A wide range of science filled the Ballroom at the Marshall Student Center, showcasing the groundbreaking work of rising research stars taking part in the annual USF Health Research Day.
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This year’s event, held Feb. 19, featured nearly 330 students, residents, fellows and post-doctoral researchers from across USF Health.
“This event gets better every year,” said Phillip Marty, PhD, vice president for USF Health Research.
Presenters arrived early to set up their posters in the Marshall Student Center Ballroom.
“I’m always impressed with the level of research that is presented at our Research Day,” Dr. Marty said. “Our faculty are engaged in important research, which translates directly to our students, graduate students, residents and trainees who are presenting here today. This is a great training ground for the rest of their careers.”
This year’s slate of presenters showed more students and trainees and slightly fewer faculty, Dr. Marty said, perhaps a reflection of the event’s return to its roots of showcasing science learners.
The day-long event brings together researchers from across all USF Health colleges, programs and disciplines, as well as guest researchers from USF programs studying the science of health. Beginning the day are the oral presenters, the few whose work earned them an invitation to present their work orally. This year’s 11 selected students presented their work at the 7th Annual Joseph Krzanowski, PhD, USF Health Invited Oral Presentations Session, They were: Ngozichukwuka Agu; Faris Galambo, BS; Krishna Reddy; Alison E Roth, MPH; Stephanie Ciarlone; Jaymin Kathiriya; Jared Tur; April Lussier; Abby Pribish, BS; Jessica M Gordon; and Rachel G. Sinkey, MD.
Alison Roth won best overall for her oral presentation.
The full poster presentation session followed, filling the Ballroom with hustle and bustle as researchers stood next to their posters tacked up onto bulletin boards and judges walked from poster to poster evaluating each presentation and asking lead researchers questions about their work or to further explain their methods, results and conclusions. As always, for those who are new researchers, USF Health Research Day is a key event for acting as a practice run for future national research meetings.
Dr. Charles Lockwood judges the work of Kristen Marcet, second-year medical student.
The day included visiting 12th grader Patricia Askins (Sarasota High School) presenting her work on anticancer drugs from her time in the lab of Subhra Mohapatra, PhD, associate professor in the USF Department of Molecular Medicine.
Students from Berkeley Preparatory School, showcased their own award-winning posters.
After a lunch break, the Roy H. Behnke Distinguished Lectureship began. This year’s guest lecturer was Robert H. Brown, Jr., MD, DPhil, professor and chair of neurology at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center and Medical School. His research is devoted to identifying gene defects that lead to neuromuscular diseases. Dr. Brown’s lecture was titled “Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis: Therapeutic Insights from Genetics.”
Dr. Robert Brown
From left. Dr. Bryan Bognar, Dr. Phil Marty, Dr. Paul Sanberg, Dr. Charles Lockwood, Dr. Clifton Gooch, Dr. Robert Brown, and Dr. John Sinnott.
At the conclusion of the talk, the much-anticipated awards were presented. Winners for the USF Health Research Day 2016 are:
Best MCOM Graduate Student Poster Presentations:
Doctoral Student Poster Presentation: Allergy and Immunology: Jillian Whelan
Doctoral Student Poster Presentation: Cancer Biology: Stephanie Buttermore
Doctoral Student Poster Presentation: Cardiovascular and Clinical Science Research: Natascha Alves
Masters Student Interdisciplinary Research: Kathryn Fomuke and Andrew McGill
Doctoral Student Poster Presentation: Molecular and Cellular Biology: Jaymin Kathiriya
Best MCOM Medical Student Presentations:
Med I Student Poster Presentation: Interdisciplinary Research: Nima Hosseinian
Med II Student Poster Presentation: Interdisciplinary Research: Curtis Gravenmier
Med II Student Poster Presentation: Interdisciplinary Research: Kristen Marcet
Med II Student Poster Presentations, Case Studies and Chart Reviews: Andrew Lai, MPH, Anthony Clark, and Luis Perez-Mena
Med III Student Poster Presentation, Case Study and Chart Review: Kyle Achors
Med III Student Poster Presentation, Empirical Study: Laura Kidd
Med IV Student Poster Presentation Case Study and Chart Review: Cheryl Godcharles
Best MCOM Medical Resident Poster Presentations:
MCOM Resident Poster Presentations: Interdisciplinary Case Studies: Jennifer Divine, MD, and Joanna Robles, MD
MCOM Resident Poster Presenation: Case Study and Chart Review: Karina Vivar, MD
MCOM Fellow Poster Presentation: Case Study and Chart Review: Sangeetha Prabhakaran, MD
Best College of Nursing Poster Presentation:
CON Graduate Student Poster Presentation: Nisha Vijayakumar, BDS, MPH
Best College of Pharmacy Poster Presentations:
Graduate Student Poster Presentation: Jeffrey Burgess
Postdoctoral Poster Presentation: Leslie Sandusky, PhD
Best College of Public Health Poster Presentations:
Graduate Student: Umonighu Michael Bubu (epidemiology and biostatistics)
Graduate Student: Athena Failla (global health)
Graduate Student: Kate LeGrand (global health)
Graduate Student: DeAnne Turner (community and family health)
Graduate Student: Tora Suggs (community and family health)
Graduate Student: Kristina Harand (environmental and occupational health)
Post-doctoral Student: Christopher Rice, PhD
Best Undergraduate Student Poster Presentations:
Allergy, Immunology and Infectious Diseases: Priyanshi Patel
Neurosciences: Sophia Abraham
Cancer and Clinical Sciences: Mevin Mathew
Interdisciplinary Sciences: Asgard Kaleb Marroquin
College of Pharmacy: Neurosciences: Anjanet Loon, and Abdulah Barakat
Top Awards
USF Health Vice President’s Award for Outstanding Graduate Student Oral Presentation: Alison Roth, MPH
MCOM Outstanding Postdoctoral Poster Presentation: Aurelie Joly-Amado, PhD
MCOM Outstanding Fellow Poster Presentation: Liliana Bustamante
MCOM Outstanding Resident Poster Presentation: Anne Mattingly, MD (oncological sciences)
Outstanding Global Pediatric Behavioral Health Poster Presentation: Sophia Zavrou
Outstanding Innovations in Medicine Poster Presentation: Rose Tillis
Watson Clinic Award to a Fourth-Year Medical Student: Sriram Velamuri
Dr. Christopher P. Phelps Memorial Fund Annual Morsani COM Graduate Student Travel Award: Krishna Reddy
A field of research fills the Marshall Student Center Ballroom.
USF Health Research Day 2016.
Story by Sarah A. Worth, USF Health Communications
Photos by Eric Younghans, USF Health Communications
Video by Sandra C. Roa, USF Health Communications
