Patients with rheumatic diseases like rheumatoid arthritis (RA) or systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) remain inherently at risk for cardiac diseases due to the effects of systemic inflammation combined with immunologic activation and antibody formation targeting specific organs. Examples include coronary artery disease, associated ischemic and non-ischemic heart failure, myocarditis, and interstitial lung disease. While treatment with disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) adequately controls primary disease activity (clinically, skin and joints; serologically with reduction of inflammatory/disease activity markers), the effects of DMARDs on inciting or ameliorating/worsening pre-existing cardiac diseases associated with rheumatic diseases, are hotly contested.

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Background: The Human Health Exposure Analysis Resource (HHEAR) provides investigators access to laboratory and statistical analyses aimed at incorporating and expanding environmental exposures within their research. To benefit the broader scientific community, the HHEAR Data Repository houses deidentified epidemiologic and biomarker data from all studies accepted into the HHEAR program. To date, 46 studies including data from over 36,000 individuals are part of the HHEAR program. Of those studies, 26 have deposited their data in the HHEAR Data Repository. More information on HHEAR can be found at hheardatacenter.mssm.edu.

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Background: The central dogma of biology stipulates that DNA is transcribed into RNA, which are translated into proteins, which carry out functions around the cell. However, as time passes, we are discovering more and more exceptions to this dogma. One of which are small non-coding RNAs (sRNA): these short fragments of RNA don’t get translated into proteins; instead, they fold into small structures and carry out many key and catalytic functions in the bacterial cell. sRNAs are uniquely versatile, as they are capable of interacting with both protein and nucleic acid targets, are responsible for bacterial responses to environmental stimuli, and can serve as virulence mechanisms.

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Scholars and practitioners alike have stressed that gender serves as a ‘symbolic glue’ for the mobilization of illiberal causes. Recent attacks on the “gender academy,” perpetrated in contexts of rising illiberalism, have taken a variety of forms, from the de-legitimation of gender programs to their outright closure, from the marginalization of scholars and researchers to their physical and psychological endangerment. As a crisis mitigation strategy, the Women and Gender in Global Affairs network at the Institute for the Study of Human Rights, working with other partners including CoreWoman, is exploring the development of an Early-Warning System to provide information, resources and support to gender scholars who may face illiberal attacks. After an initial preparatory phase, the project will involve a test pilot in 2 to 3 Latin America countries. Possible candidates include México, Brazil, Colombia, Peru, Nicaragua, Bolivia, and Venezuela. DSI student involvement will include a range of activities such as:

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CRISPR/Cas13 is a programmable RNA-targeting system with a significant therapeutic potential. However, there is a lack of method for designing highly specific CRISPR/Cas13 systems. We have generated a large data set with high-throughput genomic assays and a previous DSI scholar has developed a transformer-based model that is capable of predicting targeting specificity from RNA sequences. We are looking for a motivated student with a strong deep learning background and a basic understanding of molecular biology to improve the model and publish the result.

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Students will design and contribute new features to the AI Model Share MLOps Platform. Projects will allow students first hand experience working with and developing MLOps tools including model deployment, continuous model improvement, and ML analytics. Individualized projects will allow students to 1) integrate advanced deep learning models into our system, 2) work on ML model replication tools, 3) integrate new ML dashboards into our toolkit, and more.

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Research in Lyme Disease shows that it is very hard to identify clinically meaningful improvement for chronic patients whose symptoms tend to wax and wane. Our team developed a diagnostic tool - General Symptom Questionnaire (Fallon et all., 2019, PMID: 31867334) and gathered a lot of data on patients who attended our center for research and/or treatment. The purpose of the proposed study is to analyze the existing data to find clinically meaningful cut-offs on the scale that can inform clinicians on whether the patient improved or not. If you are interested in psychometrics and want to contribute to understanding of how the chronic disease evolves, this is the project for you.

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