Podcasts & Publications
CURE-KY Podcast and Publication Spotlights
This page features a curated collection of podcast episodes and research publications relevant to infectious disease, public health, and translational science, with a particular emphasis on work connected to the CURE-KY community.
Each month, we highlight a featured podcast or publication selected by CURE-KY leadership for its relevance, insight, or impact. In addition to these monthly spotlights, we regularly share other notable content—including external podcast episodes and recent peer-reviewed publications authored by CURE-KY members. All featured publications include at least one CURE-affiliated author and are accompanied by an AI-generated audio summary to help make the research more accessible to broader audiences.
Whether you're catching up on timely studies or tuning into expert conversations, we invite you to explore the content below—and if you know of a podcast or paper that aligns with our mission or includes a member of the CURE-KY network, please share it with us.
CURE-KY May Spotlight
PMID: 40391958
Journal: ASM - Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy
Title: Optimizing cefazolin dosing for central nervous system infections: insights from population pharmacokinetics and Monte Carlo simulations.
Authors: Pitcock C, Burgess DS, Olney KB
Funding: N/A
Impact on KY: Findings can help improve antibiotic stewardship and patient outcomes in Kentucky, where rates of serious staph infections and antibiotic use remain high.
Published online: May 20th, 2025
PMID: 40422074
Journal: ASM - Journal of Virology
Title: Screening bacterial effectors and human virus proteins in yeast to identify host factors driving tombusvirus RNA recombination: a role for autophagy and membrane phospholipid content.
Authors: Pogany J, Inaba J-i, Liu Y, Nagy PD
Funding: National Science Foundation (IOS-1922895) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (2020-70410-32901, KY012042)
Impact on KY: This study provides tools to identify bacterial effectors that can improve pathogen detection and disease prevention in Kentucky’s agriculture and biosafety sectors.
Published online: May 27th, 2025
CURE-KY April Spotlight
PMID: 40173371
Journal: JMIR Form Res
Title: The Impact of a Human Papillomavirus Facebook-Based Intervention (#HPVVaxTalks) Among Young Black (African American and Sub-Saharan African Immigrants) Adults: Pilot Pre- and Poststudy.
Authors: Adegboyega A,Wiggins A,Wuni A,Ickes M
Funding: American Cancer Society Institutional Grant (#IRG 19-140-31-IRG)
Impact on KY: Use of social media to improve vaccine and infection information as a strategy to improve vaccine uptake and provides a platform for continued expansion of this study to larger groups throughout KY.
Published online: February 4th, 2025
PMID: 40187345
Journal: Cell
Title: Molecular basis for shifted receptor recognition by an encephalitic arbovirus
Authors: Fan X,Li W,Oros J,Plante JA,Mitchell BM,Plung JS,Basu H,Nagappan-Chettiar S,Boeckers JM,Tjang LV,Mann CJ,Brusic V,Buck TK,Varnum H,Yang P,Malcolm LM,Choi SY,de Souza WM,Chiu IM,Umemori H,Weaver SC,Plante KS,Abraham J
Funding: (deSouza): Wellcome Trust grant 226075/Z/22/Z
Impact on KY: After a recent outbreak of Western equine encephalitis virus (WEEV) in humans and horses in South America, this team studied ancestral strains of WEEV to elucidate structure and function with cell receptors that explain the dynamics of viral evolution and have implications in outbreak preparedness.
Published online: May 29, 2025
Previous Spotlights
PMID: 40131773
Journal: Nucleic Acids Res
Title: Structure and cooperative formation of a FLI1 filament on contiguous GGAA DNA sites.
Authors: Hou C,Tsodikov OV
Funding: NIH R01CA243529
Impact on KY: Improves our understanding of the DNA interactions that drive oncogenesis in Ewing’s sarcoma.
Published online: March 25, 2025
PMID: 40138989
Journal: Vet Microbiol
Title: Retrospective investigation of 43 necropsy cases of Tyzzer disease in foals and partial genome sequence of Clostridium piliforme by shotgun metagenomics.
Authors: Uprety T, Swan M, Kennedy L, Bryant U, Cassone L, Loynachan A, Janes J, Evely MM, Calvaruso FC, Quick M, Morgan J, Abdelrazek S, Lahmers K, Carter C, Erol E
Funding: UK Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory
Impact on KY: First partial genome sequence of rare bacterial infection that causes Tyzzer disease, a predominantly fatal disease in foals.
Published online: March 22, 2025
PMID: 39938315
Title: Protective efficacy of a bivalent equine influenza H3N8 virus-like particle vaccine in horses
Authors: O’Kennedy MM, et al….(Chambers TM)
Journal: Vaccine
Funding: Kentucky Agricultural Experiment Station; the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation; the Lucille P. Markey Charitable Trust
Impact on KY: The research provides a scalable and rapid plant produced virus like particles to generate safe and effective vaccines for equine influenza virus, which exhibit outbreaks worldwide. While not fatal, results in respiratory disease that requires months for treatment and recovery resulting in significant impact on the KY economy.
Published online: February 11, 2025
PMID: 39843487
Title: Structure and mechanism of biosynthesis of Streptococcus mutans cell wall polysaccharide.
Authors: Rush JS, et. al….(Korotkova N)
Journal: Nature Communications
Funding: Veterans Affairs (IK6 BX006469/BX/BLRD VA/United States)
Impact on KY: Advances our understanding of cell wall biosynthesis and organization in S mutans, the primary pathogen responsible for dental cavities. These studies provide new potential targets to inhibit streptococcal driven tooth decay.
Published online: January 22, 2025
PMID: 39749891
Title: Bringing Pandemic Science to the Classroom: Building Public Health Capacity at a Rural Kentucky High School
Authors: Sahar Alameh, PhD; Anna G. Hoover, PhD; James W. Keck, MD, MPH; Scott M. Berry, PhD, MBA; Sagan Goodpaster, PhD; Savannah Tucker, MPH; and Ashley Goodin, MA
Published online: January 3, 2025