This month, the Arkansas Integrative Metabolic Research Center celebrates the completion of four years of research productivity and growth as a NIH-designated Center of Biomedical Research Excellence. Since AIMRC was established in 2021, AIMRC-supported researchers have secured over $34 million in external research funding and receive a majority of NIH funding on campus.

The research advances arising from this growth of biomedical funding in Arkansas were on full display during the fourth annual AIMRC Symposium, held on Nov. 7, 2024, in the Verizon Ballroom of the Arkansas Union at the U of A. The event brought together more than 70 participants from eight departments and four colleges across the Fayetteville campus, as well as from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock.

In opening remarks, Kyle Quinn, professor of biomedical engineering and AIMRC director, highlighted center's achievements over the last year, including several recent federal awards to center members:

• Younghye Song, assistant professor of biomedical engineering, received a $2.5 million NIH R37 (MERIT) grant to investigate the role of metabolic rewiring in breast tumor innervation, and
• Chris Nelson, assistant professor of biomedical engineering, received a Department of Defense grant to explore self-delivering gene editors for correction of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD).

New Core Resources to Support Researchers

The AIMRC maintains research cores in bioenergetics, imaging and spectroscopy, and data science to assist researchers on campus, and Quinn highlighted two new core resources to support AIMRC members and researchers across campus:

• In the Bioenergetics Core, a Quadrupole Time of Flight (Q-TOF) Liquid Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry (LC/MS) system will be installed to enhance metabolomics research, with availability planned for later in 2025.
• The Data Science Core launched a set of data storage arrays totaling 500TB, offering AIMRC member labs a secure way to share data and collaborate among laboratories and AIMRC research cores.

Campus researchers interested in utilizing any of the AIMRC core resources or expertise should reach out to our team of core directors and managers for access, training and assistance.

Presentations Highlight Biomedical Applications

The scientific program was kicked off by keynote speaker, Nic Greene, professor and director of the Exercise Science Research Center, who discussed his research on cancer-induced cachexia. This year's program also included presentations by AIMRC's four current research project leaders:

• Chenguang Fan, associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry, presented his work on isocitrate hydrogenase phosphorylation and its role in breast cancer.
• Jian Zhang, assistant professor of biomedical engineering, presented his work on investigating the bioenergetics of tumor cell clustering and cell-cell interactions.
• Isabelle Racine-Miousse, assistant professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at UAMS, presented her research on dietary methionine restriction as a therapeutic strategy for metastatic melanoma.
• Xuan Zhuang, assistant professor of biological sciences, presented her research on unraveling gene-environment interactions through multi-omics analysis in drosophila.

In the afternoon, Alan Tackett, professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at UAMS and deputy director of the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, discussed his experiences leveraging the NIH IDeA program for building capacity in Arkansas.

Poster Session Highlights Metabolic Research

The symposium concluded with a poster session featuring 31 presenters, including 23 student presenters, which highlighted the diverse range of projects involving metabolic research across campus and at UAMS. The AIMRC student poster competition, coordinated by Adam Pare, resulted in a tie for first place. Following judging by eight faculty, the two graduate student winners of the competition were Malavika Nidhi for her work titled Cycle GAN: Empowering Virtual Histology, and Benjamin Butter for his work titled Clustering Enhances Cancer Cell Survival in Extreme Extracellular Conditions.

How AIMRC Can Support You

While the AIMRC Symposium is held every November, there are several opportunities throughout the year for investigators to learn about metabolism research and explore how the center can support their work.

The AIMRC hosts a seminar series each semester that is currently scheduled for every Wednesday at 12:55 p.m. in ARKV 0002, the northeast corner of Dickson and Arkansas. To start the spring semester, the AIMRC hosted two internationally renowned researchers:

• Juleen Zierath from the Karolinska Institute in Sweden shared her work on glucose regulation in skeletal muscle on Jan. 15, and
• Jeff Rathmell from Vanderbilt University discussed metabolic control of inflammation in cancer. These hosted events provide networking opportunities for both students and faculty to discuss their work with leaders in the field of metabolic research.

Multiple mechanisms for seed funding and collaborative opportunities are available through the AIMRC to any researchers on campus. With mock review panels, structured mentoring and full-service proposal development support provided by the AIMRC, researchers are three times more likely to have their NIH proposal funded when they work with AIMRC to develop their proposal.

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About the Arkansas Integrative Metabolic Research Center: AIMRC was established in 2021 through a Center of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) Award from NIGMS (P20GM139768). NIH funding is critical to supporting AIMRC and ongoing metabolic research projects at the University of Arkansas that will drive healthcare innovations in our state. For more information, please visit the center website at aimrc.uark.edu or contact Kimberley Fuller at fullerk@uark.edu.