I-Corps: A Multi-system Platform for Addressing Women's Health Outcomes

I-Corps：解决女性健康问题的多系统平台

• 批准号: 2114843
• 负责人: Charleson Bell
• 金额: $ 5万
• 依托单位: Vanderbilt University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2021-03-01 至 2022-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2114843&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Corps; Multi; system; Platform; Addressing

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is the development of a software platform that may advance women's health research and the knowledge base of the causes of vaginal dysbiosis (VD), or an imbalance of the vaginal microbiome. Globally, the rates of VD are highest in North America (27%), Sub-Saharan Africa (25%), and Latin America (24%). Upwards of 32% of HIV infections are attributed to VD. To date, there is no evidence to explain fully the cause of VD-associated conditions; However, there is an urgent need to further understand these processes and identify biomarkers for early detection of vaginal dysbiosis. In addition, given the prevalence of VD globally, addressing VD issues and targeting prevention may decrease the burden of VD-associated conditions and decrease global costs of VD and VD-associated conditions. Currently, 3.24 million women have never consulted an obstetrics and gynecology (OB/GYN) professional, and existing vaginal health solutions are inaccessible, lack gender inclusivity, and do not fully address issues of child-bearing individuals with specific vaginal health needs. Also, self-diagnosis may result in lack of treatment of the condition, leading to additional medical burdens and financial costs.This I-Corps project is based on the development of a software platform that aims to engage, educate, and empower individuals of all ethnicities and genders to research and advocate for vaginal health. This multi-system approach incorporates three aspects: 1) an accurate, comprehensive vaginal health risk assessment algorithm, 2) an interactive educational platform, and 3) an at home self-sample collection kit. The proposed algorithm utilizes data inputs from analytical methods like next-generation sequencing (whole exome sequencing and 16S rRNA gene sequencing), matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) time-of-flight mass spectrometry (TOF-MS), and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy to assess an individual’s risk for VD and VD-associated conditions. The goal is to identify novel biomarkers including differentially expressed immune genes, host-defense metabolites, and bacterial proteins in vaginal swab samples using publicly available datasets, literature searches, and microbiological and immunological expertise in addition to detecting known biomarkers.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

这个I-Corps项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是开发一个软件平台，可以促进妇女的健康研究和阴道生态失调（VD）或阴道微生物组不平衡的原因的知识基础。在全球范围内，VD的发病率在北美（27%），撒哈拉以南非洲（25%）和拉丁美洲（24%）最高。超过32%的艾滋病毒感染归因于VD。到目前为止，还没有证据充分解释VD相关疾病的原因;然而，迫切需要进一步了解这些过程并确定用于早期检测阴道微生态失调的生物标志物。此外，鉴于VD在全球的患病率，解决VD问题和有针对性的预防可能会减少VD相关疾病的负担，并降低VD和VD相关疾病的全球成本。目前，有324万妇女从未咨询过妇产科（OB/GYN）专业人员，现有的阴道健康解决方案无法获得，缺乏性别包容性，并且没有充分解决具有特定阴道健康需求的生育个体的问题。此外，自我诊断可能导致缺乏治疗的条件，导致额外的医疗负担和财务成本。这个I-Corps项目是基于一个软件平台的开发，旨在参与，教育，并授权所有种族和性别的个人研究和倡导阴道健康。这种多系统方法包括三个方面：1）准确，全面的阴道健康风险评估算法，2）交互式教育平台，以及3）在家自我样本收集套件。该算法利用来自下一代测序（全外显子组测序和16 S rRNA基因测序）、基质辅助激光解吸/电离（MALDI）飞行时间质谱（TOF-MS）和核磁共振（NMR）光谱等分析方法的数据输入来评估个体VD和VD相关疾病的风险。目标是使用公开可用的数据集，文献检索，该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为值得通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查进行评估来支持的搜索.