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.
Winter 2024 Student Accomplishments:
Phil Ang, MS3, Douglas Zhang, MS3, Saara-Anne Azizi, MS4, and Salvador Norton de Matos, MSTP, published a paper titled “The glymphatic system and cerebral small vessel disease” in the Journal of Stroke and Cerebrovasuclar Diseases. The group was mentored on the project by James Brorson, MD. Read the full paper here.
Alexis Cacioppo, MS3, published a paper in Pediatrics titled “Food Insecurity and Experiences of Discrimination Among Caregivers of Hospitalized Children.” She was interviewed about the paper, which can be reviewed here, for the American Academy of Pediatrics’ “Pediatrics On Call” podcast. Listen to the episode here.
Mohan Chennakesavalu, MS4, published a first author paper in JCO Precision Oncology titled “5-Hydroxymethylcytosine Profiling of Cell-Free DNA Identifies Bivalent Genes That Are Prognostic of Survival in High-Risk Neuroblastoma.” He was mentored on the project by Mark Applebaum, MD. Read the full paper here.
Zharia Crisp, MS2, published a paper titled “Impulsivity across psychiatric disorders in young adults” in Comprehensive Psychiatry. The project originated in the Pritzker Summer Research Program, and Zharia was mentored on the project by Jon Grant, MD. Read the full paper here.
Riley Driscoll, MS4, published a first author paper titled “A Multi-institutional Phase I Study of Acetazolamide with Temozolomide in Adults with Newly Diagnosed MGMT-methylated Malignant Glioma” in Neuro-Oncology Advances. He was mentored on the project by Bakhtiar Yamini, MD. Read the full paper here.
Felix Fernández-Penny, MS1, was selected as a 2024 Michael Reese Foundation Scholar by the Medical Organization for Latino Advancement.
Daniel Johnson, MS3, Spencer Asay, MS3, Alexandra Beem, MS2, Lahari Vuppaladhadiam, MS2, Grace Keegan, MS3, Maeson Zietowski, MS3, and Samuel Chen, MS3 published a paper titled “An Op-Ed Writing Curriculum for Medical Students to Engage in Advocacy Through Public Writing” in the Journal of General Internal Medicine. V. Ram Krishnamoorthi, MD was the lead author on the paper, which can be read in full here.
Ifeoma Ikedionwu, MS3, published a perspective piece titled “How an MD Cannot Outrun a Broken System” in Didactics reflecting on her own identity. Read the full piece here.
Lewis Oh, MS1, published a paper based on undergraduate research at Northwestern University in Cell Genomics. The paper, “Multi-omics integration identifies cell-state-specific repression by PBRM1-PIAS1 cooperation,” can be reviewed in full here.
Prachi Shah, MS2, received the Best Poster Presentation Award at the 2024 American Neuropsychiatric Association Annual Meeting in March. The project, “Assessing the Impact of an At-Home Therapeutic Arts Program on Mood and Behavior in Persons with Dementia,” began in the Pritzker Summer Research Program, and Prachi was mentored on the project by Kaitlin Seibert, MD.
Liam Spurr, MS4, published a peer-reviewed comment in NPJ Precision Oncology with his mentor Sean Pitroda, MD. Read the comment, “Exploiting tumor aneuploidy as a biomarker and therapeutic target in patients treated with immune checkpoint blockade,” in full here.
Gabrielle Sudilovsky, MS1, won second place for Best Oral Presentation at the 2024 LMSA Midwest Conference in February, presenting her gap year research in the Leukodystrophy Center at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia with Dr. Adeline Vanderver. Gabrielle, along with fellow MS1s Luke Detlor and Simon Han, led a successful effort to help the OUTPatient student group obtain Registered Student Organization (RSO) status with the University of Chicago.
Gary Wang, MS4, and Roger Yu, MS4, published a paper in AIDS and Behavior titled “Availability of Testing for Sexually Transmitted Infections and HIV in U.S. Outpatient Mental Healthcare Settings.” They were mentored on the project by Anu Hazra, MD. The full paper can be reviewed here.
Peter Wang, MS1, published a first-author paper, “Low-affinity CD8+ T cells provide interclonal help to high-affinity CD8+ T cells to augment alloimmunity,” based on his undergraduate research at the University of Chicago in the American Journal of Transplantation. Read the full paper here.
Claire Wild, MS2, was selected to present her research “Tumoroids with Different Genetic Backgrounds Have Differential Responses to Bile Acids Enriched by a High Fat Diet” at the Digestive Disease Week Conference in Washington, DC in May. The project began in the Pritzker Summer Research Program, and Claire was mentored on the project by Benjamin Shogan, MD.