Emily
Buck
Sponsor: Igor Vorobyov, Ph.D. MED: Pharmacology Voltage-gated ion channel proteins are essential in heart rhythm generation. The hERG potassium channel, KV11.1, is responsible for cardiac repolarization, and its blockade by a diverse set of small molecules may lead to prolonged ECG QT intervals and arrhythmias. Additionally, the female sex is known to be an independent risk factor for drug-induced cardiac arrhythmia, and several studies have shown sex hormone interactions with the hERG channel to be a possible direct cause of this risk. We performed AutoDock4 molecular docking with sixty-nine drugs classified by CredibleMeds as QT-prolonging to the hERG channel simultaneously with nine sex-steroid hormones. The binding cooperativity of drugs and female sex hormones in the channel pore is dependent upon their interactions with aromatic hERG channel residues. An analysis of these results shows a consistent pattern of drug-channel interactions which could be crucial to the mechanism of the sex-dependent drug-induced arrhythmia risk. We used all-atom molecular dynamics simulations followed by end-point binding free energy calculations with MM/ PBSA energy calculations to provide potentially more accurate energy estimates and confirm our molecular docking findings. These results will be used to accurately predict sex-dependent arrhythmia risks for multiple hERG blocking drugs. Infectious Disease Critical Values Requiring Urgent Clinician Notification in United States Hospitals
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Emily Buck
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Critical values represent qualitative diagnostic test results that indicate life-threatening conditions, prompting immediate clinician notification and potential life-saving intervention. I compiled infectious disease critical values comprising microbiology, virology, and parasitology tests from 417 sites representing university hospitals, Level 1 trauma centers, US News "Centers of Excellence," heart centers, and top performers across all 50 U.S. states and Washington D.C. Acid-Fast Bacilli, the most frequent pathogen, was listed by 61.9% of hospitals. I compared high risk pathogens identified by the Centers for Disease Control, National Institute of Health, World Health Organization, and Infectious Disease Society of America to pathogens listed by hospitals and observed a notable lack of overlap between these organizations and U.S. hospitals. Although all four organizations identified COVID-19 as high risk, only 4% of hospitals reported it as a critical value. These results indicate significant inconsistency and variability among infectious disease critical values across the U.S. and lack of hospital and public health consensus. Research evidence reflects shared national practices that will help enable public health organizations and American hospitals to collaborate, communicate, harmonize, and improve standards of care for early detection, notification, and treatment of infectious diseases, effective responses to epidemics, and prevention of community crises. Role of doc1 in LINC Complex and NPC-Mediated Meiotic Processes Kevin Bui
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UC Davis / MED: Pathology & Lab Medicine / 2026
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Emily Buck