The 59th annual Internal Medicine Research Day was hosted by the Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Occupational Medicine and directed by Alicia Gerke, MD, and Alejandro Comellas, MD.
Kicking off the annual event was a keynote presentation by Nadia Hansel, MD, MPH, DEO of the Department of Medicine at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (JHU), as well as Physician-in-Chief of Johns Hopkins Hospital.
Hansel’s presentation, “The Role of the Indoor Environment and Airway Disease,” discussed her work on to uncover additional factors from one’s home environment to their diet, which may affect respiratory diseases such as chronic pulmonary obstructive disease (COPD). Her presentation contained many overlaps with work at Iowa, from clinical trials and investigations to Iowa’s and JHU’s shared memberships in SPIROMICS. At the conclusion of a Q&A period, Gerke presented Hansel with a token of the department’s appreciation for her visit and presentation, a bonsai tree, the care of which Gerke explained mirrored the researcher’s careful cultivation of a career in inquiry.
Five short oral presentations followed Hansel’s address, featuring Organizers’ Choice awardees—researchers who submitted their abstracts for consideration for talks for this year’s Research Day poster session.
Severe, Non-apneic Respiratory Dysfunction and Hypoxia following Generalized Convulsive Seizures
Haley Pysick, MD, Fellow, Pulmonary Disease and Critical Care Medicine; StARR Scholar, Iowa PSTP ProgramRegional Variation in Airway Mucus Clearance: Insights from a PCD Pig Model
Rim Nehme, MD, Postdoctoral Research Scholar, Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Occupational MedicineInflammatory Monocyte Responses and Endothelial Stress in Young Adult E-Cigarette Users
Andrea Milenia Benavides, BS, PhD Candidate, Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in ImmunologyLong-term Flecainide Exposure Triggers Expression of Neuronal Sodium Channels in the Murine Heart
Christian Anderson, MD, PhD, Fellow, Cardiovascular Medicine; Iowa PSTP ProgramImpaired platelet function in Ehlers-Danlos syndrome is associated with decreased GPVI and PAR1 expression on platelets
Mariia Kumskova, MD, Postdoctoral Research Scholar, Division of Hematology, Oncology, and Blood & Marrow Transplantation
From there, attendees moved out into the Medical Education Research Facility (MERF) Atrium for the annual poster presentation. More than 80 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.
Here are this year’s winners. In addition to a cash prize, the first place winners will also be invited to present their work at an Internal Medicine Grand Rounds session in the spring:
Best Clinical Research Poster
Syed Ahmed Nadeem – 1st
Automated Multi-Volume CT Biomarkers of Respiratory Mechanics in COPD: Associations with Mortality and Characterization of Impairments in PRISm and Early DyspneaAustin Halupnik – 2nd
Validation of GEMA-Na and GEMA-AI in an American Cohort of Patients on the Liver Transplant Waiting ListBest Basic Science Poster
Lorena Tran – 1st
Hydroxymethylation drives post-mitotic epigenetic inflammatory memory in airway basal stem cellsJasmyn Hoeger – 2nd
Discovery and Initial Characterization of a Diverse Family of Microproteins Derived from Alternative Open Reading Frames in SCN(NaV) GenesBest Trainee Poster
Nathaniel Connolly – 1st
Grp Signaling in the Basolateral Amygdala Promotes a Fear Sensitization Responses After Exposure to Strong ThreatsKailey Said – 2nd
Sorbs2 regulates phenotype plasticity and mechanotransduction responses in vascular smooth muscle cellsBest Poster by a Resident or Fellow
Ashten Sherman – 1st
Quantitative Chest CT Analysis to Identify Small Airways Disease After Lung TransplantationGreta Becker – 2nd
Lung Function, Radiographic Findings, and Quality of Life in Children after Pulmonary TB
Special thanks to Jess Jensen, Lori Strommer, Drs. Gerke and Comellas, and all the research assistants and poster judges who put their time and effort into making this a great event.
[…] This week was the department’s 59th annual Internal Medicine Research Day. This tradition gives us a chance to celebrate the incredibly broad spectrum of activity conducted by members of this department. Like all our missions, research is inextricably linked with education and clinical care, as it should be, but the immediacy we find in working with trainees and patients means research is often the quiet one in the trio. For this one day a year, we get to turn up the volume on research and marvel at the assembly of talent, wisdom, and hope that is all contained within our quest to unravel some of the most puzzling knots. My thanks to this year’s organizing directors, Drs. Alejandro Comellas and Alicia Gerke, two strong leaders in the pulmonary division, for their creativity with this year’s event. Thank you also to the esteemed Dr. Nadia Hansel, Physician-in-Chief at Johns Hopkins Hospital and Director of their university’s Department of Medicine. Her keynote address was a stark reminder that sometimes the root causes of what make our patients sick may be treated more effectively than with expensive drugs. Good research helps us find the evidence to support our recommendations. Finally thanks to the record number of poster presenters sharing their work and to the administrative personnel who worked tirelessly behind the scenes to make the day run smoothly, especially Jess Jensen and Lori Strommer. [You can read a recap and see photos from Tuesday’s events here.] […]