During the symposium, second-year medical student Stuart Sommers explains his research.

Events

Annual Medical Student Research Symposium Spotlights BU’s Rich Research Ecosystem

In her introductory remarks at this year’s Medical Student Research Symposium, Hee-Young Park, PhD, dean ad interim, pointed to the school’s strategic plan’s goal of “build[ing] a world-class collaborative research ecosystem that drives innovation, enabling breakthrough science to treat and cure illness and advance wellness for people around the world.”

“Areas of research now span across basic science and basic bench research, to translational, computational, and socially relevant studies,” said Park. “Today, we’re going to be learning from, and be exposed to, a range of important research done by our medical students.” 

Held February 13 in Hiebert Lounge, the annual symposium showcased a wide array of poster displays and had 90 abstracts submitted for consideration. A faculty panel selected six student speakers (out of 40 applicants) to give brief talks on their research, and judges chose 10 students to receive Serchuck Poster Awards.  

“Doing a presentation in this format to a more general audience is really good practice because students need to explain the importance of what they’re doing to people who aren’t experts in the field,” said Medical Student Summer Research Program (MSSRP) Director Shannon Fisher, MD, PhD, associate professor of pharmacology, physiology & biophysics and director of the third-year research selective and fourth-year research elective. 

 “They’re amazing students and I love hearing about their research,” said poster contest judge Tara Moore, PhD, associate dean of research ad interim and professor of anatomy & neurobiology. “I find the students do such a great job describing their projects. I’m a neuroscientist and most of the posters are not about neuroscience, but it’s an opportunity (for me) to learn new things.”

“It is terrific to see the breadth and depth of research that our students are engaging in,” said Matthew Layne, PhD, associate professor of biochemistry & cell biology and assistant dean of research. “We are also very grateful for all the terrific mentors that make these research projects possible.” 

Students can select from various research options. A yearlong research option adds a year to medical school. They can choose the Learn, Experience, Advocate, Discover and Serve (LEADS) research track. Third-year students may pick a four-week research block selective, and fourth-year students can choose from 4-, 8-, or 12-week research electives. The MD/PhD program includes extensive research and clinical experience. 

Second-year medical student Jessica Czapla participated in research over the summer as one of the students selected for the MSSRP. “Being at the forefront of research is really important to me,” said Czapla, who described herself as a lifelong learner and presented a study on the link between communication and screening frequency for high-risk prostate cancer patients. “I really enjoy not only being able to share my results but learning about other research.”

Riya Manchanda’s research led her to consider a career in stroke neurology. The second-year medical student works with José Romero, MD, associate professor of neurology, using Framingham Heart Study data to understand how lifetime trends in cholesterol and triglyceride levels correlate with stroke rates. 

“We found that high levels of LDL cholesterol over an individual’s lifetime almost double the stroke risk even when they’re healthy at baseline—even when they have nothing else wrong with them,” Manchanda said. “While it doesn’t directly translate into a change in clinical guidelines yet, the research does raise questions like, should we be putting people on statins earlier? Should we be putting them on statins for longer time periods?” 

The six students selected to present their research at the symposium were first-year student Erika Minetti on the cardiovascular health effects of e-cigarettes; second-year MSSRP student Sabrina Mellinghoff discussing the impact of disadvantaged neighborhoods on breast cancer risk and mortality in Black women; second-year MSSRP student Willa Molho on infant feeding choice in postpartum, HIV mothers; second-year LEADS research track student Sydni Britton describing her work on genetic detection of senescent fibroblasts that drive chondrogenic extracellular matrix abnormalities; third-year research selective student Aryan Wadhwa explaining cerebral cavernous malformation-related epilepsy maps; and MD/PhD student Kevin Chen on the restoration of cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator function using airway basal cell transplantation.  

The winners of the Serchuck Poster Awards were first-year student Pratham Bhatt; second-year students Samra Beyene, Kylie Tang, Jingtong Huang, Sarah Chang, Joshua Kim, and Benjamin Chun; third-year students Rohini Kambhampti and Ashley Bodnar; and MD/PhD student Rose Zhao. The award honors the late Jerome Serchuck, a longtime MSSRP donor.