Scholarly Opportunities

2022 Summer Research Program

The 28th Annual Pritzker Summer Research Program proved to be another successful year of scholarship for a large number of second-year students. Funded in part by the NHLBI,  NIA, NCI, the Bucksbaum Institute for Clinical Excellence, and The Center for Healthcare Delivery Science. The Summer Research Program allowed students to work closely with faculty mentors across the clinical, translational, and basic sciences. Thanks in large part to the continued guidance of Drs. Sola Olopade, Funmi Olopade, Daniel Golden, David Meltzer, Valerie Press, Rachel Wolfson, Erika Claud, and V. Leo Towle, the Summer Research Program has often given students a platform for ongoing research and a chance to present and publish their work on a national level.

After presenting their work to a panel of faculty judges, the following students were recognized for their excellence. The Pritzker School of Medicine would like to congratulate these second-year medical students:

The Joseph B. Kirsner Research Award for Excellence

Tiffany Xie

Mentor: Elizabeth Tung, MD, MS

The Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) Moderates Associations Between Race/Ethnicity and Hypertension in Chicago

 

The Sigma Xi Award for Impact on Society

Divya Choudhury

Mentor: Alexander Pearson, MD, PhD

Evaluation of Image Acquisition Hardware: Digital Pathology-Based Machine Learning Models Applied to Low-Resource Settings

 

The Brain Research Foundation Award for Neuroscience

Mahesh Kumar

Mentor: Harriet DeWit, PhD

Electrophysiological Correlates of Behavioral Inhibition Following Acute Methamphetamine Administration

 

Healthcare Delivery Science Award 

Meredith Hollender

Mentor: Kimberly Stanford, MD, MPH

Utilization of Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners (SANEs) Leads to Improved Uptake of Recommended Services for Sexual Assault Survivors in the Emergency Department

 

Overall Excellence in Scientific Quality, Content and Ability to Respond to Questions in the Performance of Research in Clinical or Social Sciences

Samuel Chen

Mentor: Mai Pho, MD, MPH

More Drugs, Less Treatment: A Study of Polysubstance use Among People Experiencing Incarceration in the 2016 Survey of Prison Inmates

Tecora Turner

Mentor: Debra Stulberg, MD, MA & Lee Hasselbacher, JD

Illinois Patient Preferences Around Abortion Method Prior to 11 Weeks’ Gestation

 

Overall Excellence in Scientific Quality, Content and Ability to Respond to Questions in the Performance of Research in Basic Science

Kofi Acheampong

Mentor: Aravind Athiviraham, MD

Augmented Meniscus Radial Tear Repair via Local Transforming Growth Factor-beta 1 (TGF- β1) Gene Therapy in a Rat Model 

Michelle Verghese

Mentor: Yu-Ying He, PhD

ALKBH1 as an Oncogenic Factor in UV-Induced Damage and Skin Tumorigenesis

  

Overall Excellence in Scientific Quality, Content and Ability to Respond to Questions in the Performance of Research in Applied Science

Capri Alex

Mentor: Nicola Orlov, MD, MPH

To DO or not to DO: Exploring the Medical Student Experience of Receiving a Direct Observation (DO) During the Pediatric Clerkship

Wendy Luo

Mentor: Jason Kane, MD

Hospital Admissions for Toxic Ingestions with Acetaminophen Before and During COVID Era

 

Honorable Mention for Excellence

Rachel Alexander

Mentor: Aravind Athiviraham, MD

Augmented Meniscal Healing via Stem Cell Therapy in a Rodent Model

 

Nour Asfour

Mentor: Will Parker, MD, PhD

Association of Race and Ethnicity with Priority for Deceased Donor Kidney Transplant

 

David Fenton

Mentor: David Rubin, MD

Factors Associated with Fecal Calprotectin Sample Collection Compliance: An IBD Center Quality Improvement Project 

 

Allison Liu

Mentor: Debra Stulberg, MD, MA

Short Interval Pregnancy Following Delivery in Catholic vs non-Catholic Hospitals in the National Medicaid Population

 

Frank Medina

Mentor: John Blair, MD

Prevalence of Myocardial Bridge in Heart Transplant Patients: A Retrospective Analysis of Routine Post-Transplant Invasive Coronary Artery Assessments Using Coronary Angiography and Intravascular Ultrasound

  

Rimel Mwamba

Mentor: Jeffrey Stepan, MD

The Effects of Area Level Deprivation on the Severity of Cubital Tunnel Syndrome on Presentation to a Hand Surgeon

 

Simi Ogunnowo

Mentor: Chelsea Dorsey, MD

Exploring the Experiences of Traumatic Microaggressions and Discrimination in Surgery

 

Natasha Powell

Mentor: John Schneider, MD, MPH

Associations Between Substance Use Stigma and COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy

 

Maeson Zietowski

Mentor: Russell Reid, MD, PhD

Appearance-Related Distress After Facial Trauma: A Literature Review and Pilot Study After Facial Ballistic Trauma