Alexis Chidi

Program: CSTP

Program Mentors: Allan Tsung, MD, Roberta G. Simmons Assistant Professor of Surgery; David Geller, MD, FACS, Richard L. Simmons Professor of Surgery, Chief, Division of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery, Co-Director, UPMC Liver Cancer Center; Cindy Bryce, PhD, Associate Dean for Student Affairs (GSPH), Associate Professor of Health Policy and Management, Associate Professor of Medicine, Associate Professor of Clinical and Translational Science; Jennifer Steel, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Surgery.

Background: Alexis Chidi graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with a BS in Psychology and a BA in Economics. As an undergraduate, she conducted fMRI research on agenesis of the corpus callosum with Drs. Lynn Paul and Ralph Adolphs at Caltech. The following year she worked with Dr. Johnny Huard at the University of Pittsburgh Stem Cell Research Center. Alexis then studied the economic effects of non-communicable disease in the developing world under Dr. Marla Ripoll. She then obtained an MSPH degree from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and is now certified in public health (NBPHE). At Hopkins, Alexis conducted malaria research in Zambia with Dr. William Moss. Before matriculating at PittMed, Alexis worked in the Innovations program at Jhpiego and the Worldwide Policy Department at Pfizer.

Sarah Cohen

Program: CSTP

Program Mentor: Dr. David Orenstein, MD, Director of the Pediatric Cystic Fibrosis Center.

Background: Sarah Cohen graduated from Roanoke College in 2011 with a BS in biochemistry. During college, she did research in a variety of different settings, including a biochemistry lab, a developmental biology lab, and in a simulation center. Sarah's research in the simulation center involved investigating how simulation improved inter-professional teamwork in emergency obstetrical and code blue situations. Sarah completed a senior thesis looking into the effects of estrogen disturbances in embryonic craniofacial development.

Gillian Harrison

Program: Doris Duke

Program Mentors:Douglas Kondziolka, MD, MS, FRCS(C), Department of Neurological Surgery and Peter J. Jannetta Professor of Neurological Surgery and Radiation Oncology, Vice Chairman, Education, Director, Center for Brain Function & Behavior, Co-Director, Center for Image-Guided Neurosurgery

Background: Gillian Harrison graduated from Bucknell University in 2007 with a BS in Cell Biology/Biochemistry and Philosophy. As an undergraduate, she worked as a research fellow in the Biology Department under Dr. Emily Stowe-Evans studying the genetics and physiologic light-response of cyanobacteria. She also worked under Dr. Gillian Barker to complete a senior philosophy thesis focusing on philosophy of mind and the existence of free will. Gillian matriculated at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine in 2008, where she has worked on various studies within the Department of Neurological Surgery.

Project Title:

• A phase 1/2A study of safety and efficacy of modified stromal cells (SB623) in patients with stable ischemic stroke.

Publications:

• Kondziolka D, Kano H, Harrison GL, Yang HC, Liew DN, Niranjan A, Brufsky AM, Flickinger JC, Lunsford LD. Stereotactic radiosurgery as primary and salvage treatment for brain metastases from breast cancer. J Neurosurg. 2011 March; 114(3):790-1; discussion 791.

Funding:

• Doris Duke Clinical Research Fellowship, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, 2011-2012

Ryan Li

Program: CSTP (2008 entering class) and Doris Duke

Program Mentors: James Irrgang, PhD, PT, Director of Clinical Research in Orthopaedic Surgery.

Background: Ryan Li graduated from Case Western Reserve University in 2008 with a BA in chemistry and a BSE in biomedical engineering. During his undergraduate education, he researched chemical morphogen gradient effects on human mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) chemotaxis and differentiation with Dr. Harihara Baskaran. Ryan also completed research internships under Dr. Adam Hsieh at the University of Maryland, College Park, and Dr. Robert Mauck at the University of Pennsylvania. Both internships involved MSC chondrogenesis.

Project Title:

• Predictors of knee osteoarthritis after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction.

Publications:

• Erickson IE, Huang AH, Chung C, Li RT, Burdick JA, Mauck RL. Differential maturation and structure-function relationships in mesenchymal stem cell- and chondrocyte-seeded hydrogels. Tissue Engineering Part A. 2009;15(5):1041-52.
• Erickson IE, Huang AH, Chung C, Li RT, Burdick JA, Mauck RL. Biomaterial-dependent mesenchymal stem cell chondrogenesis in 3D hydrogel culture. Tissue Engineering. In press.

Funding:

• Doris Duke Clinical Research Fellowship, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, 2011–2012.

Rachael Maciasz

Program: Doris Duke

Program Mentors: Yael Schenker M.D., M.S. Assistant Professor of Medicine; Doug White M.D. MAS Associate Professor of Critical Care Medicine and Medicine Director, Program on Ethics and Decision Makeing in Critical Illness, Core Faculty Member, Center for Bioethics and Health Law; Amber Barnato M.D. M.P.H, M.S Associate Professor of Medicine, Associate Professor of Clinical and Translational Science ,Director, Clinical Scientist Training Program, Co-Program Leader, Doris Duke Clinical Research Fellowship; and Robert Arnold M.D Professor of Medicine Chief, Section of Palliative Care and Medical Ethics, Assistant Director, Institute to Enhance Palliative Care, Director, Institute for Doctor-Patient Communication, Leo H Criep Chair in Patient Care.

Background: Rachael Maciasz graduated from the University of Michigan in 2007 with a B.S. in Cultural Anthropology. She then worked for a comprehensive health education program, HealthCorps in public schools in New York City until she matriculated in SUNY Downstate Medical Center to pursue medical school. At SUNY Downstate she studied Medical Pluralism and Health trajectories in Zimbabwe and became interested in medical humanities, decision making, end of life care, and doctor patient communication.

Project Title:

• Framing Palliative Care in Cancer: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Funding:

• Doris Duke Clinical Research Fellowship, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, 2011–2012.

Brian Nolan

Program: Doris Duke

Program Mentors: Raphael Hirsch, MD. Titles: Aldo V. Londino Professor of Pediatrics, Vice Chair for Faculty Development, Chief, Division of Pediatric Rheumatology, Professor of Immunology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

Background: Brian Nolan graduated from Swarthmore College with a BA in Chemistry in 2005. As an undergraduate he worked in the lab of Edward Gooding where he studied infrared spectroscopic signatures of peptide folding. After college he took a research technician position in the Hepatitis C Virus group at the Partners AIDS Research Center of Massachusetts General Hospital. In his three years there he worked under Georg Lauer, MD and Arthur Kim, MD investigating the effects of the adaptive immune response and host immunogenetics on viral resolution versus persistence in patients with acute HCV infection. In 2008 Brian matriculated at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. In his first year he worked in the lab of James Finke, PhD where he studied the induction of myeloid-derived suppressor cells in blood samples of healthy patients by supernatant derived from renal cell carcinoma cell lines. Prior to his second year he worked with Medhat Askar, MD, PhD evaluating the effect of polymorphisms in genes coding for Th-17-related cytokines on response to antiviral therapy for recurrent HCV infection in liver transplant recipients.

Project Title:

• Are 3-dimensional and thermal imaging able to provide earlier, more accurate assessment of response to anti-inflammatory therapy in pediatric and adult patients with Juvenile Rheumatoid arthritis (JRA) and Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) than current measures?

Funding:

• Doris Duke Clinical Research Fellowship, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, 2011-2012.

Michael Schowalter

Program: Doris Duke

Program Mentors: Louis D. Falo, Jr., M.D., Ph.D., Professor and Chairman of the Department of Dermatology; and Larisa Geskin , M.D. Assistant Professor of Dermatology.

Background: Mike graduated from Dartmouth College in 2007 with an AB in anthropology. As an undergraduate, he spent time with the Maori of New Zealand researching the role of sports in post-colonial Maori culture. Since college, he has worked on research projects at both the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Jefferson Medical College, focusing primarily upon lymphocyte immunology and gene therapy with investigators Dr. Stefanie Sarantopoulos and Dr. Rene Daniel, respectively.

Project Title:

• Proteomic Analysis of Pure and Mixed Type Desmoplastic Melanoma.

Publications:

Funding:

• Doris Duke Clinical Research Fellowship, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, 2011–2012.

Ben Sprague

Program: CSTP (2008 entering class) and Doris Duke

Program Mentors: Flordeliza Villanueva, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine, Director of Non-Invasive Cardiovascular Imaging, and Director of the Center for Ultrasound Molecular Imaging and Therapeutics.

Background: Ben Sprague graduated from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, in 2006 and 2008 with a BS and MS in biomedical engineering. During this time, he worked with Dr. Naomi Chesler, associate professor of biomedical engineering, and Dr. Ronald Magness, professor of obstetrics and gynecology. For his master's thesis, Ben measured hemodynamics and mechanical properties of vascular tissues within various ovine models of pregnancy. The goal was to improve our understanding of factors that cause maternal cardiovascular maladaptations, such as preeclampsia.

Project Title:

• The use of contrast-enhanced ultrasound imaging to identify human carotid vasa vasorum in vivo and the correlation of results with acute coronary events.

Publications:

• Sprague BJ, Phernetton TM, Magness RR, Chesler NC. The effects of the ovarian cycle and pregnancy on uterine vascular impedance and uterine artery mechanics. European Journal of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Biology. 2009;144(Suppl 1):S170-8.
• Zhu Y, Sprague BJ, Phernetton TM, Magness RR, Chesler NC. Transmission line models to simulate the impedance of the uterine vasculature during the ovarian cycle and pregnancy. European Journal of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Biology. 2009;144(Suppl 1):S184-91.
• Sprague B, Chesler NC, Magness RR. Shear stress regulates nitric oxide production in uterine and placental artery endothelial cells: experimental studies and hemodynamic models of shear stresses on endothelial cells. International Journal of Developmental Biology. 2010;54(2-3):331-9.

Funding:

• Doris Duke Clinical Research Fellowship, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, 2011–2012.

Ryan Stephenson

Program: Doris Duke

Program Mentors: Dr. Robert Ferris, MD PhD FACS.

Background: Ryan Stephenson studied Clinical Laboratory Sciences at Weber State University in Ogden, UT and graduated with a BS in 2009.

Project Title:

• Role of Toll like receptor agonists in cetuximab-mediated cytotoxic activity in head and neck cancer.

Funding:

• Doris Duke Clinical Research Fellowship, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, 2011–2012.

Lisa Tseng

Program: CSTP (2008 entering class) and Doris Duke

Program Mentors: Anne Newman, MD, MPH, Professor of Epidemiology and Medicine and Director of the Center for Aging and Population Health, Department of Epidemiology.

Background: Lisa Tseng graduated from the University of California at Berkeley in 2008 with a BA in molecular and cell biology (MCB) and psychology. As an undergraduate, she worked under Dr. Paola S. Timiras to complete an MCB thesis on growth factor–induced neurogenesis in neuroglial cells. Lisa also worked with the Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute under Dr. Robert T. Knight to complete a psychology thesis about the effects of aging and stroke on visual working memory networks.

Project Title:

• Evaluating the relationship between weight change and physical function during the menopausal transition.

Funding:

• Doris Duke Clinical Research Fellowship, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, 2011–2012

Jacky Yeung

Program: Doris Duke

Program Mentors: Hideho Okada, MD, PhD, Associate Professor of Neurological Surgery and Surgery, and Co-Leader of the Brain Tumor Program; Ian Pollack, MD, Walter E. Dandy Professor of Neurological Surgery, Vice Chairman of Academic Affairs, Chief of Pediatric Neurosurgery, and Co-director, Neurosurgical Oncology.

Background: Jacky Yeung graduated from University of British Columbia in 2008 with a BSc degree in Honours Physiology. As an undergraduate, he engaged in various research endeavors, including studying the modulation of different Toll-like Receptors during influenza infection, screening for virulent factors in M. tuberculosis using yeast, and completing his undergraduate thesis on the cellular localization of Bcl-family proteins in pancreatic beta cells. After matriculating at Michigan State University College of Human Medicine, he continued to participate in various basic and clinical science research projects.

Project Title:

• Molecular Defects causing Major Histocompatibility Complex I Downregulation in Glioblastoma Multiforme.

Funding:

• Doris Duke Clinical Research Fellowship, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, 2011–2012.

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Alexandra Dreyzin

Program: CSTP

Program Mentor: Ira Fox, MD, Director of the Center for Innovative Regenerative Therapies and Professor of Surgery and Pediatric Transplantation.

Background: Alexandra Dreyzin graduated from Brown University in 2009 with an ScB in chemistry and literary arts. Throughout college, she completed research in several different labs, ranging from organic synthesis to solid state chemistry. For her senior thesis project, she worked on the synthesis and electrochemistry of organometallic catalysts. After graduating, she spent a year working as a research assistant in a vascular tissue engineering lab at Children's Hospital Boston.

Ian Joel

Program: CSTP

Program Mentor: Charles F. Reynolds, MD, UPMC Endowed Professor of Geriatric Psychiatry and Professor of Neurology, Neuroscience, Behavioral and Community Health Sciences, and Clinical and Translational Science.

Background: Ian Joel graduated from the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) in 2008 with a BS in psychobiology. As an undergraduate, he worked with Dr. Peter Bachman, conducting research aimed at better understanding the effects of psychosocial stress on the auditory gating endophenotype and working memory in patients diagnosed with schizophrenia. During his time at UCLA and afterward, Ian volunteered extensively as a suicide-crisis counselor and training leader at the Didi Hirsch Community Mental Health Center in Los Angeles. After graduating from UCLA, he also worked as an emergency medical technician at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, where he was a member of the team that transported critically ill patients by helicopter and ambulance.

Regina Triplett

Program: CSTP

Program Mentor: Miya Asato, MD, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics and Psychiatry.

Background: Regina Triplett received a BS in biology from Hobart and William Smith Colleges. Her first exposure to research came in 2008 through the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship Program at the University of Pittsburgh's Center for Neuroscience. Under this program, she was mentored by Drs. Gonzalo Torres and Amy Wagner and studied the behavioral effects of the dopamine transporter protein on rats. During the summer of 2009, Regina took part in the Charles Salisbury International Internship Program at the University of Geneva, Switzerland, where she used functional magnetic resonance imaging to investigate potential treatments for hemispatial neglect in a study directed by Drs. Patrik Vuilleumier and Arnaud Saj. Regina conducted her senior honors thesis research at the University of Rochester under the supervision of Dr. Krystel Huxlin. In this research, she examined the electroencephalographic responses of cortically blind stroke patients before and after their visual rehabilitation. She continued this work in the summer of 2010 through an undergraduate research fellowship at the University of Rochester's Center for Visual Science.

Allison Walton

Program: CSTP

Program Mentor: Kathleen McTigue, MD, MPH, MS, Assistant Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology.

Background: Allison Walton graduated from Washington University in St. Louis in 2008 with an AB in biology and anthropology. As an undergraduate, she conducted research in molecular oncology and studied oncogenic pathways in breast cancer with Dr. Jason Weber. While in college, she spent 2 years working in the St. Louis Children's Hospital Emergency Department, enrolling patients in a variety of clinical studies. She also spent 2 summers working for Dr. Bradley Stoner at STD clinic sites in St. Louis, where she researched psychosocial aspects of STD transmission and treatment in low-income communities. Dr. Stoner was Allison's thesis advisor in anthropology, and her thesis work examined the origins and effects of the market-based health care system on pediatric primary care in the United States. Before entering the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine in 2010, Allison spent 1 year working as a laboratory technician for Dr. Martin Weigert in the Gwen Knapp Center for Lupus and Immunology Research at the University of Chicago.

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Jayshiv Badlani

Program: CSTP

Program Mentors: James Irrgang, PhD, PT, Director of Clinical Research in Orthopaedic Surgery; and Christopher Harner, MD, Medical Director of UPMC Center for Sports Medicine.

Background: Jayshiv Badlani graduated from Northwestern University in 2009 with a BA in economics and a certificate from the Kellogg School of Management in Financial Economics. During his undergraduate education, Jayshiv undertook research at the University of Pittsburgh Stem Cell Research Center with Dr. Johnny Huard. His research included projects investigating the impact of vascularity and neuromuscular electrical stimulation on the healing of injured skeletal muscle. He also spent a summer working with Dr. Robert Parker for the Pittsburgh Tissue Engineering Initiative on a project that involved developing ideal chemotherapy schedules.

Project Title:

• Effects of meniscus injury on the development and progression of knee osteoarthritis.

Simiao Li

Program: CSTP

Program Mentor: Rachel Berger, MD, MPH, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Child Protection Team, Child Advocacy Center, Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC, and Associate Director in Child Abuse, Safar Center for Resuscitation Research.

Background: Simiao Li graduated from Pomona College in 2008 with a BA in molecular biology. As an undergraduate, she worked in the laboratory of Dr. Clarissa M. Cheney, researching the localization of novel Drosophila melanogaster vesicle transport protein Gint3 via in vivo tagging with green fluorescent protein. Simiao also spent a semester abroad in China, where she interned at Beijing United Family Hospital and conducted ethnographic research on women in Beijing. Before entering the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine in 2009, she taught precollege and college students as an instructor with Kaplan Test Preparation and Admissions and served as a patient advocate for the Community Crisis Center of Elgin, Illinois.

Project Title:

• Retinal Hemorrhages in Low-Risk Children Evaluated for Child Physical Abuse.

Publications:

• Li SA, Mitchell EB, Fromkin J, Berger RP. Retinal hemorrhages in low-risk children evaluated for child physical abuse. Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine. In press.

Program Accomplishments:

• Certificate of Merit for Excellence in Biomedical Science Research for a poster titled "The Dilated Eye Examination in the Evaluation of Suspected Child Physical Abuse: Is it Needed in Children without Intracranial Injury?" University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine Dean's Summer Research Program 2010
• First place award at the 2010 Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC Student Research Training Program Summer Poster Session

Funding:

• Student Research Training Program Scholarship from Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC, 2010.

Constantino Michaelidis

Program: CSTP

Program Mentor: Kenneth Smith, MD, MS, Associate Professor of Medicine.

Background: Constantino Michaelidis graduated from Swarthmore College in 2005 with a BA in biology and a BA in history. As an undergraduate, he conducted research on mechanisms of sexual selection and correlates of mating success in male Photinus greeni fireflies. After graduation, he worked as a high school biology teacher and health care consultant before entering the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine in 2009.

Project Titles:

• Can a novel influenza vaccination program be financially self-sustaining?
• Estimating the cost-efficacy of eliminating disparities in influenza vaccination rates in elderly minority populations.

Jacqueline Moreau

Program: CSTP

Program Mentor: Scott Watson, MD, MPH, Associate Director, Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC, and Associate Professor of Critical Care Medicine and Pediatrics, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

Background: Jacqueline Moreau graduated from Boston University in 2006 with a BA in public health. During college, she conducted thesis research on the impact of cultural factors on the health beliefs of and interactions between patients and health care providers. In addition, she created and contributed to educational curricula for several national organizations. For nearly a year after graduating, Jacqueline worked as a research and content development assistant for the Science Education Division of the journal Nature. She subsequently served as the manager of a quality improvement research project in the Department of Emergency Medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital.

Project Titles:

• Intensive care unit (ICU) use and mortality are higher among children with acute central nervous system (CNS) disorders than children with other acute disorders.
• Children with acute CNS disorders use more hospital resources than do children with other acute disorders.

Publications:

• Moreau J, Fink E, Harman M, Angus D, Bell M, Linde-Zwirble W, Watson R. ICU use and mortality are higher among children with acute CNS disorders than children with other acute disorders [abstract]. Critical Care Medicine. 2010;38(12 Suppl):22.

Program Accomplishments:

• Presentations at 2 local and 2 national meetings.

Funding:

• T35 Training Grant, Sh ort-Term Access to Research Training Program (START-UP), University of Pittsburgh.

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Aaron Baum

Program: CSTP

Program Mentors: Jennifer Steel, PhD, Associate Professor of Surgery and Psychiatry and Director of the Center for Excellence in Behavioral Medicine; and Kathleen DeWalt, PhD, Director of the Center for Latin American Studies at the University of Pittsburgh.

Background: Aaron Baum graduated from the University of Chicago in 2003 with a BS in mathematics. He worked for several years in finance as an equities trader while researching the normative sleep habits of pediatric neurologic patients with Dr. Michael Kohrman, an associate professor of neurology at the University of Chicago.

Project Titles:

• Posttraumatic growth in refugees from sub-Saharan Africa.
  
• Rates of malnutrition among microcredit clients' children in the central plateau of Haiti.

Program Accomplishments:

• During 2009–2010, Aaron lived in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, where he managed and researched projects for the health department of Fonkoze, which is the largest microfinance bank in the country and serves over 50,000 rural female loan clients and 200,000 depositors. The objective of Aaron's work was to foster a cost-effective increase in health care access and utilization in isolated and impoverished communities through the integration of health interventions and education into the microfinance infrastructure already in place. His research evaluated an innovative pilot program that involved Fonkoze and Partners in Health, was designed to detect and treat malnutrition in children from 6 to 59 months of age, and used a community-based therapeutic care model integrated into Fonkoze's microfinance community infrastructure.

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Tanner Bartholow

Program: CSTP and Doris Duke (2011 graduate)

Program Mentors: Anil Parwani, MD, PhD, Director of the Division of Pathology Informatics; and Michael Becich, MD, PhD, Chair of the Department of Biomedical Informatics and Professor of Biomedical Informatics, Pathology, Information Sciences, and Telecommunications.

Background: Tanner Bartholow graduated from Juniata College in 2007 with a BS in biology. During his undergraduate education, he worked with Dr. Jeff Demarest in research focusing on the electrophysiologic and morphologic properties associated with gastric secretory processes in Necturus maculosus. He also completed a research internship in the Center for Experimental Therapeutics and Reperfusion Injury at Brigham and Women's Hospital, where he worked in the laboratory of Dr. Gregory Stahl and studied complement.

Project Title:

• Analysis of potential immunohistochemical markers for assessing prognosis in patients with prostate cancer metastasis.

Publications:

• Bartholow TL, Chandran UR, Becich MJ, Parwani AV. Immunohistochemical profiles of claudin-3 in primary and metastatic prostatic adenocarcinoma. Diagnostic Pathology. 2011;6:12 (doi:10.1186/1746-1596-6-12).
• Bartholow TL, Chandran UR, Becich MJ, Parwani AV. Immunohistochemical staining of radixin and moesin in prostatic adenocarcinoma. BMC Clinical Pathology. 2011;11:1 (doi:10.1156/1472-6890-11-1).
• Bartholow TL, Becich MJ, Chandran UR, Parwani AV. Immunohistochemical analysis of ezrin-radixin-moesin-binding phosphoprotein 50 in prostatic adenocarcinoma. BMC Urology. 2011 Jun 14;11:12.
• Bartholow TL, Becich MJ, Chandran UR, Parwani AV. Immunohistochemical staining of Slit2 in primary and metastatic prostatic adenocarcinoma. Translational Oncology. In Press
• Bartholow TL, Parwani AV. Primitive renal neuroectodermal tumors. Archives of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine. In Press

Program Accomplishments:

• Presentations at 2 national meetings.

Funding:

• Doris Duke Clinical Research Fellowship, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, 2010–2011.
• T32 Predoctoral Fellowship, Clinical and Translational Science Institute, National Institutes of Health, 2010–2011.

Tiffany Behringer

Program: CSTP and Doris Duke (2011 graduate)

Program Mentor: Eleanor Bimla Schwarz, MD, MS, Associate Professor of Medicine, Epidemiology, Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences.

Background: Tiffany Behringer graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 2005 with a BA and MS in anthropology. While at Penn, Tiffany performed qualitative research under the auspices of Dr. Fran Barg. Her undergraduate thesis investigated Chinese immigrant women's perceptions of the one-child policy and their reproductive decision making. For her master's thesis, Tiffany used participant observation and semistructured interviewing to better understand the psychosocial experience of female factor infertility and doctor-patient communication about in vitro fertilization treatment. After college, she spent 2 years working with Dr. Kevin Volpp on a study examining the impact of the 2003 Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) work hour policy on mortality in the VA and Medicare population.

Project Title:

• Understanding contraceptive decision making in women who seek to avoid pregnancy.

Publications:

• Behringer T, Rollman BL, Herbeck-Belnap, Houck PR, Mazumdar S, Schwarz EB. Impact of physician counseling and perception of teratogenic risks: A survey of 96 nonpregnant women with anxiety. Prim Care Companion CNS Disorders. 2011; 13(2): e1-e5).
• Behringer T and Schwarz EB. Pregnancy, Unintended. Chapter in The 5-Minute Consult Clinical Companion to Women's Health, second edition. Eds. Kelly A. McGarry and Iris L. Tong. In Press.
• Behringer T, Reeves M, Rossiter B, Chen BA, Schwarz EB. Duration of use of a levonorgestrel IUD amongst adolescent and nulliparous women. Contraception. In Press.
• Volpp KG, Rosen AK, Rosenbaum PR, Romano PS, Even-Shoshan O, Canamucio A, Bellini L, Behringer T, Silber JH. Mortality among patients in VA hospitals in the first 2 years following ACGME resident duty hour reform. Journal of the American Medical Association. 2007;298(9):984-92.
• Volpp KG, Rosen AK, Rosenbaum PR, Romano PS, Even-Shoshan O, Wang Y, Bellini L, Behringer T, Silber JH. Mortality among hospitalized Medicare beneficiaries in the first 2 years following ACGME resident duty hour reform. Journal of the American Medical Association. 2007;298(9):975-83.
• Behringer T, Rollman BL, Herbeck-Belnap B, Houck P, Mazumdar S, Schwarz EB. Physician counseling and perception of teratogenic risks among women with anxiety. Primary Care Companion of the Journal for Clinical Psychiatry. In press.

Program Accomplishments:

• Presentations at 2 national meetings.

Funding:

• Doris Duke Clinical Research Fellowship, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, 2010–2011.
• T32 Predoctoral Fellowship, Clinical and Translational Science Institute, National Institutes of Health, 2010–2011.

Naomi Pitskel

Program: CSTP

Program Mentors: Kevin Pelphrey, PhD, Harris Associate Professor of Child Psychiatry, Yale Child Study Center, Yale University School of Medicine; and Nancy Minshew, MD, Professor of Psychiatry and Neurology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

Background: Naomi Pitskel graduated from Brandeis University in 2005 with a BS in neuroscience. While attending Brandeis, she worked for 3 years with Dr. Ann Skoczenski at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, where she studied visual development and dyslexia and where she also conducted a senior research project on visual processing in adults with autism. After college, she worked for 2 years with Dr. Alvaro Pascual-Leone at Harvard Medical School, investigating cortical plasticity in the visual cortex of human subjects undergoing long-term visual deprivation.

Project Title:

• Neural substrates of atypical gaze fixation in autism.

Publications:

• Pitskel NB, Bolling DZ, Hudac CM, Lantz DS, Minshew NJ, Vander Wyk BC, & Pelphrey KA. Brain mechanisms for processing direct and averted gaze in individuals with autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 2011 Epub ahead of print.

Program Accomplishments:

• Manuscript submitted for publication: Bolling D Z, Pitskel N B, Deen B, Crowley M J, McPartland J C, Vander Wyk B C, Wu J, Mayes L C, & Pelphrey K A. Enhanced neural responses to rule violation in children with autism: a comparison to social exclusion. Under review.
• Manuscript in preparation: Pitskel N B, Bolling D Z, Kaiser M D, Crowley M J, & Pelphrey K A. The neural bases of emotion dysregulation in children with autism.
• Presentations at 3 international meetings.

Funding:

• Doris Duke Clinical Research Fellowship, Yale School of Medicine, 2009–2010.

Sarah Ramer

Program: CSTP and Doris Duke (2011 graduate)

Program Mentors: Mark Unruh, MD, MSc, Assistant Professor of Medicine; and Anne Germain, PhD, Associate Professor of Psychiatry.

Background: Sarah Ramer graduated from Harvard College in 2003 with an AB in folklore and mythology, specializing in Chinese studies. Although she originally did not plan on a career in medicine, her first job out of college, as a clinical research coordinator in the Pediatric Psychopharmacology Unit at Massachusetts General Hospital, convinced her that she wanted to become a doctor. She then took her premedical courses at Harvard Extension School while also working as an interviewer on a National Institutes of Health–funded study of massage for symptom relief in patients with metastatic cancer at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Sarah subsequently ran several premarketing trials of new compounds for diabetic nephropathy under Dr. Mark Williams at Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston.

Project Title:

• Psychosocial impact of witnessed critical events in the hemodialysis center.

Program Accomplishments:

• Manuscript submitted for publication: Ramer S, Germain A, Dohar S, Unruh M. Event-related distress in kidney disease patients.
• Presentation at 1 national meeting.

Publications

• Ramer S, Germain A, Dohar S, Unruh M. Event-related distress in kidney disease patients. Nephrol Dial Transplant. 2011 May 30. [Epub ahead of print] – PubMED Citation
• Jhamb M, Pike F, Ramer S, Argyropoulos C, Steel J, Dew MA, Weisbord SD, Weissfeld L, Unruh M. Impact of fatigue on outcomes in the hemodialysis (HEMO) study. Am J Nephrol. 2011;33(6):515-23. Epub 2011 May 9.
• Ramer S, Cohen E, Unruh M, Barnato AE. The epidemiology of acute hemodialysis in Pennsylvania 2005-2007. In preparation.
• Ramer S, Cohen E, Unruh M, Barnato A. The epidemiology of acute hemodialysis in Pennsylvania, 2005-2007. In preparation.
• Kang E, Pike F, Ramer S, Abdel-Kader K, Myaskovsky L, Dew MA, Unruh M. The effect of longitudinal change in mental health on cardiac outcomes in the HEMO study patients. In revision.
• Ramer S. Humanism at heart: Preserving empathy in third-year medical students (letter). Academic Medicine. 2011 Oct. In press.
• Ramer S, Germain A, Dohar S, Unruh M. Event-related distress in kidney disease patients. Nephrology Dialysis Transplantation. 2011 May 30. (Epub ahead of print.)
• Jhamb M, Pike F, Ramer S , Argyropoulos C, Steel J, Dew MA, Weisbord SD, Weissfeld L, Unruh M. Impact of fatigue on outcomes in the hemodialysis (HEMO) study. American Journal of Nephrology. 2011 May 9;33(6):515-523. (Epub ahead of print.)

Funding:

• T32 Grant MH016804, National Institutes of Health, 2008.
• T32 Grant MH19986, National Institutes of Health, 2010–2011.
• Doris Duke Clinical Research Fellowship, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, 2010–2011.

Niketa Williams

Program: CSTP

Program Mentors: Sharon Hillier, PhD, Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology, Reproductive Sciences, Molecular Genetics, and Biochemistry, Director of Reproductive Infectious Diseases Research at Magee-Womens Hospital, and Director of Magee-Womens Hospital Center of Excellence in Women's Health; and Aletha Akers, MD, MPH, Assistant Investigator, Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences, Magee-Womens Research Institute.

Background: Niketa Williams graduated from Brown University in 2005 with an ScB in human biology and an AB in Africana studies. After graduation, under the direction of Dr. Mark Lurie, she conducted a qualitative study to assess barriers to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) testing and treatment services among HIV-positive patients in rural South Africa.

Project Title:

• Evaluating the legacy of microbicide trial participation among women in Lusaka, Zambia.

Program Accomplishments:

• Manuscript in preparation: Williams N, Akers A, Johnston E, Reid C, Hillier S. Experiences with decision making for microbicide clinical trial enrollment among women in Lusaka, Zambia.
• Manuscript in preparation: Williams N, Akers A, Johnston E, Reid C, Hillier S. Legacy of microbicide clinical trial participation among women in Lusaka, Zambia.
• Manuscript in preparation: Moshabela M, Pronyk P, Williams N, Schneider H, Couper I, Lurie M. HIV/AIDS patient interactions with the health system in the era of antiretroviral therapy in rural South Africa: holistic health needs.
• Presentations at 2 national and 5 international meetings.

Funding:

• Student Global Travel Grant, University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health, 2008.
• International Studies Fund, University of Pittsburgh Center for International Studies, 2008.
• Department of Women's Studies, University of Pittsburgh, 2008.
• Medical Scholars Program, Arnold P. Gold Foundation, 2008.
• Medical Scholars Program, Infectious Diseases Society of America, 2008.
• Student Assembly Award and Travel Grant, American Public Health Association, 2009.
• Diversity Supplement Award, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and National Institutes of Health, 2009–2010.

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J'mir Cousar

Program: CSTP

Program Mentors: Robert Clark, MD, Associate Director of Pediatric Neuroscience and Molecular Biology; and Yvette Conley, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Health Promotion and Development.

Background: J'mir L. Cousar graduated from the University of Rochester in the spring of 2006 with a BS in neuroscience. While at Rochester, J'mir dedicated himself to a diverse array of research projects, including the study of cyclooxygenase inhibition in mice prior to traumatic brain injury, the study of the expression of heme oxygenase 1 in pediatric trauma patients, and the study of diabetic quality care research among family practice physicians.

Project Title:

• Mitochondrial uncoupling protein-4 polymorphisms are associated with depth of coma after traumatic brain injury.

Publications:

• Cousar JL, Lai Y, Marco CD, Bayir H, Adelson PD, Janesko-Feldman KL, Kochanek PM, Clark RS. Heme oxygenase 1 in cerebrospinal fluid from infants and children after severe traumatic brain injury. Developmental Neuroscience. 2006;28(4-5):342-7.

Program Accomplishments:

• Travel Bursary Award, Brain and Brain PET Conference, Chicago, Illinois, 2009.
• Presentations at 1 local meeting and 2 national meetings.

Lara Cox

Program: CSTP and Doris Duke (2010 graduate)

Program Mentors: David A. Brent, MD, MS Hyg, Professor of Psychiatry; and Lisa A. Pan, MD, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry.

Background: Lara Cox graduated in 2006 from Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio. She received a BA with high honors in neuroscience and with distinction in psychology. Throughout her 4 years at Kenyon, she conducted a variety of research projects in cognitive psychology and behavioral neuroscience, including independent research on the effects of methylphenidate on social behavior and ultrasonic vocalizations in rats.

Project Title:

• Self-injurious behavior in the offspring of mood-disordered parents.

Program Accomplishments:

• Manuscript submitted for publication: Cox LJ, Stanley B, Melhem NM, Oquendo M, Birmaher B, Burke A, Kolko DJ, Zelazny JM, Mann JJ, Brent DA. Familial and individual predictors of nonsuicidal self-injury in the offspring of mood-disordered parents.

Funding:

• Multidisciplinary Predoctoral Fellowship, University of Pittsburgh Institute for Clinical Research Education and Clinical and Translational Science Institute, 2009–2010.
• Doris Duke Clinical Research Fellowship, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, 2009–2010.

Maria Fan

Program: Doris Duke

Program Mentor: Sharon Hillier, PhD, Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology, Reproductive Sciences, Molecular Genetics, and Biochemistry, Director of Reproductive Infectious Diseases Research at Magee-Womens Hospital, and Director of the Magee-Womens Hospital Center of Excellence in Women's Health.

Background: Maria Fan graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, in 2005 with a BS in molecular environmental biology. As an undergraduate, she worked in the laboratory of Dr. Isao Kubo and studied the effect of tyrosinase inhibitors on melanoma cells. In 2006, Maria entered the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, where she worked with Dr. Nanette Santoro and Dr. Ellie Schoenbaum on the characterization of reproductive hormones in middle-aged HIV-infected women.

Project Title:

• Acceptability and preferred physician characteristics of vaginal film microbicides used to prevent human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection.

Publications:

• Fan M, Ferguson L, Rohan L, Meyn L, Hillier, SL. Vaginal film microbicides for HIV prevention: A mixed methods study of women's preferences. Abstr. Ann Meeting. 19th International Society for STD Research (ISSTDR) Scientific Meeting: P2-S9.06, p. A263, July 10-13, 2011, Quebec City, Canada.

Program Accomplishments:

• Presentation at 1 national meeting.

Funding:

• Doris Duke Clinical Research Fellowship, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, 2010–2011.

Elizabeth Genovese

Program: CSTP and Doris Duke (2010 graduate)

Program Mentors: Mary Amanda Dew, PhD, Professor of Psychiatry, Psychology, Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Clinical and Translational Science; and Robert Kormos, MD, Director of the Artificial Heart Program, Co-Director of Heart Transplantation at UPMC, and Medical Director of Vital Engineering.

Background: Elizabeth Genovese received a BS from the University of Notre Dame in 2006, with a major in preprofessional studies and a minor in gender studies. While attending Notre Dame, she worked for 2 years under Dr. JoEllen Welsh, researching the use of natural and synthetic vitamin D as a treatment for breast cancer.

Project Title:

• Predictors of acute adverse events in the early months after ventricular assist device implantation.

Publications:

• Genovese EA, Dew MA, Simon MA, Teuteberg JJ, Kay J, Siegenthaler MP, Bhama JK, Bermudez C, Lockard KL, Winowich S, Kormos RL. Cumulative incidence and pattern of adverse events in the first 60 days after ventricular assist device implantation [abstract]. Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation. 2008;27(2 Suppl 1):S159.
• Kay J, Teuteberg JJ, Simon MA, Siegenthaler MP, Genovese EA, Bermudez C, Bhama JK, Dew MA, Lockard KL, Winowich S, Kormos RL. Ventricular assist device (VAD) adverse events (AEs) affect not only VAD survival but subsequent survival after cardiac transplantation (CTX) [abstract]. Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation. 2008;27(2 Suppl 1):S169.
• Genovese EA, Dew MA, Teuteberg JJ, Simon MA, Kay J, Siegenthaler MP, Bhama JK, Bermudez CA, Lockard KL, Winowich S, Kormos RL. Incidence and patterns of adverse event onset during the first 60 days after ventricular assist device implantation. Annals of Thoracic Surgery. 2009;88(4):1162-70.
• Kormos RL, Teuteberg JJ, Siegenthaler MP, Marc SA, Kay JJ, Genovese E, Bermudez C, Toyoda Y, Lockard KL, Winowich S. Pre-VAD implant risk factors influence the onset of adverse events (AEs) while on a VAD [abstract]. Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation. 2009;28(2 Suppl 1):S153-4.
• Rayappa S, Teuteberg JJ, Siegenthaler MP, Kay J, Genovese E, Simon M, Dew MA, Bhama JJ, Lockard KL, Kormos RL. Pre-implant risk for VADs and VAD AEs influences the onset of adverse events (AEs) following cardiac transplantation (CTX) and ultimate survival [abstract]. Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation. 2009;28(2 Suppl 1):S165.
• Bhama JK, Rayappa S, Zaldonis D, Adusumilli PS, Bansal A, Genovese EA, Teuteberg JJ, Toyoda Y, Siegenthaler MP, Bermudez CA, McCurry KR, Kormos RL. Impact of abdominal complications on outcome after mechanical circulatory support. Annals of Thoracic Surgery. 2010;89(2):522-8; discussion 528-9.
• Genovese EA, Dew MA, Teuteberg JJ, Simon MA, Bhama JK, Bermudez CA, Lockard KL, Winowich S, Kormos RL. Early adverse events as predictors of 1-year mortality during mechanical circulatory support. Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation. 2010;29(9):981-8.
• Horai T, Ku NC, Genovese EA, Bermudez CA, Bahma JK, Teuteberg JJ, Winowich S, Weimer A, O'Shea GC, Toyoda Y, McNamara DM, Kormos RL. Major neurological events after ventricular assist device (VAD) implantation are device-specific but are also related to pre-implant factors [abstract]. Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation. 2010;29(2 Suppl 1):S174.
• Kormos RL, Bonde P, Bermudez CA, Lockard KL, Genovese EA, Teuteberg JJ, Bhama JK, Simon MA, Yoshiya T, Tetsuya H, McNamara DM. The ventricular assist device (VAD) driveline: what is the price of living with this technology [abstract]? Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation. 2010;29(2 Suppl 1):S89.

Program Accomplishments:

• Travel Award, Gordon Research Conference on Assisted Circulation, Big Sky, Montana, 2007.
• Merit Award for Excellence in Biomedical Science Research, University of Pittsburgh, 2007.
• Travel Award, Annual Meeting of the Society for Vascular Surgery, Denver, Colorado, 2009.
• Presentations at 1 local meeting and 1 national meeting.

Funding:

• Doris Duke Clinical Research Fellowship, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, 2009–2010.
• T32 Predoctoral Fellowship, Clinical and Translational Science Institute, National Institutes of Health, 2009–2010.

Aditya Iyer

Program: Doris Duke

Program Mentors: Mark S. Roberts, MD, MPP, Chair of the Department of Health Policy and Management, Professor of Health Policy and Management, Medicine, Industrial Engineering, and Clinical and Translational Science; and Andrew Schaefer, PhD, Associate Professor of Industrial Engineering.

Background: Aditya Iyer graduated from Cornell University's College of Arts and Sciences in 2006 with BA degrees in mathematics and economics. As an undergraduate, he focused on using a game-theoretic approach to analyzing outsourcing. After receiving an MS in operations research and information engineering from Cornell University's College of Engineering, he entered the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine in 2008 as a member of the Physician Scientist Training Program.

Project Title:

• Simulation modeling of pediatric acute liver failure to optimize transplant decision making.

Publications:

• Iyer A, Zenarosa G, Bryce C, Chang CH, Schaefer AJ, Roberts MS, A Discrete-Event Simulation of End-stage Liver Disease in Pediatric and Adult Patients, In: Proceedings of the 2011 Winter Simulation Conference.
• Iyer A, Zenarosa GL, Schaefer AJ, Roberts MS, Simulation Based Estimates of the Effect of Presumed Consent on the U.S. Liver Allocation System (2010-2011)
• Bryce C, Chang CH, Iyer A, Zenarosa G, Ren Y, Schaefer AJ, Roberts MS, Pre-transplant Survival in Children with Chronic and Acute Liver Failure (2011)
• Bryce C, Chang CH, Iyer A, Zenarosa G, Ren Y, Schaefer AJ, Roberts MS, Post-transplant Survival in Children with Acute and Chronic Liver Failure (2011)

Funding:

• Doris Duke Clinical Research Fellowship, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, 2010–2011.

Jessica Lee

Program: Doris Duke

Program Mentor: Jennifer Grandis, MD, Vice Chair for Research, Professor of Otolaryngology and Pharmacology, and Leader of the Head and Neck Cancer Program.

Background: Jessica Lee graduated from Princeton University in 2005 with an AB in ecology and evolutionary biology. As an undergraduate, she studied collective decision making in ants and devised experiments in the wild jungles of Panama. Following graduation, she spent 2 years as a research assistant in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at Columbia University, where she focused on clinical studies of the shoulder.

Project Title:

• Targeting STAT3 in head and neck cancer.

Publications:

• Lee JA, Sok, J, Joyce, SC, Grandis JR. Upregulation of Collagen11alpha1 in Head and Neck Cancer, In preparation.

Funding:

• Doris Duke Clinical Research Fellowship, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, 2010–2011.

Erin Ohmann

Program: CSTP and Doris Duke (2010 graduate)

Program Mentor: Steven A. Webber, MBChB, MRCP, Professor of Pediatrics and Clinical and Translational Science, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, and Chief of the Division of Cardiology, Co-Director of the Heart Center, and Medical Director of Pediatric Heart and Heart-Lung Transplantation, Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC.

Background: Erin Ohmann graduated from Cornell University in 2004 with a BS in food science. She worked for 2 years as a research assistant and coordinator of genetic studies of dystonia and Parkinson's disease with Drs. Susan Bressman and Rachel Saunders-Pullman and with Deborah Raymond, MS, at Beth Israel Medical Center, New York.

Project Title:

• Genetic contribution to graft and patient outcomes following pediatric cardiac transplantation.

Publications:

• Ohmann EL, Brooks MM, Webber SA, Girnita DM, Ferrell RE, Burckart GJ, Chinnock R, Canter C, Addonizio L, Bernstein D, Kirklin JK, Naftel DC, Zeevi A. Association of genetic polymorphisms and risk of late posttransplantation infection in pediatric heart recipients. Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation. 2010;29(12):1342-51.
• Ohmann EL, Burckart GJ, Brooks MM, Chen Y, Pravica V, Girnita DM, Zeevi A, Webber SA. Genetic polymorphisms influence mycophenolate mofetil-related adverse events in pediatric heart transplant patients. Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation. 2010;29(5):509-16.
• Ohmann EL, Burckart GJ, Chen Y, Pravica V, Brooks MM, Zeevi A, Webber SA. Inosine 5'-monophosphate dehydrogenase 1 haplotypes and association with mycophenolate mofetil gastrointestinal intolerance in pediatric heart transplant patients. Pediatric Transplantation. 2010;14(7):891-5.

Program Accomplishments:

• Arthur Mirsky Student Research Award, Summer Research Program Symposium, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, 2007.
• Presentations at 2 local, 5 national, and 2 international meetings.

Funding:

• Doris Duke Clinical Research Fellowship, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, 2009–2010.
• T32 Predoctoral Fellowship, Clinical and Translational Science Institute, National Institutes of Health, 2009–2010.

Rebecca Pomerantz

Program: CSTP

Program Mentors: Larisa Geskin, MD, Assistant Professor of Dermatology; and Louis Falo, Jr., MD, PhD, Professor and Chair of the Department of Dermatology.

Background: Rebecca (Reva) Pomerantz graduated from Harvard College in 2006 with an AB in linguistics. In high school and college, she worked on multiple research projects at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, studying head and neck squamous cell carcinoma with Dr. Jennifer Grandis and studying the treatment of depression during pregnancy with Dr. Katherine Wisner. In college, Rebecca did her senior thesis work at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she studied the speech production of cochlear implant users.

Project Title:

• Acitretin for treatment of erlotinib-induced skin rash.
• Novel approach to genomic profiling in Sezary syndrome.

Publications:

• Chirinos RE, Pomerantz RG, Jukic DM, Geskin LJ. Systemic antineoplastic and/or immune modulating drugs induce high CD30 expression in skin lesions [abstract]. Journal of Investigative Dermatology. 2007;127(Suppl 1):S14.
• Pomerantz RG, Chirinos RE, Falo LD Jr, Geskin LJ. Acitretin for treatment of EGFR inhibitor–induced cutaneous toxic effects. Archives of Dermatology. 2008;144(7):949-50.
• Mirvish ED, Pomerantz RG, Falo LD, Geskin LJ. Dendritic cell vaccines in cancer: obstacles to overcome. In: Shurin MR, Salter RD, eds. Dendritic Cells in Cancer. New York, NY: Springer; 2009:309-30.
• Pomerantz RG, Mirvish ED, Erdos G, Donnenberg AD, Falo LD Jr, Geskin LJ. Novel approach to genomic profiling in Sezary syndrome [abstract]. Journal of Investigative Dermatology. 2009;129(Suppl 1):S29.
• Pomerantz RG, Patton TJ Jr, Donnenberg AD, Mirvish ED, Falo LD Jr, Geskin LJ. Disease stage–related changes in T cell receptor–VB profile in cutaneous T cell lymphoma [abstract]. Journal of Immunology. 2009;182(Suppl 1):88.10.
• Pomerantz RG, Campbell LS, Jukic DM, Geskin LJ. Posttransplant cutaneous T-cell lymphoma: case reports and review of the association of calcineurin inhibitor use with posttransplant lymphoproliferative disease risk. Archives of Dermatology. 2010;146(5):513-6.
• Pomerantz RG, Mirvish ED, Erdos G, Falo LD Jr, Geskin LJ. Novel approach to gene expression profiling in Sezary syndrome. British Journal of Dermatology. 2010;163(5):1090-4.
• Pomerantz RG, Mirvish ED, Geskin LJ. Cutaneous reactions to epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitors. Journal of Drugs in Dermatology. 2010;9(10):1229-34.
• Mirvish ED, Pomerantz RG, Geskin LJ. Infectious agents in cutaneous T-cell lymphoma. Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology. In press.

Program Accomplishments:

• Brian V. Jegasothy Award for Outstanding Achievement in Cutaneous Oncology Research, 2009.
• Presentations at 5 national meetings and 1 international meeting.

Funding:

• Howard Hughes Medical Institute Fellowship, 2008–2009.
• American Medical Association Seed Grant, 2008–2009.
• Medical Student Fellowship, American Dermatological Association, 2009.

Rachel Reid

Program: Doris Duke

Program Mentors: Ateev Mehrotra, MD, MPH, Assistant Professor of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, and Health Policy Researcher, RAND Corporation; and Ellerie Weber, PhD, Carnegie Mellon University and RAND Corporation.

Background: Rachel Reid graduated from Harvard University in 2007 with a BA in biochemical sciences and a certificate in health policy. As an undergraduate, she was engaged in research, working in basic science laboratories at Cincinnati Children's Hospital and Brigham and Women's Hospital and performing health services research at Harvard. She joined the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine in 2007 and has been working with Dr. Ateev Mehrotra on projects that examine physician characteristics as predictors of health care quality and cost.

Project Title:

• Analysis of the effect of retail clinic utilization on primary care relationships.

Program Accomplishments:

• Presentations at 1 local and 4 national meetings.

Publications

(Mehrota, Weber)

• Ashwood, JS, Reid, RO, Setotdji, CM, Weber, E, Gaynor, M, Mehrotra, A. Trends in Retail Clinic Use Among The Commercially Insured, American Journal of Managed Care, In Press.
• Reid, RO, Friedberg, M, Ashwood, JS, Setotdji, CM, Weber, E, Gaynor, M, Mehrotra, A. The Impact of Retail Clinics on Primary Care Relationships, Under review.
• Ashwood, JS, Gaynor, M, Reid, RO, Setotdji, CM, Weber, E, Mehrotra, A. The Impact of Retail Clinics on Utilization for Acute Reasons, In preparation.

Susan Shyu (Dew, Pilewski)

• Shyu S, Dew MA, Pilewski JM, DeVito Dabbs AJ, Zaldonis DB, Studer SM, Crespo MM, Toyoda Y, Bermudez CA, McCurry KR. Five-year outcomes with alemtuzumab induction after lung transplantation. J Heart Lung Transplant. 2011 Jul;30(7):743-54. Epub 2011 Mar 21

Funding:

• Doris Duke Clinical Research Fellowship, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, 2010–2011.
• T32 Predoctoral Fellowship, Clinical and Translational Science Institute, National Institutes of Health, 2010–2011.

Sanithia Williams

Program: Doris Duke

Program Mentor: Eleanor Bimla Schwarz, MD, MS, Associate Professor of Medicine, Epidemiology, Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences.

Background: Sanithia Williams graduated from Ohio University in Athens, Ohio, in 2007 with a BS in biochemistry. As an undergraduate, she explored various research interests. In 2007, she went to Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, where she became interested in clinical research and began working on a project that examined clinical decision making in infertility treatment, with a focus on in vitro fertilization and intrauterine insemination.

Project Title:

• Associations between contraceptive use and quality of life among women of reproductive age.

Publications

• Kavanaugh M, Williams S, Schwarz EB. Emergency contraception use and counseling following changes in United States prescription status. Fertility Sterility. 2011 Mar 31. PMID: 21457957
• Williams SL, Parisi SM, Hess R, Schwarz EB. Associations between recent contraceptive use and quality of life among women. Contraception. Forthcoming 2012
• Schwarz EB, Parisi SM, Williams SL, Shevchik G, Hess R. Promoting Safe Prescribing in Primary Care with a Contraceptive Vital Sign: a Cluster-Randomized Controlled Trial (under review by the Annals of Family Medicine)
• Williams SL, Kavanaugh ML, Parisi SM, Borrero S, Schwarz EB. Contraceptive use among obese women: results from the 2006-2008 National Survey of Family Growth (in preparation)

Funding:

• Doris Duke Clinical Research Fellowship, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, 2010–2011.

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Neilly Ann Buckalew, MD, MS, MSEL, ND

Program: CSTP

Program Mentor: Debra Weiner, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine and Director of the Geriatric Fellowship Program.

Background: Neilly Ann Buckalew graduated from Dartmouth College in 1991 with a BA in anthropology and environmental studies and with certification in elementary education. She also holds a master's degree in environmental law and attended Vermont Law School as the first Native American Environmental Law Fellow and as an Institute for the Study of World Politics Fellow. For over 7 years, Neilly was a consultant on environmental health issues and toxic waste cleanup for Native American tribal governments throughout the country and received the Charles Lindbergh Certificate of Merit for her work and the 2000 Notable Women Award for outstanding leadership in the United States. Before entering the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine in 2005, she practiced as a licensed naturopathic physician for 4 years.

Project Title:

• The relationships among chronic pain, brain structure, and brain function in older adults.

Publications:

• Buckalew N, Haut MW, Morrow L, Weiner D. Chronic pain is associated with brain volume loss in older adults: preliminary evidence. Pain Medicine. 2008;9(2):240-8.
• Buckalew N, Haut MW, Morrow L, Perera S, Weiner D. Brain morphology differences in older adults with disabling chronic low back pain [abstract]. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. 2009;57(Suppl 1):S58.
• Buckalew N, Haut MW, Aizenstein H, Morrow L, Perera S, Kuwabara H, Weiner DK. Differences in brain structure and function in older adults with self-reported disabling and nondisabling chronic low back pain. Pain Medicine. 2010;11(8):1183-97.

Program Accomplishments:

• Induction into the Charles Watson Humanism Honor Society and the Gold Humanism Honor Society, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine Division, 2008.
• David C. Martin Award for Academic Excellence in Geriatric Medicine, 2009.
• Induction into Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society, 2009.
• Senior Award for Outstanding Scholarly Project, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, 2010.
• Presentations at 2 local meetings, 1 national meeting, and 1 international meeting.

Funding:

• T32 Predoctoral Fellowship, National Institute on Aging, 2008–2009.

Current Position: Resident, Transitional Year Program, UPMC Shadyside, University of Pittsburgh.

Anthony Deo

Program: Doris Duke

Program Mentor: Robert A. Sweet, MD, Professor of Psychiatry and Neurology.

Background: In 2001, Anthony (Tony) Deo graduated from Boston College with a BS in biology. In 2007, he completed a PhD in biology from New York University. His dissertation research involved developing a new methodology for identifying genes associated with particular subsets of symptoms of schizophrenia. He completed this research under the supervision of Dr. Fatemeh Haghighi, Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University, and Dr. Rob DeSalle, Institute of Comparative Genomics, American Museum of Natural History. After completing his PhD work, Tony entered the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine as a member of the Physician Scientist Training Program.

Project Title:

• The role of mediators of the structural effects of long-term potentiation in the auditory cortex of individuals with schizophrenia.

Publications:

• Sweet, RA, Deo, AJ, Cahill, CE, Li, S, Goldszer, I, Henteleff, R, VanLeeuwen, J, Rafalovich, I, Gao, R, Stachowski, EK, Sampson, AR, Lewis, DA, Penzes, P. Increased Expression of Kalirin-9 in the Auditory Cortex of Schizophrenia Subjects: its Role in Dendritic Pathology Corresponding, Neurobiology of Disease, In Press.
• Fish KN, Sweet RA, Deo AJ, Lewis DA. An automated segmentation methodology for quantifying immunoreactive puncta number and fluorescence intensity in tissue sections. Brain Research. 2008;1240:62-72.

Funding:

• Doris Duke Clinical Research Fellowship, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, 2009–2010.

Anna Evans

Program: Doris Duke

Program Mentor: David C. Whitcomb, MD, PhD, Chief of the Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition, Giant Eagle Foundation Professor of Cancer Genetics, and Professor of Medicine, Cell Biology and Physiology, and Human Genetics.

Background: Anna Evans graduated from Harvard University in 2004 with a BA in history. She worked with Dr. Frank Sacks in nutrition research at Brigham and Women's Hospital before attending the postbaccalaureate premedical program at the University of Pennsylvania in 2005. Anna entered the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine in 2006 with an interest in gastroenterology.

Project Title:

• The role of leptin in the severity of acute pancreatitis.

Publications:

• Evans AC, Papachristou GI, Whitcomb DC. Obesity and the risk of severe acute pancreatitis. Minerva Gastroenterologica e Dietologica. 2010;56(2):169-79.

Funding:

• Doris Duke Clinical Research Fellowship, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, 2009–2010.

David Panczykowski

Program: Doris Duke

Program Mentor: David Okonkwo, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor of Neurological Surgery, Clinical Director of the Brain Trauma Research Center, Director of the Neurotrauma Program, and Director of the Spinal Deformity Program.

Background: David Panczykowski graduated in 2005 from Clemson University. During his undergraduate years, he was a career fire fighter with the City of Clemson Fire Department and performed sleep deprivation research with Dr. June Pilcher in the Department of Psychology. David continued as a firefighter until matriculating to the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine in 2006. He later performed basic science and clinical research with Dr. Alan Levi at the Miami Project to Cure Paralysis, and he was named the Campagna Scholar in Neurological Surgery at Oregon Health and Science University, where he conducted clinical research in subarachnoid hemorrhage under Drs. Nathan Selden, Valerie Anderson, and Stan Barnwell.

Project Title:

• Impact of early nutrition on calorimetry and outcome following traumatic brain injury.

Publications:

• Panczykowski DM, Okonkwo DO. Premorbid oral antithrombotic therapy and risk for reaccumulation, reoperation, and mortality in acute subdural hematomas. Journal of Neurosurgery. 2011;114(1):47-52.

Program Accomplishments:

• Presentations at 2 local, 5 national, and 1 international meeting.

Funding:

• Doris Duke Clinical Research Fellowship, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, 2009–2010.

Anthony Paravati

Program: Doris Duke

Program Mentor: Dwight Heron, MD, Chair of Radiation Oncology at UPMC Shadyside, Vice Chair of Radiation Oncology at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, Director of Radiation Oncology Services at UPMC Cancer Centers, and Professor of Radiation Oncology, Otolaryngology, and Head and Neck Surgery at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

Background: Anthony Paravati graduated from Allegheny College, Meadville, Pennsylvania, in 2006 with a BS in neuroscience. He then went to Dartmouth Medical School, where he took a strong interest in neuro-oncology and radiation therapy. While at Dartmouth, he conducted research with Dr. Candice Aitken on the use of stereotactic body radiation therapy for early-stage lung cancer and with Dr. Alan Hartford on the use of stereotactic radiosurgery for brain metastases. During his fellowship year, Anthony conducted a study to determine if changes to a previously developed prognostic index improved its predictive power for high-grade glioma patients who were treated with intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) with or without temozolomide. He also studied the use of CyberKnife radiosurgery as an adjuvant treatment modality in the corridor-based surgical management of complex base of skull tumors.

Project Title:

• Dynamic tumor regression and posttreatment serum protein and peptide profiles for inoperable non–small cell lung cancer treated with fractionated thoracic radiation therapy and concurrent chemotherapy.

Publications:

• Paravati AJ, Heron DE, Gardner PA, Snyderman C, Ozhasoglu C, Quinn A, Burton SA, Seelman K, Mintz AH. Combined endoscopic endonasal surgery and fractionated stereotactic radiosurgery (fSRS) for complex cranial base tumors: early clinical outcomes. Technology in Cancer Research Treatment. 2010;9(5):489-98.
• Paravati AJ, Heron DE, Landsittel D, Flickinger JC, Mintz A, Chen YF, Huq MS. Radiotherapy and temozolomide for newly diagnosed glioblastoma and anaplastic astrocytoma: validation of radiation therapy oncology group-recursive partitioning analysis in the IMRT and temozolomide era. Journal of Neuro-oncology. In press.

Program Accomplishments:

• Presentations at 4 national meetings.

Funding:

• Doris Duke Clinical Research Fellowship, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, 2009–2010.

Alison Goldberg Rubin, MD, MS

Program: CSTP and Doris Duke (2009 graduate)

Program Mentors: Melanie Gold, DO, Clinical Professor of Pediatrics; and Eleanor Bimla Schwarz, MD, MS, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Epidemiology, Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences.

Background: Alison Goldberg Rubin graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, in 2001 with a BA in English literature and psychology. She worked as a research associate with Drs. Charles Irwin, Elizabeth Ozer, and Mary-Ann Shafer for 3 years at the University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine, where she focused on screening and counseling for risky behaviors and Chlamydia screening among adolescents. She entered the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine in 2005 after completing a postbaccalaureate premedical program at Scripps College.

Project Titles:

• Use of emergency contraception in U.S. teens: methods of access and perceived barriers.
• The relationship between depressive symptoms and risk-taking behavior in female adolescents.

Publications:

• Goldberg AD, Chiappetta L, Gold MA. The relationship between depressive symptoms and risk-taking behavior in female adolescents [abstract]. Journal of Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology. 2007;20(2):S131.
• Rubin AG, Gold MA, Primack BA. Associations between depressive symptoms and sexual risk behavior in a diverse sample of female adolescents. Journal of Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology. 2009;22(5):306-12.
• Manuscript submitted for publication: Rubin AG, Gold MA, Kim Y, Schwarz EB. Teen use of emergency contraception: methods of access and perceived barriers.

Program Accomplishments:

• Sally E. Perlman Award for Best Poster, North American Society for Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology, Atlanta, Georgia, 2007.
• Oral Presenter for University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine at the Doris Duke Clinical Research Fellowship Meeting, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 2009.
• Award for Outstanding Achievement in Scholarly Project, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, 2010.
• Presentations at 1 local and 3 national meetings.

Funding:

• T32 Predoctoral Research Funding, Departments of Pediatrics and Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, 2006.
• Dean's Summer Research Project Funding, Office of the Dean, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, 2006.
• Doris Duke Clinical Research Fellowship, 2008–2009.

Current Position: Pediatrics Resident, Jefferson Medical College and DuPont Hospital for Children, Wilmington, Delaware.

Emily Spangler, MD, MS

Program: CSTP

Program Mentor: Kim Sutton-Tyrell, DrPH, Professor and Vice Chair for Academics, Department of Epidemiology.

Background: Emily Spangler received a BS in physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2005 and then entered the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

Project Title:

• High-resolution magnetic resonance imaging of carotid plaques.

Publications:

• Spangler E, Watson N, Venkitachalam L, Sutton-Tyrrell K, Newman A, Brach J, Mackey RH, Boudreau R, Simonsick E, Najjar S, Windham BG, Bauer D, Rodondi N, Johnson K; for the Health ABC Study. Ankle arm index and walking endurance in community-dwelling older adults [abstract]. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. 2009;57(Suppl 1):S173.
• Spangler EL, Watson NL, Venkitachalam L, Sutton-Tyrrell K, Simonsick EM, Najjar SS, Brach JS, Mackey RH, Bauer DC, Rodondi N, Johnson KC, Newman AB; for the Health ABC Study. Arterial stiffness and walking endurance in community-dwelling older adults [abstract]. Circulation. 2009;119(10):e318.

Program Accomplishments:

• Medical Student Award for presentation of "Adventitial Cystic Disease of the Popliteal Artery: Angioplasty Resulting in Thrombosis," Meeting of the Eastern Vascular Society, Washington, DC, 2007.
• David C. Martin Award, Pennsylvania Geriatrics Society, Western Division, 2009.
• Presentations at 2 national meetings.

Funding:

• T32 Predoctoral Fellowship, National Institute on Aging, 2008–2009.

Current Position: Vascular Surgery Resident, Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, Dartmouth, New Hampshire.

Roy Sriwattanakomen

Program: Doris Duke

Program Mentor: Charles F. Reynolds, MD, UPMC Endowed Professor of Geriatric Psychiatry and Professor of Neurology, Neuroscience, Behavioral and Community Health Sciences, and Clinical and Translational Science.

Background: Roy Sriwattanakomen graduated from Swarthmore College in 2005 with a BA in biology. As an undergraduate, Roy participated in basic science research involving fruit fly courtship and hamster food preference. After graduation, he spent a year as a research assistant investigating mental health access in underserved communities.

Project Title:

• Prevention of depression in subsyndromal elderly patients and the effects of depression and anxiety on patients following coronary artery bypass grafting.

Publications:

• Sriwattanakomen R, Ford AF, Thomas SB, Miller MD, Stack JA, Morse JQ, Kasckow J, Brown C, Reynolds CF 3rd. Preventing depression in later life: translation from concept to experimental design and implementation. American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry. 2008;16(6):460-8.
• Sriwattanakomen R, McPherron J, Chatman J, Morse JQ, Martire LM, Karp JF, Houck PR, Bensasi S, Houle J, Stack JA, Woods M, Block B, Thomas SB, Quinn S, Reynolds CF 3rd. A comparison of the frequencies of risk factors for depression in older black and white participants in a study of indicated prevention. International Psychogeriatrics. 2010;22(8):1240-7.

Funding:

• Doris Duke Clinical Research Fellowship, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, 2009–2010.

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Maria De La Luz Nieto, MD, Certificate in Clinical Research

Program: CSTP

Program Mentor: Steven Albert, PhD, MSPH, Professor of Behavioral and Community Health Sciences.

Background: Maria De La Luz Nieto graduated from Wesleyan University in 2000 with a BA in neuroscience and behavior. She spent 2 years as a clinical research associate at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, working with Dr. Woodrow Weiss and investigating the relationship between obstructive sleep apnea and hypertension. She then spent over a year as a clinical research associate at the California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco, where she worked with Dr. Robert Gish, coordinating phase II, III, and IV studies in patients with hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and HIV co-infection.

Project Title:

• Cognitive status and physical function in older African Americans.

Publications:

• Nieto ML, Albert SM, Morrow LA, Saxton J. Cognitive status and physical function in older African Americans. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. 2008;56(11):2014-9.

Program Accomplishments:

• David C. Martin Award, Pennsylvania Geriatrics Society, Western Division, 2008.
• "Sponsor a Student" Program Award, American Geriatrics Society Foundation for Health in Aging, 2008.
• Presentations at 1 local meeting and 1 national meeting.

Current Position: Obstetrics and Gynecology Resident, University of Massachusetts.

Priya Gursahaney, MD, MS

Program: Doris Duke

Program Mentor: Harold Wiesenfeld, MD, Chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases and Associate Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences.

Background: Priya Gursahaney graduated from Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, in 2004 with a BS in biochemistry. She then worked for 1 year as a research associate in the laboratory of Dr. Josephine Adams at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute. In 2005, Priya entered the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

Project Title:

• Factors influencing notification of partners of patients with sexually transmitted diseases.

Publications:

• Gursahaney PR, Meyn LA, Hillier SL, Sweet RL, Wiesenfeld HC. Combined hormonal contraception may be protective against Neisseria gonorrhoeae infection. Sexually Transmitted Diseases. 2010;37(6):356-60.

Funding:

• Doris Duke Clinical Research Fellowship, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, 2008–2009.

Deborah Kowalchuk, MD, MS

Program: CSTP

Program Mentor: James Irrgang, PhD, PT, Director of Clinical Research in Orthopaedic Surgery.

Background: Deborah Kowalchuk graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 2003 with a BA in biology. She spent a year as a clinical research assistant at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, where she worked with Dr. David R. Jobes to determine the adverse events related to coagulation during cardiac catheterization and with Dr. John G. Augoustides to determine the adverse events after lung transplants.

Project Titles:

• Prediction of patient-reported outcome after single-bundle anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction.
• The cost-effectiveness of magnetic resonance imaging in the evaluation and management of meniscal tears: a decision analysis.

Publications:

• Kowalchuk DA, Harner CD, Fu FH, Irrgang JJ. Prediction of patient-reported outcome after single-bundle anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction. Arthroscopy. 2009;25(5):457-63.

Program Accomplishments:

• Presentation at 1 national meeting.

Current Position: Orthopedic Surgery Resident, University of Massachusetts.

Mari Stephanie Machi, MD

Program: Doris Duke

Program Mentors: Donald M. Yealy, MD, Professor and Vice Chair of Emergency Medicine; and Clifton W. Callaway, MD, PhD, Executive Vice Chair of Emergency Medicine and Ronald D. Stewart Endowed Chair of Emergency Medicine.

Background: Mari Stephanie Machi graduated from Cornell University in 2005 with a BA in biology. During her undergraduate years, she participated in various basic science research projects, including the study of nucleosomal stability in the Department of Biophysics and the study of the cysteine dioxygenase enzyme in the Department of Nutritional Sciences. She also had some exposure to clinical research during a summer in which she examined the effect of pneumatic compression devices on the prevention of deep vein thrombosis during air travel. In medical school, Stephanie was involved in some basic research, but she began to take an interest in clinical research, and this led her to apply for the Doris Duke Clinical Research Fellowship.

Project Title:

• Detecting cognitive fatigue, impulsiveness, and changes in executive function after an overnight shift in emergency medicine attending physicians.

Publications:

• McCausland JB, Machi MS, Yealy DM. Emergency physicians' risk attitudes in acute decompensated heart failure patients. Academic Emergency Medicine. 2010;17(1):108-10.

Funding:

• Doris Duke Clinical Research Fellowship, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, 2008–2009.

Meredith Parrott, MD, Certificate in Clinical Research

Program: CSTP

Program Mentors: James M. Roberts, MD, Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology, Reproductive Sciences, and Epidemiology and Senior Scientist and Founding Director of Magee-Womens Research Institute; and Lisa M. Bodnar, PhD, MPH, RD, Assistant Professor of Epidemiology.

Background: Meredith Parrott graduated from Pennsylvania State University in 2004 with a BS in nutritional sciences. For 3 years during college, she worked with Dr. Nancy I. Williams and studied the effects of diet and exercise on reproduction and metabolism in college-aged women.

Project Title:

• The effects of reduced amino acid availability on placental amino acid uptake and leptin induction in normal, preeclamptic, and intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) pregnancies.
• Maternal cereal consumption and adequacy of micronutrient intake in the periconceptional period.

Publications:

• Parrott MS, von Versen-Höynck F, Ness RB, Markovic N, Roberts JM. System A amino acid transporter activity in term placenta is substrate specific and inversely related to amino acid concentration. Reproductive Sciences. 2007;14(7):687-93.
• Parrott MS, Bodnar LM, Simhan HN, Harger G, Markovic N, Roberts JM. Maternal cereal consumption and adequacy of micronutrient intake in the periconceptional period. Public Health Nutrition. 2009;12(8):1276-83.
• Bodnar LM, Catov JM, Zmuda JM, Cooper ME, Parrott MS, Roberts JM, Marazita ML, Simhan HN. Maternal serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations are associated with small-for-gestational-age births in white women. Journal of Nutrition. 2010;140(5):999-1006.

Program Accomplishments:

• Gold Foundation Humanism and Excellence in Teaching Award, 2010.
• Presentations at 2 local and 2 national meetings.

Current Position: Obstetrics and Gynecology Resident, Magee-Womens Hospital of UPMC, University of Pittsburgh.

Arvind Raina, MD

Program: Doris Duke

Program Mentors: Naftali Kaminski, MD, Professor of Medicine, Pathology, Human Genetics, and Computational Biology, Director of the Dorothy P. and Richard P. Simmons Center for Interstitial Lung Diseases, and Director of the Lung, Blood, and Vascular Center for Genomic Medicine.

Background: Arvind Raina received an MD from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. During the 2008–2009 academic year, Arvind conducted research focused on the pathophysiology of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. Arvind's research interests include the clinical application of analytic techniques used in genomics and metabolomics.

Project Title:

• Modulation of cellular responsiveness to tumor growth factor beta stimulation by let-7d.

Funding:

• Doris Duke Clinical Research Fellowship, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, 2008–2009.

Nikhil Thaker, MD

Program: Doris Duke

Program Mentors: John Lazo, PhD, Professor Emeritus of Pharmacology; and Ian Pollack, MD, Walter E. Dandy Professor of Neurological Surgery, Vice Chair of Academic Affairs, Chief of Pediatric Neurosurgery, and Co-Director of Neurosurgical Oncology.

Background: Nikhil Thaker graduated from the College of New Jersey in 2007 with a BS in biology. As an undergraduate, He worked with Dr. Robert Nagele from the School of Osteopathic Medicine at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ), where he investigated autoimmune mechanisms of Alzheimer disease. As a student in the 7-year accelerated combined BS/MD program, Nikhil entered the UMDNJ–New Jersey Medical School in 2006.

Project Titles:

• A small interfering RNA (siRNA) screen identifies isocitrate dehydrogenase 3 beta as an essential protein for glioma cell survival.

Publications:

• Thaker NG, Pollack IF. Molecularly targeted therapies for malignant glioma: rationale for combinatorial strategies. Expert Review of Neurotherapeutics. 2009;9(12):1815-36.
• Thaker NG, Zhang F, McDonald PR, Shun TY, Lewen MD, Pollack IF, Lazo JS. Identification of survival genes in human glioblastoma cells by small interfering RNA screening. Molecular Pharmacology. 2009;76(6):1246-55.
• Thaker NG, McDonald PR, Zhang F, Kitchens CA, Shun TY, Pollack IF, Lazo JS. Designing, optimizing, and implementing high-throughput siRNA genomic screening with glioma cells for the discovery of survival genes and novel drug targets. Journal of Neuroscience Methods. 2010;185(2):204-12.
• Thaker NG, Zhang F, McDonald PR, Shun TY, Lazo JS, Pollack IF. Functional genomic analysis of glioblastoma multiforme through short interfering RNA screening: a paradigm for therapeutic development. Neurosurgical Focus. 2010; 28(1):E4 (doi:10.3171/2009.10.focus09210).

Funding:

• Doris Duke Clinical Research Fellowship, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, 2008–2009.

Laura Raducha-Grace (Thompson), MD, MS

Program: CSTP

Program Mentor: C. Kent Kwoh, MD, Professor of Medicine and Associate Chief and Director of Clinical Research, Division of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology.

Background: Laura Raducha-Grace graduated from Wesleyan University in 2003 with a BA in molecular biology and biochemistry. She then worked for a year as a cancer research training award student in Dr. Mike Kuehl's laboratory at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland, where she was involved in a project characterizing the role of p18 in multiple myeloma cell lines.

Project Title:

• The knee pain map.

Publications:

• Thompson LR, Boudreau R, Hannon MJ, Newman AB, Chu CR, Jansen M, Nevitt MC, Kwoh CK; Osteoarthritis Initiative Investigators. The knee pain map: reliability of a method to identify knee pain location and pattern. Arthritis and Rheumatism. 2009;61(6):725-31.
• Thompson LR, Boudreau R, Newman AB, Hannon MJ, Chu CR, Nevitt MC, Kwoh CK; OAI Investigators. The association of osteoarthritis risk factors with localized, regional and diffuse knee pain. Osteoarthritis Cartilage. 2010;18(10):1244-9.

Program Accomplishments:

• Presentations at 3 national meetings and 1 international meeting.

Funding:

• T32 Predoctoral Fellowship, National Institute on Aging, 2007–2008.

Current Position: Emergency Medicine Resident, University of Pittsburgh.

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H. Patrick Driscoll, MD, MS

Program: CSTP

Program Mentor: Charles F. Reynolds, MD, Professor of Psychiatry, Neurology, and Neuroscience.

Background: H. Patrick Driscoll graduated from Washington and Lee University in 2000 with a BA in philosophy. After he completed a premedicine program at Goucher College, he worked for 2 years as a Postbaccalaureate Intramural Research Training Award Fellow with Dr. Robert M. Brosh in the Laboratory of Molecular Gerontology at the National Institute on Aging, where he studied the biochemical characterization of key DNA helicase proteins associated with aging and genomic stability.

Project Title:

• Late-onset major depression: clinical and treatment response variability.

Publications:

• Driscoll HC, Basinski J, Mulsant BH, Butters MA, Dew MA, Houck PR, Mazumdar S, Miller MD, Pollock BG, Stack JA, Schlernitzauer MA, Reynolds CF 3rd. Late-onset major depression: clinical and treatment-response variability. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry. 2005;20(7):661-7.
• Driscoll HC, Karp JF, Dew MA, Reynolds CF 3rd. Getting better, getting well: understanding and managing partial and non-response to pharmacological treatment of non-psychotic major depression in old age. Drugs and Aging. 2007;24(10):801-14.
• Driscoll HC, Serody L, Patrick S, Maurer J, Bensasi S, Houck PR, Mazumdar S, Nofzinger EA, Bell B, Nebes RD, Miller MD, Reynolds CF 3rd. Sleeping well, aging well: a descriptive and cross-sectional study of sleep in "successful agers" 75 and older. American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry. 2008;16(1):74-82.
• Lenze EJ, Sheffrin M, Driscoll HC, Mulsant BH, Pollock BG, Dew MA, Lotrich F, Devlin B, Bies R, Reynolds CF 3rd. Incomplete response in late-life depression: getting to remission. Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience. 2008;10(4):419-30.
• Sheffrin M, Driscoll HC, Lenze EJ, Mulsant BH, Pollock BG, Miller MD, Butters MA, Dew MA, Reynolds CF 3rd. Pilot study of augmentation with aripiprazole for incomplete response in late-life depression: getting to remission. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry. 2009;70(2):208-13.

Current Position: Psychiatry Resident, Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, University of Pittsburgh.

Alvin Jones, MD, MS

Program: CSTP

Program Mentors: C. Kent Kwoh, MD, Professor of Medicine and Associate Chief and Director of Clinical Research, Division of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology; and Said Ibrahim, MD, MPH, Associate Professor of Medicine.

Background: Alvin Jones graduated from the University of Pittsburgh in 2003 with a BS in biological sciences. After working as a summer intern with the Center for Minority Health in the Graduate School of Public Health at the University of Pittsburgh, he entered the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

Project Title:

• Doctor-patient communication and referral for total joint replacement: the Health ABC Study.

Publications:

• Jones A, Kwoh CK, Kelley ME, Ibrahim SA. Racial disparity in knee arthroplasty utilization in the Veterans Health Administration. Arthritis and Rheumatism. 2005;53(6):979-81.
• Emejuaiwe N, Jones AC, Ibrahim SA, Kwoh CK. Disparities in joint replacement utilization: a quality of care issue. Clinical and Experimental Rheumatology. 2007;25(6 Suppl 47):44-9.
• Jones AC, Kwoh CK, Groeneveld PW, Mor M, Geng M, Ibrahim SA. Investigating racial differences in coping with chronic osteoarthritis pain. Journal of Cross-Cultural Gerontology. 2008;23(4):339-47.

Program Accomplishments:

• Presentations at 2 local meetings and 1 national meeting.

Current Position: Orthopedic Surgery Resident, West Virginia University.

Nima Naghshineh, MD, MS

Program: CSTP

Program Mentors: J. Peter Rubin, MD, Associate Professor of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery; Kathleen McTigue, MD, MPH, MS, Assistant Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology; and Anita Courcoulas, MD, MPH, Associate Professor of Surgery and Chief of the Section of Minimally Invasive Bariatric and General Surgery.

Background: Nima Naghshineh graduated from Johns Hopkins University in 2003 with a BS in biomedical engineering and psychology. During college, he conducted research in cardioelectrophysiology and tissue repair and in thoracic oncology outcomes research.

Project Title:

• Surgical resection in patients who are 40 years of age or younger and have primary lung cancer: experience in a North American institution.

Publications:

• Coon D, Gusenoff JA, Kannan N, El Khoudary SR, Naghshineh N, Rubin JP. Body mass and surgical complications in the postbariatric reconstructive patient: analysis of 511 cases. Annals of Surgery. 2009;249(3):397-401.
• Naghshineh N, Coon D, McTigue K, Courcoulas AP, Fernstrom M, Rubin JP. Nutritional assessment of bariatric surgery patients presenting for plastic surgery: a prospective analysis. Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. 2010;126(2):602-10.
• Naghshineh N, Ota KS, Tang L, O'Toole J, Rubin JP. A double-blind controlled trial of polyglytone 6211 versus poliglecaprone 25 for use in body contouring. Annals of Plastic Surgery. 2010;65(2):124-8.

Program Accomplishments:

• Presentations at 3 national meetings.

Current Position: Plastic Surgery Resident, University of Pittsburgh.

Kristen Scopaz, MD, MS

Program: CSTP

Program Mentor: Kelley Fitzgerald, PT, PhD, Associate Professor of Physical Therapy.

Background: Kristen Scopaz graduated from Dartmouth College in 2000 with a BA in biology modified with engineering. She worked for 2 years as a clinical research assistant with Dr. Frank Haluska at Massachusetts General Hospital in the field of melanoma research and treatment.

Project Title:

• Quadriceps activation failure: possible implications in knee osteoarthritis rehabilitation.

Publications:

• Scopaz KA, Piva SR, Gil AB, Woollard JD, Oddis CV, Fitzgerald GK. Effect of baseline quadriceps activation on changes in quadriceps strength after exercise therapy in subjects with knee osteoarthritis. Arthritis and Rheumatism. 2009;61(7):951-7.
• Scopaz KA, Piva SR, Wisniewski S, Fitzgerald GK. Relationships of fear, anxiety, and depression with physical function in patients with knee osteoarthritis. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. 2009;90(11):1866-73.

Program Accomplishments:

• Presentation at 1 national meeting.

Current Position: Family Medicine Resident, University of Pittsburgh.

Arun Sharma, MD, MS

Program: CSTP

Program Mentor: David Whitcomb, MD, PhD, Professor of Medicine and Chief of the Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition.

Background: Arun Sharma graduated from Johns Hopkins University in 2003 with a BA in biology and the history of science. While in college, he worked as Dr. Ann Hubbard's research assistant and studied molecular mechanisms involved in the formation of tight junctions and cellular polarity.

Project Title:

• Visfatin, obesity, and severe acute pancreatitis.

Publications:

• Papachristou GI, Clermont G, Sharma A, Yadav D, Whitcomb DC. Risk and markers of severe acute pancreatitis. Gastroenterology Clinics of North America. 2007;36(2):277-96.
• Sharma A, Muddana V, Lamb J, Greer J, Papachristou GI, Whitcomb DC. Low serum adiponectin levels are associated with systemic organ failure in acute pancreatitis. Pancreas. 2009;38(8):907-12.

Program Accomplishments:

• Department of Medicine Research Day Poster Award, University of Pittsburgh, 2007.
• Presentations at 2 local and 4 national meetings.

Funding:

• Predoctoral Training Grant, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), 2006–2007.

Current Position: Otolaryngology Resident, University of Washington.

Ann Silk Willman, MD, MS

Program: CSTP

Program Mentor: Olivera Finn, PhD, Chair and Distinguished Professor, Department of Immunology.

Background: Ann Silk graduated from Swarthmore College in 2001 with a BA in biology. She worked for 2 years as a clinical research coordinator for ovarian cancer clinical trials conducted by Dr. Ursula Matulonis and Dr. Susana Campos at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

Project Title:

• Cancer vaccines: a promising cancer therapy against all odds.

Publications:

• Silk AW, Finn OJ. Cancer vaccines: a promising cancer therapy against all odds. Future Oncology. 2007;3(3):299-306.
• Silk AW, Schoen RE, Potter DM, Finn OJ. Humoral immune response to abnormal MUC1 in subjects with colorectal adenoma and cancer. Molecular Immunology. 2009;47(1):52-6.

Current Position: Internal Medicine Resident, University of Pittsburgh.

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