Developmental Psychobiology

Research Group
Fall Newsletter

September 2013

MESSAGE FROM THE DIRECTOR

Welcome to the fall DPRG seminar

IN THIS ISSUE:

series.

Message from Director

DPRG Seminar Schedule

Welcome to the new DPRG academic

Training Programs

year. We have an exciting line up of

Affiliated Seminars

Announcements

speakers for this coming fall seminar

series and will start the year with a
focus on the postdoctoral fellows research interests. We are currently

Upcoming Meetings of Interest 4

working on additional seminars after those and if any member has an

Papers/Posters Presented

interest in presenting, please contact myself or Susan Hepburn, our

Papers/Books Published

Recent Conferences Attended

Funding

event was extremely disruptive to the clinical operations at the Gary

Awards Received

pavilion and many of our members and their patients were affected. I made

Newsletter Update Form

incoming director. On an administrative note, last spring the Gary pavilion

experienced an outbreak of an extremely contagious gastrointestinal virus,
forcing us to cancel our seminars as the building had to be sanitized. This

the decision to cancel the seminars in consultation with the executive

committee as finding alternative space arrangements at a short notice

2013-2014 Small DPEF Grant

Application Schedule:

proved to be very challenging. As a general rule, although I do not anticipate

a recurrence of such an event in the future, please check the website as we

September 3

will send out announcements and update the website if unforeseen events

November 19

occur. I anticipate that this year we will have a full schedule of seminars and

January 21

look forward to seeing everyone for a new academic year.

April 1

Best
Christian Hopfer

DPRG SEMINAR SCHEDULE

Fall 2013
All seminars are on Tuesdays from 10:00-11:45 AM at The Children's Hospital, Gary Pavilion, in
the Denver Room. Prior to each seminar there is a "coffee hour" from 9:30 - 10:00 AM.

September 10
DPRG KickOff Speaker:
Christian Hopfer, M.D., Associate Professor, Dept. of Psychiatry, UCD
Rocky Mountain High: Research Challenges and Opportunities
Presented by Marijuana Legalization
September 24
Kat Belendiuk, PhD., Postdoctoral Fellow, UCD
Postdoctoral Trainees and their Interest
Korey Wylie , PhD., Postdoctoral Fellow, UCD
Networks and Regional Communication during Development
(DPRG Executive Committee meeting immediately following the
presentation)
October 8
DPRG Annual Business Meeting
October 22
Heather Caballes, PhD., Postdoctoral Fellow, UCD
Investigation of the Acute Effects of Early Life Seizures in Hippocampus: Precursor for an Autistic Phenotype?
Lindsey Weiler, PhD., Postdoctoral Fellow, UCD
Postdoctoral Trainees and their Interest
November 12
Laxmi Kondapalli, MD MSCE Assistant Professor, Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, UCD
TBD
November 26
Doug Novins, M.D., Professor, Dept of Psychiatry/School of Public Health, UCD
Dissemination and Implementation of Evidence-Based Practices Results from a Systematic Review and
form Native Substance Abuse Treatment Programs
December 10
TBD
(DPRG Executive Committee meeting immediately following the presentation)

TRAINING PROGRAMS
Undergraduate Students
The DPRG is the home of a new NIMH-supported summer undergraduate research training
program, Scholarly Trainees Acquiring Research Skills (STARS). This program brings 7 students
from rural community colleges to the medical school campus to participate in research programs
each summer. If you are interested in serving as a mentor, please contact Sharon Hunter,
sharon.hunter@ucdenver.edu, 303-724-6201
NIMH Postdoctoral Trainees
We welcome four new postdoctoral trainees to our NIMH T32 program since the last newsletter:
Kat Belendiuk, PhD, who will work with Paula Riggs, Heather Caballes, PhD, working with Tim
Benke, Lindsey Weiler, PhD, sponsored by Heather Taussig, and Korey Wylie, MD, who will work
with Jason Tregellas. We look forward to the seminar presentations of these trainees this fall.
Continuing postdocs are Lisa Wilson, PhD, sponsored by Don Rojas and Anita Quintana, PhD, who
is working with Tamim Shaikh and Bruce Appel. Fellows who have completed training since the
last newsletter include Anthony Cordaro (M. Wamboldt), Nick Hazel (B. Hankin), Jacob Hines (B.
Appel) and Hannah Snyder (B. Hankin).
Request to Advertise the NIMH Postdoctoral Research Training Program
Members of DPRG if you are giving a talk and want to inform the audience that we have training
programs available, there is a PowerPoint slide offered that you can include at the end of your
presentation. The slide is located on the ANNOUNCEMENTS tab of the DPRG website. If you have
further questions you can email Linda GrecoSanders.
We are accepting applications for 2014 positions in the Postdoc Training Program. The deadline is
December 1, 2013 and application information can be found on our web page,
www.dprgpostdoc.org.

AFFILIATED SEMINARS
Affect Seminar
September-May, 2nd & 4th Tuesdays of the month 1:00-2:30pm, Ben Nighthorse
Campbell Building, 2nd Floor North East Conference Room 241. BNC: Bob Emde
Perinatal Vulnerability to Psychosis Research Group
4th Tuesday of the month 8:15-9:45 (9:00-10:30 May August), Ben Nighthorse Campbell Building, Room
304: Randy Ross
Child Grand Rounds
Please visit the DPRG website for an updated schedule.
If you are interested in joining any of these groups, contact the leader. If there is an area not covered that you
think there would be interest in, please contact the DPRG office.

ANNOUNCEMENTS
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
Meetings scheduled for Tuesday, September 24th and December 10th immediately following the seminars.
OTHER NEWS
We are currently working on our Spring 2014 DPRG Seminar schedule. Please contact Dr. Hepburn if you are
interested in presenting.

UPCOMING MEETINGS OF INTEREST

Seventh Bi-Annual Pediatric Sleep Medicine Conference: Advances in Research, Patient Care, Policy, and
Education will be held at the Omni-Amelia Island Plantation Resort in Amelia Island, Florida on November 7-10,
2013. The event is sponsored by Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University. Updates can be found at:
http://brown.edu/academics/medical/education/other-programs/continuing-medical-education/
pedsleepmedconference
The 8th International Conference on Brain Monitoring and Neuroprotection in the Newborn is scheduled for
January 16-18, 2014 in Clearwater Beach, Florida. For more information, please visit: https://cmetracker.net/USF/
Files/Brochures/225099.pdf
The 27th Annual Gravens Physical and Developmental Environments of the High Risk Newborn scheduled for
February 5-8, 2014 in Clearwater Beach, Florida. For information please visit: http://health.usf.edu/publichealth/
pdf/Call_for_Abstracts_Graven_Conference.pdf
SLEEP 2014 28th Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies, LLC (APSS) scheduled for May 31June 4, 2014 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. For information please visit: http://www.sleepmeeting.org

PAPERS/POSTERS PRESENTED
Agnew, J.A., Gabriels, R.L., Pan, Z., Shoffner, A., Mesibov, G.
Therapeutic horseback riding in children and adolescents with autism
spectrum disorders. Presented as a poster at the APAs conference;
2013 Aug; Hawaii.
Brown, J. Best Care for the NICU Graduate. Learning video
continuing education: American Academy of Pediatrics, 2012.

Gabriels, R. Presentation at the Colorado Society of Osteopathic

Medicine Summer CME Conference; by invitation from the Colorado
Society of Osteopathic Medicine; 2012 Aug 9; Breckenridge, CO.
Gabriels, R. Provided ADOS-2 clinical and research training to
providers at the University of Oklahoma Early Foundations Center;
2013 Feb 13-15; Oklahoma City, OK.

Brown, J. Developmental care: Issues and direction. Invited

presentation and workshop. Gravens Down UnderRedux. Australian
Association of Neonatal Nurses. September, 2012.

Gabriels, R. Understanding and working with children on the autism

spectrum in hospital and community-based research settings.
Presented to faculty and graduate students at the University of Denver
School of Professional Psychology at University of Denver; 2013 Apr
23; Denver, CO.

Brown, J. Hot topics in developmental care. Invited plenary address.

Infant Development under Neonatal Intensive Care. Dublin, Ireland.
November, 2012.

Gabriels, R. Understanding individuals with autism spectrum disorders:

from research to clinical practice in the THR setting. Presented at the
PATH International Region 3 Conference; 2013 Mar 2-3; Bluffton, SC.

Brown, J. Issues in Newborn Feeding. Invited Plenary Address

P.O.P.S.I.C.L.E conference, Phoenix, AZ, January, 2012.

Gabriels, R.L., Agnew, J.A., Pan, Z. Aberrant behavior changes

resulting from therapeutic horseback riding in children with autism
spectrum disorders. Presented as a poster at the Society for Research
and Child Developments conference; 2013 Apr; Seattle, WA.

Brown, J. Regulatory disorders that affect preterm infant outcomes: Rehospitalization, growth and development. Invited plenary. Colorado
Prematurity Outcomes Conference. Denver, Colorado. September,
2012.
Brown, J. Voices for systems change: Yours, mine, theirs and ours.
Invited plenary address NIDCAP Trainers meeting. St. Albans, Great
Britain. September, 2012.
Gabriels R. CME presentation as part of an all day workshop for
CHCO staff: Introduction to understanding issues underlying the tip of
the iceberg crisis behaviors in ASDs; 2013 May 6; Aurora, CO.
schedule-2nd

Gabriels, R. Autism diagnostic observation

ed.
assessment training for clinical administration. Trained Child Find
school assessment teams from Boulder Valley Schools, Cherry Creek
Schools, Morgan County Schools, and Adams 14 Schools; Workshop
sponsored by Colorado Dept of Education; 2012 Dec 4 & 13, 2013 Jan
8 & 17; CO.
Gabriels, R. Neuropsychiatric Special Care program: methods and
outcomes. Presented as part of a 3-hour workshop at the American
Academy for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, AACAP Conference
October 2012. Symposium title: Inpatient Psychiatric Care for
Children with Autism; 2012; San Francisco, CA.
Gabriels, R. Overview of the Neuropsychiatric Special Care program
and outcome data for 1st Meeting of the Autism and Developmental
Disorders Inpatient Research Collaborative; 2012 Sep 29; Portland,
ME.

Gabriels, R.L., Agnew, J.A., Pan, Z. Changes in aberrant behaviors

and attitudes toward household pets following 10-week involvements
in therapeutic horseback riding in children and adolescents with ASDs.
Presented as a poster at the International Association of Human
Animal Interaction Organizations conference; 2013 Jul; Chicago, IL.
Hunter, S. April, P50 auditory sensory gating from infancy to 4 years of
age during sleep. International Congress for Schizophrenia Research;
2013; Orlando, FL.
Karlsson, C. T. Schreiner, C.T., Kim, C., Levine, H., Barnes, J., Binder,
J., Gabriels, R., Beresford, C. Neuromyelitis optica with severe
behavioral dysregulation: A case report. Poster presented at 24th
Annual Meeting American Neuropsychiatric Association; 2013 Apr;
Boston, MA.
Montague, R. Then What? Life Course Issues Following Early
Parental Loss. Poster presented at the International Conference on
Death, Grief, and Bereavement, University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, La
Crosse, Wisconsin, June 2013.
S Carroll, H., Agnew, J. A., Pan, Z., Gabriels, R. L. Functional health
outcomes of an outdoor sport for children with an autism spectrum
disorder. Presented as a poster at the May 2012 International Meeting
for Autism Research in Toronto, 2012 May; also presented at Colorado
Psychological Association annual conference 2012 Sep 21, Denver,
CO.

PAPERS/BOOKS PUBLISHED
Auerbach SR, Smith JK, Gralla J, Mitchell MB, Campbell DN, Jaggers
J, Pietra BA, Miyamoto SD. Graft Survival is Better in Primary Cardiac
Transplantation Without Prior Cardiac Surgery for Single Ventricle
Physiology. J Heart Lung Transplant 2012; 31(9): 987-995.
Bernard, P.B., Castano, A. M., OLeary, H., Simpson, K. Browning, M.D.
and Benke, T.A., Phosphorylation of FMRP and alterations of FMRP
complex underlie enhanced mLTD in adult rats triggered by early life
seizures, Neurobiology of Disease, 59:1-17, 2013.
Biggins SW, Bambha KM, Terrault NA, Inadomi J, Shiboski S, Dodge
JL, Gralla J, Rosen HR, Roberts JP. Projected Future Increase in Aging
HCV-Infected Liver Transplant Candidates: A Potential Effect of HCC.
Liver Transpl 2012; 18: 1471-1478 (chosen for front cover of journal
and a Media release).
Biggins SW, Trotter J, Gralla J, Burton J, Bambha KM, Dodge J,
Brocato M, Cheng L, McQueen M, Forman L, Chang M, Kam I, Everson
G, Spritz R, Klintmalm G, Rosen HR. Differential Effects of Donor and
Recipient IL28B and DDX58 SNPs on Severity of HCV after Liver
Transplantation. J Hepatology 2013; 58: 969-976.
Browne, JV. and Talmi, A. (2012). Developmental supports for
newborns and young infants with special health and developmental
needs and their families: The BABIES model Newborn and Infant
Nursing Reviews. Vol 12 (4) pages 239-247.
Colin T. Shearn, Rebecca L. Smathers, David J. Orlicky, Kenneth N.
Maclean, and Dennis R. Petersen. Increased dietary fat leads to
dysregulation of the LKB1/AMPK pathway and increased damage in an
early mouse model of ethanol-mediated steatosis. Journal of Nutritional
Biochemistry 2013 Mar 1.
Gabriels, R, Agnew, J.A., Beresford, C., Morrow, M., Mesibov, G.,
Wamboldt, M. Improving psychiatric hospital care for pediatric patients
with autism spectrum disorders and intellectual disabilities. Autism
Research and Treatment: Special issue, Identification and intervention
of complex behavior problems in adolescents and adults with autism
spectrum disorders", vol. 2012, Article ID 685053, 7 pages, 2012.
doi:10.1155/2012/685053.
Gabriels, R., Agnew, J.A., Pan, Z., Holt, K.D., Reynolds, A.,
Laudenslager, M.L. Elevated repetitive behaviors are associated with
lower diurnal salivary cortisol levels in autism
spectrum disorder. Biological Psychology,
2013; (93), 262-268.

Gazi S Hossain, Ji Zhou, Kenneth N. Maclean, Bernardo Trigatti,

Stephen Colgan, Srka Lhotk, Jeffrey G. Dickhout, Ira Tabas, Tracie
A. Seimon, Hansa Patel, John Capone, Jaerang Rho, Damu Tang and
Richard C Austin. Deficiency of TDAG51 Attenuates Atherogenesis by
Negatively Regulating PPAR Expression. Journal of the American
Heart Association. May 17;2(3):e000134
Gralla J, Huskey J, Wiseman A. Trends in Immune Function Assay
(ImmuKnow, Cylex TM) Results in the First Year Post-Transplant and
Relationship to BK Virus Infection. Nephrol Dial Transplant 2012; 27:
2565-2570.
Gralla J, Tong S, Wiseman AC. The Impact of Human Leukocyte
Antigen Mismatching on Sensitization Rates and Subsequent
Retransplantation After First Graft Failure in Pediatric Renal Transplant
Recipients. Transplantation 2013; 95: 1218-1224.
Hagman J, Gralla J, Sigel E, Ellert S, Dodge M, Gardner R, OLonergan
T, Frank G, Wamboldt M. A double-blind placebo controlled study of
risperidone for the treatment of adolescents and young adults with
anorexia nervosa: a pilot study. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry
2011; 50(9): 915-924.
Hunter SK, Mendoza JH*, DAnna K, McCarthy L, Freedman R, Ross
RG (2012). Antidepressants may mitigate the effects of prenatal
maternal anxiety on infant auditory sensory gating. American Journal of
Psychiatry, 169, 616-624. PMC3640273
Mullin, B.C., Phillips, M.L., Siegle, G., Buysse, D.J., Forbes, E.E.,
Franzen, P. (2013). Sleep deprivation amplifies striatal reactivity to
reward in healthy young adults. Psychological Medicine, (advanced
Epub) 1-11.
Reidy RE*, Ross RG, Hunter SK (2013). Theory of Mind development is
impaired in 4-year-old children with prenatal exposure to maternal
tobacco smoking. International Neuropsychiatric Disease Journal, 1
(1):24-34.
Ross, ES and Browne, JV. (2013). Feeding outcomes in Preterm
infants after discharge from the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU): A
Systematic Review. Newborn and Infant Nursing Reviews. Vol 13
Pages 87-93.
Ross, R.G., Hunter, S.K., McCarthy, L., Beuler, J., Hutchinson, A.K.,
Wagner, B.D., Leonard, S., Stevens, K.E., Freedman, R. (2013).
Perinatal choline effects on neonatal pathophysiology related to later
schizophrenia risk. American Journal of Psychiatry, 170, 290-298.
PMC3640283
Ross, R.G., Hunter, S.K., Zerbe, G.O. & Hanna, K. (2012). Mothers
and fathers do not accurately report each others psychopathology.
Mental Illness, 4(2):e14 DOI:10.4081/mi.2012.e14.

Sana Basseri, rka Lhotk, Morgan D. Fullerton, Rengasamy

Palanivel, Hua Jiang, Edward G. Lynn, Rebecca J. Ford, Kenneth N.
Maclean, Gregory R. Steinberg, Richard C. Austin. Loss of TDAG51
results in mature-onset obesity, hepatic steatosis, and insulin
resistance by regulating adipogenesis and lipogenesis. Diabetes. 2013
Jan;62(1):158-69. (Cover Article)
Sinkus ML, Adams C, Logel J, and Leonard, S: Expression of Immune
Genes on Chromosome 6p21.3-22.1 in Schizophrenia. Brain,
Behavior, and Immunity: 32, 51-62 (2013). PMID: 23395714
Wiseman AC, Gralla J. Outcomes of Simultaneous Pancreas Kidney
Transplant versus other Kidney Transplant Options in Patients with
Type 2 Diabetes. Clin J Amer Soc Nephrol 2012; 7(4): 656-664.

RECENT CONFERENCES
ATTENDED
1st Meeting of the Autism and Developmental Disorders Inpatient
Research Collaborative (ADDIRC), Portland, ME, September 2012.
American Academy for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, AACAP
Conference, San Francisco, CA, October 2012.
American Psychological Association conference, Honolulu, HI, August
2013.
Colorado Society of Osteopathic Medicine Summer CME Conference,
Breckenridge, CO, August 2012
International Association of Human Animal Interaction Organizations
conference, Chicago, IL, July 2013.
Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship (PATH)
International Region 3 Conference, Bluffton, SC, March 2013.
University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, International Conference on Death,
Grief, and Bereavement, La Crosse, Wisconsin, June 2013.

FUNDING

Circulating miRNAs as a Biomarker to Predict Cardiac Allograft

Vasculopathy in Pediatric Heart Transplant Recipients
7/1/2013-6/30/2015
Sharon Hunter received:

NOHR Research Award (Co PI, Kristin Uhler, PhD)

Relationship between acoustic change complex and mismatched
negativity in normal and heart-of-hearing infants.
$20000, 9/2013-9/2014
Ken Maclean received:
April 2013 William Hummel HCU research fund
Pathogenic mechanisms in HCU
$30,000

May 2013 Haley's Heroes

Novel treatment strategies for HCU
$20,000

Benjamin Mullin received:

Research Scholar Award from the Childrens Hospital Colorado
Research Institute
Insomnia and Neural Processing of Threat among Adolescents
with Generalized Anxiety Disorder
$100,000/year for 2 years. Aug, 2013-July 2015

AWARDS RECEIVED
Joy Browne recognition as Board of Directors for Parent
Organized Partnerships Supporting Infants and Children Learning
to Eat. Phoenix, Arizona, 2011-2013
Robin Gabriels received the 2013 Alumni Master Scholar Award
for the University of Denvers Graduate School of Professional
Psychology, awarded by the University of Denver (April 2013)
Mark Laudenslager received The Norman Cousins Award
presented by the PsychoNeuroImmunology Research Society
(PNIRS) for contributions to the field of psychoneuroimmunology
which includes a keynote presentation at the 2013 annual meeting
in Stockholm, Sweden and a topical paper in Brain Behavior and
Immunity.

Robin Gabriels received:

The Simons Foundation and The Lurie Foundation (Subcontract

site CO-PI: Robin Gabriels)
Project Aim: 2 year, 6 site collaborative research project to
phenotype at least 500 children with ASD in ASD-ID specialty
psychiatric inpatient units.
Awarded Aug 2013
Jane Gralla received:
Pediatric heart transplant AHA 13CRP16970024 (PI: Auerbach, S)
NCRP Winter 2013 Clinical Research Program

DPRG NEWSLETTER UPDATE FORM

In order to keep information in our newsletter and our records current, it is important to hear of the activities
of our DPRG community members. To make that task easier, please use this form (attach additional sheets if
necessary). We will include this information in an upcoming issue of the Newsletter.
Name:

Phone #(s):

Title/Affiliation:
Address:
E-mail:
1. Since the last issue of the newsletter was published, have you:
a. Presented posters/papers at any meetings, conferences, etc.? (Please give date, location, name of
conference, presentation title.)

b. Published any papers? (NOTE: Please list full citation. "In press" citations will not be printed in the
Newsletter. Please include ONLY published material.)

c. Attended any conferences of interest to DPRG members? (Please give date, location, and name of
meeting.)

d. Received any awards, honors, recognition for your work? (Please give title of award, awarding agency
and date that the award was given.)

2. Have you received funding for any research? (Please list sources, amount, dates and title of project.)

3. Do you know of any upcoming meetings that would be of interest to DPRG members and should be listed
in the Newsletter? (Please provide name, date, locations, and who to contact.)

Return form to: dprg@ucdenver.edu

THANKS!