Throughout each quarter, we collect various accomplishments—from awards and appearances to publications and presentations and more—from Pritzker students to highlight and promote their outstanding work to the rest of the community.
Submit your own achievements for our next quarterly round up of student accomplishments through this page.
If you have an upcoming event, such as a media appearance or panel discussion, submit the information in advance so we might be able to help promote your participation in the event. You can also submit your peers' accomplishments, though we will seek their permission before publishing or promoting them.
Spring 2026 Student Accomplishments:
Adnan Askari, MS4, had an essay titled "Space Cadet" published in The Intima, a narrative medicine journal, reflecting on a memorable encounter with a patient he met on the heme/onc service and the lessons he learned from caring for him. Read the essay here.
Aishwarya Atmakuri, MS4, presented a poster titled "Spatially organized immune niches in high-grade primary prostate cancer" at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting. The project originated in the Scholarship & Discovery program under the mentorship of Akash Patnaik, MD, PhD. Read the abstract here. Aishwarya was also interviewed about the project by Urology Today.
Alex Burdzy, MS2, wrote a Pfizer grant with Ardaman Shergill, MD, that has been awarded $250,000. The grant, titled “Building Scalable Advances for Diagnostic Excellence and Therapeutic Precision for Patients with Metastatic Colorectal Cancers,” will develop a scalable, AI-supported system across UChicago Medicine’s academic and community sites to improve biomarker testing, accelerate guideline-concordant initiation of targeted therapy, and reduce barriers to precision oncology care for patients with metastatic colorectal cancer. Alex also had an abstract, “Enriched Germline Variants in Patients with Mesothelioma Identified by Whole Exome Sequencing in a Cohort of 336 Individuals,” selected for presentation at the 2026 IASLC World Conference on Lung Cancer in September.
Corinne Cochran, MS4, received the University of Chicago Bridge Builder Award, which recognizes students who have worked to establish or support connections between student groups or individuals.
Devon Dietrich, MS4, presented a poster titled “Association of sociodemographic, environmental, and health factors with early-onset cancer in a diverse urban cohort” at the 2026 ASCO Annual Meeting. She was mentored on the project by Lindsay Schwartz, MD. Read the abstract here. The poster was recognized as a Featured Poster from the Early Onset/Adolescent Young Adult Community of Practice for "particularly compelling and highly relevant" research.
Meehir Dixit, MS1, published four papers originating from his gap year research, including a co-first-author paper in JAMA Health Forum (here), a first-author paper in JAMA Health Forum (here), and papers in Health Affairs (here) and Medical Care Research and Review (here).
Reagan Dunham, MS3, was selected as a 2026 recipient of the Health Professionals Scholarship from Cook County Health's Provident Scholarship Fund. The award supports awardees who are dedicated to serving underrepresented communities in Cook County.
Solomon Egbe, MS4, published a first-authored paper titled “Mechanism of injury not associated with acute compartment syndrome in Tibia fractures” in Injury. He was mentored on the paper by Jason Strelzow, MD. Read the full paper here.
Felix Fernández-Penny, MS4, was appointed Medical Student Liaison of the American Academic of Neurology, Sleep Medicine Section. He also received a 2026 Booth Healthcare Fellowship from the Tolan Center for Healthcare at University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Additionally, Felix published peer-reviewed papers in the American Journal of Rhinology & Allergy (“Health Locus of Control in Patients with Chronic Rhinosinusitis after Endoscopic Sinus Surgery: A Pilot Study” - read here) and Annals of Otology, Rhinology, and Laryngology (“A Novel Cost-Effective 3D-Printed Model for Flexible Nasolaryngoscopy Training Provides Trajectory Information and Distinguishes Early Learners from Experts” - read here) and gave a podium presentation at the International Congress on Academic Medicine in April in Ontario, Canada. This spring, he will present posters at the Combined Otolaryngology Spring Meetings and the North American Skull Base Society 35th Annual Meeting,
Emily Guernsey, MS4, published a first-author paper titled “Medicaid Expansion and Severe Maternal Morbidity” in Obstetrics & Gynecology. The research originated in the Pritzker Summer Research Program and continued in the Scholarship & Discovery track under the mentorship of Debra Stulberg, MD, MAPP. Read the paper here.
Muwafaq Ibrahim, MS2, received a $10,000 grant from the Chicago Forum for a project with Baddr Shakhsheer, MD, titled “Undergraduate and Graduate US Medical Trainees' Perspectives on the Care of Undocumented Patients.”
Charles Igwe, MS3, presented a poster on his research “Socioeconomic and Demographic Barriers to Automated Patient-Reported Outcome Survey Completion in Adult Hand Surgery Patients” at the American Orthopaedic Association Annual Meeting in May in Albuquerque, NM. The project originated in the Pritzker Summer Research Program under the mentorship of Jeffrey Stepan, MD, MSc.
Lauren Kang, MS4, was appointed the national Advocacy Chair of the Korean American Medical Student Association (KAMSA). She was also selected for the Stanford CARE Scholars program, a nine-month-long mentored research experience focused on Asian health.
Robert Luca, MS3, received an annual scholarship from the Leopold Schepp Foundation, which recognizes students who “demonstrate a combination of fine character, academic excellence, compassion, and a commitment to volunteerism and whose goal will benefit mankind.”
Chuka Onuh, MS3, co-authored an op-ed titled “This summer, Chicago can help stop the tragedy of drownings” with Amy Hanson, MD, for the Chicago Tribune. Read the op-ed here (Via UChicago Libraries).
Armin Pazooki, MS1, published an op-ed titled “Rethinking Merit in the Ortho Match” in OrthoBuzz, the blog of The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery. Read the op-ed here.
Ethan Salter, MS1, presented a poster at the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) 57th Annual Conference in San Diego, CA. His project investigated provider knowledge gaps regarding fentanyl testing in clinical settings and was conducted under the mentorship of J.P. Murray, MD.
Laith Sawaqed, MS1, published a paper titled “Effects of acute THC challenge on behavior and neuroinflammation in HIV-1 Tg26 mice vary based on HIV status, chronic THC history, and sex” in Brain, Behavior, and Immunity. The paper originated in his gap year research under the mentorship of Sylvia Fitting, PhD. Read the paper here.
Sahil Sethi, MS4, published a first-author paper titled “AI-Assisted MRI Interpretation in Diagnosing Bankart and Reverse Bankart Lesions” in the American Journal of Sport Medicine (AJSM). The project was a continuation of his Pritzker Summer Research Program and Scholarship & Discovery research, under the mentorship of Lewis Shi, MD and Nicholas Maassen, MD.
Mazuba Siamatu, MD’26, published a first-author paper titled “Hospital Costs Among Frail Older Adults Undergoing Lung Resection” in Annals of Thoracic Surgery Short Reports. The project was part of his Scholarship & Discovery research under the mentorship of Maria Lucia L. Madariaga, MD. He also presented a poster on social drivers of health screening among people with HIV presented at the 10th NMAC Biomedical HIV Prevention Summit held in Chicago, under the mentorship of Jessica Ridgway, MD.
Muneebah Umar, MS1, co-authored a chapter in Applied Bioarchaeology: Making an Impact, titled "Using Bioarchaeological Data to Inform Diagnostic Criteria for Acquired Syphilis in Clinical Care and Public Health Through Translational Science." The chapter was based on research he conducted as an undergraduate at Mississippi State University. Read an abstract here.
Michael Wakeman, MS3, published a first-author paper titled "No Smoker Left Behind: Evaluation of a Population-Based, Opt-Out Smoking Cessation Program for Patients With Cancer Who Smoke" in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. The project originated in the Pritzker Summer Research Program under the mentorship of Emma Brett, PhD and Andrea King, PhD. Read the paper here.