Outstanding Research Showcased at GME Scholarly Exchange Day

The Scholarly Exchange Day Research Award winners were:

Susheel Narain Thekkiam Muralidharan, MD
Neonatal-perinatal medicine fellow
Basic science award winner
“Optimal Crystalloid Solution (Normal Saline (NS) vs. Lactated Ringers (LR)) for Post Resuscitation Neonatal Stabilization”
Mentor: Praveen K. Chandrasekharan, MD, research assistant professor of pediatrics

Amanda Przespolewski, DO
Hematology/oncology fellow
Clinical research award winner
“Targeting Innate and Adaptive Immune Responses for the Treatment of Acute Myeloid Leukemia”
Mentor: Eunice S. Wang, MD, research assistant professor of medicine

Nadine Haykal, MD, MPH
Otolaryngology resident
Other research award winner
“Family History of Post-Tonsillectomy Hemorrhage, a Potential Predictor of Post-Tonsillectomy Hemorrhage in Children Undergoing Tonsillectomy”
Mentor: Philomena Behar, MD

Milind Chaudhari, MD, PhD
Combined internal medicine-preventive medicine resident
Quality Improvement research winner
“Enhancing Patient Access to a Primary Care Resident Clinic — A Quality Improvement Project”
Mentor: Roberto O. Diaz Del Carpio, MD, MPH, clinical assistant professor of medicine

Other presenters were:

Basic Research

• Muhammad Cheema, MD, internal medicine Catholic Health System resident
  “Zinc Inhibits Antibiotic Resistance by Blocking the SOS Response and SOS-Induced Hypermutation in Enterobacter Cloacae”

• Sunyoung Lee, MD, PhD, hematology/oncology fellow
  “The Dissociation of P-Selectin/P-Selectin Glycoprotein Ligand-1 Complexes is Modulated by Actin Cytoskeletal Force Dynamics in HL-60 Cell Rolling”

• Asma Mursleen, MD, internal medicine resident
  “Cardiosphere Derived Cardiomyocytes Polarize Macrophages Toward a M2 Anti-Inflammatory Phenotype Evidenced by Dose Dependent Increased Arg1 Expression”

 Clinical Research

• Kenneth Burns, MD, pulmonary disease and critical care fellow
  “Longitudinal Assessment of Blood Eosinophil Counts in a COPD Cohort”
• Nicholas Camposeo, DO, emergency medicine resident
  “Patterns of Opioid-Related Emergency Department Visits”
• Praveen K. Chandrasekharan, MD, research assistant professor of pediatrics and Dr. Henry C. and Bertha H. Buswell fellow
  “Placental Transfusion During Resuscitation of a Preterm Transitional Model”
  
• Raymond Chankalal, MD, child and adolescent psychiatry fellow
  “The Comorbidity of ADHD and Child Asthma: Effects on Asthma Disease Severity, Pulmonary Function, Mediated by Autonomic Nervous System Regulation”
• Ajay Dhakal, MBBS, hematology/oncology fellow
  “Variation in Merlin Expression and its Prognostic Significance in Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma”
• Brittany Espino, MD, generalist scholar
  “Multidisciplinary Approach for Management of Childhood Obesity: What Have We Achieved and Where Do We Go Next?”
• Asif Fakhri, MD, nuclear medicine resident
  “Detection of White Matter Small Vessel Disease on Tc-99m-Bicisate Cerebral Perfusion SPECT Versus Brain MRI”
• Andrew Fanous, MD, neurosurgery resident
  “Buffalo Risk Assessment Scale (BRASS) for Symptomatic Carotid Stenting”
• Elizabeth-Zoe Gregory, MD, generalist scholar
  “Identification and Management of Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease in Primary Care”
  
• Melissa Heffler, MD, forensic psychiatry fellow
  “The Efficacy of a Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit in Managing Aggression Among Individuals With Serious Mental Illness”
• Shalin Kothari, MD, hematology/oncology fellow
  “Bone Scan Index at Baseline as a Tool for Predicting Hematologic Toxicity in Metastatic Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer Patients Eligible for Radium-223 Treatment”
• Yilan Li, MD, PhD, pathology resident
  “Survivin is a Prognostic/Predictive Biomarker in Patients with Meningioma Progression”
• Pooja Makhija, MD, pediatrics resident
  “Are Renal Resistive Indices Falsely Elevated in Obese Hypertensive Children?”
• Umair Minhas, MD, internal medicine resident
  “Questionnaire-Based Assessment of the Screening and Referral Practices of Internal Medicine Practitioners Toward Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease”
• Calsey Mischel, MD, pediatrics resident
  “The Effect of Iatrogenic Chloride Load on Duration of Acidosis in Children with Diabetic Ketoacidosis”
• Michael Murray, MD, generalist scholar
  “Effect of Living Setting on Diabetes Quality of Care Measure in the Developmentally Disabled”
• Ghulam Mustafa, MD, nuclear medicine resident
  “Hypertension as a Risk Factor for Cerebral White Matter Small Vessel Disease as Detected by Cerebral Perfusion SPECT in Patients With Memory Loss”
• Shaelyn O’Hara, MD, obstetrics/gynecology resident
  “Does Centering Pregnancy Improve Patient Satisfaction and Prenatal Knowledge in Pre-Gestational Diabetic Patients?”
• Manu Pandey, MBBS, internal medicine resident
  “Immune Related Adverse Events (irAE), Laboratory Parameters and Medication Use as Predictors of Clinical Benefit to Checkpoint Inhibitors (CPI): A Single Institution Experience”
• Xavier Perez Hernandez, MD, MPH, nephrology fellow
  “Use of Donor Specific Antibody (DSA) for Predicting Acute Rejection in Renal Transplant Patients”
• Ramayee Periakaruppan, MD, cytopathology fellow
  “Clinicopathologic Correlation of Metastatic Prostatic Adenocarcinoma Emphasizing Effects of Prognostic Grade, Extraprostatic Extension and Neoadjuvant/Adjuvant Therapy on the Onsets of Distant Metastasis”
• Shiva Rahimi-Shahmirzadi, MD, nuclear medicine resident
  “Body Mass Index Affects White Matter Cellularity in Patients With Memory Loss”
• Shabnam Samankan, MD, pathology resident
  “Trop-2 Overexpression in the Axillary Lymph Nodes of Patients with Lobular Carcinoma Identifies Candidates for Adjuvant Treatment With the Antibody Drug Conjugate IMMU-132”
• Gwenn Santoro, MD, generalist scholar
  “Urinary Tract Infections (UTI) in Preterm Infants”
• Abhishek Sawant, MD, MPH, cardiovascular disease fellow
  “Temporal Trends, Complications and Predictors of Outcomes Among Nonagenarians Undergoing Percutaneous Coronary Intervention: Insights from the VA CART Program”
  
• Neel Shah, MD, pediatrics resident
  “Changing Epidemiology of Staphylococcus Aureus at Women & Children’s Hospital of Buffalo Between 2012-2016”
• Ahmad-Sharif-Tabrizi, MD, nuclear medicine resident
  “Brain Tumor Response to Stereotactic Radiosurgery Revealed on FDG-PET/CT”
• Ali Sheikh, DO, cardiovascular disease fellow
  “Improvement in Cost and Efficiency in Electrophysiology Laboratory by Cardiac Computed Tomography to Exclude Left Atrial Appendage Thrombus Prior to Atrial Fibrillation Ablation”
• Ajay Pratap Singh, MD, neonatal-perinatal medicine fellow
  “Effects Of Implementing a Regional Analgesia Program in an Observational Cohort of Neonates Undergoing Thoracoabdominal Surgeries”
• Shyamashree Sinha, MD, MPH, clinical informatics fellow
  “Understanding the Distribution and Determinants of Chronic Prescription Opioid Use in Western New York Through Natural Language Processing”
  
• Margaret Steinmetz, MD, obstetrics/gynecology resident
  “Lower Limb Compression Prevents Hypotension After Epidural in Labor Patients: A Randomized Controlled Trial”
• Pankit Vachhani, MD, hematology/oncology fellow
  “Evaluation of the Role of Radiological Imaging and Bone Marrow Biopsy in Staging of Cutaneous B-Cell Lymphoma”
• Edward Wilson, MD, internal medicine resident
  “The Effect Of Medicinal Cannabinoids on the Subjective Perception of Neuropathic Pain, Quality of Life, and Psychological Well-Being in an Urban Population”
• Jane Zhao, MD, clinical informatics fellow and general surgery resident
  “Unnecessary Percutaneous Cholecystostomy Drainage is Associated With Potentially Preventable Mortality: A Comparison of Patient Characteristics and Management Strategies for Cholecystitis in 2005 and 2015”

Other Research

• Kelly Jaziri, MD, psychiatry resident
  “Involuntary Commitment Law and Their Impact on Opioid-Related Deaths: Do They Make a Difference?”
• Joshua Russell, MD, child and adolescent psychiatry fellow
  “Foster Care: Attachment, Development, and Mental Health”
• Sarah Shin, MD, MPH, internal medicine resident
  “Dexrazoxane for Cardioprotection in Older Adults With Acute Myeloid Leukemia”

Quality Improvement Research

• Gaurav Ahluwalia, MD, internal medicine resident
  “Improving Rates Of Colorectal Cancer (CRC) Screening by Fecal Immunochemical Testing (FIT) and Colonoscopies in an Academic, Hospital Based Primary Care Safety-Net Clinic: Quality Improvement Project”
• Raed Al Yacoub, MD, internal medicine resident
  “Enhancing the Prevention of Microvascular Complications of Diabetes Type 2: A Resident-Led QI Project”
• Aishwarya Bhardwaj, MD, internal medicine resident
  “Guideline Directed Medical Therapy for Heart Failure Optimization in a Primary Care Setting”
• Christopher Cancino, MD, internal medicine resident
  “Primary Care Screening for Albuminuria in Hypertensive Diabetics: A Quality Improvement Project”
• Ju Joh, family medicine resident
  “Appointment No-Shows: Patient Perspective”
  
• Navpreet Kaur, MD, child and adolescent psychiatry fellow
  “Improving Communication Between Child and Adolescent Psychiatrists and Primary Care Providers”
• AnneMarie Laurri, MD, internal medicine resident
  “Physician Wellness: Building an Initiative From the Ground Up”
• Sarah Morse, PharmD, generalist scholar
  “Decreasing Unnecessary Empiric Acyclovir Usage Through Resident-Directed Education”
• Makoto Nagahama, MD, internal medicine resident
  “Improving Age Appropriate Screening for Colorectal Cancer at BGH Primary Care Center”
• Tara Providence, MD, internal medicine resident
  “Improving Rates Of Spirometry for the Diagnosis and Evidence Based Treatment of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Based on Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) Guidelines in an Academic, Hospital Based Primary Care Safe”
• Joseph Thomas, MD, internal medicine resident
  “Screening With DEXA Scan and Initiating Prevention of Osteoporosis: Quality Improvement Project”
• Emily Ulrich, MD, generalist scholar
  “Blood Cultures in Superficial Soft Tissue Infections”
• Casey White, MD, internal medicine resident
  “Improving Outpatient Follow-Up With Primary Care Physicians After an Emergency Department Visit”

The interactive, interdisciplinary event showcased UB research and provided participants with experience in poster presentation, as well as the opportunity to interact with other researchers, faculty and medical alumni. It took place in partnership with the UB Medical Alumni Association’s Spring Clinical Day.

Fifty-seven residents and fellows presented research posters. There were 17 faculty researchers representing 10 departments who served as facilitators, leading small poster discussion groups and lending their feedback on the posters presented.

The event took place at the Hotel Henry.