 David Welsh, MD LSU Health New Orleans |
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Congratulations to LA CaTS Investigators, Dr. Robert Siggins, and LA CaTS Core Leader,
Dr. David Welsh, on receiving a NIAAA R01 award (multi-PI) to study geroprotective
precision medicine strategies in patients with HIV (PWH) that use alcohol. Dr. Christopher
Taylor at LSU Health New Orleans, is also a Co-PI.
Alcohol consumption in people with HIV increases clinical frailty and senescent T cells, which are characteristic of biological aging. The overall objective of this proposal is to identify personalized approaches to overcoming inconsistent responses to microbiota-targeted geroprotection and then validate the capacity of these precision medicine strategies to offset mechanisms of biological aging in PWH that consume alcohol. The approach will test two Generally Recognized As Safe(GRAS) treatments, a Lactobacillus reuteri probiotic and a blueberry-based antioxidant mix, and their interactions with well-characterized human hosts to inform machine learning (ML) enabled predictive algorithms and to identify mechanisms contributing to treatment-specific effects. The overarching hypothesis for this project is that an individual’s characteristics predict probiotic and blueberry supplement capacities to reduce senescent CD8+ T cells in PWH that use alcohol. The Specific Aims of the proposal are: Specific Aim 1: To derive and validate machine learning predictive algorithms that guide selection of probiotic and blueberry treatments to maximize the reduction of senescent CD8+ T cells in PWH that use alcohol. Specific Aim 2: To identify probiotic- and blueberry-specific effects on mechanisms contributing to senescent CD8+ T cell changes and aging biology characteristics in PWH that use alcohol. This project will provide [a] proof of concept of precision medicine geroprotective / senoprotective strategies, [b] mechanistic insights as to the impact of probiotic and antioxidant foods on aging mechanisms, and [c] a roadmap to optimize other treatments to maintain healthspan in aging PWH that use alcohol.
Dr. Welsh is a past pilot grant awardee, administrative supplement project lead, and currently is the director of the LA CaTS Clinical Research Resources Core at LSU Health New Orleans.
Dr. Siggins is also a past pilot grant awardee for his project titled "Alcohol Use in People Living with HIV: Impact on Mitochondrial DNA Damage and T-cell Immunosenescence".
Read about this project on NIH RePORTER here.