6 research outputs found

    296 Investing in Community-Led Research Capacity Building: New Seed Grant Type

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    OBJECTIVES/GOALS: We will describe the community-driven development and impact of the new Community Research Capacity-Building grants from the Alliance for Research in Chicagoland Communities, Northwestern University. Communities expressed that to enter equitably into partnerships with academics they need support to build their own community research capacity. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: ARCC Seed Grants, since 2008, included Partnership Development and Research Pilots, which are both jointly submitted by a community-academic partnership. The new Community Grants are submitted only by community partners and don’t require an academic partner. These grants, $3,000 over 6 months, support the development or strengthening of organizational or community-level research capacity. This may include assessing community capacity to lead and/or collaborate on research; building research capacity of community organizations (staff, leadership, residents), developing community infrastructure (e.g. research principles; staff research responsibilities; process for assessing/ tracking researcher inquiries; template memorandum of understanding) or community research priorities, etc. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: Eight ARCC Community Research Capacity-Building Seed Grants have been awarded so far as a part of three cycles of applications over 2022-23 (2 in 2022, 6 in 2023). During this time period, data has been collected during the application process, in final reports, and in informal group and individual discussions. Information about the profile of grantees (community representation, health focus, etc.), the initial impact of grants, and feedback from grantees about the positive and challenging aspects of the grants will be shared. Grantees have informally shared that the awards have helped to address concerns that many low-income communities of color have their voices are not adequately included in research and other decision-making. The poster will be co-presented by a community grant recipient. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE: To ensure that research partnerships are community-driven & equitable, it is necessary to invest in community research capacity-building. More evaluation is needed to understand the grants impact, as well as other approaches to community research capacity and leadership development. Poster will be co-presented by a community grant recipient

    Optical Imaging of Cellular Immunotherapy against Prostate Cancer

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    The purpose of this study was to track fluorophore-labeled, tumor-targeted natural killer (NK) cells to human prostate cancer xenografts with optical imaging (OI). NK-92-scFv(MOC31)-zeta cells targeted to the epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM) antigen on prostate cancer cells and nontargeted NK-92 parental cells were labeled with the near-infrared dye DiD (1,1-dioctadecyl-3,3,3,3-tetramethylindodicarbocyanine). The fluorescence, viability, and cytotoxicity of the labeled cells were evaluated. Subsequently, 12 athymic rats with prostate cancer xenografts underwent OI scans before and up to 24 hours postinjection of DiD-labeled parental NK-92 cells or NK-92-scFv(MOC31)-zeta cells. The tumor fluorescence intensity was measured and compared between pre- and postinjection scans and between both groups using t -tests. OI data were confirmed with fluorescence microscopy. In vitro studies demonstrated a significant increase in the fluorescence of labeled cells compared with unlabeled controls, which persisted over a period of 24 hours without any significant change in the viability. In vivo studies demonstrated a significant increase in tumor fluorescence at 24 hours postinjection of tumor-targeted NK-92-scFv(MOC31)-zeta cells but not parental NK cells. Ex vivo OI scans and fluorescence microscopy confirmed a specific accumulation of NK-92-scFv(MOC31)-zeta cells but not parental NK cells in the tumors. Tumor-targeted NK-92-scFv(MOC31)-zeta cells could be tracked to prostate cancer xenografts with OI
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