FDA, CDC, and NIH Co-sponsored Public Workshop Summary-Development Considerations of Antimicrobial Drugs for the Treatment of Gonorrhea.

There is an unmet need for developing drugs for the treatment of gonorrhea, due to rapidly evolving resistance of Neisseria gonorrhoeae against antimicrobial drugs used for empiric therapy, an increase in globally reported multidrug resistant cases, and the limited available therapeutic options. Furthermore, few drugs are under development. Development of antimicrobials is hampered by challenges in clinical trial design, limitations of available diagnostics, changes in and varying standards of care, lack of robust animal models, and clinically relevant pharmacodynamic targets.

Identifying disparities in brachytherapy delivery for locally advanced cervical cancer.

Introduction: The standard of care for locally advanced cervical cancer is concurrent chemotherapy and external beam radiation therapy (EBRT) followed by a brachytherapy boost. Some studies show a decreased usage of brachytherapy in cervical cancer patients despite the standard of care and known survival advantage. This study aims to characterize the utilization of brachytherapy in Oregon and identify where disparities in treatment may exist.

Evaluation of a panel of therapeutic antibody clinical candidates for efficacy against SARS-CoV-2 in Syrian hamsters.

The COVID-19 pandemic spurred the rapid development of a range of therapeutic antibody treatments. As part of the US government's COVID-19 therapeutic response, a research team was assembled to support assay and animal model development to assess activity for therapeutics candidates against SARS-CoV-2. Candidate treatments included monoclonal antibodies, antibody cocktails, and products derived from blood donated by convalescent patients.

CD169+ Monocyte and Regulatory T Cell Subsets Are Associated with Disease Activity in Rheumatoid Arthritis.

Disease activity in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is influenced by activation of circulating and synovial immune cells. Regulatory T cells (Tregs) and monocytes are key cells that drive inflammation in RA. This study investigated if a relationship exists between disease activity in RA and circulating Treg and monocyte numbers and phenotypes.