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, abstracts were 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.
A special thank you to the DOM Research Excellence Advancement and Mentoring Council and DOM faculty who served as judges. We appreciate everyone for their continued support of research in our Department!
Congratulations to the 2025 DOM TRS Winners!
Kenneth Long
Award: J. Claude Bennett Award for Excellence in Research by an Associate Fellow
Division: Infectious Diseases
Mentor: Sixto Leal
Poster title: Mitigating false positive Clostridioides difficile test results: Demonstration of a novel RNA Nucleic Acid Amplification Test (NAAT) capable of more accurately distinguishing active infection from colonization
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Luke Jones
Award: Samuel B. Barker Award for Excellence in Research by a Graduate Student (Tie)
Division: Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine
Mentors: Jarrod Barnes and Stefanie Krick
Poster title: CD248 (Endosialin) regulates pulmonary artery smooth muscle cell proliferation and TGF-β signaling in pulmonary arterial hypertension
Tyler Freeland
Award: Samuel B. Barker Award for Excellence in Research by a Graduate Student (Tie)
Division: Hematology and Oncology
Mentor: Ravi Bhatia
Poster title: Multimodal Single Cell Analysis Uncovers Novel Stem Cell Surface Marker Panel and a Gene Signature Correlating with Leukemia Relapse after Treatment Cessation
Haifa Alsharif
Award: Joseph Reeves Award for Excellence in Research by a Postdoctoral Scholar
Division: Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism
Mentor: Sushant Bhatnagar
Poster title: Brain-Angiogenesis Inhibitor-3 Ablation Enhances Brown Adipose Tissue Thermogenesis and Protects Against Obesity
Charles Heald
Award: Thomas N. James Award for Excellence in Research by a Resident
Division: Cardiovascular Disease
Mentor: Stephen Clarkson
Poster title: Recurrant Candida Endocarditis in a Pregnant Woman Treated with Valve Replacement
Luqin Deng
Award: Jeanne M. Marrazzo Award for Excellence in Research by a Staff Scientist
Division: General Internal Medicine and Population Science
Mentor: Courtney Williams
Poster title: Real-world impact of remote symptom monitoring program on hospitalizations and emergency room visits in patients with cancer
Sruti Sivan
Award: Suzanne Oparil Award for Excellence in Research by an Undergraduate Student (Tie)
Division: Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine
Mentor: Jessy Deshane
Poster title: Combining Checkpoint Therapy and IL-6 Receptor Inhibition in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer
Olivia Douglas
Award: Suzanne Oparil Award for Excellence in Research by an Undergraduate Student (Tie)
Division: Infectious Diseases
Mentor: Rena Patel
Poster title: Associations between recent intimate partner violence and sustained viral suppression among pregnant and postpartum women living with HIV in western Kenya: a secondary analysis of a prospective cohort (Opt4Mamas)
TRS 2025 Semi-Finalists
| Trainee | Title | Place |
|---|---|---|
| Lauren East | Impact of Social Determinants of Health on Quality of Life after LVAD: A Beneficial Therapy Regardless of Social Risk | 2nd Place - Associate Fellow |
| Matthew Jenkins | Integrating Palliative Care into Medical Training: A Review of Curricular Approaches and Outcomes | 3rd Place - Associate Fellow |
| Tanvi Padalkar | Exploring Barriers and Facilitators to the Adoption of Multi-Cancer Early Detection (MCED) Tests in Alabama | 2nd Place - Staff Scientist |
| Sami Banerjee | TREM2 promotes lung fibrosis via controlling alveolar macrophage survival and pro-fibrotic activity | 3rd Place - Staff Scientist |
| Mary Latimer | Diurnal Rhythms in GFR Involve Both Tryptophan and Testosterone in Male BMAL1 Knockout Rats | 2nd Place - Post-Doctoral Scholar (Tie) |
| Linto Anthony | Harnessing the CFTR Functional Augmentation and Anti-Inflammatory Properties of the PDE4-Inhibitor Apremilast for Enhanced Defense Against Pseudomonas aeruginosa in CF Models | 2nd Place - Post-Doctoral Scholar (Tie) |
| Nilda Sanchez Castellanos | Exploring Mechanisms of Delay Lung Injury induce by Phenylarsine Oxide in Mice | 3rd Place - Post-Doctoral Scholar (Tie) |
| Abigail Brooks | Lack of ET-1/ETA axis on T Cells Ameliorates Kidney Disease and Inflammation During Type 1 Diabetes | 2nd Place - Graduate Student (Tie) |
| Meghan Hirsch | Epithelial Extracellular Vesicles Induce Inflammation and Neutrophil Activation in the Pseduomonas aeruginosa Infected Cystic Fibrosis Lung | 2nd Place - Graduate Student (Tie) |
| Alvina Do | Clandestine use of prior ART in an ART switch study: a mixed methods, secondary analysis of a pharmacokinetic study among women living with HIV in South Africa | 3rd Place - Graduate Student |
| Clementine Atkinson | Using the Andersen Behavioral Model of Healthcare Utilization to Assess ART Medication Adherence and Quality of Life among People with HIV, Diabetes, and Pain | 2nd Place - Undergraduate Student |
| Punarvi Mandadapu | Early life stress-induced aortic NOX4 and VCAM1 expression is mediated by endothelial cell HDAC9 | 3rd Place - Undergraduate Student |
| Akhilesh Gonuguntla | The Effect of Coronary Artery Calcium Score on Cardiovascular-Kidney-Metabolic Syndrome Staging: Insights from the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis | 2nd Place - Resident |
| Griffin Selch | Use of Dual Oxygenator Therapy for Patients with Refractory Hypoxemia and Hypercarbia despite maximal Extra-corporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) Support | 3rd Place - Resident (Tie) |
| Supriya Maheshwari | Visceral Adipose Tissue Density and Survival in Older Adults with Gastrointestinal Cancers | 3rd Place - Resident (Tie) |