Jonathan Huang, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Office of Public Health Studies
University of Hawaii Manoa
The role of young men’s early life on pregnancy outcome disparities in Hawaiʻi
Project Summary: Native Hawaiians, Pacific Islanders, and Filipino Americans experience the highest burden of adverse pregnancy & birth outcomes among all ethnic groups in Hawaiʻi. Fathers’ life course factors, from early life to young adulthood, are key understudied determinants. Fathers can support pregnant partners materially and socioemotionally and influence health behaviors and prenatal care uptake, all important determinants of pregnancy and child outcomes. However, this type of research is particularly challenging in these communities as they are rarely represented in intergenerational and longitudinal studies, either entirely or due to erasure through aggregation. Moreover, limited studies that do exist may not have measures that resonate or are salient to these communities. This mixed methods study will leverage advanced statistical modelling of unique, inter-generational cohort data in conjunction with focus group interviewing to identify locally-relevant potential targets for intervention amongst young men in Hawaiʻi to reduce maternal & infant health disparities. We hypothesize that our modelling will highlight differential effects of early life factors such as extended family support, with implications on interventions on health disparities. Furthermore, we hypothesize focus groups will help point out deficiencies in data collection, such as lack of relevant concepts, phrasings, or questions for concepts of extended family, acculturation, or sport & cultural activities. These findings will both help us identify intervention targets for future research as well as design better instruments for longitudinal follow-up studies of intergenerational determinants of pregnancy & birth outcomes in Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander, and Filipino communities in Hawaiʻi.
Sudhir Kumar Rai,M.Sc.,Ph.D (Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Tezpur University, INDIA)
Instructor (Specialist -Translational Medicine)
Quantitative Health Sciences
John A. Burns School of Medicine
University of Hawaii at Manoa
Characterization of mtFAM186As in Native-Hawaiian Colorectal Cancer (NH-CRC)
Project Summary: Death from colorectal cancer (CRC) is significantly higher among Native Hawaiians (NH) than any other racial/ethnic groups in Hawaii. To date, our team has performed DNA and RNA-seq on Native Hawaiian tissue samples from the UH Cancer Center Biorepository and have identified high mutation rates in the Family with Sequence Similarity 186 member A (FAM186A) gene. This gene is rarely mutated in the other ethnic groups. We do not know the clear functions of FAM186A except that is associated with Fanconi Anemia (FA) Complementation Group E (FANCE), whose improper function can lead to the compromised DNA damage response (DDR) and, ultimately, tumor promotion. We have thus hypothesized that the specific relationship between FAM186A and FANCE should play an essential role in preventing NH-CRC development and progression. To further test this hypothesis, we plan to specifically investigate the molecular mechanisms by which FAM186A gene mutated, which may have lost the relation with FANCE, acts as an oncogenic factor to promote the development and progression of CRC in Native Hawaiians. Completing project may contribute to our understanding of disproportional CRC mortality among Native Hawaiians and may inform the development of promising strategies to possibly help reduce these disparities such as potent FAM186A variant may consider as an early detection biomarker and potent candidate for targeted NH-CRC therapy.
Thomas Noh
Assistant Clinical Professor
Department of Surgery, Division of Neurosurgery
John A Burns School of Medicine
Frameless Optical Neuronavigation Using Facial Feature Detection to Accurately Place External Ventricular Drains
Project Summary: The external ventricular drain (EVD) is the most common neurosurgical procedure performed. Since its inception more than a century ago1, the placement of a catheter into the fluid-filled cavities of the brain has developed into a lifesaving technique in the urgent management of increasing intracranial pressure. An EVD, often performed at bedside, can then be used to divert excess CSF or blood, instill medications, or continuously monitor pressure to guide treatment. EVDs are commonly placed using a “blind procedure” where the catheter is aimed towards the ventricles using surface landmarks, then advanced through brain tissue until a slight ‘pop’ and CSF fluid flow is thought to signify successful cannulation. When EVDs are placed with a freehand technique, they can be malplaced and have devastating consequences. On average, freehand EVD malplacement occurs up to 41%, takes two passes, with 39% of patients needing multiple passes (average 4.1 passes). Image guidance devices represent the largest cluster of technological patents in the last few decades and lie within a phase of exponential growth that are being developed to guide EVD placement. However, none have found a widely accepted place due to size, additional setup time, and clumsy user interfaces. There is a clear need for a rapid, reliable, and user-friendly navigation method to guide the placement of EVDs.
The process of establishing a bedside neuronavigation method comprises primary three steps including: 1) establishing one-to-one correspondence between the external face and head of the patient; 2) Probe tracking between the skull and lateral ventricle of the brain; 3) projection into a AR environment for clinician operation. This three-step process is achieved by using CT scans to establish volumetric models of the craniofacial surface, brain and lateral ventricles. The CT brain volume is segmented providing a mesh model of the brain surface as well as the lateral ventricle serving as the target. The probe is fitted with an optical marker that can be tracked with a depth sensing camera as it is inserted and followed on its course to the lateral ventricle. Using a head-mounted display, the depth of the probe can be tracked and visualized.