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Pathology Research Day

  • Poster Session
  • Welcome Picnic
  • Research Day
  • Poster Session

About the Event

Each year, residents and graduate research students from the University of Rochester Medical Center's Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine give oral and poster presentations at Pathology Research Day. 

Research Day 2023 Highlights Pathology Learners, Faculty

Another successful Pathology Research Day – our department’s 42nd annual – was celebrated June 5 in the URMC Kornberg Medical Research Building.

The day included more than 50 poster presentations, in addition to 14 oral presentations delivered by graduate students in the Cell Biology of Disease Ph.D. Program and Pathology residents.

Our keynote speaker was Tami Martino, Ph.D., Distinguished Chair of Molecular Biology and director of the Centre for Cardiovascular Investigations at the University of Guelph. Her talk was titled “Circadian Medicine: Revolutionizing the Treatment of Cardiovascular Disease and Other Major Conditions.”

2023 Research Day Honors

Chair’s Recognition Award: Xiaolan Ou, M.D., Ph.D.

Eric Schenk Teaching Award: Paul Hosking, M.D.

Janet Sparks Teaching Award: Alayna Loiselle, Ph.D., an alumna of our Ph.D. program

The Robert Mooney Award for Outstanding Thesis goes to Dr. H. Mark Kenney, mentored by Dr. Edward Schwarz. Dr. Kenney is a rising fourth-year medical student in the Medical Scientist Training Program (M.D./Ph.D. program) who defended his thesis in May 2022. He plans to apply to residency programs with the goal of pursuing rheumatology-dermatology or dermatopathology as his specialty.

For outstanding scientific presentations, residents Ben Gertsen , M.D. (1st place), and Alexander Besen, M.D., and Kyla Jorgenson, M.D., M.S. (tie for 2nd place), as well as graduate students Kiana Chen (mentor Homaira Rahimi, M.D.), Carol Deaton (Gail Johnson, Ph.D.), Zachary Sechrist (mentor Calvin Cole, Ph.D.) and Celia Soto (mentor Benjamin Frisch, Ph.D.) each will receive travel awards.

Additionally, Akash Mahmudul (rotation mentor Zhenqiang Yao, B.Med, Ph.D.) will receive a travel award for his poster in the Cancer category of the of the poster session; Duy Nguyen (mentor Patrick Murphy, Ph.D.) for his poster in the Cell Biology & Genetics category; Sophia Eliseeva (mentor Felix Yarovinsky, M.D.) for her poster in the Hematology & Immunology category and Chen Yu (mentor Roman Eliseev, M.D., Ph.D.) for her poster in the Musculoskeletal and Craniofacial Research category.

The Ph.D. Student Leadership Award was given to Sophia Eliseeva for her work as president of our student council during the 2022-23 academic year. Many thanks to Sophia and the other members of the student council – Emily Whitt (past president) and Vania Lopez-Ruiz (social/communications chair).

Research Day 2022 Recap

After a hiatus from celebrating in person, the event returned to URMC on June 6, 2022. Poster and oral presentations were given throughout the day with a guest keynote by Rebecca King, M.D. of Mayo Clinic. View the full list of work presented at URMC's Flaum Atrium and Class of '62 Auditorium and view a photo gallery.

The following students received special awards: 

Platform Presentation Awards

  • Research Core Area: Cancer–Emily Campbell Whitt, MS 
  • Research Core Area: Hematology & Immunology–Alison Livada MS, MSTP
  • Research Core Area Cell Biology & Genetics– Rachel Piselli, MS
  • Research Core Area: Musculoskeletal Diseases–Mark Nick James, MS
  • Research Core Area: Cancer–Celia Soto, MS

Poster Presentation Awards

  • Research Core Area: Hematology & Immunology – Emma House, MS
  • Research Core Area Cell Biology & Genetics – Carol Deaton, MS
  • Research Core Area: Musculoskeletal Diseases – Kiana Chen, MS

Resident Platform Presentation Awards

  • Third Place: Xiaoqin Liu, MB, Ph.D.
  • Second Place: Dingani Nkosi, MBBS, Ph.D.
  • First Place: Benjamin Gertsen, M.D.

Research Day 2021 Recap

For outstanding scientific presentation, oral presenters Sara Blick, Felicia Gilels and Jiatong Liu each received travel awards.  

Jessica Ackerman received a travel award for her outstanding presentation in the Musculoskeletal Research poster session. 

Olivia Marola received a travel award for her presentation in the Cell Biology & Neuroscience poster session. 

Kimberly Burgos-Villar received a travel award for her presentation in the Hematology & Immunology poster session.

Outstanding Scientific Contribution goes to Andrea Amitrano, under the mentorship of Dr. Minsoo Kim, for her publication, Optical Control of CD8+ T Cell Metabolism and Effector Functions.

Outstanding Contribution to the Program go to Kimberly Burgos-Villar and Anthony Emanuel 

Robert Mooney Award for Outstanding Thesis goes to Dr. Katherine Best, mentored by Dr. Alayna Loiselle. Dr. Best also received the Vincent du Vigneaud Award for Outstanding Thesis award from the School of Medicine and Dentistry.

Event Recap: Pathology Research Day 2019

Poster presentationsThis year's event was held at the University of Rochester Medical Center  on Monday, June 10, 2019. The day included 51 poster presentations in addition to 13 oral presentations given by Pathology & Laboratory Medicine residents and fellows and graduate students in the Cell Biology of Disease Ph.D. Program.

This year’s keynote speaker was Thomas Wynn, Ph.D., Vice President of the Discovery Inflammation and Immunology Group for Pfizer Corp., in Cambridge, Mass.

View 2019 Event Photos

Graduate Program Awards

  • Outstanding Academic Excellence by a First Year Student – Cooper Sailer, MS
  • Outstanding Program Contribution – Katherine Best, MS, and Brianna Shares, MS
  • Robert Mooney Thesis Award – Richard Bell, Ph.D.

Best Oral Presentation

  • Katherine Best, MS

Poster Presentation Travel Awards

  • Madison Doolittle, MS
  • Felicia Gilels, MS
  • John Bachman, MS
  • Jerry Saunders III, MS

Resident Awards

Oral Presentation Awards

  • Mushal Noor, M.B.B.S.
  • Phoenix Bell, M.D.
  • Anna Israel, M.D.

Poster Session 2018Event Recap: Pathology Research Day 2018

The annual Pathology Research Day event at the University of Rochester Medical Center was held on Monday, June 11, 2018.

The day included more than 50 poster presentations in addition to 12 oral presentations given by Pathology residents and fellows, and graduate students in the Cell Biology of Disease Ph.D. Program.

This year’s keynote speaker was Andrew Folpe, M.D. who is professor and consultant for Anatomic Pathology at Mayo Clinic. His engaging and informative talk was titled, “Phosphaturic Mesenchymal Tumors: What I Have Learned.” A video recording of the keynote is available online (note: UR login is required to view).

View 2018 Event Photos

Graduate Program Awards

  • Outstanding Academic Excellence by a First Year Student – David Villani, MS
  • Outstanding Program Contribution – Sarah Catheline, MS
  • Robert Mooney Thesis Award – Irena Lerman, Ph.D.

Travel Award for Oral Presentation

  • Madison Doolittle, MS

Poster Presentation Travel Awards

  • Robert Hoff, MS
  • Allison Li, MS
  • Xi Lin, MS
  • Robert Maynard, MS

Resident Awards​

Oral Presentation Awards

  • Mushal Noor, M.D.
  • Nisha Patel, D.O.
  • Phoenix Bell, M.D.

Event Recap: Pathology Research Day 2017

Poster SessionThe Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine hosted its annual Research Day event on Monday, June 12, 2017.

The day-long event featured a wide variety of oral and poster presentations by Pathology graduate students and residents on research topics ranging from osteoarthritis, to lymphoma, pregnancy, and much more.

Perry J. Blackshear, MD, D. Phil, gave the keynote address. He is the Deputy Chief of Signal Transduction Laboratory and Head of the Post-Transcriptional Gene Expression Group for the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.

An awards dinner followed the event, in which faculty recognized top presentations and gave a special sendoff to departing residents and fellows. Pathology Chair, Dr. Bruce Smoller, also gave two special awards to faculty. 

Graduate Program Awards

  • Outstanding academic Excellence by a First Year Student - Olivia Marola, MS
  • Outstanding Contribution to the Pathology PhD Program - Richard Bell, MS

Travel Awards

Oral Presentation: 

  • Sarah Catheline, MS

Poster Presentations:

  • Richard Bell, MS
  • Jerry Saunders III, MS
  • Zachary Murphy, MS
  • Brianna Shares, MS

Residency Awards

Oral Presentations: 

  • Third place - Hani Katerji, MD
  • Second place - Sohaib Abu-Farsakh, MD
  • First place - Sachica Cheris, MD

Faculty Awards

  • Eric A. Schenk Award for Excellence in Teaching - Luis De Las Casas, MD
  • Chairman's Award - Caroline Dignan, MD

See More: 

 

Event Recap: Research Day 2016

researchday

Click for Research Day Photo Gallery

In a true showing of tenacity and innovation in the field of pathology, the Department celebrated its 36th annual Research Day on Monday, June 13 at the University of Rochester Medical Center.

Research Day is annual event featuring oral and poster presentations from Pathology house staff, graduate students and trainees. The largest and most robust event yet featured 18 oral presentations by Pathology residents, fellows, and Ph.D. students and a juried poster presentation in Flaum Atrium with a total of 48 research projects on display.

Poster topics ranged from osteoarthritis and obesity to the regulation of maturation of embryonic erythroid cells as scientists presented their findings to an audience of peers and mentors alike.

This year's keynote speech was given by Scott J. Rodig, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of pathology at Harvard Medical School's Brigham and Women's Hospital presented, “Novel Tissue-based Biomarkers to Guide Immunotherapy.”

The day-long showcase was followed by an awards dinner recognizing all departing residents and fellows. Special awards included the following:

Department Faculty Awards

Resident Awards

  • First Place, Oral Presentation, Nisha Patel, DO
  • Second Place, Oral Presentation, Dr. Shana Straub, MD
  • Third Place, Oral Presentation, Dr. Chad Hudson, MD, Ph.D.
  • Chief Resident Recognition, Dr. Diana Agostini-Vulaj, DO
  • Associate Chief Resident Recognition, Dr. Sapna Patel, MD

Graduate Program Awards

  • Academic Excellence Award, Cynthia Tang
  • Outstanding Research Publication Award, Allison Li
  • Outstanding Contribution, Zachary Murphy, MS
  • Travel Awards, Irina Lerman, MS, Eric Schott, MS, Melissa Glasner, Chao Xue, MS