Research Appreciation Day 2024 Award Winners

School of Biomedical Sciences

Oral Presentation Award

First Place, Jennifer Pham, Enhanced Protection of Retinal Ganglion Cells against Ischemia/Reperfusion Injury and Neurotrophic Factor Deprivation with Compound SA-10

Second Place, Payal Ranade, Elucidating the role of MIEN1 in colorectal cancer metastasis

Postdoctoral Oral Presentation

AMIT TRIPATHI, First-in-class Peptide Molecules Targeting the MIEN1 Cancer signaling Pathway for which no inhibitors are currently identified

Postdoctoral Poster Presentation

Pinkal D. Patel, Phenotypic and transcriptomic comparison of genetically distinct mouse strains for susceptibility to glucocorticoid-induced ocular hypertension (GC-OHT)

North Texas Eye Research Institute Graduate Student Award

First Place, Gretchen Johnson, CREB Activation by Mini-Chaperone CPP-P1 Enhances Retinal Ganglion Cell Survival in an Acute Glaucoma Model

Second Place, R. Max Petty, Assessment of WIN 55,212-2 Loaded Reconstituted High-Density Lipoprotein Nanoparticles for Ocular Delivery

Department of Microbiology, Immunology & Genetic (Biochemistry and Cancer Biology) Award

First Place, Christoffer Lambring, Targeting Sp1 in Ewing Sarcoma: A multi-approach method for the utilization of Mithramycin

Second Place, Ammar Kapic, Neuroprotective Effects of DHED Eyedrops Protects Visual Function Despite Elevated IOP in an Ocular Hypertension Animal Model

Department of Microbiology, Immunology & Genetic (Cell Biology, Immunology & Microbiology) Award

First Place, Jamie Choe, Assessing Changes to the Lower GI Tract Microbiome in Response to Neglect-related Early Life Stress Exposure

Second Place, Tamara Hoteit, High expression of N-acetyl transferase 9 in cholangiocarcinoma and its possible role in tumor progression

Department of Microbiology, Immunology & Genetic (Genetics) Award

First Place, Kumudu Subasinghe, Longitudinal microRNA profiling of neuronal-enriched exosomes associated with cognitive function and decline

Second Place, Katherine McBroom, Taking the Bait: Utilization of Probe-Capture Enrichment in Human Remains Identification

Department of Pharmaceutical & Pharmacotherapy Award

First Place, Giacomo Spano, Contact angle, a potential screening tool for anticancer drug delivery systems and breast cancer tumor tissues.

Second Place, Meredith Garrett, Preclinical Characterization of Novel Drug Candidates for Ocular Drug Delivery

Department of Pharmacology & Neuroscience Award

First Place, Steve Mabry, Sex-dependent effects of chronic intermittent hypoxia: Implication for obstructive sleep apnea

Second Place, Nana Kofi Kusi-Boadum, Impact of nicotine’s autonomic effect on nicotine’s discriminative stimulus

Department of Physiology & Anatomy (Integrative Physiology) Award

First Place, Lindsey Hudson, Interactions Between Carotid Arterial Stiffness, Amplitude of Cerebral Blood Flow Oscillations, and Cerebral Tissue Oxygenation During Simulated Hemorrhage in Humans

Second Place, Cephas Appiah, Assessment of Neuroinflammation in Cognitive and Motor Brain Regions in Female Rats Exposed to Chronic Intermittent Hypoxia

Department of Physiology & Anatomy (Structural Anatomy & Rehabilitation Sciences) Award

First Place, Caroline Counts, Evaluating philtrum-to-tragus distance as an external predictor of nasal passage dimensions: A computed tomography (CT) approach

Second Place, Baonhu Tran, Every breath you take: Experimentally investigating respiratory responses to hot environments

Texas College Of Osteopathic Medicine

2024 Medical Student Government Association Best in First Year Class

Jordan Wright, Characterization of Estrogen Receptor Mutant Breast Cancer Three-Dimensional Cell Cultures

2024 Medical Student Government Association Best in Second Year Class

Kevin Lal, Evaluating the Role of Arterial Stiffness on Amplitude of Cerebral Blood Flow Oscillations

2024 Medical Student Government Association Best in Third Year Class

Kristina Hartley, Intraoperative Osteopathic Manipulative Therapy Used to Manage Acute Cervical Somatic Dysfunction During Deep Brain Stimulator Implantation for Parkinson’s Disease: A Case Report

2024 Medical Student Government Association Best in Fourth Year Class

Josh Worley, High school wrestler with episode of psychosis and self-harm following loss of consciousness event.

2024 Medical Student Government Association Best of DO/PhD Dual Degree Students

Jamie Choe, Assessing Changes to the Lower GI Tract Microbiome in Response to Neglect-related Early Life Stress Exposure

2024 Student Research Award

First Place, Shubhangi Awasthi, A Study on the Utility of Blood-Based Biomarkers for Alzheimer’s Disease in Predicting Cerebral Amyloid among Individuals with Down Syndrome

Second Place, Ritika Muthyala, Evaluating the efficacy of wireless near infrared spectroscopy sensors for detecting central hypovolemia during simulated hemorrhage in humans

2024 Student Research Award – Best Case Study

Kristina Hartley, Intraoperative Osteopathic Manipulative Therapy Used to Manage Acute Cervical Somatic Dysfunction During Deep Brain Stimulator Implantation for Parkinson’s Disease: A Case Report

2024 Honors Student Research Award

Morgan Finley, One Key Question at JPS Health Network: Pregnancy Intention as a Predictor of Pregnancy and Birth Outcomes

2024 OMM-I.M. Korr, Ph.D. Memorial Research Award

Kristina Hartley, Intraoperative Osteopathic Manipulative Therapy Used to Manage Acute Cervical Somatic Dysfunction During Deep Brain Stimulator Implantation for Parkinson’s Disease: A Case Report

HSC Health 2024 Health Care Delivery Award

Manav Lamichhane, Quality Improvement Study: Adenosine Administration in Pediatric Patients with SVT

University of North Texas Health Science Center 2024 Interprofessionalism Award

Sara Aldeeb, Breaking Barries, Building Bridges: Advancing Interprofessional Collaboration through Pediatric Critical Simulation

2024 Pediatric Research Award

Glen Schneider, Deep Brain Stimulation in Pediatric Status Dystonicus: A Case Series Investigation on Rapid Activation & ICU Stays

2024 Pediatric Case Study Award

Arpan Patel, A Case of Pediatric Tracheal Stenosis Secondary to Chronic Retching in the Setting of Bulimia Nervosa

2024 Women’s Health Research Award

Sahar Elchehabi, Evaluating Equity in XGBoost Predictions of High Healthcare Expenditures for Older Women with Osteoarthritis in the United States

HSC College of Pharmacy

Pharmaceutical Science Research Award

First Place, Jennifer Gruber, Studies Directed Toward the Synthesis of Novel Bitopic Ligands of the Muscarinic Acetylcholine Receptor Subtype 4

Second Place, Jinmin Zhang, Regulation of Grxs in Cell Functions and Senescence in the Lens

Third Place, Nina Donkor, Unraveling the Molecular Nexus: Obstructive Sleep Apnea and Glaucoma in a Rat Model

Clinical/Outcomes/Education Research Award

First Place, Shawana Shaikh, The Association of Multimorbidity with Whole Health-Centric Provider Communication among Older Adults in the US

Second Place, Dallas Collins, Weighing Inequities: The Role of Obesity, Social Determinants of Health, with Glucagon-like Peptide-1 Receptor Agonist Use in Adults with Type 2 Diabetes in the United States

SaferCare Texas

Excellence In Patient Safety Research Award

First Place, Kara Patrick, SecurAcath Device Safety and Efficacy in Pleural Tube Placement in Children

Second Place, Emma Roccaforte, Comparing Balance in Patients with Fall History

Third Place, Bergen Lemack, Evaluating A Matter of Balance Series for Fall Prevention in Rural Texas: Findings and Implications

School Of Public Health

Research Award Award

First Place, Brittany Krenek, Is there a relationship between Religious Affiliation and Adherence to Recommended Cervical Cancer Screening Guidelines?

Second Place, Allison Cross, Examination of Pregaming: Associations with Drinking Cognitions, Alcohol Use, and Negative Consequences at the Daily-Level among Adolescents and Young Adults

Third Place, Idara Akpan, Exploring the Association Between Patient-Centered Communication and Awareness of Human Papillomavirus Vaccine: A Cross-sectional Study

Community Engaged Research Award

Nadiya Jiwa, Factors associated with the acceptability of Lopinavir/Ritonavir formulations among children living with HIV/AIDS attending care and treatment clinics in Mbeya and Mwanza, Tanzania