The Trainee Research Symposium (TRS) is the Department of Medicine's major research day that features a keynote address presented at Medical Grand Rounds followed by a poster session. Our 2022 TRS was held on Wednesday, March 2, 2022.
TRS is always an amazing highlight of the hard work and talent among our trainees in basic science and clinical research. For this year’s poster presentation, there were over 97 abstracts submitted by undergraduate students, graduate students, post-doctoral scholars, residents, and associate fellows. Each poster was judged on scientific merit, presentation and communications skills, and evidence that the trainee understood the significance of their work and played the major role in obtaining the data upon which the poster was based.
The TRS Keynote Speaker was Director of the Divison of Hematology and Oncology and Deputy Director of the O'Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center at UAB, Bassel El-Rayes, MD. His presentation was titled, "Targeting the Stroma in Pancreatic Cancer: Is There More to This Story?" El-Rayes is a nationally leading clinical investigator in gastrointestinal malignancies and pancreatic cancer.
A special thank you to the Research Development Group (RDG) and DOM Faculty who served as judges. We appreciate everyone for their continued support of research in our Department!
Congratulations to the 2022 DOM TRS Winners!
Felix O. Cruz-Ojeda
DOM Award for Excellence in Research by an Undergraduate Student
Division: Nephrology
Mentor: Jennifer Pollock, M.D.
Poster title: Early Life Stress and Heart Function in the Pristane-Induced Mode of Systemic Lupus Erythematous (SLE) in Mice
Soumya Khanna
DOM Award for Excellence in Research by an Undergraduate Student
Division: Nephrology
Mentor: Song Ong, M.D.
Poster title: A Cup Half Full - UAB COVID-19 Outcomes in Kidney Transplant Recipients
Gunars Osis, Ph.D.
Samuel B. Barker Award for Excellence in Research by a Graduate Student
Division: Nephrology
Mentor: Anupam Agarwal, M.D.
Poster title: Lactate Dehydrogenase A Influences Pro-Inflammatory Polarization of Murine Bone Marrow-Derived Macrophages
Keri M. Kemp, Ph.D.
Joseph Reeves Award for Excellence in Research by a Postdoctoral Scholar
Division: Nephrology
Mentor: Jennifer Pollock, M.D.
Poster title: Early Life Stress Drives Sustained Reductions in Circulating Butyrate and Proportionate Short-chain Fatty Acids in Pre-buteral and Adult Mice
Pongtawat Lertwilaiwittaya, M.D.
Thomas N. James Award for Excellence in Research by a Resident
Division: Internal Medicine & Medical Genetics
Mentor: Ryan Kraemer, M.D.
Poster title: Cost Effectiveness Analysis of BRCA1 and BRCA2 Testing in High-Risk Thai Woman
James Hollier, M.D.
J. Claude Bennett Award for Excellence in Research by an Associate Fellow
Division: Gastroenterology and Hepatology
Mentor: Fred Weber, M.D.
Poster title: Vedolizumab in Refractory Microscopic Colitis: Effective and Durable to One Year and Beyond a Single Center Prospective Case Series
Madhubanti Basu, Ph.D.
DOM Award for Excellence in Research by a Staff Scientist
Division: Infectious Diseases
Mentor: James Kobie, Ph.D.
Poster title: Mixed Origin: HIV gp120-specific Memory Develops from Pre-existing Memory and Naïve B Cells Following Vaccination in Humans
2022 TRS Poster Semi-Finalists
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Samuel B. Barker Award for Excellence in Research by a Graduate Student
Semi-Finalist: Matthew Cheung, M.D., Ph.D.
Division: Nephrology
Mentor: Anupam Agarwal, M.D.
Poster title: Distinct Subpopulations of Kidney Resident Macrophages in Acute Kidney Injury
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Joseph Reeves Award for Excellence in Research by a Post-Doctoral Scholar
Semi-Finalist: Shelly Nason, Ph.D.
Division: Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism
Mentor: Kirk Habegger, Ph.D.
Poster title: Glucagon Receptor Agonism Stimulates Time-Dependent Glycemic Regulation
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Thomas N. James Award for Excellence in Research by a Resident
Semi-Finalist: Jeffrey Shen, M.D.
Division: General Internal Medicine
Mentor: Angelo Gaffo, M.D.
Poster title: Empiric Treatment for Persistent Fevers from Suspected Auto-inflammatory Disease
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J. Claude Bennett Award for Excellence in Research by an Associate Fellow
Semi-Finalist: Joe Chiles, M.D.
Division: Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine
Mentor: Merry-Lynn McDonald, Ph.D.
Poster title: Sex-Specific Patterns of Skeletal Muscle Fiber-Type Shifts in a Cohort of COPD Patients
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Department of Medicine Award for Excellence in Research by a Staff Scientist
Semi-Finalist: Sanghita Sarkar, Ph.D.
Division: Infectious Diseases
Mentor: James Kobie, Ph.D.
Poster title: Targeting Tonsillar B Cells with IL-9 and IL-33 Enhances the Rhesus Macaque Humoral Response to DNA/Protein-based HIV Envelope Vaccine