(L-R) Dr. Robert A. Clark and Distinguished Guest Speaker, Dr. John I. Gallin
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The department of medicine’s 9th Annual Research Day brought together investigators from all divisions of the department, as well as many individuals from other Health Science Center departments. The faculty and research trainees participated in oral and poster presentations, a panel discussion on “Patient-Oriented Research: CTSA and Beyond,” and a dinner and awards ceremony.

“This was a wonderful occasion to celebrate the excellent research being done by our faculty and trainees,” said Robert Clark, M.D., professor and chair of the department of medicine. “We all learned a great deal as we gained further understanding of the many contributions of department of medicine investigators over a wide range of basic and clinical research. I am impressed not only by the quality of science, but by the broad scope and interdisciplinary nature of our research. From the bench to patient studies, our investigators cover it all.”

John I. Gallin, M.D., chief of the Laboratory of Host Defenses at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), and director of the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center in Bethesda, Md., was the department’s distinguished guest for the event. He participated in the panel discussion and presented a featured scientific lecture on “What Patients Have Taught Us about the Regulation of Inflammation”.

Research Day was supported in part by the generosity of the following companies: BD Biosciences, Leeds Instruments and Bioindustrial Products.

A total of 118 abstracts were submitted. Awards were presented for the following categories: Student/Resident, Junior Faculty, Postdoctoral Fellow, Clinical Fellow, and a special award for Health Services Research.

Medicine Research Day award winners (Front L-R): Chhay Tay, M.D., Karen Block, Ph.D, Shujie Zhao, M.D. (Back L-R): Krista Bowers, M.D., William J. Pate, B.S., Syed Z. Imam, Steven Achinger, M.D., and Luci Leykum, M.D.

Student/Resident Category

Gina Mapes Jetter, MSIV (Neurology)
Title: “Changes in Vitamin D Levels Associated with Enzyme-Inducing AEDs in Epilepsy Patients” Jetter JM, Moreno L, Rogers S, Clark E, Bruder JM, and Cavazos JE.

William J. Pate, B.S. (Infectious Diseases)
Title: “Unravelling the Mystery of Mitochondrial Motility in Oxidative Stress” Pate WJ, Hess E, Ratinam ML, Sterwart JL, Kalkonde Y, Ahuja S, and Maffi S.

Clinical Fellow Category

Chhay Tay, M.D. (Endocrinology)
Title: “A 2-Day Lipid or Combined Lipid-Glucose Infusion Reproduce in Healthy Subjects the Metabolic Abnormalities Seen in the Metabolic Syndrome (MS)” Tay C, Belfort R, Mathew M, and Cusi K.

Ramavathi Nandyala, M.D. (Cardiology)
Title: “Low Dose Transdermal Nitroglycerine Patch (TNG) Therapy Improves Exercise Capacity and Quality of Life in Patients with Left Ventricular Systolic Dysfunction” Nandyala R, Smith B, Winters D, Erikson J, and Freeman G.

Postdoctoral Category

Karen Block, Ph.D. (Nephrology)
Title: “A Novel Source of Reactive Oxygen Species in Mitochondria” Block K, Gorin Y, and Abboud HE.

Syed Z. Imam, Ph.D. (Infectious Diseases)
Title: “Association Between Parkin, a Ubiquitin-Ligase, and c-Abl, a Pro-Apoptotic Non-Receptor Tyrosine Kinase, Regulates Parkin’s E3 Ubiquitin Ligase Activity: Implications in Parkinson’s Disease Pathogenesis” Imam SZ, Sriram SK, Liao X, Zhou Q, Valente AJ, Ko HS, Yamamoto A, Pletnikova O, Troncoso JC, Dawson VL, Kahle PJ, Dawson TM, Li S, and Clark RA.

Junior Faculty Category

Shujie Zhao, M.D. (Medical Oncology)
Title: “Restoration of Smad4-Dependent TGF-β Signaling Enhances EMT while Suppressing Ron Receptor Tyrosine Kinase Dependent Motility and Invasion of Pancreatic Cancer Cells” Zhao S, Ammanamanchi S, Brattain M, Wang J, Lazor JW, and Freeman JW.

Luci Leykum, M.D. (General Medicine)
Title: “The Impact of Screening High Risk Veterans for Hepatocellular Carcinoma on Tumor Size at the Time of Diagnosis” Leykum L, Pugh J, and Papadopoulos K.

Health Services Research Award

Krista Bowers, M.D. (General Medicine)
Title: “Physician Interaction Style and Hemoglobin A1C: Does it Make a Difference?” Bowers KW and Hunt DK.

Two special prizes were awarded to Steven Achinger, M.D., and Kavithalakshmi Sataranatarajan, Ph.D., for their achievements.