Tulane is investing $5.7 million to significantly expand the Tulane University Translational Science Institute (TUTSI) into a universitywide center focused on finding better ways to diagnose, treat and prevent disease and translate scientific discoveries into medical practices that improve patient care and public health.

Suzana Savkovic, associate professor of pathology and laboratory medicine at the School of Medicine, and a team of researchers are investigating the relationship between obesity and enhanced risk for colon cancer. One of the emerging possibilities with regard to colon cancer is that excess lipids accumulate in both the fat-storing and non-fat-storing tissues of obese individuals. The lipids are stored and are seen at higher volumes in colonic tumors relative to normal tissues. Savkovic and her team were awarded a five-year, $1.6 million National Cancer Institute grant for this work.

Researchers at the School of Medicine have developed a highly sensitive blood test that can find traces of the bacteria that causes tuberculosis (TB) in infants a year before they develop the deadly disease. Using only a small blood sample, the test detects a protein secreted by Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which causes TB infection. The test can screen for all forms of TB and rapidly evaluate a patient’s response to treatment, said lead study author Tony Hu, Weatherhead Presidential Chair in Biotechnology Innovation.

A joint study conducted by the School of Medicine and the School of Social Work examined the effectiveness of remote therapy during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. The researchers found that remote therapy improved engagement, mitigated symptoms and reduced repeated hospitalizations.

Researchers at the Tulane National Primate Research Center found that a vaccine currently being developed induces a robust and long-lasting immune response against SARS-CoV-2 in nonhuman primates, similar to the protection provided by the Moderna vaccine. The study evaluated five different adjuvants, or ingredients added to vaccines, to determine which provides the most protection from the virus in nonhuman primates.

Researchers at Tulane and the University of Michigan examined the water-use impacts of individual diets in the United States, while considering regional variations in water scarcity. They found meat consumption is the top contributor to the water scarcity footprint of the average U.S. diet, accounting for 31% of the impacts. The study combines the types and quantities of foods in the diets of individuals, the irrigation water required to produce those foods, and the relative scarcity of water where the irrigation occurs.

Tulane researchers developed a 15-minute saliva-based COVID-19 test that is read by a smartphone. The assay platform developed by Tony Hu, Weatherhead Presidential Chair in Biotechnology Innovation at the School of Medicine, and associates can detect very small amounts of SARS-CoV-2 virus RNA in saliva by leveraging CRISPR, the revolutionary gene editing technology.

A study led by Monica Vaccari, associate professor of microbiology and immunology at Tulane National Primate Research Center, suggests that in the early weeks of post-infection of COVID-19, the stronger the initial host immune response, the worse the disease outcome. While the body mounts a pro-inflammatory “innate” immune response as a first line of defense to protect against the spread of infection and heal damaged tissue, it is a dysregulated or over-reactive immune response that can cause severe damage, Vaccari’s study explains.

According to a new study by the National Center for Research on Education Access and Choice at Tulane, reopening K-12 schools in the U.S. did not result in an increase in hospitalizations due to COVID-19. Co-authors Douglas Harris, chair of the Department of Economics, and Engy Ziedan, assistant professor of economics, found no evidence that reopening schools in-person or in a hybrid form increased COVID-19 hospitalizations in the 75 percent of counties that had low hospitalization rates during the summer prior to reopening schools.