Published March 22, 2021
The research projects, from 48 aspiring physician-scientists, were presented at the 2021 Virtual Medical Student Research Forum.
A faculty panel selected four outstanding projects for special recognition during the event.
Thomas Listopadzki, Class of 2022
“In Vitro Effect of Antimicrobial Photodynamic Therapy of Staphylococcal and C. Acnes Isolates”
The goal of Listopadzki’s project was to evaluate the effect of antimicrobial photodynamic therapy (aPDT) using blue light with demeclocycline (DMC) and 5-aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA) on staphylococcal strains isolated from hip and knee periprosthetic joint infection (PJI) and C. acnes strains isolated from shoulder PJI.
Overall, aPDT decreased the bacterial burden of staphylococcal hip and knee PJI isolates and C. acnes shoulder PJI isolates in vitro.
In the future, additional staphylococcal and C. acnes strains will be tested to optimize aPDT conditions, with the ultimate goal of developing in vivo studies.
His mentors/collaborators are: Kathleen K. Boyle, MD, clinical assistant professor of orthopaedics; John K. Crane, MD, PhD, professor of medicine; and Thomas R. Duquin, MD, clinical associate professor of orthopaedics.
K. Sophia Park, Class of 2023
“ST6GAL1 Regulates Inflammation in a Human Retinal Endothelial Cell Model of Diabetic Retinopathy”
Park’s study examined the role of ST6GAL1, a sialytransferase that catalyzes α2,6 sialylation on N-glycans, in regulating
inflammation in an in vitro human retinal endothelial cell (HREC) model of diabetic retinopathy (DR).
The study’s results suggest that dysregulated ST6GAL1 activity may contribute to DR pathogenesis by inducing exacerbated inflammatory responses in retinal endothelial cells.
Mentor/collaborators: Joshua Jianxin Wang, MD, associate professor of ophthalmology; Sarah X. Zhang, MD, professor of ophthalmology.
Maria Geba, Class of 2022
“The Existence of Twilight: Medical Approaches to Defining Death, From the Premodern Era to Today”
To paint a more complete picture of the state of physicians’ approaches to defining death from the premodern era to the present day, Geba performed a review of the primary and secondary historical sources related to medical and bioethical approaches to death.
Mentor/collaborator: Alan J. Lesse, MD, associate professor of medicine.
Abigail McLaughlin, Class of 2021
“Gluten-Free Diet in Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS)”
McLaughlin aimed to determine whether gluten-free diet (GFD) is beneficial for patients with POTS.
All three patients in the study reported significant improvement in POTS symptoms, which correlated with a reduction in total COMPASS 31 scores by 38 percent (from an average of 53.29 points before GFD to an average of 33.57 points after starting GFD).
Large randomized studies are necessary to determine whether GFD is an effective long-term treatment option for patients affected by this chronic and disabling condition.
Mentors/collaborators: Svetlana Blitshteyn, MD, clinical assistant professor of neurology; Jill Brook.
A complete list of participants, their projects and their mentors/collaborators follows:
| Student(s) | Project | Mentors/collaborators |
|---|---|---|
| Adil Ali | Management and Outcomes of Seroma in Patients After Expander-Implant Breast Reconstruction | William J. Magner, PhD Cemile Ozturk, MD |
| Jordan Bauer Joshua Slowinski | Clinical and Radiographic Outcomes of Reverse Total Shoulder Arthroplasty With an Augmented Baseplate Compared to Those Without an Augment | Thomas R. Duquin, MD Lin Feng |
| Trinithas Boyi | Prognosis Incidence and Management of Tall Cell Variant Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma | Vishal Gupta, MD Wesley L. Hicks Jr., MD William J. Magner, PhD Sandra L. Sigurdson, PhD |
| Greg Brown | Spirituality and Recovery at the UBMD Family Medicine Addiction Medicine Clinic | Diva Bomgaars, MD Ryan Bowe, MD David M. Holmes, MD Nihkil Satchidanand, PhD |
| Ellie Camanzo | Does Mucoviscosity Indicate Klebsiella Pneumoniae Virulence? | Somnath Chakravorty, PhD Ulrike B. Carlino-MacDonald Thomas A. Russo, MD |
| Madison Carlson | The Effect of HMUP Mutants on HMUP-Heme Binding in Bradyrzhzobium Japonicum | Mark R. O’Brian, PhD Peipei Wu, PhD |
| Weilin Chan | Non-Genetic Risk Factors and Enrollment Methodology of Diabetic Retinopathy Patient in South India | K. Brustoski S. Han R.P. Igo Jr., PhD S.K. Iyengar, PhD V. Khetan R. Khan I. Lains A. Li S. Mathavan, PhD R. Raman A. Rizza L. Sobrin, MD G. Susarla V.Y. Wang |
| Patrick Durkin | Impaired Adenosine-Mediated Coronary Vasodilation in Swine With Repetitive Pressure Overload-Induced Heart Failure With Preserved Ejection Fraction | John M. Canty Jr., MD Beth A. Palka Brian R. Weil, PhD |
| Nicole Favre | Complications in Pediatric Acute Mastoiditis: HCUP Kid Analysis | Michele M. Carr, MD, PhD Vijay A. Patel, MD |
| Jamie C. Floss | Growth Characteristics of Primary Human Corneal Endothelial Cells (HCEnC) at Ambient and 2.5 Percent Oxygen | Christian Mueller Sangita P. Patel, MD, PhD Maria Elizabeth Sousa |
| Alexander Fritz | Rationale for Surgical Intervention From Adolescent to Adult Idiopathic Scoliosis: An International Survey of Experts | Justice Agyei, MD Asham Khan, MD Jean-Marc Lucas Jennifer Zi Lin Mao Jeffrey P. Mullin, MD Tim O’Connor, MD John Pollina, MD Alexander R. Vaccaro, MD, PhD |
| Rishi K. Gupta | Effects of Physical and Mental Health on Adherence to a Smoking Cessation Program During Pregnancy | Rebecca Luterman Camilla Niedzwiedz Maya Owens Muhaimen Rahman Xiaozhong Wen, PhD Kate Zha |
| Marquessa Henry | Risk Factors for THA Periprosthetic Femur Fractures, Including the Influence of the Anterolateral Approach and Outpatient vs. Inpatient THA, Single Academic Center Experience | Thomas R. Duquin, MD Ellen Lutnick Alexander J. Macfarlane Matthew J. Phillips, MD Nickolas Van Roekel, MD |
| Alex Hollenberg | The Ability of Medial Patellofemoral Ligament Reconstruction to Overcome Lateral Patellar Motion in the Presence of Trochlear Dysplasia: A Cadaveric Biomechanical Study | Melissa A Kluczynski John M. Marzo, MD Amrit Vinod, MD |
| Christine Hook | Cancer Associated Fibroblasts in Ovarian Cancer and Strategies for Therapeutic CAF Targeting | Robert McGray, PhD Anthony Miliotto Adekunle O. Odunsi, MD, PhD |
| JianQiao Huang | Repetitive Preload Elevation and Stretch-Induced Stiffening of Non- Ischemic Myocardium in a Porcine Model of Multi-Vessel Coronary Artery Disease | John M. Canty Jr., MD Beth A. Palka Cody Smith Allison Warmuth Brian R. Weil, PhD |
| Vinesh Jonnala | Declining Post-TAVR Pacemaker Rates Associated With Newer Generation Valves and Cusp Overlay | Shannon Baldo Gerald Colern Rosemary Hansen Vijay S. Iyer, MD, PhD Yan Yatsynovich, MD |
| Chaitya Joshi | Cardiotoxicity in Pediatric Lymphoma Survivors | Jacob Adams, MD Neha Bansal, MD Kelley Hutchins, DO Steven E. Lipshultz, MD Andrew Ray, PhD |
| Katarina Krajacic | Upstaging Non-Muscle Invasive Bladder Cancer After Robot-Assisted Radical Cystectomy: Insights From the International Robotic Cystectomy Consortium | |
| Katherine Lindeman | Bacterial Contamination After Positive Pressure Irrigation of Low-Velocity Gunshot Wounds: A Cadaveric Study | Robert H. Ablove, MD Alexander J. Colen, DO |
| Ellen Lutnick | Increasing Number of Authors Per Research Article in Top 10 Orthopedic Journals: A 70-Year Analysis of 106,529 Research Articles | Emily J. Curry Xinning Li David Sing |
| Brandon Mariotti | Novel Biomechanical Model for Proximal Junctional Kyphosis | |
| Kelcy McIntyre | Translation Initiation as an Antifungal Target | John C. Panepinto, PhD |
| Kelcy McIntyre | Gender and Academic Productivity in Otolaryngology Society Leadership | Michele M. Carr, MD, PhD Andrew Kelly |
| Sonam Mokha | Increased Rates of Rehospitalization for Severe Hyperbilirubinemia During Social Distancing | Vikash Agrawal, MD Sara Berkelhamer, MD Chana Heintz, MD |
| Christian Mueller | Metabolism of Primary Human Corneal Endothelial Cell (HCENC) Cultures Grown at Ambient and 2.5 Percent Oxygen | Sangita P. Patel, MD, PhD |
| Heidi Mueller | Accuracy and Safety of Ultrasound-Guided MR Arthroscopy | Jason Matuszak, MD |
| Stephanie Newman | Impact of a National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) Compliant Multidisciplinary Conference on Treatment Decisions in Patients with Localized Prostate Cancer | Ahmed Elsayed Kurshid Guru, MD Ahmed Hussein Umar Iqbal Zhe Jing Eric Kauffman Katarina Krajacic Michael Kuettal James Mohler, MD Blake Peterson Adenna Samoni |
| Anxhela Nezha | The Effect of Proximal Row Carpectomy and Trapeziectomy on First Ray Stability in Treatment of Basilar Thumb and Wrist Arthrosis. A Cadaveric Study | Robert H. Ablove, MD Grant Mathinson, MD |
| Blake Peterson | Comparison of Changes in eGFR in Ileal Conduit vs. Neobladder Recipients Post Robot Assisted Radical Cystectomy | Khurshid Guru, MD Umar Iqbal |
| Kristina Powers | Otomatch, AAMC and NRMP: How do They Match Up? Comparison of Applicant Data for Individuals Applying to Otolaryngology Residency | Anthony Y. Cheung Justin S. Golub, MD Jessica R. Levi, MD Samuel A. Reyes, MD, PhD Wesley H. Stepp, MD, PhD |
| Andrew Schwartz | Simulating a Novel Human Rhodopsin Retinitis Pigmentosa Gene Mutation in Vitro and Exploring CRISPR/CAS9 as a Potential Therapeutic Agent | Jason M. Myers John M. Sullivan, MD, PhD |
| Jordan Serotte | Delay to Surgery in Geriatric Hip Fracture Patients | Mark J. Anders, MD Elias G. Joseph, MD Sonja Pavlesen, MD |
| Melissa Sloley | Socio-Psychological Effects of COVID-19 on Health Care Workers | Praveen K. Chandrasekharan, MD Munmun Rawat, MD Guan Yu, PhD |
| Charlotte Starling | Interstitial Fibrosis in HFpEF Attenuates Diastolic Circumferential Strain and the Transcriptional Response to Left Ventricular Pressure Overload | John M. Canty Jr., MD Brian R. Weil, PhD Rebeccah F. Young |
| Christopher M. Sullivan | Increased Biofilm Biomass with Co-Colonization of Enterococcus Faecalis and Morganella Morganii | Chelsie E. Armbruster, PhD Kirsten L. Bair Aimee L. Brauer Ashley Nicole White |
| Meagan Sullivan | Neutrophil-Driven Suppression of T Cell Activation in the Ovarian Cancer Microenvironment is Characterized by Defects in T Cell Signaling and Metabolism | Thejaswini Giridharan Tiffany Emmons Brahm H. Segal, MD Sora Suzuki |
| Sandra Tambi Jeff Zhang | Effects of Inpatient Beta-Blocker Therapy on Patient Outcome in Aneurysmal Subarachnoid Hemorrhage (aSAH) | Peter A. Abdelmalik, MD, PhD Ryan Hess, MD |
| Aisha Amir Townes | Adaptation of Moraxella Catarrhalis During Persistence in Human Airways in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) | Charmaine M. Kirkham Timothy F. Murphy, MD Melinda Pettigrew Herve Tettelin Martina Wade |
| Brian Unruh | Identification of MTRNR2-Like 1 as a Novel Therapeutic Target and Biomarker in Early AMD | Josh J. Wang Sarah X. Zhang, MD |
| Francesca Viola | Parents’ Concerns About Their Child’s Elective Surgery During the COVID- 19 Pandemic | Michele Carr, MD, PhD Jason C. DeGiovanni, MD Lauren DiNardo |
| Francesca Viola | The Role of Deltoid Contraction on Acromiohumeral Distance: An Ultrasonographic Study | Robert H. Ablove, MD Joseph T. Ferraro, MD Sonja Pavlesen, MD |
| Ash Zawerton | How do Multiple Myeloma Cells Survive in the Tryptohan-Depleted Bone Marrow Microenvironment? | Kelvin P. Lee, MD |
| Erika Zheng | The Mean, Green, Persistent Queen: Overthrowing Antibacterial Resistance in Pseudomonas Aeruginosa | Katie Rose Boissonneault, PhD Robert A. Bonomo, MD Patricia N. Holden Timothy F. Murphy, MD Nicholas Smith, PharmD, PhD Brian T. Tsuji, PharmD |