We have good news to share!
Wang-Xia Wang, PhD, was recently honored as a UK Innovator Honoree at Patent Palooza 2025 for her patent “Clinical assessment of cerebral vasospasm risk following aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage”. Per the article, “The patent describes a microRNA biomarker panel and method designed to assess a patient’s risk of developing cerebral vasospasm — a serious complication following aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage. By enabling earlier identification of high-risk individuals, this innovation has the potential to guide clinical decision-making and improve patient outcomes.” You can read the full article here: https://medicine.uky.edu/sites/research/news/dr-wang-xia-wang-recognized-uk-innovator-honoree-2025-10-10t14-55-06 Excellent work Dr. Wang!
Derek Allison, MD, was co-author on two recent publications in collaboration with other UK faculty from the Markey Cancer Center and Departments of Urology, Toxicology and Cancer Biology, and Pharmacology and Nutritional Sciences. Details are below. Great work Dr. Allison!
- “Case report series: Pembrolizumab and enfortumab vedotin in plasmacytoid urothelial carcinoma.” in the journal Frontiers in Oncology. Link to article: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12451449/
- “PLK1-mediated PDHA1 phosphorylation drives metabolic reprogramming in lung cancer” in the journal Oncogene. Link to article: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12503065/
Thèrése Bocklage, MD, was senior author on two recent publications in collaboration with faculty and staff from our department, Markey Cancer Center and multiple other institutions. Details are below. Congratulations to all!
- “Oncocytic Thyroid Tumours With Pathogenic FLCN Mutations Mimic Oncocytic Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma on Fine-Needle Aspiration” in the journal Cytopathology, in collaboration with Adeel Ashraf, MD, (first author), Faisal Hassan, MD, Julie Dueber, MD, and Derek Allison, MD. Link to article: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/cyt.70019
- “Colon Cancer in Appalachian Kentucky: Unique Genetic, Microbiome and Obesity Findings in a Cohort Comparison” in the journal Human Genetics and Genomics Advances. This was a multi-institutional collaboration and included our own Dana Napier. Link to article: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666247725001307?via%3Dihub
Ibrahim Choucair, PhD, was first author on a recent publication in the Journal of Neuropathology and Experimental Neurology titled “Storage-dependent variability in Alzheimer disease-related plasma biomarker results using the Fujirebio Lumipulse G1200 platform”. Dr. Peter Nelson was the senior author and they collaborated with faculty from the Sanders-Brown Center on Aging and the Departments of Neuroscience, Neurology and Epidemiology and Environmental Health as well as Indiana University. Link to article: https://academic.oup.com/jnen/advance-article/doi/10.1093/jnen/nlaf115/8280195?login=false Excellent work to you both!
Jeongeun Do, MD, is first author on a recently accepted paper for the American Journal of Dermatopathology titled “Fatal Melanoma with MAP4::RAF1 Fusion: Expanding the Clinicopathologic and Prognostic Spectrum of RAF1-Fused Melanomas”. This paper is a collaboration with faculty from MD Anderson Cancer Center. Congratulations Dr. Do!
Ahmad Faraz, MD, has had an abstract accepted for the American Society of Dermatopathology Annual Meeting in Baltimore, MD November 6-9. The abstract is titled “Clinical Utility of i31-GEP in Melanoma Sentinel Node Prediction: A 3-Year Single-Center Study" and is a collaboration with Dr. Derek Allison and faculty from Loyola University. Congratulations Drs. Faraz and Allison!
Dr. Faisal Hassan is first author, in collaboration with Drs. Ibrahim Choucair (senior author) and Hind Malaeb on a recently accepted publication in the journal Clinical Chemistry titled “Metabolic Signatures of Ultra-Processed Food Intake: Toward Objective Dietary Biomarkers.” Great work everyone!
Robert Maynard, PhD, is sole author and co-author on two recent publications. Details are below, Congratulations Dr. Maynard!
- “Multi-institution comparison of whole blood potassium hemolysis rates” in the journal Clinical Biochemistry in collaboration with faculty from Washington University, West Virginia University and The Ohio State University. Link to article: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0009912025000840?via%3Dihub
- “A Defining Moment: A Consensus on the Diagnostic Criteria for Clinical Obesity” in the journal Clinical Chemistry. Link to article: https://academic.oup.com/clinchem/article-abstract/71/9/1009/8246381?redirectedFrom=fulltext&login=false
Peter Nelson, MD, PhD, has been especially prolific in the past two months. In addition to his senior author publication with Dr. Choucair above, he has co-authored five other publications in the past two months. Details are below. Excellent work Dr. Nelson!
- “Differences and overlaps in TDP-43 pathology of 'pure' LATE-NC compared to LATE-NC coexisting with Alzheimer's disease” in the journal Acta Neuropathologica. Link to PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40952471/
- “Disrupted Calcium Dynamics in Reactive Astrocytes Occur with End Feet-Arteriole Decoupling in an Amyloid Mouse Model of Alzheimer's Disease” in the Journal of Neuroscience. Link to article: https://www.jneurosci.org/content/45/40/e0349252025
- “Novel differentially expressed genes and multiple biological pathways for Alzheimer's disease identified in brain tissue from African American donors” in the journal Alzheimer’s and Dementia. Link to article: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12505200/
- “Circular RNAs from the MAPT and TARDBP genes: Novel players in neurodegeneration?” in the journal Neurochemistry International. Link to article: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0197018625000920?via%3Dihub
- “Celebrating neuropathology's contributions to Alzheimer's Disease Research Centers” in the journal Alzheimer’s and Dementia. Link to article: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12519528/
Justin Rueckert, DO, is co-author on a recent case report in the journal Cureus titled “Concurrent Radiation With Nivolumab and Chemotherapy for Nodal-Only Distant Metastatic Stage IV Esophageal Carcinoma”. This report is a collaboration with faculty from the Departments of Radiation Medicine and CT Surgery. Link to report: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12422167/ Congratulations Dr. Rueckert!
Nathan Shelman, MD, is the newly minted Program Director of our recently approved GI Pathology Fellowship! Dr. Shelman and fellowship program coordinator Hayley Hereford worked tirelessly for several months putting together the program documentation required for approval by ACGME. The program is open for applications and we hope to fill for the 2026-27 academic year. Excellent work Dr. Shelman and Hayley!
Aaron Shmookler, MD, is first author and senior author on two recently published articles. Details are below. Congratulations Dr. Shmookler!
- “Is it anti-D or anti-LW? A brief synopsis of the biology of the LW blood group and the importance and differential laboratory methods to discriminate these specificities” in the journal Laboratory Medicine, a collaboration with Drs. Wael Ibrahim (first author), Dennis Williams and Daoping Zhang. Link to article: https://academic.oup.com/labmed/article-abstract/56/5/582/8145637?redirectedFrom=fulltext&login=false
- “A Leg to Stand On: Niche Application of Ultra-Massive Transfusion in Saving Patients With Extremity Vascular Injury” in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons in collaboration with Dr. Andrew Bernard. Link to article: https://journals.lww.com/journalacs/citation/9900/a_leg_to_stand_on__niche_application_of.1406.aspx