Zoe Lian, a BU undergraduate majoring in biochemistry and microbiology, explains her research project to Evans Days judge David Salant, MBBCh, professor of nephrology.

Research

Evans Days Showcases Department of Medicine Research

Participants acknowledge the importance of sharing ideas, data and resources.

Third-year internal medicine resident Caroline Kaufman, MD, spends long hours in the cardiac critical care unit at Boston Medical Center (BMC) but somehow finds time for research.

“I’ve always been interested in both the research and clinical side of medicine,” said Kaufman. “I love being a clinician working at the bedside with patients, with a team of clinicians, but I’ve also found it incredibly meaningful to be part of a research team and being able to come up with new developments that can ultimately inform care delivery.”

Kaufman’s research with her mentor Ashish Verma, MBBS, assistant professor of nephrology, into inconsistencies between 10- and 30-year cardiovascular risk estimates was one of 148 research projects featured in the Evans Department of Medicine Research Days poster contest.

Founded in 1985 to acknowledge and promote department of medicine research by undergraduates, graduates, medical students, residents, PhD students and post-doctoral fellows, the two-day event includes lectures, oral presentations, poster contests and award presentations.

Invited speakers included former U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director and Harvard Professor of Medicine Rochelle Walensky, MD, MPH, speaking as the Ingelfinger Visiting Professor on “Lessons from the Front Lines of Public Health.” Benjamin Ebert, MD, PhD, president and CEO of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, gave the Wilkins Visiting Professor Lecture on “Clonal Hematopoiesis and the Origins of Cancer.”

Waiting for a contest judge to review his poster presentation, second-year medical student Rayan Djelmami-Hani said he wasn’t nervous. He’s presented research before and would be discussing his work at the American Society of Nephrology Kidney Week 2026, October 21-26 in Denver, Colorado. His research looks at how certain proteins released from fat tissue are associated with the progression of chronic kidney disease, and whether that link depends on APOL1, a gene whose high-risk variants raise the odds of kidney disease.

“(Evans Days) is a great opportunity to learn about other people’s data, other research going on at your institution, and to showcase your own research,” Djelmami-Hani said. It also was an opportunity to get insights into weaknesses and further areas of inquiry from judges and other researchers.

“I’m getting a lot of great ideas from all the judges and everyone passing by,” he said.

“I think research greatly impacts the care that I give,” said Hassiet Asberom, MD, a second-year BMC internal medicine resident. “A lot of the research ideas I’m interested in come directly from my patients and what I’m seeing in the community, so I see research as a vehicle to improved patient care.”

Her research, included in the poster competition, evaluated the effectiveness of the Global Lung Function Initiative’s race-neutral reference equations that impacted eligibility for clinical trials, occupational fitness, military and medical disability compensation and lung transplant priority lists. Asberon has presented various research projects at other venues including the Society for General Internal Medicine.

“I really like meeting people and seeing different project ideas. I think it’s a great opportunity for the exchange of information,” she said.

“I think it’s a wonderful for the mentees to have this opportunity,” said Deepa Gopal, MD, MS, assistant professor of medicine and one of the volunteers judging the poster contest. Many of the presented posters and oral abstracts were led by undergraduates in the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program and medical students in the Medical Student Summer Research Program.

“I like to think of it as a dialogue, an opportunity to take in new information, new thoughts about someone who is not in your lab, who might be an expert or have some expertise,” Gopal said of the judging process. “It’s all about taking it in and not taking it personally; it’s all about fostering the research.”

“We love our work, but unless people understand it, we won’t have the resources and support we need to continue. So, this is incredibly great training to have early on,” said Boston University President Melissa Gilliam, MD, MPH, an award-winning researcher and professor of obstetrics, gynecology & pediatrics. Gilliam toured the poster exhibition with BU Provost Colin Duckett, PhD, a molecular biologist. She recalled her first experience presenting research while working in a lab studying child transmission of HIV.

“It was the first time I actually saw what it meant to be part of a scientific community,” she said.

Walensky spoke on the challenges and difficult decisions she had to make as CDC director and reflected on the current medical landscape, with a politicized bureaucracy, shortages of medical and healthcare workers and the impact of AI.

“None of us have a crystal ball, about how this is going to evolve,” she said. “But we do have the capacity to be at the table, to help shape those conversations. We are going to need incredible scientists, incredible advocates and smart people at the table.”