On Research Day, P&S Students Compete for Honors

P&S Student Research Day 2014

Research on tolerance in kidney and bone marrow transplantation, retinitis pigmentosa, and 3-D cardiac tissue were among the projects that took top honors at this year's P&S Student Research Day. Medical students in both the traditional MD program and the MD/PhD program presented their research through posters. Awards recognized the top research in three categories: MD/PhD research, scholarly projects, and work done during an MD student's year off to pursue research.

Faculty members and fellow students perused the 54 posters presented by nine MD/PhD students, six MD students who did summer research, 15 students who took a year off to pursue research, and 24 students whose posters reflect their scholarly projects.

Since 2011, medical students have been required to complete a scholarly project to earn an MD. Under faculty mentors, medical students explore an area of interest in depth, create new knowledge, and consolidate learning developed through the first years of medical school and the major clinical year into a professional passion.

Research that received recognition at the March 25 research day:

MD/PhD

  • George Eng, "Electrical Stimulation Enhances Stem Cell Derived Cardiomyocyte Function" (Mentor: Gordana Vunjak-Novakovic)

Scholarly Projects

  • Cindy X. Cai, "Comparison of Progressive Loss of Ellipsoid Zone in Retinitis Pigmentosa" (Mentor: Donald Hood)
  • Anya Levinson, "Children with Acute GI Graft vs. Host Disease Following Allogenic Hematopoitic Cell Transplant Have an Increased Incidence of Enteric Bloodstream Infection" (Mentor: Prakash Satwani)

Research Year

  • Susan DeWolf, "Role of Deletion of Donor-Reactive T Cells in Long-Term Human Allograft Tolerance Achieved via Combined Kidney and Bone Marrow Transplantation" (Mentor: Megan Sykes)
  • Catherine M. Kelso, "Microperforation-Mediated Enhancement of Diffusion Across Round Membrane of the Inner Ear" (Mentor: Anil Lalwani)
  • Tammer Yamany, "Tracing Origins of Bladder Cancer Using Fate Mapping" (Mentor: Cathy Mendelsohn)