News
Fueling Discovery: Meet the 2026 Research and Education Pilot Awardees
Tuesday, June 9, 2026
The Department of Medicine is brimming with innovative ideas for research, quality improvement, and scholarship. Each year, the department provides Research and Education Pilot Awards to help bring those ideas to fruition. Awardees receive $20,000-$40,000 to fund sustainable programs that will lead to further extramural funding, scholarly dissemination, and/or peer-reviewed publications.
Learn more about this year’s awardees, who will kick off their projects on July 1:
B Cell-Derived Pro-Fibrotic Factors Drive Myofibroblast Differentiation in Lupus Nephritis
Jennifer Barnas, MD, PhD
Roukaya Yaakoubi, PhD
PIs: Jennifer Barnas, MD, PhD, and Roukaya Yaakoubi, PhD, of Allergy, Immunology, and Rheumatology
Mentor: Jennifer Anolik, MD, PhD, of Allergy, Immunology, and Rheumatology
Kidney involvement affects many patients with lupus and can lead to permanent kidney damage due to progressive scarring, or fibrosis. This project will explore a newly recognized role for B cells, which are known to produce autoantibodies and promote inflammation, in contributing to kidney fibrosis. Barnas and Yaakoubi will combine advanced analysis of kidney samples with laboratory studies using patient-derived B cells and human kidney cells to identify the signals that drive fibrosis and determine how B cells contribute to tissue remodeling. The findings could lead to more targeted therapies that prevent scarring while avoiding the broad immunosuppression associated with current B cell–depleting treatments.
Advancing Patient Autonomy Through HCP Documentation
Catherine Glatz, MD
Paul Vermillion, MD
PIs: Catherine Glatz, MD, of Hospital Medicine, and Paul Vermillion, MD, of Palliative Care
Mentors: Ashley Jenkins, MD, MSc, of Hospital Medicine, and Janice Shriefer, MBA, MSN, DrPH, of Pediatrics
Almost half of hospitalized adults over 65 require a surrogate to help make medical decisions, but less than half of adults have a documented health care proxy. In New York, the Family Health Care Decisions Act outlines a hierarchy of decision-makers where no proxy is named, but their decisions can be challenged. Surrogate decision-making also places emotional and psychological burden on decision-makers.
This project aims to increase the percentage of patients with a health care proxy on file at the time of discharge. We will also investigate the barriers and facilitators to health care proxy documentation from the patient, caregiver, and healthcare professional perspective.
Understanding and Enhancing Peer Recovery Support Services in the Inpatient Setting for Adults with Substance Use Disorder
Elizabeth Pope-Collins, MD
PI: Elizabeth Pope-Collins, MD, of Hospital Medicine
Mentor: Ashley Jenkins, MD, MSc, of Hospital Medicine, and Marsha Wittink, MD, MBE, of Psychiatry
Hospitalization can be a moment where sick patients with substance use disorder are more motivated to initiate recovery or harm reduction practices. Leveraging this critical point can increase engagement in treatment and prevent further disability and death. Peer recovery support services are an under-studied intervention to encourage this engagement in care during hospitalization.
Pope-Collins will explore how patients, peers, and the rest of the medical team understand and experience peer recovery support services within University of Rochester Medicine to produce a local model of inpatient peer support grounded in realist and self-determination theory. She will also evaluate the national landscape of patient engagement strategies in substance use disorder to understand where her model exists in local and national contexts, laying the groundwork for future implementation studies.
Kidney Transplant Knowledge and Decision-Making Process in Older Population: Perceptions of Patients and Development of a Decision Support Tool
Hafsa Tariq, MBBS
PI: Hafsa Tariq, MBBS, of Nephrology
Mentors: Fahad Saeed, MBBS, of Nephrology, and Sandhya Seshadri, PhD, of Neurology
Older adults with end-stage kidney disease may benefit substantially from kidney transplantation, but they face unique risks and early post-transplant care burdens. Despite these tradeoffs, there is currently no shared decision-making tool designed for older adults, caregivers, and transplant clinicians that focuses on kidney transplantation.
This pilot study will explore older recipients’ and caregivers’ perspectives on kidney transplant education, knowledge gaps, and current decision-making practices through qualitative interviews. Findings will inform the development of a shared decision-making tool with input from patients, caregivers, and the multidisciplinary transplant team.
Dr. Garcia-Hernandez, PhD to Receive the Women of Distinction Award
Friday, May 8, 2026
AIR researcher, Maria de la Luz Garcia-Hernandez, PhD, will receive the Women of Distinction Award on May 14th. Assemblymember Harry Bronson will present the award at a ceremony at East High School in Rochester.
Dr. John Looney Named a JACI 2026 Outstanding Reviewer
Friday, May 8, 2026
The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology announced its 2026 Outstanding Reviewer Awards in March. R. John Looney, MD was one of five recipients of this year’s award.
Read more: A Special Thank-You to Our Reviewers - Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology
Mentee of Dr. Jennifer Barnas Awarded Rochester Academy of Science Student Grant
Monday, April 13, 2026
Alexander Bae, a University of Rochester undergraduate, working in the lab of Jennifer Barnas, MD, PhD, was awarded a Rochester Academy of Science Student Grant for his project, "Differential Desensitization of Interferon Type III Receptor in Human B Lymphocytes by USP18 Upon Stimulation by Interferon Type I and Type III."
Learn more about research in the Barnas Lab.
Dr. Katherine Herman Presents Medical Grand Rounds
Friday, February 6, 2026
Katherine Herman, MD, PhD, a pediatric and adult allergist and immunologist, recently presented, "In Plain Sight: Clues for Recognizing Inborn Errors of Immunity” at URMC Medical Grand Rounds in January 2026. Her talk focused on the various phenotypic presentations and using key laboratory findings and history to make the diagnosis.
View the presentation: In Plain Sight: Clues for Recognizing Inborn Errors of Immunity
Dr. Theresa Bingemann Presents at the AAAAI Program Directors Assembly Winter Meeting
Friday, January 23, 2026
Theresa Bingemann, MD spoke at the session “Burnout and Wellness Solutions for Faculty” at the AAAAI Program Directors Assembly Winter 2026 Meeting held in Chicago in January. The session focused program director wellbeing and covered the impact of burnout on program directors and strategies to address it.