Rollins Research Review: Healthy Food Availability in Dollar Stores, a New Way to Analyze Cellular Structure, Cancer Survival Disparities, and Analyzing Outcomes of Chemical Exposure

This month, Rollins researchers authored papers on a wealth of public health topics. Find summaries of a few highlights below.

Bridging Cell Morphological Behaviors and Molecular Dynamics in Multi-Modal Spatial Omics with MorphLink  

Journal: Nature Communications

Rollins Authors: Jing Huang; Chenyang Yuan; Michael Epstein, PhD; Jian Hu, PhD

Important Takeaways:

• Traditional techniques used to study cells and tissues focus on classifying areas of cells as diseased or not based on their appearance, then testing for abnormal molecular expression (e.g., gene expression or protein expression).  
• The new spatial omics computer tool MorphLink can find sections of cells that have abnormal structure and abnormal molecular expression at the same time.
• MorphLink is trained to identify areas of tissue with disease-related spatial characteristics while linking that visual with omics expression data taken from the same area.
• MorphLink represents a more efficient and comprehensive method for analyzing cells that can be used in large-scale studies and across cohorts, as it is powerful enough to account for outside factors in tissue processing that may vary from site to site.

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Characterizing the Unhealthy Consumer Food Environment of Dollar Stores and Exploring Differences by Neighborhood Racial Composition

Journal: Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior

Rollins Authors: Samantha M. Sundermeir, PhD; Angela Zhang; Megan R. Winkler, PhD

Important Takeaways:

• Researchers reviewed 25 dollar stores across Atlanta, Georgia, to examine if the types of foods available were different in neighborhoods with different racial compositions.
• The team assessed factors such as availability, affordability, and advertisement of fresh produce, salty snacks, sweet snacks, sugar-sweetened beverages, and water in each of the dollar stores.
• They classified neighborhoods as majority-Black and non-majority-Black using data from the American Community Survey and found that prices for sugar-sweetened beverages and salty snacks were lower in majority-Black neighborhoods.
• Only two of the 25 stores sold some type of fresh produce, and every dollar store dedicated substantial shelf space to sugar-sweetened beverages and unhealthful snacks.

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Mortality of Individuals in a Long-Term Cohort Exposed to Polybrominated Biphenyls (PBBs)

Journal: Environmental Health

Rollins Authors: Metrecia L. Terrell; Amila Adili; PhD; Hillary Barton; Melanie Pearson, PhD; Michele Marcus, PhD

• This study investigated rates of death in a group of individuals who were exposed to the synthetic chemical polybrominated biphenyls (PBBs) after the chemical accidentally entered the area’s food supply in 1973.  
• An analysis of 3,954 individuals who were exposed to PBBs showed that there was no increased of death overall when compared to the general population.
• Results showed that women who were exposed to PBBs had a higher risk of death from cancer than women who were not exposed to PBBs, and men who were exposed to PBBs had a slightly lower risk of death from cancer than men who were not exposed to PBBs.

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Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors and Survival Disparities by Health Insurance Coverage Among Patients With Metastatic Cancer

Journal: JAMA Network Open

Rollins Authors: Jingxuan Zhao, PhD; Ilana Graetz, PhD; David Howard, PhD; Robin Yabroff, PhD; Joseph Lipscomb, PhD

Important Takeaways:

• Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) are a type of cancer treatment shown to improve survival rates, but they are expensive, which may limit access for people without health insurance.
• Researchers found that patients with cancer who held private insurance had better survival outcomes than those with Medicaid or no insurance before factoring in treatment with ICIs.
• When including treatment with ICIs in the analysis, the gap in survival rates based on insurance status widened further.
• Although treatment with ICIs improved overall survival rates for all insurance groups, the improvement was greater for those with private insurance. Reducing barriers to care and improving access to better insurance coverage could lessen this disparity.

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