Research Scholars Day

Research Scholars Day 2012

Thursday, April 26

9:30 - 11:30 a.m. - Poster sessions (Wolfson Lecture Hall and Pritzker Library)

12:00 - 1:00 p.m. - Keynote speaker (Bigler Auditorium)

Speaker: Dane Chetkovich, MD, PhD, Associate professor of Neurology and
Physiology, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

Topic: "GIVING PAUSE: Mechanisms of Absence Epilepsy in Mice and Children"

2012 Research Scholars Day Flyer

Guifa Xi, MD, PhD

Research Scholars Day 2011

The seventh annual Research Scholars Day, hosted by the Department of Pediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, in association with Children’s Memorial Medical Center, was held on May 11. Award winners from this showcase of research being conducted by fellows, graduate students and research staff were:

First year fellows
Stephannie Baehl, MD — Neonatology (Mentor: Karen Mestan, MD): “Intrauterine inflammation, birth weight discordance, and early postnatal growth: a preterm infant twin study”;
Anna Fishbein, MD — Allergy and Immunology (Mentor: Ramsay Fuleihan, MD): “IL-10 is a marker of tolerance to egg protein in peripheral blood mononuclear cells”.

Second year fellows
Jennifer Check, MD — Neonatology (Mentor: Karen Mestan, MD): “Small for gestation infants with BPD at increased risk of pulmonary hypertension: a case-control study”;
Jill Samis, MD — Endocrinology (Mentor: Reema Habiby, MD): “The role of microRNA regulation in childhood craniopharyngioma”.

Third year fellows
Amanda Brooks, MD — Critical Care (Mentors: Eric Wald, MD and Jerome Lane, MD): “Predictive power of cystatin C (cysC) to detect acute kidney injury in pediatric cardiac surgery patients”; Bria Coates, MD — Critical Care (Mentor: Conrad Epting, MD): “Determinants of transendothelial migration of Trypanosoma cruzi”.

Research staff
Guifa Xi, MD, PhD — Research associate, Falk Brain Tumor Center (Mentor: Tadanori Tomita, MD): “Efficacy of vincristine administered via convection-enhanced delivery in a rodent brainstem tumor model documented by bioluminescence imaging”.

Postdoctoral associates
Christina Khodr, PhD — Neurobiology Program (Mentor: Martha Bohn, PhD): “Inclusion of a 3’UTR containing the microRNA-7 binding site reduces toxicity of human SNCA on striatal-projecting dopamine neurons in rat substantia nigra”;
Hrishikesh Mehta, PhD — Hematology/Oncology/Transplant (Mentor: Seth Corey, MD, MPH): “Why do children with Shwachman-Diamond syndrome or Kostmann syndrome get leukemia? The role of the truncated G-CSF receptor”.

Research Scholars Day 2009

The Department of Pediatrics at the Feinberg School, in association with the research center, hosted the 5th annual Research Scholars Day on May 11, 2009. Postdoctoral fellows, clinical fellows, graduate students and staff members showcased their research with poster presentations. Posters were evaluated by a team of judges, and winners were presented with awards at a reception:

First year fellow: Monica Shah, MD – Neonatology (Mentor: Kathryn Farrow, MD, PhD)
Second year fellow: Kerri Machut, MD – Neonatology (Mentor: Raye-Ann deRegnier, MD)
Third year fellow: Jennifer Desireddi, MD – Neonatology (Mentor: Paul Schumacker, PhD)
Medical/Graduate student: Kelly Bergmann – Neonatology (Mentor: Isabelle De Plaen, MD)
Postdoctoral fellow: Aleksandra Glavaski-Joksimovic, PhD – Neurobiology (Mentor: Martha C. Bohn, PhD)

Research Scholars Day 2008 RSD2

The research center and Children's Memorial Hospital hosted the 4th annual Research Scholars Day on May 13, 2008. Postdoctoral fellows, clinical fellows, graduate students and research technicians showcased their research with poster presentations. Peter F. Whitington, MD, director, Siragusa Transplantation Center; Sally Burnett Searle Professor of Pediatrics and Transplantation, and professor of Pediatrics and Medicine, Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine, presented the keynote address. Posters were evaluated by a team of judges, and the winners were presented with awards at a reception.

The award winners were (click on each name to read their stories):

First year fellow: Maria Ibarra, MD, Rheumatology (Michael Miller, MD, advisor); “Disease knowledge in children with arthritis.”

Second year fellow: Annie Chi, MD, Neonatology (Paul Schumacker, PhD, advisor); “Increased reactive oxygen species signaling during prolonged hypoxia in pulmonary arterial myocytes results in RhoA activation.”

Third year fellow: Suma Rao, MD, Neonatology (Sidhartha Tan, MD, advisor); "Neuronal nitric oxide synthase and ongoing rabbit fetal brain injury following in vivo antenatal hypoxia-ischemia."

Third year fellow: Lee Bass, MD, Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (Peter Whitington, MD, advisor); "FXR response in cholestatic liver disease."

Research technician: Evyn Loucks, MS, Developmental Biology (Sara Ahlgren, PhD, advisor); "Disruption of normal body axis formation after teratogen exposure."

Graduate student: Chris Ott, Human Molecular Genetics (Ann Harris, PhD, advisor); "Mapping tissue-specific regulatory elements of the CFTR locus using DNase-chip."

Postdoctoral fellow: Rodney Dale, PhD, Developmental Biology (Jacek Topczewski, PhD, advisor); "Characterization of the zebrafish homologues of the small GTPase Rab8 subfamily."

Postdoctoral fellow: Caleb Bailey, PhD, Cancer Biology and Epigenomics (Mary J.C. Hendrix, PhD, advisor); "A novel link between IRF6, cellular quiescence and differentiation."

Many thanks go to the event's organizers:
Denise Goodman, MD (Division of Critical Care Medicine)
Daniel Abbott, MD (Research Center, Cancer Biology and Epigenomics Program)
Sara Ahlgren, PhD (Research Center, Developmental Biology Program)
Caleb Bailey, PhD (Research Center, Cancer Biology and Epigenomics Program)
Denise Lilly (Research Center, Developmental Biology Program)
Yolanda Palmer (Research Center, Developmental Biology Program)

Research Scholars Day 2007

2007’s Children’s Memorial Research Center Annual Research Scholars Day was held on Tuesday, May 29. The day-long event was an opportunity for early-career investigators to showcase exciting basic, clinical, and translational research being conducted all throughout Children’s Memorial Hospital. Graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, clinical fellows, and research technicians presented posters during morning and afternoon sessions; a panel of judges queried the presenters about their projects. Professor J. Larry Jameson delivered the first-ever event keynote lecture. The afternoon poster session was followed by a reception and awards ceremony at the research center.

The award winners were (click on each name to read their stories):
Research technician:
Rocco Gogliotti

Graduate students:
Tyler Schwend
Chris Heier

Postdoctoral fellows:
Andre Kulisz, PhD
Caleb Bailey, PhD

Clinical fellow, year 1:
Rajit Basu, MD

Clinical fellow, year 2:
Najah Musacchio, MD

Clinical fellow, year 3:
Radhika Peddinti, MD

Members of the organizing committee for this event:
Sara Ahlgren, PhD (Research Center, Developmental Biology Program)
Holly Falk-Krzesinski, PhD, Chair (Director, Office for Research Development, Office for Research, Northwestern University)
Denise Goodman, MD (Division of Critical Care Medicine)
Suzan Hammond (Research Center, Human Molecular Genetics Program)
Ann Harris, PhD (Research Center, Human Molecular Genetics Program)
Philip Iannaccone, MD, PhD (Research Center, Developmental Biology Program)
Peg Rainey (Research Center, Administration)
Jacek Topczewski, PhD (Research Center, Developmental Biology Program)
Traci Weathers (Research Center, Developmental Biology Program)