Students celebrated at 2024 MU Health Sciences Research Day

Each year, the MU Health Sciences Research Day (HSRD) provides a forum to highlight original research and educational innovations by undergraduate, medical and nursing students, as well as predoctoral and postdoctoral trainees working with faculty in the schools of medicine and nursing.

This year, a record of more than 340 research projects were displayed and evaluated by more than 80 judges. Students, faculty and staff across MU observed the slew of posters throughout the day-long event as presenters showcased their work.

Second-year medical student, Abigail McCay, was on-hand presenting her research to those in attendance. McCay began her efforts earlier this year as a member of the School of Medicine Summer Research Fellowship Program. Her research, “Sequential Direct Bilirubin Values and Yield of Evaluation in Pre-Term Infants,” focused on historically excluded infants who were transferred to another hospital with genetic anomalies and had no direct bilirubin evaluated.  

“It’s really nice to have an opportunity like the Health Sciences Research Day right here at our medical school to present the research we’ve conducted,” said McCay. “I participated in our medical school’s Summer Research Fellowship Program and today’s event was a great cap to all of the hard work I put in with my classmates. Being a part of that program gave myself and other M2s a big advantage leading up to this day.”

Following the morning clinical and basic category poster session, Arul Chinnaiyan, MD, PhD, S.P. Hicks Endowed Professor of Pathology at the University of Michigan Medical School, presented this year’s keynote address inside Acuff Auditorium. The afternoon continued with a second and final clinical and basic category poster presentations and concluded with the HSRD awards ceremony.

The Dorsett L. Spurgeon, MD, Distinguished Medical Research Award, which recognizes School of Medicine researchers for outstanding accomplishments early in their career, was presented to Margaret Lange-Osborn, PhD, assistant professor of Molecular Microbiology & Immunology and Scott Zawieja, PhD, assistant professor of Medical Pharmacology and Physiology.

Lange-Osborn has gained international praise for her cutting-edge research on ribonucleic acid (RNA) technologies to help advance understanding of host-virus interactions and identifying targets for potential therapeutic intervention. Zawieja was recognized for his efforts in lymphatic research, focusing on the impact of lymphatic muscle cells (LMCs) and lymphatic collecting vessels (cLV).

This year’s recipient of the Excellence in Mentoring Award was Timothy Domeier, PhD, associate professor of Medical Pharmacology and Physiology.

Three health sciences students were recognized for their exemplary research abstracts at the 2024 HSRD:

School of Medicine Dean’s Award – Anjugam Paramanantham, PhD, postdoctoral fellow

• Honored for her research on “Induction of Ferroptosis by a Novel Tumor Targeted Extracellular Vesicles and Iron Oxide Nanoparticle Hybrid System to Overcome Chemoresistance in Lung Cancer.”

Sinclair School of Nursing Dean’s Award – Kassandra Maturino, MPH, graduate student

• Honored for her research on “Examining Cannabis Use During Pregnancy Among Missouri PRIDE Festival Female Attendees.”

Dean’s Advisory Research Council Award – Andrew Behrmann, graduate student

• Honored for his research on “TRPV4 Contributes to Angiotensin II-Induced Right Ventricular Hypercontractility and Arrhythmogenesis in Isolated Hearts of Type 3 Pulmonary Hypertensive Mice.”

The students’ basic science and clinical research projects were judged in two sections: Category I for undergraduate students, medical students, Conley Scholars and Summer Research Fellowship participants, and Category II for graduate students, resident physicians and postdoctoral researchers and fellows.

Category I, Clinical

First Place

• Maya Memirchian, mentored by Jean Goodman, MD, for “Elucidating Risk Factors for Craniosynostosis.”

Second Place

• MaCee Boyle, mentored by Akshaya Vachharajani, MD, for “Reducing Electrolyte Monitoring in the NICU: Safely Optimizing Testing, Cost-Effectiveness, Iatrogenic Anemia and Reducing Pain: A Retrospective Cohort Study in the NICU.”

Third Place (tie)

• Maya Demirchian, mentored by Lei Lei, PhD, for “Retrospective Study of Initial Symptom Presentation of Epithelial Ovarian Cancer.”
• Sooah Ko, mentored by Milot Thaqi, MD, for “Investigating Pain Outcomes of Robot-Assisted and Laparoscopic Roux-en-y Bypasses.”

Category I, Basic

First Place

• Logan Mays, mentored by Hu Huang, PhD, for “The Role of Exosomes Derived from Muller Cells in the Retina.”

Second Place

• Lara Stefani, mentored by Aaron Stoker, PhD, for “Effects of Elderberries and Soybean Polyphenols on Responses of Meniscal Cells to Inflammatory Stimulation.”

Third Place

• Karen Yucebas, mentored by Lei Lei, PhD, for “Translational Regulation in Ovarian Reserve Activation.”

Category II, Clinical

First Place

• Eric Du, mentored by Arnaldo Rivera, MD, for “Bilateral Congenital Stapes Footplate Fixation with Absence of the Stapedial Tendon: A Case Report.”

Second Place

• Caleb Bischoff, mentored by Brett Crist, MD, for “Femoral Head Fractures: Can We Change Outcomes?”

Third Place

• Jeffrey Bodeen, mentored by John McCarville, DO, for “Providers and Patients in Rural Southwest Missouri: Understanding Perceived Barriers to Diabetic Retinopathy Exam Compliance Rates.”

Category II, Basic

First Place

• Rahmat Asfiya, mentored by Akhil Srivastava, PhD, for “Extracellular Vesicles a Next Generation Therapeutic Delivery Platform.”

Second Place

• Amanda Hull, mentored by Jae-Wook Jeong, PhD, for “Ob/Ob Obese Mice Promote Tumorigenesis of Endometrial Cancer.”

Third Place

• Taylor Kelty, mentored by Scott Rector, PhD, for “5xFamilial Alzheimer’s Diseases Mouse Model Pathology is Rescued by Neuronal Overexpression of Ketolysis Rate-Limiting Enzyme: OXCT1.”
• Nithya Ramesh, mentored by Venkateswaran Subramanian, PhD, for “miR-146a Deficiency Ablates Thoracic Aortic Aneurysmal Rupture in Mice.”

In conjunction with HSRD, the third edition of the ForMUlation research networking event was held on Thursday, Nov. 14, at Memorial Union. With more than 100 total attendees, students had the opportunity to meet faculty researchers and build relationships for potential future research projects.

As a majority of students in attendance were first-year medical students, meetings with faculty research mentors have historically led to research partnerships in programs such as the Summer Research Fellowship Program. 

2024 Health Sciences Research Day Photo Galleries