It took Yana Zavros 16 years to be diagnosed with a condition known as Cushing’s disease.

Sixteen years of a discouraging ailment that results in muscular weakness, alterations in mood, and weight gain, among other indicators, due to the patient’s adrenal glands producing excessive amounts of the stress hormone cortisol.

By the time Zavros received her diagnosis, she had established herself as a proficient researcher at the University of Arizona concentrating on gastric and pancreatic malignancies. Cushing’s is uncommon in humans, and Zavros felt exasperated by the lengthy diagnosis process and that the available treatments were not tailored specifically to her condition.

Then, she recalled that she was empowered to launch a research initiative and make a difference.

“It marked a pivotal moment in how I perceived research and our roles as scientists,” she remarks. “I discovered my mission.”

In the fall of 2024, Zavros joined UGA’s newly formed School of Medicine as the Research Center Director and Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar in Molecular Medicine. Currently, she is collaborating with colleagues on campus to seek out new solutions for Cushing’s while continuing her research in cancer.

Zavros believes that understanding how to treat the condition in dogs is crucial for improving diagnosis and therapies for humans with Cushing’s through an investigative approach known as One Health. This philosophy seeks health solutions beyond humans by also considering animal and environmental wellness. Over the last five years, UGA has invested in the One Health model as part of a larger initiative to unite interdisciplinary research teams to address intricate challenges of the 21st century.

While Cushing’s is rare among humans, it is quite prevalent in dogs. Approximately 100,000 dogs are diagnosed with this hormonal disorder annually. Similar to humans, affected canines experience weakness and weight gain. They may also lose their fur, develop pot bellies, and have a reduced lifespan.

The shared occurrence of this condition in both humans and their canine companions (which, for clarity, is not transmissible) could be vital to discovering improved therapies or even a potential cure for Cushing’s within both species.

“One Health focuses on the connections between humans, other animals, and our environment,” states Jon Mochel, director of UGA’s Precision One Health Initiative. “What can we learn about commonalities in diseases, such as cancer or metabolic disorders, that affect both humans and other species? What factors contribute to disease transmission between animals and humans? What impact does the environment have on this? And how can we cultivate better conditions to enhance human, veterinary, and environmental health?”

One Health has been a practice at UGA for over a decade, but the concept gained momentum with the initiation of UGA’s Precision One Health Initiative, which was bolstered by a hiring initiative in 2021. With UGA’s new School of Medicine, UGA is now one of 13 institutions in the country that house veterinary medicine, human medicine, and agricultural schools on a single campus. Coupled with UGA’s other proficiencies, spanning pharmacy, engineering, public policy, law, and business, UGA is in a unique position to make a significant impact.

“Through collaboration, we can hasten the discovery of cures and streamline their application to clinical practice,” said Jack S. Hu, senior vice president for academic affairs and provost at UGA’s One Health Symposium in November.

This multidisciplinary strategy is aimed specifically at Cushing’s disease. Researchers at UGA are working to understand, on a molecular level, the tumors that often lead to the disorder. Since the disease is significantly more prevalent in dogs, researchers are obtaining tumor biopsies from canine patients at UGA’s Veterinary Teaching Hospital.

“From these biopsies,” explains Mochel, who is also a co-researcher on the project focused on Cushing’s, “we’ve developed mini-tumors in lab dishes to evaluate thousands of compounds in the cells. This methodology will enable us to identify which medications may be safe and effective in combating the ailment.”

Researchers hope to personalize optimal therapies for individual canine patients. If the trials treating dogs for Cushing’s prove successful, the next phase will be investigating treatments in humans.

The research initiative could also have broader implications. For instance, Karin Allenspach, a clinician scientist and professor of pathology in the College of Veterinary Medicine, is a co-researcher on the Cushing’s project, aiding in the creation of the mini-tumors known as organoids, which act as three-dimensional representations of affected tissues. These organoids can also be utilized in cancer investigations to expedite drug trials and determine which medications should advance to clinical evaluations. If this strategy proves effective, it could result in quicker and cost-effective treatment delivery to patients.

UGA’s Precision One Health Initiative is just beginning, but there is already significant momentum toward making a difference.

“We possess the resources, talent, and knowledge to advance this field,” Mochel asserts. “Our next objective is to effectively transition these efforts from the laboratory to the patient’s bedside.”

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