Research news
Congratulations to Arjun Patel and DJ Wu Wong for Accepted Manuscript
Arjun was named co-author on the accepted manuscript, "Indoxyl Sulfate Promotes Uremic Arterial and Venous Thrombosis by Stabilizing IDO1 via the E3 Ligase SHFM3," which will be published in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.
During his first year of medical school, Arjun participated in the LEADS Research Track program. We asked him a few questions to learn more about his experience in the program, his research journey, and the impact of mentorship on his medical education.
What is your research project about?
The research project is about the identification of a new E3 ligase of the IDO-1 enzyme, an enzyme which mediates adverse effects in patients with CKD, which gets downregulated in the setting of uremic toxicity. Discovery was mediated through western blot analysis of protein interactions, super-resolution microscopy and various animal models with specific ligase gene knockout in endothelial cells.
What have you done as part of this research project?
I mainly contributed to data collection in this project. Specifically, I assisted in immunofluorescence staining and imaging of vessels of the various mice groups studied. Through this staining and imaging, I was able to identify the presence of specific biomarkers that contributed to thrombogeneity in the different experimental groups and confirm the mechanism by which the SHFM3 E3 ligase mediates its effects.
How has this research experience influenced your understanding of medicine, research, or your potential career path?
Research has given me an appreciation for the incredible amount of hard work that underpins each of the medical discoveries I have the privilege of learning about. I am grateful to be surrounded by fabulous mentors and colleagues both in the lab and in the classroom and I aim to pursue a career in medicine that bridges the strengths of both of these fields, such as a physician-scientist.
What advice would you give to other medical students who are considering getting involved in research?
I would advise medical students to pursue research topics in fields they are interested in and to maintain a positive attitude when results don't go their way. Research can often be a frustrating process, but hard work will eventually pay off.
What is your research project about?
IDO1 or indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase 1 is an enzyme that plays a large role in tryptophan metabolism. Downstream, IDO1 activity contributes to the pro-thrombotic environment of chronic kidney disease. This study investigated the proteasomal degradation of IDO1 by the E3 ligase SHFM3/FBXW4 and the role that uremic toxins play in modulating IDO1’s degradation. Using targeted metabolomics, nanoparticle-mediated gene delivery, and a murine thrombosis model, the lab also demonstrated the functional implication of SHFM3 regulating the uremic toxin-mediated upregulation of IDO1.
What have you done as part of this research project?
I mostly assisted with the earlier stages of the project. Much of the earlier investigative work involved narrowing down the specific E3 ligase from a “family” of E3 ligases that were suspected to interact with IDO1. After helping to identify SHFM3/FBXW4, I assisted with the cell culture experiments that helped describe the biochemical interaction between IDO1 and FBXW4 (ubiquintination, half life, binding domain, etc.)
I’d also like to emphasize the work that the first authors of this paper, Ricardo Almiron and Abbas Brahim Malloum, did for this project as well as the work that my fellow medical students Anna Natrakul and Arjun Patel contributed.
How has this research experience influenced your understanding of medicine, research, or your potential career path?
This experience and my time in Dr. Chitalia’s lab has been integral in developing my understanding of the types of translational research that can be pursued as a physician. It’s been helpful to see how many projects (clinical trials, basic science, literature review, etc.) are taken from start to finish.
Time in the Chitalia's lab has also emphasized that research, especially in the medical field, is often a collaborative effort. I would say that having a supportive environment is one of the most important parts of the research experience.
What advice would you give to other medical students who are considering getting involved in research?
The most important practical piece of advice that I’ve received is that controls are the most important part of any study. I’d also say don’t be afraid to try new things, whether it be a new technique at lab, proposing an idea to your PI, a completely different project, or looking for new research. Putting yourself out there can help you learn a lot about what you want to do in the future and what type of research is right for you.
Student Spotlight: Erika Minetti, M1
Erika Minetti is a first-year medical student who participated in LEADS Research Track program under the mentorship of Naomi Hamburg, MD. To learn more about Erika’s research experience in the LEADS Research Track program we asked Erika a few questions.
What is your research project about?
The title of my project is cardiometabolic proteomics and vascular endothelial health in type 2 diabetes. We explored the relationship between endothelial function and a targeted panel of circulating cardiometabolic biomarkers. To assess endothelial function, we stained for phosphorylated endothelial nitric oxide synthase (p-eNOS) in venous endothelial cells with and without insulin stimulation. Ultimately, understanding which molecular pathways are associated with vascular dysfunction could help identify new biomarkers or therapeutic targets for preventing cardiovascular complications of type 2 diabetes.
What have you done as part of your research project?
I had the opportunity to be involved in many different levels of this project. I recruited and consented participants and carried out patient visits, including vascular measurements such as flow-mediated dilation, which allowed us to assess endothelial function in vivo. I then analyzed the proteomics data using Olink’s statistical analysis platform and examined the relationships between the proteomic and p-eNOS measures using SPSS.
What have you learned or accomplished through your research experience?
I learned how exciting it is to contribute something novel to an established area of research. There are many people investigating the drivers of cardiovascular disease in diabetes, and there are also many researchers who leverage proteomics. Our project uniquely connects proteomic findings with endothelial function using freshly collected patient samples. This showed me the value of translational research in connecting molecular findings back to human disease.
How has this research experience influenced your understanding of medicine, research, or your potential career path?
Delving into the molecular mechanisms driving cardiovascular disease in patients with type 2 diabetes has helped me deepen my understanding of disease beyond what we learn in the classroom, and has motivated me to continue pursuing research throughout my career as a physician.
What advice would you give to other medical students who are considering getting involved in research?
My advice would be to find a research topic that you are genuinely interested in, because that makes the experience much more rewarding. For me, that has been cardiometabolic disease, and having a strong interest in the subject has motivated me to become more involved in the project and develop my skills. I would also encourage students to seek out mentors who can guide them through the research process. I have been fortunate to be able to work under Dr. Hamburg who has encouraged me to take on greater responsibility and helped me develop my skills as a researcher and has also given me advice on how to succeed as a medical student.
Mentor Spotlight: Naomi M. Hamburg, MD, MS
Joseph A. Vita, Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine
Her research has been continuously funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and various foundations since 2006. Alongside her scientific work, Dr. Hamburg is deeply committed to advancing vascular health through education and improved patient care.
Her dedication to mentorship is exemplified by her work with medical student Erika Minetti through the LEADS Research Track program. Erika’s research project, titled “Inflammatory Determinants of Endothelial Cell Insulin Resistance in Human Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus,” provided her with hands-on experience in clinical research methodology, endothelial function and hemodynamics. Under Dr. Hamburg’s guidance, Erika also served as first author on the paper “Cardiovascular Health Effects and Synthetic Cooling Agents in E-Cigarettes Labeled as 'Clear' Marketed in Massachusetts After the Tobacco Product Flavoring Ban,” published in the Journal of the American Heart Association, and presented her work at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions.
Dr. Hamburg on mentorship:
Mentoring students is one of the most joyful parts of being a physician-scientist. Mentees bring their knowledge, curiosity and commitment. My goal is to guide each person to develop their own strengths and passions that they will carry with them as an investigator. Along the way they build the specific scientific and communication skills that come from working as part of a team. Research can be frustrating and I hope to help mentees reframe what might feel like a failure as a moment to refine questions. Overcoming barriers often produces new science and moves a field forward. Erika's work is a good example. She has been working with me during her master's program and the LEADS program has given her time to grow as a leader of her own projects. On her project on "clear" e-cigarettes, she presented at scientific meetings, coordinated with the research team at BU and outside collaborators and most impressively, talked with public health officials and lawmakers about the implications of our findings. Seeing a mentee carry the findings from the lab to the larger community to prevent disease sustains my belief in the power of science.
Dr. Hamburg’s enthusiasm for teaching and cultivating the next generation of researchers makes her an exceptional mentor and a vital contributor to the development of future physician-scientists.
Mentor Spotlight: Jeffrey Siracuse, MD, MBA
Jeffrey Siracuse, MD, MBA, is Chief of the Division of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery and Associate Chair of Surgery for Quality and Patient Safety at Boston Medical Center and a Professor of Surgery and Radiology at Boston University's Chobanian and Avedisian School of Medicine.
Dr. Siracuse joined the BU/BMC faculty in July 2014 after completing his surgery residency at Beth Israel Deaconess, a vascular research fellowship at the Harvard-Longwood Research Training Program, and a clinical fellowship at New York-Presbyterian Hospital. His work focuses on clinical outcomes, safety, and quality improvement in vascular and endovascular surgery, primarily using large multi-center registries.
While at BU, he has had numerous medical student work with him on an institutional, regional, and national dataset projects. This includes Thomas McNamara, a recent CAMED graduate, who worked on how social determinants of health affect patients with peripheral arterial disease. Anish Patel studied penetrating neck trauma with vascular injury. Kyle Bui analyzed amputation outcomes in octogenarians. More recently, Wei Ni Zhou and Cynthia Huang were MSSRP students, funded by the Department of Surgery, who analyzed outcomes of conservative treatment of intermittent claudication and upper extremity bypass. With a few examples, he has a long history of student presentations and publications. All of these students have presented at national meetings and have published, or are in the process of publishing, first-author manuscripts.
Dr. Siracuse on mentorship: Mentorship means providing unwavering long-term support and creating clear structural pathways for a student's professional growth, critical thinking, and eventual career placement. Success is ultimately judged by how they perform and how they mentor the next generation themselves. He often advises his mentees to set early goals, make sure you make the academic time, and establish a consistent routine. Productivity in surgical research relies on structure and consistency. The best ideas are the ones that come up as day-to-day challenges.
Student Spotlight: Cynthia Huang, M3
Through this research experience, Cynthia has gained valuable insights into her own capabilities and professional growth. Most significantly, she has discovered her capacity to venture into unfamiliar research territory, contribute meaningfully to ongoing work, and work on a project through to national conference presentation and journal submission. In the process, she developed persistence in tackling complex, data-limited topics while still producing meaningful results. Yet perhaps her most important realization is recognizing that she thrives when curiosity drives her work, and that she finds the most growth in collaborative, mentorship-rich environments, precisely like the one she cultivated with Dr. Siracuse and Dr. Alonso.
Congratulations to Carolyn L. Kuckein Student Research Fellowship Recipient, Aiman Altaf, M3
Congratulations to Aiman Altaf, one of the 2026 recipients of the 2026 Carolyn L. Kuckein Student Research Fellowship! Her project, mentored by Dr. Charlene Ong, aims to evaluate the association between quantitative eye movements and neurologic outcomes in patients who experience coma after cardiac arrest. The goal is to establish a biomarker that can enhance the ability to predict neurologic outcomes, helping families and clinicians make more informed decisions about patient care.
Before medical school, Aiman spent several years doing wet lab research in neurology, but wanted to pursue research that was more directly applicable in a clinical setting. After attending a talk by Dr. Ong about a previous medical student's project which developed the machine learning algorithm that uses EOG to quantify eye movements, Aiman was struck by the novelty and clinical relevance of this work. Cardiac arrest often results in prolonged coma, and existing prognostic frameworks are limited in their ability to distinguish between patients who will recover and those who will not. This uncertainty makes decision-making challenging for clinicians and families. By demonstrating that EOG-derived eye movements are associated with outcomes, and that they can enhance existing prognostic frameworks, this work has the potential to establish a practical biomarker for early prediction of neurologic recovery. When Aiman reached out to Dr. Ong hoping to get involved, her current project became an opportunity to contribute to more objective, data-driven approaches to neuroprognostication.
Through her research experience, Aiman has learned that not having a formal background in a particular field should not be a barrier to getting involved in that work. She was initially worried that her lack of experience in data science would limit her ability to contribute to the team, but being curious and persistent helped me find meaningful ways to drive progress. This experience pushed me to step outside her comfort zone and learn new skills that will be helpful in future work too.
This year, Aiman presenter a co-authored (Anika Reza) poster at the Kase BU Neurology Research Symposium in March 2026, and she presented a poster at the American Academy of Neurology Annual Meeting in Chicago in April 2026.
Congratulations to Sarnoff Research Fellowship Recipient, Camille Shantz
Congratulations to Camille Shantz on her placement at Stanford University as a Sarnoff Fellow, supported by the Sarnoff Cardiovascalar Research Foundation! While at Stanford, she will join the Marsden Lab, primarily working with Dr. Alexander Kaiser. Camille will work in a translational research lab that uses computational modeling to study blood flow in the cardiovascular system and address problems clinically relevant to congenital heart surgeons. Blood flow involves complex forces like pressure and turbulence that influence how the heart, blood vessels, and valves function over time. By simulating these dynamics, we can better understand disease progression and support more precise, patient-specific treatments.
In joining Dr. Kaiser's Cardiovascular Biomechanics Computation Lab at Stanford University, Camille will also be mentored by postdoctoral scholar Dr. Karoline Marie Bornemann, and they will work closely with Dr. Michael Ma’s congenital heart surgery lab. Camille is also being supported by her Sarnoff Foundation Fellowship advisor, Dr. Karol Watson at UCLA, and her sponsor at Boston University, Dr. Ellen Cooper.
Camille's interest in this field stems from a longstanding love of math and problem-solving. As she became involved in medical research, she found that same intellectual satisfaction in studying cardiovascular physiology, particularly in understanding the mechanisms underlying disease to optimize treatment. During her early research at the Center for Fetal Therapy at Johns Hopkins, Camille was introduced to the complexity of diagnosing heart disease before birth through prenatal echocardiography. She later worked with congenital heart surgeon Danielle Gottlieb Sen on a project using computational fluid dynamics to study how pulmonary valve replacement angle in Tetralogy of Fallot may impact long-term durability. Through this experience, she saw how mathematical modeling could directly inform clinical care, solidifying my interest in this work.
Through her research, she has developed a deeper appreciation for the complexity of congenital heart disease. She reflects on how, despite advances in pediatric cardiac surgery that have extended patient survival into adulthood, many individuals still face evolving cardiovascular challenges. Her work with computational modeling has shown her the potential of these tools to illuminate each patient's unique physiological profile and guide more targeted interventions. She looks toward a future where such technology becomes integral to clinical decision-making and treatment planning.
Student Spotlight: Sabrina Mellinghoff, M3
Sabrina Mellinghoff, M3 and 2025 MSSRP Scholar presented her poster titled “Neighborhood Concetrated Disadvantage and Risk Recurence in a Nationwide Student of US Black Women” at American Association of Cancer Research in San Diego in April.
Under the mentorship of Dr. Mollie Barnard and Dr. Julie Palmer, her research investigates breast cancer recurrence in the Black Women's Health Study and so far has studied the association between neighborhood disadvantage and risk of recurrence. The first stage of this work involved conducting a comprehensive review to identify which of the 3,000+ study participants who developed primary breast cancer experienced a subsequent recurrence. Now, Sabrina and her team are able to pose questions and apply exposures such as an index of neighborhood disadvantage to the cohort and study their associations with risk of recurrence.
Student Spotlight: Gabrielle Ruban, M2
Gabrielle Ruban is a current M2 student, 2025 MSSRP/LEADS researcher, and CARE student. Under the mentorship of Dr. Karsten Lunze, she has been working on two projects that are based in Eastern Europe. Her main individual project is within the SCRIPT (Stigma Coping to Reduce HIV Risks and Improve Substance Use Prevention and Treatment) study, which is based in Russia, while the other project Gabrielle has contributed to is the Ukraine-based SUPRA (Substance Use Prevention for Recently Displaced Adults) study.
Based on data from a trial conducted in Russia, the SCRIPT (Stigma Coping to Reduce HIV Risks and Improve substance use Prevention and Treatment) study’s initial goal was to assess Acceptance and Commitment approaches as a possible intervention for people living with HIV who inject drugs, with the goal of addressing the consequences of internalized intersectional stigma related to HIV status and substance use. The aim of her main project within the SCRIPT study is to investigate whether intersectional stigma moderates the hypothesized association between exposure to intimate partner violence (IPV) and poorer health-related quality of life (HRQoL) outcomes among HIV-positive people who inject drugs in Russia. Critically, the associations between IPV and HRQoL as well as intersectional stigma have not been well explored in this population. This knowledge gap especially applies to Russia, where injection drug use, HIV incidence, and IPV exposure remain exceptionally high and often co-occur. No published studies have examined whether intersectional stigma moderates the link between intimate partner violence exposure and worse health-related quality of life outcomes in people with HIV who use drugs. In this relationship, stigma may intensify the consequences of IPV, such as by promoting shame, low self-worth, worsening mental health symptoms, and disengagement or avoidance of healthcare. Stigma might also be associated with declines across various domains of HRQoL.
The SUPRA survey, in contrast, was conducted in Ukraine and involved qualitative exploration of substance use patterns among individuals internally displaced by Russia’s war in Ukraine, with the ultimate goal of developing an intervention based on Acceptance and Commitment approaches to reduce substance use among individuals affected by this humanitarian crisis. Gabrielle's involvement in the SUPRA study has expanded her qualitative research skillset, which was a goal she explicitly outlined as wanting to achieve during her time in medical school, given that she exclusively has had quantitative research experiences up until this point. Since joining the SUPRA team last fall, Gabrielle has used her Russian and Ukrainian language skills to help translate the interview notes to English, as well as contributed to the development and execution of the rapid qualitative analysis plan. This process enables us to systematically analyze the free listing interviews to capture key substances used during the active war in Ukraine, along with their alternative names, forms, modes of use, the populations most likely to use them, and their consequences at both individual and societal levels.
For the SCRIPT-based study, Gabrielle's primary mentor has been Dr. Karsten Lunze, who is also the principal investigator of the study. During the development of the research question and analytic plan, and also received guidance from several experts, including Emily Sisson (Senior Director of Research Operations) and Dr. Jin Wei (Biostatistics) for statistical input as well as Dr. Jeffrey Samet (General Internal Medicine) for his expertise in substance use treatment among international populations with HIV, including those in Russia and Ukraine. For the SUPRA study, Gabrielle's been mentored primarily by Dr. Lunze, as well as Dr. Claire Green, Assistant Professor of Population and Family Health at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health.
As the daughter of two Ukrainian immigrants, Gabrielle has been deeply shaped by her Eastern European heritage, culturally and linguistically. In addition to her heritage, her experiences in crisis counseling, harm reduction outreach, and addiction medicine education during the pandemic and prior to medical school sparked her interest in understanding how trauma and social determinants impact care engagement as well as confirmed her decision to pursue a career in medicine. She became particularly interested in how socioenvironmental exposures such as intimate partner violence, intersectional stigma, and substance use intersect and affect health outcomes, including healthcare engagement, infectious disease risk, and overall quality of life. Her research is both important and timely because it addresses overlapping and understudied drivers of poor health outcomes among highly vulnerable populations in active and evolving contexts.
Gabrielle and the research team are currently in the data analysis phase for the SCRIPT-based study on intersectional stigma, intimate partner violence, and health-related quality of life. She has presented two posters from the SUPRA project since joining the team. She presented gender-specific findings on substance use patterns among internally displaced individuals in Ukraine at the Chobanian and Avedisian School of Medicine Medical Student Research Symposium in February 2026. She also presented a poster focused on substance use among internally displaced women at the Seventeenth Massachusetts Medical Society Research Poster Symposium on March 21, 2026.
Student Spotlight: Milan Dolezal, M2
Milan Dolezal is a current M2 student, 2025 MSSRP/LEADS researcher, and CARE student under the mentorship of Dr. Karsten Lunze. Her research, "Peer perspectives on the use of embodied conversational agents to improve buprenorphine retention: a community-engaged qualitative study," explores whether an embodied conversational agent can help improve buprenorphine treatment retention for people with opioid use disorder (OUD). Through focus groups with people in recovery, they identified the kinds of support that would be most useful and used those insights to shape the intervention’s design. Milan and her mentor are now using the agent in a clinical trial where we examine whether this patient-informed digital tool can help people stay engaged in treatment.
Milan was drawn to substance use research because of the prevalence of substance use disorder in our BMC community. She has had the opportunity to learn from the clinicians and researchers at BMC who are providing exceptional care and leading important research in this area. Her project has allowed her to work alongside and learn from people with OUD in crafting interventions grounded in lived experiences. Despite the efficacy of buprenorphine treatment in reducing all-cause mortality for people with OUD, discontinuation rates are high. This research is important because it aims to improve retention rates with a digital tool that has been successful in improving retention in other patient populations but has never been tested within the OUD community.
Through her research experience, Milan has learned that she is motivated when working with people with OUD and can see herself treating OUD as a physician in the future. She is in the process of submitting a manuscript now and presented a research poster at the Medical Student Research Symposium in February.