Students Shine at Annual Research Symposium

The 20^th annual Medical Student Research Symposium, held on Feb. 3, featured posters by more than 60 medical students — many of whom participated in the 2019 Medical Student Summer Research Program (MSSRP) and T35 NIH Heart Lung and Blood (HLB) grant. This is the second year the event was open to any student who completed research at BUSM.

The MSSRP provides stipends for first-year medical students to conduct research under the guidance of a BUMC faculty mentor. Enthusiastic and dedicated faculty ensure the success of the students, guiding them in basic science, clinical science, public health, medical education and quality improvement projects for seven to ten weeks.

New to the symposium this year was the addition of scholarships from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the NIH; made possible by a T35 grant awarded to Drs. Alan Fine and Suzanne Sarfaty in early 2019. Twelve students in the MSSRP conducted research under the guidance of BUMC faculty members in heart, lung and/or blood disease disciplines for 10 weeks.

Poster presenter Diana Abbas, ’22, appreciates the guidance of her faculty mentor, Dr. Brian Jack. “This program helps build mentorships and relationships at BUSM.” Departments represented include Internal Medicine, Hematology and Oncology, Ob/Gyn, Surgery, Pediatrics, Orthopaedic Surgery, Pharmacology & Experimental Therapeutics, Pulmonary and more.

The symposium and MSSRP/HLB program is organized by the Enrichment Office under the direction of Assistant Dean for Medical Education Suzanne Sarfaty, MD, Assistant Director, MSSRP Isabel Dominguez, PhD; and Administrative Director Ana Gregory, EdM.

“This is a huge student effort and I am so proud. When I look at these posters, I am in awe! I’ve watched the evolution of their projects and research skills since the summer, and it is so gratifying,” said Dr. Sarfaty.

“The quality of the abstracts and posters were superb – we are very happy to see we have empowered them to put forth their research,” said Dr. Dominguez.

As part of the symposium, six student abstracts were orally presented. Selection was based on prior submission and competitive review. This year’s presenters:

Vinson Cobb
“Engaging Low Socio-Economic Status Smokers in Low-dose CT (LDCT) Screening: Enhanced Interventions that Include Community Health Workers to Address Social Barriers”
Mentor: Hasmeena Kathuria, MD | Dept: Pulmonary, Allergy, Sleep & Critical Care Medicine

Thomas Donoghue
“Appropriateness of Empiric Antibiotic Prescribing for Urinary Tract Infections in an Urgent Care Setting”
Mentor: Amy Linsky, MD | Dept.: VA – General Internal Medicine

Nicolette Jabbour           
“Granulation After Transoral CO2 Laser Surgery For Early Glottic Carcinoma”
Mentor: Lauren Tracy, MD | Dept.: Otolaryngology- Head and Neck Surgery

Mira Magner
“Validation of Gene Editing Approaches to Cure Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) Using an iPSC Based Platform”
Mentor:  George Murphy, PhD | Dept.: Medicine, Hematology and Oncology/CReM

Shamsh Shaikh
“The Effect of Pod-based E-Cigarettes on Endothelial Cell Phenotype: Preliminary Results”
Mentor: Naomi Hamburg, MD | Dept.: Whitaker Cardiovascular Institute

Rita Wang
“Examining the Impact of Current Proposed Federal Immigration Policies on Healthcare Access and Perceptions of Care Across BMC Immigrant Population”
Mentor: Serena Rajabiun, PhD, MPH | Dept.: Center for Innovation in Social Work and Health

Eight students received the Serchuck Award for Outstanding Research Posters. The award honors Mr. Jerome Serchuck and Mrs. Joan Serchuck, longtime donors to the summer research program. The Serchucks have given to the program since its establishment in 2000 and continue to do so yearly.

There are three Serchuck award categories. The recipients with their project titles and mentors are listed below.

BEST BASIC SCIENCE

Emiko Yamada
“Evaluation of Partitioned Multiplexed Barcoded Library Construction as a Tool for Low Frequency Mutation Detection”          
Mentor: Tony Godfrey, PhD | Dept.: Surgery

Runner Up: Heinrich Pinardo    
“Differential Expression of TLRs and RLRs in the Human Placenta Across Gestation”
Mentor: Wendy Kuohung, MD | Dept.: Obstetrics and Gynecology

Honorable Mention: Ian Paolo Mauricio              
“Hippo Pathway Activity Alters Cell Fate Following Prolonged Mitosis”
Mentor: Neil Ganem, PhD | Dept.: Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics

BEST CLINICAL SCIENCE

Aaron Afran
“The Impact of Social Determinants of Health on Access to Breast Imaging”
Mentor: Michael Fishman, MD | Dept.: Radiology

Runner Up: Mohsin Dahodwala
“Informing the Development and Implementation of a CHW Intervention to Reduce COPD Readmissions”
Mentor: Hasmeena Kathuria, MD | Dept.: Pulmonary, Allergy, Sleep & Critical Care Medicine

BEST MEDICAL EDUCATION/PUBLIC HEALTH/QI

Renata Mukai   
“Staff Teamwork Ratings Following Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Training”
Mentor: Bernadette Levesque, MD | Dept.: Pediatrics/NICU

Runner Up: Julia Krumholz
“Teen and Tot Student-Run Service: An Assessment of a Pilot Year”
Mentor: Natalie Pierre-Joseph, MD | Dept.: Adolescent Medicine

Honorable Mention: Nicholas Huynh    
“Transportation and Health: The Use of Rideshare Application to Improve Access for New Mothers with a History of Substance Use Disorder”
Mentor: John Maypole, MD | Dept.: Pediatrics

Congratulations and thank you to all the students and mentors involved this year.

Click here to see more photos on Facebook.

View all posts