The 58th annual Internal Medicine Research Day was hosted for a second time by the Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism and directed by Marcelo Correia, MD, MSc, PhD, and Bhagirath Chaurasia, MSc, PhD. Their two years’ responsibility fulfilled, organization of the next two Research Days will be facilitated by the Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Occupational Medicine.

Kicking off the annual event was a keynote presentation by Washington University’s Samuel Klein, MD, director for their Center for Human Nutrition, Nutrition Obesity Research Center (NORC) and for the Weight Management Program, as well as division chief of the School of Medicine’s Division of Nutritional Science & Obesity Medicine.

Klein delivered an engaging speech entitled “Metabolically healthy and unhealthy obesity and response to weight loss,” discussing the medical complications of obesity and the continuum of metabolic heterogeneity in clinical research correlations—though he did point out that “aging is the disease you can’t escape from” as it causes all of the same problems of obesity. Klein’s presentation focused on insulin resistance and beta-cell function in looking at the differences between metabolically healthy and unhealthy obesity.

Following the keynote presentation, viewers shifted to the Bowen Science Building for five brief invited presentations; three from Medicine faculty, and two from researchers who submitted their talks for this year’s Research Day poster session.

Dissecting metabolic failure of the pancreatic beta-cell in Type 2 diabetes
Samuel Stephens, PhD, Associate Professor, Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism

The role of iRhom2 in fat cell function and immune responses during obesity
Thorsten Maretzky, PhD, Assistant Professor, Division of Infectious Diseases

Leveraging microbial actions to improve heart health
Ajit Vikram, PhD, Assistant Professor, Division of Cardiovascular Medicine

CFTR is essential for endothelium-dependent vasorelaxation
Shravan K. Uppulapu, PhD, Postdoctoral Research Scholar, Division of Cardiovascular Medicine

Proto-oncogene HRAS transcript level predicts overall survival in stage II and III colorectal cancer
Donghyun Kim, MD, PhD, Second-Year Fellow, Hematology and Medical Oncology

From there, attendees moved to the Medical Education Research Facility (MERF) Atrium for the annual poster presentation. Nearly 75 posters were on display for the afternoon. (Many of which were printed by the department’s Design Center.) Faculty judges circulated the floor, discussing the latest research with presenters and ultimately selecting a handful of winners. In the notification of winners a few days later, Research Day organizers Chaurasia and Correia thanked department members for their participation, noting that, “As in past years, the competition was very tough for the abstract awards.”

Best Clinical Research Poster

Gatr-Alnada Gheriani – 1^st
Establishing a Multidisciplinary Clinic to Enhance Care for Vasculitis Patients

Winter Philibert – 2^nd
Oxidative Stress and Mucus Viscoelasticity in Cystic Fibrosis

Best Basic Science Poster

Jamal Naderi – 1^st
Ceramide-Induced FGF13 Disrupts Nutrient Sensing and Contributes to Metabolic

Izola Ramalho – 2^nd
Women with a History of Preeclampsia Demonstrate Increased Platelet Activation without Increased Coagulation

Best Trainee Poster

Jordan Hook – 1^st
Examining Clinical Outcomes of Multiple Sclerosis Patients Who Utilized Diet as Part of Their Personal Treatment Plan: A Longitudinal Study

Weijie Du – 2^nd – TIE
Hypoxia slows cilia beating in airway epithelia

Matthew Gao – 2^nd – TIE
E-cigarette exposure induces endothelial activation and alters the phenotype of circulating monocytes

Andrea Milenia Benavides – 2^nd – TIE
E-cigarette use alters the epigenetic landscape of circulating monocytes in a sex-specific manner

Best Poster by a Resident or Fellow

Adam Blaine – 1^st
Point of Care Ultrasound Education and Resources at Fort Portal Regional Referral Hospital

Ashten Sherman – 2^nd
Eosinophilia is Associated with Chronic Lung Allograft Dysfunction and Survival Following Lung Transplantation

Directors’ Choice Award Recipients

Proto-oncogene HRAS transcript level predicts overall survival in stage II and III colorectal cancer
Donghyun Kim, MD, PhD, Second-Year Fellow, Hematology and Medical Oncology

CFTR is essential for endothelium-dependent vasorelaxation
Eosinophilia Shravan K. Uppulapu, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow, Cardiovascular Medicine

Special thanks to Kim Tolsdorf, Sherry Mattison, Laura Bibby, Ann Armstrong, Teresa Ruggle, Lori Strommer, and all the research assistants and poster judges who put their time and effort into making this a great event.