Alabama School of Fine Arts and UAB PRISM student Oluwatosin Badewa presents her research, "A Novel Application of Artificial Intelligence to Assess Diversity in Surgical Performance," at the PRISM and SURE presentation reception in Wallace Tumor Institute on July 24. (Photo by Rebecca Turner)

Last month, five high school students from the Department of Surgery's Pre-College Research Internship for Students from Minority Backgrounds and 10 undergraduate students from the department's Surgery Undergraduate Research Experience presented the research projects they completed this summer under the mentorship of UAB Surgery faculty.

The project topics included subjects such as esophageal cancer, gastrointestinal disorders, health literacy and diversity.

Several of the SURE students also presented their research at the UAB Undergraduate Research and Service Learning Expo. Adithya Menon, a rising sophomore at UAB, won first place in the oral presentation category for his project, “Exploring the Relationship Between Mental Health and the Diagnosis and Treatment of Aortic Dissections in Vascular Surgery Patients.”

Menon was mentored by Graeme McFarland, M.D., assistant professor in the Division of Vascular Surgery and Endovascular Therapy and President of the UAB Marshall M. Urist, M.D., General Surgery Residency Society.