Celebration of Scholarship Honors Top Research Projects

By Bill Bruton

“This day truly demonstrates the diverse scholarly activity of our residents, fellows and medical students at the Jacobs School,” said Allison Brashear, MD, MBA, UB’s vice president for health sciences and dean of the Jacobs School. “This annual event is the foundation from which these individuals will grow. It provides exposure to scientific inquiry and sparks curiosity for specific subjects.”

Brashear said her passion for research came in the wake of illnesses that struck family members (her mother passed away from breast cancer and her mother-in-law from Alzheimer’s disease.)

“Our family is acutely aware of the importance of research in patient care, and how research advances the care of patients and the impact it can have on those diseases, and on a family,” Brashear said. “Research is the driving force behind medical advancement and it is how many of our future physicians and scientists will leave their mark on medicine.”

She said that without research, our understanding of disease processes would remain stagnant, and treatments would fail to progress.

“In the lab or in the clinic, medical school researchers are behind many of the most important innovations of our times across the realm of cutting-edge science ranging from COVID-19 to health policy to vascular diseases and more,” Brashear said. “Today is just the start!”

Four residents and two fellows were honored as Research Day award winners at the event, which was sponsored by the Office of Graduate Medical Education.

They are:

Jawdat A. Mustafa, MD
Internal medicine/preventive medicine resident
Project title: “Interprofessional Collaboration for Safe Opioid Prescribing for Chronic Pain”

Sung Jun Ma, MD
Radiation oncology resident
Project title: “Intensive Symptom Surveillance and Management Among Patients With Head and Neck Cancer”

Calkins served as director of medicine at Meyer Memorial Hospital — now Erie County Medical Center — for 12 years. During that time, the clear but unmet needs of the community — especially in poor and medically underserved areas — made a strong impression on him. Calkins believed medical institutions have an obligation to improve the quality of, and access to, health care throughout the community. The Calkins fellowship is a product of this conviction.

Arya Mariam Roy, MD
Hematology and medical oncology fellow
“Environmental Temperature Influence on Tumor Microenvironment, Pathologic Complete Response (pCR) and Clinical Outcomes in Breast Cancer”

Jaims Lim, MD
Neurosurgery resident
“Intra-Arterial Mannitol and Chemotherapy in a Rat Glioma Model”

Frawley graduated from the UB School of Medicine in 1944. As a young resident, he sought and received funding from UB to enable him to support his family while pursuing his postgraduate training. He went on to a successful career as a nationally recognized researcher in diabetes and metabolism, serving as president of the American College of Physicians and Chair of Medicine at the St. Louis University School of Medicine. In gratitude, he established this award to aid new physician-researchers in similar circumstances.

Paige Matthews, MD
Internal medicine and pediatrics resident

Ruchi Amin, MD
Pediatric surgery fellow

Donald Cherr practiced ophthalmology in Rochester and Charles Schen practiced orthopedic surgery in Buffalo. Both men were community physicians who cared deeply for their patients and families, and devoted their careers to providing humanistic, excellent patient-centered care. Skilled in the art and science of medicine, they utilized warmth, sympathy, understanding and humility in addition to the requisite knowledge and skills to optimize their patients’ outcomes. This award was created to acknowledge the residents or fellows who best exemplify the legacies and ideals of Schen and Cherr in providing extraordinary patient care during their training at the Jacobs School.

Rohan Pandey, MD
Internal medicine resident
Project title: “Role of Cardiosphere-Derived Cell Extracellular Vesicles (CDC-EVs) in Modulating CCR2 Mediated Pro-Inflammatory Signaling Following Cardiac Injury”

Fazeelah Ibrahim, MD
Family medicine resident
Project title: “Adverse Outcomes in Alcohol Use Disorder in Refugee Population Compared to Domestic Population”

Daniel Popoola, PhD
Medical student
Project title: “Transfemoral Flow-Reversal Using Walrus Balloon-Guide Catheter for Carotid Artery Stenting Technical Description and Single-Center Experience”

Noor Khechen
Medical student
Project title: “Closing the Gender Gap in the Urology Residency Match”

Yu-Che Lee, MD, MPH
Internal medicine resident, Catholic Health
Project title: ”Association of State Health Factors with COPD Mortality in the United States”

Einas Batarseh, MD
Internal medicine resident
Project title: “Improve Interfacility Transfer Processes Using LEAN Methodologies — Informatics-Focused High Reliability Organization Project”

Oscar G. Gomez, MD, PhD, associate professor of pediatrics and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases, gave the keynote address.

He spoke on “Addressing Health Care Disparities in the United States and Beyond.”

Gregory S. Cherr, MD, senior associate dean for graduate medical education and professor of surgery, served as master of ceremonies for the event, which took place June 3 at the M&T Auditorium.