Sean Jordan

October 9, 2024

DFUCare: deep learning platform for diabetic foot ulcer detection, analysis, and monitoring

INTRODUCTION: Diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs) are a severe complication among diabetic patients, often leading to amputation or even death. Early detection of infection and ischemia is essential for improving healing outcomes, but current diagnostic methods are invasive, time-consuming, and costly. There is a need for non-invasive, efficient, and affordable solutions in diabetic foot care.

September 25, 2024

MERTK inhibition selectively activates a DC – T-cell axis to provide anti-leukemia immunity

TAM-family tyrosine kinases (TYRO3, AXL and MERTK) are potential cancer therapeutic targets. In previous studies MERTK inhibition in the immune microenvironment was therapeutically effective in a B-cell acute leukemia (B-ALL) model. Here, we probed anti-leukemia immune mechanisms and evaluated roles for TYRO3 and AXL in the leukemia microenvironment. Host Mertk knock-out or MERTK inhibitor MRX-2843 increased CD8α^(+) dendritic cells (DCs) with enhanced antigen-presentation capacity in the...

August 23, 2024

Less-deformable erythrocyte subpopulations biomechanically induce endothelial inflammation in sickle cell disease

Sickle cell disease (SCD) is canonically characterized by reduced red blood cell (RBC) deformability, leading to microvascular obstruction and inflammation. Although the biophysical properties of sickle RBCs are known to influence SCD vasculopathy, the contribution of poor RBC deformability to endothelial dysfunction has yet to be fully explored. Leveraging interrelated in vitro and in silico approaches, we introduce a new paradigm of SCD vasculopathy in which poorly deformable sickle RBCs...

August 14, 2024

Diabetic Foot Ulcer Publication Alert!

We’re excited to announce the publication of our article, “Single-cell Analysis of Debrided Diabetic Foot Ulcers Reveals Dysregulated Wound Healing Environment in non-Hispanic Blacks ” in the prestigious Journal of Investigative Dermatology. The study demonstrated that debridement samples of healing diabetic Foot Ulcers (DFUs) were significantly enriched with distinct fibroblasts expressing genes related to inflammation (CHI3L1, IL6) and extracellular matrix remodeling (ASPN), validating our previous studies on surgically resected ulcers. Further, race-focused analysis depicted lower expression of key healing-associated genes […]