University of Michigan Medical School students, including undergraduates, medical and nursing students, doctoral students and postdoctoral internships, presented approximately 250 research projects at the annual 2023 Health Sciences Research Day (HSRD) on November 10, 2023 raw work.
Research posters cover a variety of topics in healthcare, including psychology, immunology, infectious diseases, gynecology, oncology, neurology, and more. During the day-long event, students discussed their work with interested passers-by and were evaluated by 82 judges.
Dr. Ali Khademhosseini is this year’s keynote speaker. He is CEO of the Terasaki Institute for Biomedical Innovation and CEO and founder of Omeat, a company exploring how to grow edible meat from cells. Richard Barohn, MD, Hugh E. Sarah D. Stephenson, dean of the School of Medicine and executive vice chancellor for health affairs, and Bettina Mittendorfer, PhD, senior associate dean for research, delivered opening remarks.
“Each year we proudly showcase the talents of our researchers, training researchers, and faculty researchers. I love seeing students go through the process of discovery,” Barone said. “We are all here with the same goal in mind, which is to impart expertise, experience and passion for research.”
By tradition, the Dorsett L. Spurgeon, MD Distinguished Medical Research Award is presented during the HSRD to University of Missouri School of Medicine researchers in recognition of outstanding achievements early in their careers. This year’s recipient is Jussuf Thomas Kaifi, MD, for his research identifying cellular targets in lung cancer. Currently, he is the Chief of Thoracic Surgery Department and Assistant Professor of Surgery.
“It’s a meaningful recognition of what we do,” Keffi said. “It didn’t just recognize me, either. We have a lot of contributors and mentors on our multidisciplinary team.”
This year, Dr. Donald Burke-Aguero received the Excellence in Mentored Research Award. He is a professor of molecular microbiology and immunology in the School of Medicine and a professor of biochemistry in the College of Arts and Sciences.
Three health science students received dean’s awards from their respective schools for their research abstracts.
- Sinclair School of Nursing Dean’s Award: Undergraduate student Claire Lynn was recognized for her research on “Social and Demographic Predictors of Hepatitis A and HPV Vaccination among Immigrants in the United States.” Lynn’s advisor is Assistant Teaching Professor Olumayowa Odemuyiwa, PhD, BSN.
- Medical School Dean’s Award: Monu Monu, Ph.D., postdoctoral fellow, received the award for his research on “Aqueous Humor Metabolism Analysis in Glaucoma Patients Identifies Metabolites with Anti-Neuroinflammatory/Neuroprotective Properties.” His mentor is Dr. Pawan Singh, co-author of the book with Sandra Johnson, MD.
- Faculty of Health Sciences Dean’s Award: Graduate student Ugonna Kanu was recognized for her research on “Reducing Motor Vehicle Accidents (MVA), the tenth leading cause of death in Missouri.” Her mentor is Lynelle Phillips, MPH, a professor in the Department of Public Health.
The School of Medicine Research Committee highlighted three projects as honorable mentions for the Dean’s Award.
- Hussein Husse Nirad“Effects of MIG-6 ablation on endometriosis-associated infertility in a mouse model.” Hosseinirad’s mentor is Dr. Jae-Wook Jeong.
- Olamide Olaba“Western diet promotes bacterial colonization within tumors and promotes the development of pancreatic cancer.” Oraba’s mentor is Dr. Li Guangfu.
- Mebratu Tedra“Controlled dual delivery of Fas and IL-2R agonists to modulate alloresponses using the Coacervates platform.” Tedla’s mentors are Dr. Esma Yolcu and Dr. Haval Shirwan.
Students’ basic science and clinical research projects are reviewed in two categories: Category 1 for undergraduates, medical students, Conley Scholars, and Summer Research Fellowship participants, and Category 2 for graduate students, residents, and postdoctoral researchers and fellows.
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Category I, clinical
For the first time in history, there was a three-way tie for first place.
- Third place: Karolina Pogorzelski, medical student, under the supervision of Anne-Taylor Beck, presented on “A rare presentation of nodular primary localized cutaneous amyloidosis involving the oral commissure.”
- The second place: Kendall Boone, undergraduate student, mentored by Dr. Elizabeth Parks
- first place
- Laith Almashharawi is a medical student mentored by Akshaya Vachharajani, MD, studying “Social determinants of health in audiology screening compliance.”
- Samuel Hawkins is a medical student supervised by Dr. Melanie Boeyer, studying “Anterior vertebral tethering: a single-center cohort study with follow-up over 5 years.”
- Emily Lager is a medical student mentored by Albert Hsu, MD, researching “Knowledge Gaps in Fertility at the University of Missouri-Columbia.”
Category I, basic
- Third place: Evan Reeves is a medical student supervised by Daniel London, MD, who studies “Assisted dorsal span plate fixation to stabilize perilunate dislocations.”
- The second place: Bwaar Omer is a medical student supervised by Zhenguo Liu, MD, PhD, whose research topic is “Gender differences in aortic contractility and protein expression in response to LPS treatment.”
- First place: Varun Jeeran is a medical student supervised by Dr. Hu Huang. His research result is “The role of IRF1 in the pathogenesis of diabetic retinopathy in retinal Müller cells.”
Class II, clinical
- Third place: Jacob Kramer is a postdoctoral fellow supervised by Aaron Stoker, Ph.D., for his work “Protein biomarkers distinguish symptomatic from asymptomatic degenerative lumbar disc.”
- The second place: Suan Duan, graduate student, supervised by Richelle Koopman, MD, MS, studies “The impact of enhanced data visualization tools for hypertension in electronic health records on physician judgments about hypertension control.”
- First place: Mubinah Khaleel is a postdoctoral fellow supervised by Kylee Rucinski, PhD, MHA, titled “Is race associated with referral disparities in patients with diabetic foot complications?”
Category II, Basic
- Third place: Alireza Mahjoubnia, graduate student, supervised by Dr. Lin Jian, researching “Digital light 4D printing of bioabsorbable shape memory elastomers for personalized biomedical implants”
- The second place: Ayobami Dare, a postdoctoral researcher under the supervision of Dr. Shiyou Chen (DVM), whose research results are “Surfactant protein A enhances lipid accumulation and liver fibrosis in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.”
- First place: Hossein Hosseinirad is a postdoctoral fellow under the supervision of Dr. Jae-Wook Jeong, studying “Effects of MIG-6 ablation on endometriosis-associated infertility in mouse models.”