Capra Symposium focused on preventable diseases, interdisciplinary research

Published on: July 09, 2024 By: Aline McKenzie

Capra Symposium banner — More than 250 UT Southwestern School of Health Professions students attended the Capra Interdisciplinary Healthcare Symposium in February to learn about collaborative research efforts, including the latest investigations to improve patient outcomes. Above, keynote speaker Markey McNutt, M.D., Ph.D., enlightened the audience on the treatment of rare diseases.

Students from UT Southwestern’s School of Health Professions came together this spring to attend the Capra Interdisciplinary Healthcare Symposium to learn how collaborative research works and explore opportunities for teaming up with educational colleagues on future projects.

The 15th anniversary event, “Collaborate: Multidisciplinary Methods for Disease Prevention and Improving Patient Outcomes,” drew more than 250 attendees and is coordinated by the School of Health Professions Research Advisory Committee.

3 UTSW associate deans stand side by side: Dr. Dorough black woman in blue blazer (left), Dr. Smith white man in gray suit with light blue tie (center), Dr. Bradley-Guidry black woman in black blazer and orange blouse (right)

School of Health Professions educational leaders attending the event included, from left: Ramona Dorough, Ph.D., Associate Dean of Academic Affairs and Faculty Development and Assistant Professor; Scott Smith, Ph.D., Associate Dean for Research, and Chair and Professor of Applied Clinical Research; and Carolyn Bradley-Guidry, Dr.PH., M.P.A.S., PA-C, Associate Dean for Student Affairs and Engagement and Professor of Physician Assistant Studies.

A key component of the event is the awarding of an Interdisciplinary Grant designed to promote collaborative research. Grant applications must include researchers from at least two departments or programs within the School of Health Professions.

At the February symposium, winners of the 2022 Interdisciplinary Grant Program award presented their findings. The collaborators included Yi-Ting Tzen, Ph.D., PT, Assistant Professor of Applied Clinical Research (ACR), Orthopaedic Surgery, and Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation; Yen-Sheng Lin, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery and Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation; Nitin Jain, M.D., M.S.P.H., Adjunct Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery; Jijia Wang, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Applied Clinical Research; and Andrew Nasr, PT, D.P.T., a current ACR Ph.D. student.

Asian woman with long dark hair wearing black and white plaid jacket speaks from podium, smiling and pointing to audience

Yi-Ting Tzen, Ph.D., PT, Assistant Professor of Applied Clinical Research, Orthopaedic Surgery, and Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, shares her team’s research. Her group won the 2022 Interdisciplinary Grant Program award.

Their research focuses on how to measure intramuscular fat to predict surgical success in rotator cuff injuries. When fat infiltrates the muscles of the rotator cuff, it leads to poor surgical outcomes. However, there is no quantitative way to measure the amount of fat and risk. The infiltration is currently rated visually, which, according to Dr. Tzen, is too subjective. The goal of the team’s study is to use MRI imaging of fat and water to determine an exact measure and compare that to calculations from a type of ultrasound called shear wave elastography. The work was published in Diagnostics in 2023 and received funding from the Paralyzed Veterans of America.

The event also recognized 2023 Interdisciplinary Grant Program Awardees: Juan A. Estrada, Ph.D., Instructor of Applied Clinical Research; Hoda Yeganehjoo, Ph.D., RD, Assistant Professor of Clinical Nutrition; and Masaki Mizuno, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Applied Clinical Research and Internal Medicine. They will present their findings at the 2025 Capra Symposium. The title of their grant proposal is “Impacts of Excessive Dietary Linoleic Acid on Muscle Afferents and the Exercise Pressor Reflex.”

Keynote speaker Markey McNutt, M.D., Ph.D., Assistant Professor in the Eugene McDermott Center for Human Growth and Development and of Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, spoke on the history and treatment of rare diseases. He zeroed in on phenylketonuria (PKU), a disorder of protein metabolism that can lead to severe physical and mental conditions. Dr. McNutt chronicled the multidisciplinary work within genetics, metabolism, and other fields to show the effectiveness of collaborations that have led to the detection and dietary treatment of PKU. Gene-based therapies are showing promise as more effective and well-tolerated treatments, he said.

Two smiling women with long brown hair pose for the camera wearing suit jackets over black blouses. One jacket is gray and the other is pink.

Staci Shearin, M.P.T., Ph.D., Associate Professor of Physical Therapy and Chair of the Research Advisory Committee (left), and Samantha Greenberg, M.S., M.P.H., Assistant Professor in the School of Health Professions and founding Director of the Genetic Counseling Training Program, take a moment for a quick photo. Dr. Greenberg spoke on collaborative approaches to cancer care referrals.

“Overall, clinicians managing adolescents and young adults with PKU should be aware of the wide variety of PKU-associated comorbidities, initiating screening at an early age. In addition, management of adolescents/young adults should be a joint effort between the patient, clinical center, and parents/caregivers supporting adolescents with gradually gaining independent control of their disease during the transition to adulthood,” Dr. McNutt said.

“Hopefully, these examples will inspire you. … There’s still so much to be done,” Dr. McNutt said in concluding his presentation.

Samantha Greenberg, M.S., M.P.H., an Assistant Professor in the School of Health Professions and founding Director of the Genetic Counseling Training Program, presented “Leveraging Collaboration to Build Multidisciplinary Approaches to Optimize Cancer Care for Patients.” She spoke of her work in referring patients with prostate cancer for genetic counseling and testing. She and her teams found that a collaborative approach is essential for directing treatment therapies.

Three smiling woman wearing lab coats posing in front of a buffet table.

Three of the more than 250 estimated attendees of this year’s Capra Interdisciplinary Healthcare Symposium take a break between sessions.

“I hope that you leave thinking about what it means to be part of a team. … Teamwork is how we do great things,” Ms. Greenberg said.

The symposium concluded with a student roundtable discussion focusing on disease prevention and patient outcome improvements.

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About the Capra Symposium

The Capra Symposium, as it has been known since 2010, was founded in 1998 by J. Donald Capra, M.D., and his wife, Patricia Capra, Ph.D., in UTSW’s School of Health Professions to promote and share efforts involving interdisciplinary research. Dr. Donald Capra, who died in 2015, was Director of Molecular Immunology in Internal Medicine at UTSW for 23 years, then became President of the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation. Dr. Patricia Capra, who retired from UTSW’s Department of Rehabilitation Counseling in the School of Health Professions, along with her son, Tony Capra, attended this year’s gathering via videoconference. Their other son, Jay D. Capra, M.D., a pediatrician in Abilene, attended the event in person.

Jay D. Capra, M.D.

Abstract competition winners

Students, residents, and postdoctoral fellows in the School of Health Professions were encouraged to submit projects for a research abstract competition. Winners who presented highlights of their work during the event included:

Ayumi Fukazawa, Ph.D., ACR, won in the completed/ongoing research abstract category performed by a resident or postdoctoral fellow. Her work, “Amyloid β Reduces Mechanical Sensation by Attenuating TRPV4,” focuses on the mechanisms that reduce mechanical sensation in aging patients, a cause of imbalances and other issues. Using cultured dorsal root ganglia cells, Dr. Fukazawa found that amyloid reduces mechanical sensation and that it works by reducing activity of the TRPV4 receptor. She hopes that this work may lead to novel therapies that reduce the burden of age-related diseases.
Maral Misserian, M.C.N., RD, LD, ACR, won in the completed/ongoing research abstract category performed by a student. Her abstract, “Adaptation of a Standardized Lifestyle Intervention to Maximize Health Outcomes in Adolescent Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Patients,” outlined developing video modules to support healthy behavior among adolescents undergoing metabolic bariatric surgery. For this study, she and her colleagues interviewed teens and their parents/guardians. They found that participants in the study most desired information on eating well, staying motivated, handling stress, and physical activity. This work led to the development of TeenLYFT, a program that draws on social cognitive theory to help this group deal with internal and external factors – ranging from evaluation of self-esteem to exercise tracking and healthy food choices.