Tri-Institutional Research Day Showcases MD-PhD Students

The event takes place in collaboration with the University of Rochester and SUNY Upstate Medical University, with the event rotating each year between the three schools.

Jacobs School students, their programs and poster topics were:

• Clayton Brady
  Physiology and Biophysics
  “Consequences of Impaired Bicarbonate Transport”
• Kanita Chaudhry
  Immunology — Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center
  “AhR-Mediated Regulation of Multiple Myeloma Survival”
• Megan Conrow
  Neuroscience
  “Targeted Knockdown of the Autism-Linked Gene ADNP in Medial Prefrontal Cortex Induces Cognitive Dysfunction in Adolescent Mice”
• James Cooper
  Pharmacology and Toxicology
  “Large Volume Demyelination in the Leporine CNS”
• Tom Fuchs
  Neuroscience
  “Predictions From Structural Network Disruption and Default-Mode Network Functional Connectivity for Restorative Cognitive Rehabilitation Outcomes in Multiple Sclerosis”
• Eric Irons
  Molecular and Cellular Biology — Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center
  “Regulation of Hematopoiesis and Immune Cell Activation by an Extracellular Sialyltransferase”
• Daniel S. Jaremko
  Microbiology and Immunology
  “Identifying Critical Interactions in the Unique Trypanosoma Brucei 5S Ribonucleoprotein Complex and Their Role in Ribosome Biogenesis”
• Cameron MacDonald
  Immunology — Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center
  “Adrenergic Receptor Signaling Regulates the Response of Tumors to Ionizing Radiation”
• Matthew McGuire
  Neuroscience
  “Modeling the Development of Post-Traumatic Epilepsy Following Severe Traumatic Brain Injury”
• Chelsey B. Reed
  Neuroscience
  “Calcineurin in Myelination and Repair”
• James C. Schuler
  Biomedical Informatics
  “Computational Drug Repurposing With CANDO”
• Yuhao Shi
  Pharmacology and Therapeutics — Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center
  “Intrinsic Tumor Cell Consequences of Acquired Resistance to PD-L1 Blockade”
• Jiho Sohn
  Genetics, Genomics and Bioinformatics

  “The Potential Role of Periodontopathogens in Inflammatory Bowel Disease”
• Alex Sunshine
  Biochemistry
  “The Transcription Factor Ets1 Cooperates With IL-17RA to Prevent Development of Autoimmunity and Immunodeficiency”
• Nadav I. Weinstock
  Neuroscience
  “Conditional Knockout Model of Krabbe Disease”

A panel session titled “Tips From Residency Directors” featured six directors and the programs they lead:

• Tova S. Ablove, MD, clinical associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology — obstetrics and gynecology residency
• Sarah G. Finnegan, MD, PhD, clinical associate professor of neurology — child neurology residency
• Regina Makdissi, MD, clinical assistant professor of medicine — internal medicine residency
• Sourav Sengupta, MD, clinical assistant professor of psychiatry — child and adolescent psychiatry fellowship
• Nicholas J. Silvestri, MD, clinical associate professor of neurology — adult neurology residency
• Stacey A. Watt, MD, clinical professor of anesthesiology — anesthesiology residency

The panel breakout for the session on “How to be a PI” consisted of the following faculty and their research specialty:

• Mark D. Hicar, MD, PhD, assistant professor of pediatrics — pediatric infectious diseases
• Jennifer K. Lang, MD, assistant professor of medicine — cardiology and cardiovascular disease
• Umesh Sharma, MD, PhD, assistant professor of medicine — autoimmunity and cardiac pharmacology

Alex Sunshine and Mary Gallo, a doctoral student in microbiology and immunology, were part of the panel breakout for “Transition and Success in M3/M4.”

Chelsey B. Reed and Nadav I. Weinstock were part of the panel breakout for “Applying for an F30.”

Tom Fuchs and James C. Schuler also gave talks on their research.

Keynote speaker Craig M. Horbinski, MD, PhD, professor of pathology/neurological surgery at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, spoke on “Maximizing Your Potential as a Physician-Scientist.”

Horbinski, a native of Buffalo, is a 2003 graduate of the MD-PhD program at UB.

He completed an anatomic pathology residency and a neuropathology fellowship at the University of Pittsburgh.

Horbinski directs the Nervous System Tumor Bank and the Mouse Histology and Phenotyping Laboratory at Northwestern, in addition to overseeing molecular diagnostics in gliomas.

He has authored more than 120 peer-reviewed publications and has obtained extramural research support as a principal investigator from multiple sources, including the National Institutes of Health. He has delivered more than 70 invited talks and platform presentations on gliomas in a variety of national and international settings.

Horbinski is an associate editor of Neuro-Oncology, and is on the editorial board of the top three neuropathology journals (Acta Neuropathologica, Brain Pathology and Journal of Neuropathology & Experimental Neurology).