May 16, 2008

SIU Med School Announces Research Symposium Awards

Nine medical and graduate students and resident physicians received top awards in the 18th annual Trainee Research Symposium at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine.

Sponsored by the School and SIU’s chapter of Alpha Omega Alpha, the symposium offers various trainees in Springfield an opportunity to gain experience in making formal presentations of their research findings.  Faculty advisors provided assistance for each project.

The top three projects in each category, as judged by a panel of faculty, received monetary prizes.  The judging criteria included -- preliminary data and research approach, research design, project creativity, originality, and the potential scientific or medical significance.

Three medical student projects were judged “too close to call” in a three-way tie.  Rachel Ade, a sophomore from Moline, was recognized for her project “The Extraction of Ions from a Solution Using a Novel Material: An Animal Study.”  Her faculty advisor was Dr. Bradley Schwartz, associate professor of surgery.  Valerie Roth, a sophomore from Champaign, was recognized for her project, “Stimulation of Angiogenesis by Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatment in an Isolated Tissue Flap.”  Her advisor was Dr. Michael Neumeister, professor of surgery.  John Yost, a senior from Effingham, was recognized for his project “MicroRNA-224 Targets Invasion and Metastasis Oncogenes.”  Yin-Yuan Mo, Ph.D., associate professor of medical microbiology, immunology and cell biology, was his faculty advisor.

The first-place graduate student winner was Mike Flister, a medical microbiology, immunology and cell biology graduate student from Antioch, for his project, “Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor-3 (VEGFR-3) Promoter Activation by the Inflammatory Mediators NF-kB and Prox 1.”  His faculty advisor was Sophia Ran, Ph.D., assistant professor of medical microbiology, immunology and cell biology.

The second-place winner was Siying Peng, a medical microbiology, immunology and cell biology graduate student from HeiLong, Jioung, China, for her project, “c-Maf Increases Apoptosis in Peripheral CD8 Cells by Transactivating Caspase 6.”  Her faculty advisor was Mary Pauza, Ph.D., a former professor of medical microbiology, immunology and cell biology.  Third place went to Hongning Wang, a pharmacology graduate student from Taiyuan, Shanxi, China, for her project, “Altered Markers of Glycinergic Function in the DCN of a Rat Model of Tinnitus.”  Her faculty advisor was Donald Caspary, Ph.D., professor of pharmacology and SIU distinguished scholar.

Two resident physicians tied for first place.  Dr. Nishith Singh, an internal medicine resident, was recognized for his project, “Left Atrial Appendage Filling Defects on 64-slice Multi-Detector Computed Tomography in Patients Undergoing Radiofrequency Pulmonary Vein Isolation: Predictors and Diagnostic Significance.”  His faculty advisors were Dr. Nasaraiah Nallamothu, Dr. Vincent P. Zuck, and Dr. Ziad F. Issa, all community physicians.  Dr. Omar Al-Nourhji, an obstetrics and gynecology resident, was recognized for his project, “Pathology Correlates of a Pap Diagnosis of Low Grade Squamous Intraepithelial Lesion, Cannot Exclude High Grade Squamous Intraepithelial Lesion (LSIH-H).”  His advisor was Dr. Michael J. Beckmann, from the laboratory medicine and pathology department at Memorial Medical Center.  The third-place award went to Dr. Aniyizhai Annamalai, an internal medicine resident, for “Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor as a Serum Marker for Major Depressive Disorder.”  Her faculty advisor was Dr. Kathy Bottum, assistant professor of internal medicine and psychiatry.

Judges for this year’s symposium were Amy Arai, Ph.D., associate professor of pharmacology; Andrzej Bartke, Ph.D., professor of internal medicine and physiology and SIU distinguished scholar; Bottum; Dr. Karen Broquet, professor of internal medicine and psychiatry; Dr. Jacquelyn Quin, associate professor of surgery; Dr. Krishna Rao, Ph.D., assistant professor of internal medicine; Schwartz; and Andrew Wilber, Ph.D., assistant professor of surgery.

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NOTE TO EDITOR: Rachel Ade is the daughter of David and Sharon Ade of Moline.  Valerie Roth is the daughter of Michael and Vida Mazzocco of Champaign.  John Yost is the son of David Yost of Watson.