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UMMC Masonic Children's Hospital, Pediatric Grand Rounds, April 21, 2021

Dr. Erin Osterholm was the speaker at the UMMC Masonic Children's Hospital Department of Pediatrics "Grand Rounds" on April 21, 2021! Her talk, Advances in Cytomegalovirus Infection in the Newborn; Screening, Infection in At-risk Populations, and Long-term Outcomes, was extremely well-received! In her lecture she updated the status and clinical outcomes of infants with congenital CMV identified in our Minnesota Universal Screening Study (doi: 10.1001/jamapediatrics.2020.5441). Great job, Dr. Osterholm!

 

CMV "SPRINGing into Action" Event, March 20, 2021

The Biodiscovery District (BDD) was the site for a CMV "SPRINGing into action" event on Saturday, March 20 - the first day of spring! The event was to have a spring "planting" of pinwheels in the BDD in support of SF1698, the "Vivian Act". This bill would enhance efforts in Minnesota toward increasing knowledge and awareness of congenital CMV, the most common infectious disease in the United States that causes disabilities in newborns. The details of the bill can be viewed here. Thank you to CMV parent advocates Leah Henrikson, Steph Steidl, Abby Stahowiak and Jora Bart for their tireless efforts in organizing this event and to Senator Karin Housley for Minnesota Senate sponsorship of the legislation and to Representative Dan Wolgamott for his sponsorship in the House of Representatives and for his stirring speech at the event!

Media coverage of the event can be viewed here.

Thank you to all in the Minnesota Pediatric, Otolaryngology and Ophthalmology communities who have supported this legislation!

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Stephanie Steidl speaks at CMVSPRINGing into Action Event

 

Representative Dan Wolgamott speaking at the CMV SPRINGing into Action Event

Representative Dan Wolgamott speaking at the CMV SPRINGing into Action Event

 

Leah Henrikson speaks at CMV SPRINGing into Action Event

Leah Henrikson speaks at CMV SPRINGing into Action Event

 

Congratulations to Rebecca Kruc for Platform Presentation at St. Jude's/Pediatric Infectious Diseases Symposium, March 4, 2021

Rebecca Kruc, UMN Medical Student, presented her work on viral load analyses in Minnesota newborns screened for congenital CMV infection during a competitive platform poster oral session at the St. Judes/Pediatric Infectious Diseases symposium on March 4. The title of Rebecca's talk was "Does Cytomegalovirus Viral Load Correlate with Disease Severity in the Setting of Congenital CMV Infection? Results from a Universal cCMV Screening Study". Rebecca previously received a competitive educational grant from the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society for the 2020 PIDS Symposium.

 

Congratulations to Katelyn Parsons for Platform Presentation at St. Jude's/Pediatric Infectious Diseases Symposium, March 4, 2021

Katelyn Parsons, UMN Medical Student, presented her work on CMV infections in extremely low birth-weight (ELBW) premature infants during a competitive platform poster oral session at the St. Judes/Pediatric Infectious Diseases symposium on March 4. The title of Katelyn's talk was "Investigating CMV Pathogenesis and Breast Milk Transmission in Premature Infants Who Acquire CMV Viremia". Katelyn was the recipient of a competitive 2020 University of Minnesota Foundation Medical Student Research Grant.

 

Dr. Schleiss Invited Speaker for American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) on March 3, 2021 for EHDI (Early Hearing Detection and Intervention) Working Group

Dr. Schleiss was an invited speaker for a workshop sponsored by the AAP's EHDI Working Group. This group includes EHDI champions and representatives from state EHDI workgroups across the USA. The title of his talk was: Improvements in the Analytic Sensitivity of Dried Blood Spot (DBS) PCR for the Diagnosis of Congenital Cytomegalovirus (cCMV)Infection: Results from a Minnesota Universal Screening Study.

 

Press Release for New Publication in JAMA: Pediatrics

Data from the UMN Medical School Department of Pediatrics regarding newborn screening for congenital CMV has just been published, with an accompanying editorial, in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA): Pediatrics edition. This study, as a part of an ongoing collaboration with the Minnesota Department of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, showed that, with improved techniques, the dried blood spot taken at birth in newborn infants in Minnesota can, in fact, find CMV infection in the newborn with almost 90% accuracy. This finding is important because early life identification of congenital CMV is the key to provide anticipatory care and services which, in turn, can improve the audiologic and neurodevelopmental outcome for infants.

The story has been posted both by the UMN Medical School Office of Public Relations and by the AAAS/EurekaAlert! web service. The title of the paper is: Sensitivity of Dried Blood Spot Testing for Detection of Congenital Cytomegalovirus Infection, and the paper was released for publication on February 1, 2021. JAMA: Pediatrics has the highest impact factor of any pediatric journal. An accompanying editorial for the paper was provided by Dr. Gail Demmler-Harrison, Baylor College of Medicine. Work on continued optimization of newborn screening for congenital CMV in Minnesota continues to move forward!

 

Congratulations to Dr. Malinda Schaefer for New Publication in International Journal of Women's Health!

Dr. Malinda Schaefer just published her manuscript, "Development and Assessment of a Prenatal Cytomegalovirus (CMV) Educational Survey: Implementation and Impact in a Metropolitan University-Based Clinic" in the International Journal of Women's Health! The paper can be accessed here. This work, performed during her residency training in the Department of OB/GYN at the University of Minnesota under the mentorship of Dr. Jessica Nyholm, describes her work in increasing knowledge and awareness of congenital CMV. Dr. Schaefer is currently a Fellow in Maternal-Fetal medicine at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine

 

Dr. Schleiss Virtual Platform Presentation at World Vaccine and Immunotherapy International Congress

Dr. Schleiss was an Invited Platform Plenary Speaker at the World Vaccine and Immunotherapy International Congress on December 3. His talk was a part of a live panel plenary session, "Ethical and Clinical Challenges Associated with Maternal Immunization Studies". This session was devoted to the topic of maternal immunization. Dr. Schleiss spoke about the need for a vaccine against congenital CMV and presented an update on the current status of preclinical research and clinical trials for maternal immunization.

 

Dr. Emma Mohr Delivers 2020 McNew Memorial Lecture

Dr. Emma Mohr delivered the annual Jamie McNew Memorial Lecture on November 18, 2020. Her talk, "Improving Outcomes in Congenital Zika Virus Infections", was presented as a special seminar at the Institute for Molecular Virology seminar series. This lecture series is made possible through a generous endowment by the McNew family of Orange County, California. The research program of the Mohr lab can be found here. Thank you Dr. Mohr for delivering this lecture!

 

Dr. Mark R. Schleiss was an invited speaker at the 2020 Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL) Annual Newborn Screening Symposium

Dr. Mark R. Schleiss was an invited speaker at the 2020 Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL) Annual Newborn Screening Symposium on November 2, 2020. His talk, "Improvements in the Analytic Sensitivity of Dried Blood Spot (DBS) PCR for the Diagnosis of Congenital Cytomegalovirus (cCMV) Infection: Results from a Minnesota Universal Screening Study", was presented during the "Congenital Cytomegalovirus" Plenary session. Details about the APHL Symposium can be found here.

 

Lulua Webo Presents Data at Midwestern Society for Pediatric Research (MSPR) Virtual Meeting in Poster Panel Session

Lulua Webo presented a paper at the Midwestern Society for Pediatric Research Meeting on October 9, 2020 and was a poster session panelist. The paper, Acquisition of Symptomatic Cytomegalovirus (CMV) Infection in Breastmilk-Fed Very Low Birth Weight (VLBW) Infants is Independent of the Magnitude of Anti-CMV Antibody Titer in Infant Sera, was presented during the MSPR Poster Session III, Maternal Factors.

Details about the session can be viewed at this link

Lulua is a recipient of a UMN Department of Pediatrics “SUPER” award and a UMN CTSI Pathways to Research (PReP) award

 

Bierle Lab Presents Data at Midwestern Society for Pediatric Research (MSPR) Virtual Meeting in Platform Plenary Session

Our colleague Craig Bierle, PhD (Assistant Professor in the Department of Pediatrics), presented a paper at a highly competitive platform plenary session at the Midwestern Society for Pediatric Research Meeting on October 9, 2020! The paper, Distinct Placental Responses to Cytomegalovirus are Elicited by Maternal Infection Early Versus Late in Pregnancy, was presented during the MSPR Plenary V Session, Maternal Factors.

Details about the session can be viewed at this link

Congratulations Dr. Bierle for this honor!

 

Updates on Minnesota Universal Newborn Congenital CMV Screening Study: National Center for Hearing Assessment and Management (NCHAM), Utah State University

Emily Graupmann, University of Minnesota, and Whitney Wunderlich, Allina Health, presented a paper at the NCHAM Congenital CMV Research & Innovations Webinar Series on September 2nd! The paper, "Universal Congenital Cytomegalovirus Screening: Experiences of Newborn Saliva Collection from Five Minnesota Hospitals", summarizes experiences of consentors engaged in our universal congenital CMV screening study. 

The webinar recording can be viewed at this link.

Data from our UMN congenital CMV screening study is being obtained in collaboration with the CDC and the Minnesota Department of Health.

Well done, Emily and Whitney, for this highly competitive abstract submission!

 

Dr. Schleiss Presents Minnesota Data on Newborn Congenital CMV Screening: "Top Abstracts in Pediatric Infectious Diseases"!

Dr. Schleiss presented Minnesota's newborn congenital CMV screening project data at the "Virtual Pediatric Academic Societies" Annual Meeting on August 6. The link to the abstract is here

Data from our UMN congenital CMV screening study is being obtained in collaboration with the CDC and the Minnesota Department of Health.

Thank you to the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society and the PAS Program Committee for selecting this abstract for presentation in the same session with six other terrific infectious diseases studies from several outstanding children's hospitals throughout the United States and Canada!

 

Congratulation to Dr. Bierle on New Publication

One of our investigators, Dr. Craig Bierle, has a new publication in Virology! The link to the manuscript is here.

Dr. Bierle examined the impact of CMV infection on the cells making up the placental and amniotic membranes in a model system and found a major impact on gene responses that mediate inflammation. As inflammation is known to cause fetal membrane weakening, this response to cytomegalovirus infection may contribute to preterm birth and other adverse pregnancy outcomes.

Congratulations, Dr. Bierle!

 

Lulua Webo Receives CTSI PReP Award

Lulua Webo, a University of Minnesota undergraduate student in the College of Biological Sciences in the Neuroscience Program has been awarded a CTSI “Pathways to Research” (PReP) Award.

Ms. Webo will use this award to hone knowledge, skills, and experience in translational science and health equity research through a structured core curriculum including a mentored research project, weekly training seminars, small group discussions, and a final poster to present research findings at the annual University of Minnesota CTSI Poster Session and Reception held in fall 2020. She will be studying parameters associated with transmission of CMV to very-low-birthweight premature infants in the Newborn Intensive Care Unit at Masonic Children’s Hospital.

Congratulations to Lulua for her receipt of this competitive award!

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Dr. Schleiss reviews data with Claudia Fernandez-Alarcorn, Research Scientist, and Lulua Webo, CTSI PReP Award Recipient (circa 2019).

 

CMV Research Presentations at Annual “Pediatric Research, Education and Scholarship Symposium” (PRESS)

This year PRESS 2020 was held on a virtual platform on Friday, April 24th, 2020.

Several presentations were focused on trainee research ongoing in the Bierle and Schleiss laboratories:

  • Jennifer Geris: High Prevalence of Asymptomatic CMV Shedding in Healthy Children Attending the Minnesota State Fair: A D2D Study
  • *Morgan Brisse: Development of a Tractable Small Animal Model for Virus-Induced Sensorineural Hearing Loss (SNHL)
  • Rebecca Kruc: Does Cytomegalovirus (CMV) Viral Load Correlate With Disease Severity in the Setting of Congenital CMV (cCMV) Infection? Results from a Universal cCMV Screening Study
  • Leigh Rohren: Congenital Cytomegalovirus: Newborn Hearing Screening Results and Long-Term Hearing Outcomes
  • Malinda Schaefer: Development and Assessment of Prenatal CMV Infection Education in a Diverse Metropolitan Area
  • Lulua Webo: Acquisition of Symptomatic Cytomegalovirus (CMV) Infection in Breastmilk-Fed Very Low Birth Weight (VLBW) Infants is Independent of the Magnitude of Anti-CMV Antibody Titer in Infant Sera
  • Taylor Wicklund: Implementation of a “Targeted Screening” Program to Identify Congenital CMV Infection in Infants Referred for Audiological Evaluation because of a Failed Newborn Hearing Screen (NHS)
  • Priya Vijay: Evaluating the Therapeutic Effects of DsiRNA on Human Cytomegalovirus

          * Platform presentation

Congratulations to all of these trainees for their outstanding research presentations focused on CMV research!

 

Minnesota Daily Story Addresses Critical Need for Increased Recognition of the Problem of Congenital CMV Infection

In an excellent story by Natalie Cierzan writing for the Minnesota Daily, the compelling need for a CMV vaccine and the importance of raising knowledge of the impact of congenital CMV on child health are both discussed. Comments on CMV epidemiology and CMV vaccines are featured, from Dr. Craig Bierle, Assistant Professor of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, and Dr. Joseph Neglia, Chair of the Department of Pediatrics, University of Minnesota Medical School.

 

KARE-11 Highlights Im

pact of Congenital CMV on Children and Families in Twin Cities

In a recent Health Alert segment on KARE-11, reporter Jennifer Austin shares a local family's story about the profound impact of congenital CMV infection. Congenital CMV is the most common infectious disease responsible for hearing loss and developmental disabilities in children. The Henrikson family of Saint Paul, MN has made major strides in advocacy for increasing knowledge and awareness of congenital CMV. This includes work with the Minnesota Legislature that has lead to an as-yet unpassed bill, the "Vivian Act", that would make education about CMV a public health priority.

 

UMN Researchers Raise Awareness of CMV

An exciting new study published by Katie Tastad, PhD Candidate in UMN School of Public Health. The study was conducted at the Minnesota State Fair in 2017 and was published in PLOS ONE on Monday, August 26, which is also University of Minnesota Health Women and Children’s Health Day at the Minnesota State Fair. You can read about the study at the UMN Medical School or by following this link.

 

CMV Legislation

In 2018, a bill in the Minnesota Legislature that would have increased knowledge and awareness of congenital CMV, the "Vivian Act" (SF2383), was sponsored by Representative Kelly Fenton and Senator Karin Housley and made it to Governor Dayton's desk! Unfortunately it was vetoed as part of the omnibus bill veto in 2018. Senator Housely re-introduced the bill in 2019.

You can find more information at:

 

If You Don't Pass, Screen

Dr. Schleiss and his CMV collaborators at the UMN and Minnesota Department of Health conducted a day-long meeting, titled "Cytomegalovirus (CMV) Biology and Infection Update" on June 15th, 2018. This conference was focused on increasing knowledge and awareness about the problem of congenital cytomegalovirus (cCMV) infection in Minnesota. See Lindsey Seavert's video from KARE11 describing the program here.

 

International Herpesvirus Workshop, 2019

Dr. Schleiss had the honor of presenting a keynote address at the International Herpesvirus Workshop (IHW) on July 24, 2019! The title of his keynote address was: Fifty Years is Long Enough - Strategies to Solve the Problem of Congenital Cytomegalovirus Transmission. The IHW is the pre-eminent global scientific meeting of Herpesvirologists where the latest, cutting-edge research on this family of viruses is presented. Details about the IHW can be found here.