance patients through email, text message and video chat. Through these mediums, clinicians can make contact, prescribe care, offer advice and monitor progress.

Virmani is an associate professor in the College of Medicine Department of Neurology, director of the Movement Disorders program, and director of the Huntington’s Disease Society of America Center of Excellence at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS). He began the remote assessment research in 2021 with a pilot grant from the Translational Research Institute.

Virmani, who was selected from five applicants, aims to discern the quality of care that remote assessments offer to Parkinson’s patients in rural communities. By incorporating UAMS Regional Programs and the UAMS Rural Research Network, this study aims to determine which patients may benefit from utilizing care facilities closer to home to obtain specialist health care.

The grant will also fund the team’s efforts to strengthen its biomedical informatics tools that analyze voice and handwriting samples collected remotely.

A key criterion of the Team Science Champion Award is for candidates to exemplify cross-disciplinary collaboration. Virmani’s research team includes neurologists, biomedical informatics researchers, a psychiatrist and a high school student. Anu Iyer, a student at Little Rock Central High School, joined the team in 2021. She is applying machine learning methods to analyze voice samples of Parkinson’s patients with the hope of someday detecting the disease by voice.

“Dr. Virmani’s team has all the qualities we are looking for, and it is a project that can address one of the many complex health challenges of Arkansas’ rural and underrepresented populations,” said Laura James, M.D., director of the Translational Research Institute and UAMS associate vice chancellor for Clinical and Translational Research. “We look forward to seeing the outcomes from this promising interdisciplinary team.”

Parkinson’s disease is a neurodegenerative disorder that leads to progressive decline in motor function (balance, dexterity, tremors) and non-motor function (mood disorders, cognitive impairment, sleep disruption). These symptoms make travel difficult, especially for those in medically underserved areas. Of the four movement disorders neurologists in the state, three practice at the Movement Disorders Clinic at UAMS. Nearly 75% of that clinic’s patient population reside in rural communities.

Delivering quality medical care remotely has the potential to improve patient outcomes in medically underserved areas. It is unclear, however, if it is possible to deliver high quality care to Parkinson’s patients using digital health. The population is comprised of mostly elderly patients who may not have the needed technology at home or may lack the ability to use it. This is the question Virmani and his team hope to answer with TRI’s Team Science Champion Award funding.

The Translational Research Institute is supported by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences at the National Institutes of Health, under Clinical and Translational Science Award UL1 TR003107.

Story by Seth Hooker