TRANSCEND Newsletter

Director’s Welcome

Thank you for your interest in TRANSCEND. Our goal is to increase the pool of clinical and translational (C&T) researchers in North Dakota who can help North Dakota transcend some of its health challenges.

What exactly is C&T research? According to the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), “clinical research” means research that directly involves patients or individuals at risk of disease (e.g., prevention research with healthy persons). “Translational” is “the process of turning observations in the laboratory, clinic and community into interventions that improve the health of individuals and communities from diagnostics, preventions, and treatments to medical procedures and behavioral changes.” These broad definitions can encompass a wide range of studies and investigators.

We invite you to explore our website, including the many “on demand” PowerPoint and video trainings in the Design, Compliance, and Data Management Core that span the landscape of C&T research. 

We also encourage you to register in the TRANSCEND portal, which can help identify potential collaborators and will keep you informed of upcoming opportunities. For example, our first research grant pilot opportunity is now underway. We plan to repeat that opportunity at regular intervals. Additionally, a seminar series and opportunities to obtain more formal training in C&T research via online CME courses offered from universities with prominent C&T programs (e.g., Stanford University, Mayo Clinic) will be announced shortly.

So please explore, register, and let us know how we can work together for the benefit of all North Dakotans.

Gary G. Schwartz
Program Director, TRANSCEND

Core Introductions

Administrative Core

Gary Schwartz: Professor and Chair of the Department of Population Health at UND School of Medicine and Health Sciences (SMHS). He has led clinical trials in prostate cancer, breast cancer, and leukemia. Additionally, he is experienced in the translation of discovery to inventions, as he is an inventor on 3 patented screening tests for cancers of the prostate, pancreas, and ovary. At UND, Dr. Schwartz has developed novel means of radon education using cell phones and has tested them via clinical trials. 

Barry Milavetz: Professor in the Department of Biomedical Science at UND. His research is in the epigenetic regulation of DNA virus infections. Past Associate Vice President and Vice President for Research at UND, with oversight of all aspects of external funding at UND, from developing proposals to closing out awards and ensuring research compliance including IRB, IBC, IACUC, conflict of interest, and responsible conduct of research. In his research administration capacity, he has written and implemented policy for UND.

Health Research Core

Steven Powell: physician-scientist and practicing medical oncologist at Sanford Health. He is an active investigator in numerous clinical trials and operates a research laboratory studying novel immune therapies and pharmacodynamic biomarkers. Dr. Powell serves as Head of Enterprise Oncology Research at Sanford where he oversees all clinical cancer research activities, as well as serving as a research mentor for fellows in hematology-oncology and early-stage investigators (ESIs).

Holly Brown-Borg: Chester Fritz Distinguished Professor in the Department of Biomedical Sciences and Assistant Dean for Gender Equity at UND SMHS. She has extensive leadership experience organizing conferences, chairing NIH study sections, and serving as President of the American Aging Association (AGE) and Biological Sciences Chair of the Gerontological Society of America (GSA). She presently serves on the NIH NIA Board of Scientific Counselors and the Board of AGE. Dr. Brown-Borg has extensive experience in mentoring ESIs.

Sathish Venkatachalem: Associate Professor in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences at North Dakota State University (NDSU). His research focuses on sex/gender differences in lung disease. He is highly experienced in pharmacy education, advising, training, and mentoring post-baccalaureate students through early-stage faculty. Dr. Venkatachalem served as a member for multiple NIH special emphasis study sections, and his laboratory work is supported by multiple NIH R01 grants. He established preclinical and clinical research collaborations between NDSU and clinicians at the VA and Sanford Hospitals.

Research Design, Compliance and Data Management Core

Junguk Hur: Associate Professor and researcher for the Biomedical Sciences Department and Director of the Computational Data Analysis Core for the Host-Pathogen Interaction CoBRE at UND. He is highly experienced in the field of bioinformatics, with a focus on developing computational methods to understand human diseases and to identify new therapeutic targets through integrative bioinformatics approaches that emphasize the advanced analysis of various high-throughput Omics data and integration with biological and clinical data.

Lora Black: Executive Director of Clinical Research at Sanford Research. She has oversight for clinical research performed across the whole of Sanford Health. The Clinical Research department functions as the central Clinical Trials Office for Sanford, providing resources to investigators for the completion of study-related activities, from initial concept and protocol development to regulatory submissions and coordination of subject activities during a trial. Her experience includes an extensive knowledge of all facets of clinical research. Additionally, she has substantial experience in protocol development as well as management of multi-site interventional trials.

Marilyn G. Klug: Professor for the Department of Population Health at UND SMHS. She has contributed as a methodologist for the design and analysis of studies of multiple diseases common in ND, including fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, dementia, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. She is familiar with multiple statistical and graphics programs and has taught statistics to students and residents in the medical field. She has developed analytical approaches to several challenging biostatistical questions.

Community Engagement and Outreach Core

Glenda Lindseth: Chester Fritz Distinguished Professor at the UND College of Nursing and Professional Disciplines. She has conducted randomized clinical trials and research studies focusing on dietary intake, sleep, cognition, and neuro-behavioral outcomes that have been funded by the DoD Peer Reviewed Medical Research Program and the NIH for nearly 30 years.  She has served as PI of the NIH-funded Northern Plains Center for Behavioral Research (NPCBR).  Dr. Lindseth has also served on NIH, DoD, and NSF Study Sections and Review Panels.

Loretta Heuer: Professor and previous Associate Dean at the NDSU School of Nursing. As a Robert Wood Johnson Fellow, Dr. Heuer developed and directed the Red River Valley Migrant and Seasonal Farmworkers (MHSF) Diabetes Health program for 15 years. She also established the Diabetes Lay Educator Program (DLEP), and has collaborated with the Spirit Lake Nation as PI of the Sustaining Career Pathways for American Indian Health Professionals in North Dakota.

Professional Development Core

Dr. Stephen Wonderlich: Vice President for Research at Sanford Health and Chester Fritz Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science at the University of North Dakota School Of Medicine. Dr. Wonderlich has been conducting clinically oriented research for over 30 years, most which focused on eating disorders and obesity. Since 1999, he has completed numerous NIH-funded projects including R01s and a Center of Biomedical Research Excellence (P20) award.

RFA News

The Health Research Core released their first Request for Applications (RFA) for the Pilot Project Grant Awards in the fall of 2024. The Pilot Projects Grant is intended to provide support to allow a research team to pursue a novel hypothesis in clinical and translational research. We received a robust response from a variety of fields and anticipate supporting 4-5 new Pilot Projects awards at an amount of $75,000 total costs (direct + indirect) for one year with an anticipated start date of April 1, 2025.

Seminar Series

The first TRANSCEND Seminar Series will feature Dr. Gary G. Schwartz. He will discuss the implications of high radon levels in North Dakota in his talk, “Natural Radioactivity in North Dakota. What, me, worry?” Radon is an important, preventable cause of cancer and likely stroke, and offers many research opportunities for intervention studies.

Date: Tuesday, December 3^rd, 2024

Time: 12:00pm – 1:00pm

Location: University of North Dakota School of Medicine & Health Sciences, Room E101 (Auditorium)

Lunch will be provided.

Training Materials

Link: Electronic Health Records for Research

Notable Publications

• Schmitz D, Klug MG, Schwartz GG. Short Communication: Radon testing via a state tobacco quitline, Preventive Medicine Reports, Volume 42, 2024, 102738, ISSN 2211-3355, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pmedr.2024.102738.
• Wang Z, Gao P, Guo K, Schirrick G, Gill JS, Weis J, Lund Da Costa A, Rahman M, Mehta H, Fleecs J, Jain S, Debnath T, Hur J, Khan N, Sticca R, Brown-Borg HM, Jurivich DA, Mathur R. Age-related dysregulation of intestinal epithelium fucosylation is linked to an increased risk of colon cancer. JCI Insight. 2024 Mar 8;9(5):e167676. PMID: 38456503; PMCID: PMC10972600. https://doi.org/10.1172/jci.insight.167676.
• Ambhore NS, Balraj P, Kumar A. et al. Kiss1 receptor knockout exacerbates airway hyperresponsiveness and remodeling in a mouse model of allergic asthma. Respir Res 25, 387 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12931-024-03017-4.
• Yoo J, Hur J, Yoo J et al. A novel approach to quantifying individual's biological aging using Korea’s national health screening program toward precision public health. GeroScience 46, 3387–3403 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11357-024-01079-2.
• Denny D, Lindseth G, Petros T, Berg J. Teaching statistics online: comparing competency-based and traditional learning, Teaching and Learning in Nursing, Volume 19, Issue 1, 2024, Pages e170-e175, ISSN 1557-3087, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.teln.2023.10.008.

External Grant Opportunities

Sanford Center for Cancer Biology Research

The Sanford Center for Cancer Biology Research COBRE invites proposals for pilot projects to support promising research that fits well within the scientific theme of the Center. We anticipate supporting two new pilot projects at an amount of $90,000 total costs per year, for one year, with an anticipated start date of March 1, 2025. The Sanford Center for Cancer Biology Research Pilot Projects Program is open to faculty of Sanford Research, Sanford Health, and affiliated institutions. The goal of this program is to engage investigators in cancer research with a focus on basic and translational activities. Letters of intent are due not later than 5 p.m. on December 9, 2024. Contact Clarence Weis, Research Program Manager, for more details (clarence.weis@sanfordhealth.org).