Showcasing UCSF Medical Students' Achievements in Inquiry, Innovation, and Discovery

At this year’s Inquiry Symposium and Pathways to Discovery Awards, over 100 medical students, mentors, faculty, and staff gathered at the Parnassus campus to learn about the latest research led by students and residents from the UCSF schools of Dentistry, Medicine, Nursing, and Pharmacy.

Sponsored by the UCSF Pathways to Discovery Program and the Clinical and Translational Science Institute, the symposium celebrates scholarly and research accomplishments of learners from all the UCSF schools.

Posters were presented in categories including Global Health, Molecular Medicine, Clinical and Translational Science, Health and Society, and Clinical and Translational Research. The Dean's Prizes were presented by Meyeon Park, MD, MAS, the Inquiry Funding Co-Director.

This year's Dean’s Prize Award Winners:

• Laila Fozouni
  Mentor: Jennifer Lai, MD, MBA
  “Frailty is associated with increased rates of Acute Cellular Rejection within 3 months post-liver transplantation”
• Joseph Knox
  Mentor: Daniel Cooke, MD
  “Impact of aortic arch and carotid artery tortuosity on technical performance and clinical outcomes in acute ischemic stroke patients”
• Jorge Mena
  Mentor: Sunita Ho, MS, PhD
  “Zinc: A foreteller of kidney stone formation and ectopic calcification”
• Alexandra Rojek
  Mentor: Urmimala Sarkar, MD
  “Differences in Narrative Language in Evaluations of Medical Students by Gender and Under-represented Minority Status”
• Elizabeth Wang
  Mentor: Steven Lubitz, MD
  “Initial Precipitants and Recurrence of Atrial Fibrillation”
• Christine Zachek
  Mentor: Michael Busch, MD
  “Syndemics and Retention in Care Among Women Living With HIV in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil”

Pathways and Mentor Awards were presented by Buck Strewler, MD, Inquiry Curriculum Director:

• Emma Dobbins – Health Profession Education
  Mentor: Arianne Teherani, PhD
  “Development a Structural Competency Assessment Instrument for Medical Students”  
• Kafi Hemphill – Global Health
  Mentor: Anthony Kim, MD
  “The Impact of Structural Barriers on the Increasing Stroke Burden of Low- and Middle-Income Countries”
• Irving Ling – Health and Society Leadership
  Mentor: May Dushinaraset, PhD
  “Into the Breach: Challenges and Opportunities in Implementing Safe Clinic Policies for Immigrant Patients at Federally Qualified Healthcare Centers”
• Faustine Ramirez – Clinical and Translational Research
  Mentor: Katrina Abuabara, MD
  “The longitudinal association between atopic dermatitis and sleep duration from infancy to adolescence in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children”
• Jonathan Rick – Molecular Medicine
  Mentor: Manish Aghi, MD, PhD, MAS
  “EDA fibronectin: A regionally specific driver of glioblastoma pathogenesis”

Mentor Award Recipients:

• Sunita Ho, MS, PhD
  Mentee: Jorge Mena