The abstracts and poster presentations for the Research Showcase were judged by an independent panel of faculty reviewers. Outstanding submissions were selected from across the GW School of Medicine and Health Sciences academic medical enterprise: medical school students, medical residents, PhD candidates in Integrated Biomedical Sciences, and students in Health Sciences, including biomedical laboratory sciences; clinical research and leadership; health, human function, and rehab sciences; and physician assistant studies. Below are the recipients of these awards.
2026 Awardees
MD Awards
Lucas Allen
Title: Laying the Groundwork for Integrating Village Health Teams into Uganda's Emerging Emergency Medical Services System
Faculty Mentor: Katherine Douglass, MD, MPH, professor of emergency medicine
Avani Bansal
Title: Exploring Outcomes of the DC Health and Academic Prep Program (DC HAPP) at the George Washington University SMHS: A Qualitative Evaluation
Faculty Mentor: Theiline T. Gborkorquellie, MD, assistant professor of pediatrics, Children’s National Hospital
Scarlett Bergam
Title: Preferred Characteristics of Long Acting Injectable Antiretroviral Treatment For Adolescents with HIV in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa: A Qualitative Study of Key Stakeholders
Faculty Mentor: Brian Zanoni, MD, MPH, associate proferssor of medicine and of pediatric infectious diseases, Emory University School of Medicine
Brynn Durecki
Title: Investigating the Role of METTL3 in Ovarian Cancer Oncogenesis in Fallopian Tube Cell Lines with Varying p53 Status
Faculty Mentor: Katherine Chiappinelli, PhD, associate professor of microbiology, immunology, and tropical medicine
Mina Farah
Title: What Matters Most in Skin Cancer Care for Older Adults? A Cross-Sectional Survey
Faculty Mentors: Tania Alchalabi, MD, assistant professor of medicine; and Adam Friedman, MD, FAAD, professor and chair of dermatology
Medha Gaddam
Title: A DEIJ-Focused Module for Residents in a Career As a Physician-Educator
Faculty Mentor: Maranda Ward, EdD ’17, MPH, associate professor of clinical research and leadership
Jessica Harris
Title: Opioid exposure in the neonatal intensive care unit is associated with reduced amygdala and hippocampal volumes
Faculty Mentor: Kevin M. Cook, PhD, assistant professor of pediatrics, GW; and research faculty member, Center for Prenatal Neonatal and Maternal Health Research, Children’s National Hospital
Amreen Kanwal
Title: Characterizing Alopecia Areata in Pediatric Patients with Inborn Errors of Immunity
Faculty Mentor: Leslie Castelo-Soccio, MD, PhD, professor of dermatology and of pediatrics, Children’s National Hospital
Katrina Le
Title: Emergency Department Utilization and Disposition Outcomes for Gastrointestinal Bleeding: A Nationwide Analysis
Faculty Mentor: Ali Pourmand, MD, MPH ’06, RDMS, FACEP, professor of emergency Medicine
Preeyanka Rao, MSII (Donald H. Glew Prize Winner)
Title: “Comparison of Asthma Utilizations across Different Medicaid Insurance Plans in the District of Columbia”
Faculty Mentor: Shilpa J. Patel, MD, MPH, associate professor of pediatrics and of emergency medicine, medical director of IMPACT DC Asthma Clinic
Christina Tolete
Title: An International Patient Survey of Disease Burden, Management and Quality of Life in Hailey-Hailey Disease
Faculty Mentor: Leonardo Tjahjono, MD, FAAD, assistant professor of dermatology
Rollins Turner
Title: Predictive capability of combining ExoDx (EPI) and pre-biopsy prostate MRI in detecting clinically significant prostate cancer in African American men
Faculty Mentor: Neil Mendhiratta, MD, assistant professor of urology
Gavin Zhao
Title: Survival Benefits of Immunotherapy During Standard Glioblastoma treatment: an NCDB Retrospective Analysis
Faculty Mentor: Prashanth Ashok Kumar, MD, FACP, assistant professor of medicine.
Acknowledgment of Faculty Judges
We are indebted to the help of the following faculty judges who reviewed the submitted abstracts and/or posters:
Laura Abate, Bidhan Bandyopadhyay, Sarah Boutwell, Chelsey Bowman, Ruth Bueter, Susan Ceryak, Aileen Chang, Kate Chiappinelli, James DeBritz, Nicole DeVaul, David Diemert, Manjari Dimri, Aiste Gulla, Andrea Hahn, Ashraf Harahsheh, Tom Harrod, Sandy Hoar, Susan Kartiko, Jennifer Keller, Ioannis Koutroulis, Pat Latham, Aditya Loganathan, Maureen Lyon, Tim McCaffrey, Andrew Meltzer, David Mendelowitz, Neil Mendhiratta, Kevin Michael Cook, Pamela Mudd, Katherine Ottolini, Ahdeah Pajoohesh-Ganji, Akhil Patel, Courtney Paul, Ali Pourmand, Claudia Ranniger, Lisa Schwartz, Marc Spencer, Simranjeet Sran, Leah Steckler, Randi Streisand, Justin Unternaher, Maranda Ward, Michael Whalen, and Rebecca Yee.
Very special thanks go to Alison Hall, Monica Burmicky, Julia Ardoin, and Colston Judd who organized this year's judging process.
Integrated Biomedical Sciences Awards
1st Place
Elton VanNoy
Title: Modulating DNA Methylation During CAR T Manufacturing to Enhance Immunotherapy for Pediatric Glioma
Mentor: Dalia Haydar, PhD, assistant professor of pediatrics
2nd Place
Sarah Kleb
Title: GPR84 Signaling Regulates Adipocyte Function During Acute Skin Wound Healing
Mentor: Brett Shook, PhD, associate professor of biochemistry and molecular medicine
3rd Place
Vera Mariani
Title: Tumor-Educated Platelets Function as Active Regulators of Prostate Cancer in African Americans Rather than Passive Bystanders in the Circulatory Microenvironment
Mentor: Norm Lee, PhD, professor of pharmacology and physiology
4th Place
Tommy DeStefanis
Title: “n Vivo Escape Pathways to VRC07-523LS and VRC01LS and Their Effects on CD4bs bNAb Susceptibility
Mentor: Rebecca Lynch, PhD, IBS director and associate professor of microbiology, immunology, and tropical medicine
5th Place
Gabe Galeotos
Title: Characterizing the Autologous CD4bs Antibody Response in HIV-1 Clinical Trial Participants
Mentor: Rebecca Lynch, PhD, IBS director and associate professor of microbiology, immunology, and tropical medicine
Pre-Candidacy Honorable Mentions
Lily Parker
Title: Antibiotics Blunt the Innate Immune Mechanisms Underlying HER2+ Breast Cancer Therapy Efficacy
Mentor: Rong Li, PhD, chair, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine and Ross Professor of Basic Science Ressearch
Monica Wu
Title: EcoHIV as a Model of HIV-1 Infection in Mice to Investigate Pulmonary Type 2 Allergic Inflammation Co-morbidity
Mentor: Pedro Gazzinelli-Guimaraes, PhD, assistant professor of microbiology, immunology, and tropical medicine
Resident Awards
TBA
Health Sciences Awardees
Doctoral Students
1st Place
Cory Sessum
Title: Operating Under Pressure: A National Survey of Burnout in Operating Room Nurses and Organizational Support
Mentor: Lisa Paganotti, PhD ’22, assistant professor of health, human function, and rehabilitation sciences
2nd Place
Heather Studwell
Title: Association of Skeletal Muscle Mass and Endocrine Therapy Intolerance in Early-Stage HR+ Breast Cancer
Mentor: Donal Murray, PhD, assistant professor of health, human function, and rehabilitation sciences
Preethi Varghese-Joseph
Title: “Sustaining Workplace Wellness Programs in Higher Education: A Qualitative Study of Facilitators and Barriers
Mentor: Michelle Rumble, DNP ’15, adjunct assistant professor of health, human function, and rehabilitation sciences
Lauren Pourghaderi
Title: Developing and Translating a Theory of Informal Caregiving in Sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease
Mentor: Patrick Corr, EdD ’21, program director for integrative medicine, assistant professor of clinical research and leadership
3rd Place
Desiree Burdishaw
Title: Beyond Clinical Predictors: Structural Determinants of Spinal Cord Stimulator Explanation in the ‘All of Us’ Research Program
Mentor: Leslie Davidson, PhD, associate professor of clinical research and leadership
Honorable Mention
Kelly Ritter
Title: Exploring Beyond the Bench: Factors That May Influence Clinical Laboratory Professionals to Consider Leaving the Profession
Mentor: Skip Gill, PhD, professor of health, human function, and rehabilitation sciences
Allison Dalton
Title: Mapping Dissertation Collaboration Networks: Team Science and Knowledge Translation in Action
Mentor: Gaetano Lotrecchiano, PhD, associate professor of clinical research and leadership
Candice Dixon
Title: Supporting Safe Aging in Place for Older Adults with Neurodegenerative Cognitive Conditions and Their Caregivers
Mentor: Kellie Sawyer, OTD ’21, associate director of the Occupational Therapy Program, assistant professor of health, human function, and rehabilitation sciences
Undergraduate/Graduate Students
1st Place
Lindsay Kaufman
Title: Call to Action: Evidence-Based Perinatal Care in Lebanon
Mentor: Brandon Beattie, MMSc, director of the Physician Assistant Studies Program, assistant professor of physician assistant studies
2nd Place
Shelby Steadman
Title: Paws and Reflect: Exploring Animal-Assisted Therapy in PA Education
Mentor: Malwina Huzarska, MS, assistant professor of physician assistant studies
3rd Place
Doryan Redding
Title: Assessing Platelet Utilization in UVA Hospital Network to Inform Cold-Stored Platelet Feasibility
Mentor: Rohini Ganjoo, PhD, associate professor of biomedical laboratory sciences
Honorable Mention
Noah White
Title: Mapping Educational Competencies: Proposing a Tool to Improve Physician Assistants’ Abilities to Help FGM/C Survivors
Mentor: Karen McDonnell, PhD, associate professor of prevention and community health at Milken Institute School of Public Health at GW
Sadichhya Shahi
Title: Identifying Content Gaps in TBI Assessments through Mapping to World Health Organization International Classification of Functioning (WHO ICF) Body Function Domain: A Scoping Review
Mentor: Trudy Mallinson, PhD, associate dean for health sciences research and professor of clinical research and leadership
Sydney Richards
Title: Understanding FGM/C Survivors’ Experiences: Implications for Physician Assistant Education and Training
Mentor: Howard Straker, EdD ’81, MPH, PA-C, associate professor of physician assistant studies