2026 Medical Student Research Conference Award Winners

The Carver College of Medicine has sponsored the Carver College of Medicine Student Medical Research Conference for more than six decades, the most recent of which took place on September 16-17. With 152 accepted abstracts, 72 oral presentations, nearly 90 poster presentations, and a keynote, the college celebrates the research that our medical students conduct and refine in a multitude of ways.

This year’s keynote was presented by Internal Medicine’s own Martha Carvour, MD, PhD, assistant professor in Infectious Diseases.

Recognizing excellence among the medical students work takes a number of different forms. There are six Foundation Awards, including the Donald D. Heistad Prize for Best Poster Presentation, the François M. Abboud Prize for Best Platform Presentation, and the Melvin Marcus Clinical Research Award, among others. There are also a number of awards sponsored by each of the departments.

Congratulations and thank you to all of this year’s participants, judges, winners, and to these students’ mentors for helping shape the future of health care research! Below are award winners with faculty mentors from our department.

Donald D. Heistad Prize for Best Poster Presentation

Lorena Tran, M1

“Epigenetic inflammatory memory is sustained in airway basal cells in vivo”

Mentor: Alejandro Pezzulo, MD – Internal Medicine – Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Occupational Medicine

John Stokes Award for Research in Internal Medicine

Nathan Steimel, M2

“Outcomes of Budesonide Compared to Prednisone for Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor Colitis and Immunotherapy Rechallenge”

Mentor: Mohammed Milhem, MBBS – Internal Medicine – Hematology, Oncology, and Blood and Marrow Transplantation

Excellence in Internal Medicine Research

Kane Zemo, M1

“Ac2-26 Activates Concordant Plaque-Stabilization Programs in Reversa Mice and an Ex Vivo Human Coronary Atherosclerosis Model”

Mentor: Jennifer Streeter, MD, PhD – Internal Medicine – Cardiovascular Medicine

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Perapa Chotiprasidhi, M2

“Effects of a Very Low-Calorie Diet on Metabolic and Microbiome Profiles in Women with Obesity and Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease”

Mentor: Marcelo Correia, MD – Internal Medicine – Endocrinology and Metabolism

Research Excellence in Molecular Physiology and Biophysics