2019 Medical Student Research Day

Paula Gregory, Ph.D.
Assistant Dean for Medical Student Research

Research Day Photo 1 smThis past summer, 75 students conducted mentored research during the summer following their first year of medical school. Students worked on both clinical and basic science projects at UMC-NO, Children’s Hospital, and Our Lady of the Lake Hospital in Baton Rouge. Medical Student Research Day was held on October 10, and is an annual event that provides a forum to present their research results. Dean Nelson is a strong supporter of the program. His office supported 30 stipends this year.

“It is important that we provide our students with opportunities to engage in meaningful research, to present their research to colleagues, and to receive valuable feedback from their colleagues,” he said. “In fact, many of our students will present their data at medical and scientific conferences or become published in medical and scientific journals.”

Dr. Paula Gregory started the program in 2004.

“One of this year’s first place winners, Adrienne, is the first ever recipient of an award from an alumnus donor. She is the inaugural recipient of the Theresa “Mitzie” Hano Wittliff Research Award, which includes funding to support travel to present her meritorious research project at a professional meeting,” she said.Research Day Photo 3 sm

The other first place winner also received a travel award to present research at a future meeting, sponsored by the Dean’s Office.

Research Day Photo 2 sm

This year, there were several ties for the winners of the Medical Student Research Day poster session:

First Place (tie): 

  • Kyle LaPenna (Dr. Lefer): “Development and Characterization of a Novel Small Animal Model of Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction”
  • Adrienne Murphy (Dr. Miele): “Targeting Notch signaling in Cancer Stem-Like Cells of Triple Negative Breast Cancer”

Second Place (tie): 

  • Fallon Anzalone (Dr. Vance): “Transition of Pediatric Patients to Adult Sickle Cell Care”
  • Ryan Hoffman (Dr. Lau): “Prevalence of Accessory Branches and other Anatomical Variations of the Radial Artery”
  • Hayden Torres (Dr. Naljayan): “Evaluating causes of dropout in a large peritoneal dialysis program”
  • John Valentino (Drs. Simkin/Dasa): “Is poor bone quality associated with pain after total knee arthroplasty?”

Third Place (tie):

  • Jake Doiron (Dr. Wojcik): “Identification of host cellular target of the Zika NS2b-NS3 protease”
  • Ahmad Karkoutli (Dr. Arriaga): “The relationship between NF-2 associated vestibular schwannoma tumor size and the degree of hearing impairment”
  • Peter Morreale (Dr. Savoie): “Age is just a number: a case of multiple myeloma in a 29-year-old male”
  • Alex Robertson (Dr. Ronis): “Role of NOX4 Expression in Osteoblast-precursors in the Development of Alcohol-Induced Osteopenia”
  • Lauren Saunee (Drs. Marrero/Dasa): “Testing mechanisms and clinical outcomes of synovial fibrosis in total knee arthroplasty patients”