This podcast series intends to share stories that illustrate our mission: Supporting the translation of research ideas into tangible results and expediting effective treatments to people who need them. OCTRI strives to be a leader in scientific innovation in Oregon, and beyond.

• Episode 1 introduces two of OCTRI’s executive leadership team, Dr. David Ellison, Director, and Dr. Cynthia Morris, Senior Associate Director. They explain what OCTRI is and which services we provide to clinical and translational investigators. Listen now.

• Episode 2 introduces Dr. Rebecca Spain, a neurologist at OHSU, who has utilized multiple OCTRI resources and services to advance her research on multiple sclerosis.  Listen now.

Rooted in Oregon is hosted by Madeline Cresswell, an OCTRI Navigator. Feel free to contact the Navigator team to learn more about OCTRI: octri@ohsu.edu.

Dr. Amala Soumyanath, a former OCTRI Scholar, will establish and lead a botanical research center to study the properties of herbs traditionally used in dietary supplements to improve sleep and mood, and delay cognitive decline in aging. The research will inform high-quality clinical trials by increasing knowledge about the active compounds and required doses, which will lead to safer and more effective supplements. Dr. Soumyanath utilizes OCTRI's Clinical and Translational Research Center, informatics, and regulatory services to support her work. Read more about Dr. Soumyanath and the botanical research center on OHSU News and the Portland Business Journal.

Background
Long‐chain fatty acid oxidation disorders (LC‐FAODs) are rare inherited disorders that prevent the body from converting fat into energy. Symptoms include muscle weakness and pain, fatigue, and sometimes muscle cells degrade or rupture. If untreated, these symptoms can lead to early death.

OCTRI Scholar and NIH career development awardee, Dr. Melanie Gillingham, heavily utilized CTRC research support services to investigate the role of dietary protein and medium-chain triglyceride supplements to treat LC-FAODs and established the methods used to study a novel treatment, Triheptanoin.  

Outcomes
Dr. Gillingham and her team, along with researchers at the University of Pittsburgh, conducted the largest investigator-initiated clinical trial in LC-FAODs and the only double-blind randomized trial in the field, to look at the effectiveness of Triheptanoin.

They found that heart-lung function improved in treated patients. Their published findings won the Garrod award for best 2018 manuscript from the Journal of Inherited Metabolic Disease. In 2019, study data were licensed in an award-winning deal brokered by OHSU Technology Transfer, the University of Pittsburgh, and Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical, thus combining the assets of academic medical centers and a biomedical company.

Ultragenyx used the dataset to support a New Drug Application, which received FDA approval in 2020 (read press release here). This drug could mean better disease management and fewer deaths among the 2500+ children and adults nationwide who suffer from these disorders.  

In 2021, Dr. Gillingham recently received a RareGenomics BeHEARD award from the Rare Genomics Institute. Read the interview about her work here.

Learn more about Dr. Gillingham on her OHSU Profile.

In 2020, OCTRI awarded Jessica Grant, an OHSU speech therapist, and David Sheridan, MD, an OCTRI Scholar and OHSU associate professor of emergency medicine, a Biomedical Innovation Program award for their device called the Koala Kushion. In fall 2021, the duo was interviewed for OHSU's Innovator Spotlight series. Read more about their progress in the OHSU Tech Transfer Sept 2021 newsletter or view Ms. Grant's 2021 OHSU Innovation Showcase presentation.

OCTRI Scholar Dr. David Sheridan and Dr. Matthew Hansen, both OHSU Emergency Medicine physicians, were awarded OCTRI Biomedical Innovation Program (BIP) funding and project support in 2018 to develop a new bedside technology for quickly detecting sepsis using an accurate and objective measure of capillary refill time (CRT). 

In the last 3 years, Drs. Sheridan and Hansen leveraged their work from the OCTRI BIP to obtain additional grant funding to refine a prototype for their technology, conducted a clinical trial, and co-founded a company called Promedix to continue developing the device. Initial findings, published in Frontiers in Medicine, highlight the device's significant advantages. Read more about their device.

Dr. David Sheridan and his team are developing a wearable device that assesses and reports the physiological measures associated with stress dysregulation and worsening suicidality. The goal is to help adolescents identify these symptoms and therefore allow time for interventions that can help prevent emergency department visits and suicide attempts. Read the Translational Science Benefits Model case study on this project.