Academic Community Shares Findings at Research Day

May 18, 2018

GA-PCOM students, residents and faculty members presented posters on topics such as obesity, cancer, addiction and more.

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Forty two teams of Georgia Campus – Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine (GA-PCOM) students, residents and faculty members exhibited research findings during the school’s eighth annual Research Day held May 15, 2018.

The research projects, in the areas of biomedical sciences, pharmaceutical sciences and osteopathic medicine, covered such topics as obesity, cancer, addiction, Alzheimer’s disease, steroid exposure and more.

In addition, the event’s keynote presentation was delivered by Omer Kucuk, MD, FACN, a professor in the Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology at the Winship Cancer Institute, a part of Emory University School of Medicine. In his presentation, “Botanicals in Integrative Cancer Medicine and Health,” Dr. Kucuk discussed the benefits of soy and lycopene supplements in prostate cancer treatment.

The 2018 Research Day winners included:

Excellence in Research – Biomedical Sciences

First place: Anna Abbott (MS ’18), “Generation of a Sandwich Based 3D Hydrogel to Support Human Mammary Fibroblast Viability and Proliferation,” Faculty Advisor Abigail Hielscher, PhD

Second place: Meridith Hawkins (MS ’18), “Novel Anti-obesity Effects of Human Milk Oligosaccharide Lacto-N-Neotetraose (LNnT),” Faculty Advisor Srujana Rayalam, PhD

Honorable mention: Syara Slaughter (MS ’18), “Utilization of Semi-solid Agar Inoculation in Microbial Co-culture Yields a Bacteria with Antibiotic Properties against MRSA,” Faculty Advisor Valerie Cadet, PhD

Excellence in Research – Pharmaceutical Sciences

First place: Sirena Hu (PharmD ’18), “Using Educational Board Games Adjunct to Traditional Lectures for Pharmacy Students in Learning Infectious Disease,” Faculty Advisor Essie Samuel, PharmD, BCPS

Second place: Jonathan Park (PharmD ’20), “Inhibitory Effect of Resveratrol and its Derivative Pinostilbene on Multiple Myeloma Cell Growth,” Faculty Advisor Xinyu Wang, PhD

Honorable mention: Irandokht Najafabadi (PharmD ’18), “Preceptor’s Grading Scale Preference for Student Pharmacy Practice Experiences and Assessment of the Common Grading Scale among US Schools of Pharmacy,” Faculty Advisor Brent Rollins, PhD, Rph

Excellence in Research – DO Program

First place: Reshma Patel (DO ’20), “Examining Addiction Treatment Facilities: An Observational Study from the Perspective of Medical Students,” Faculty Advisor Ali Moradi, MD, MPH, Dr.PH

Second place: Loc Lam (DO ’20), “Does the Firing Rate of Purkinje Cell Change under Direct Current Stimulation?” Faculty Advisor Huo Lu, PhD

Honorable mention: Tawsif Nadir (DO ’20), “Biomarkers for Alzheimer’s Disease Using Anti-Biofouling Magnetic Nanomaterials,” Faculty Advisor Harold Komiskey, PhD

Honorable mention: Hafez Golzarian (DO ’20), “Development of Novel Mitochondrially Targeted Electrophiles (MTE) as Potential Anti-Metastatic Drugs in ER/PR-negative Breast Cancer Cells,” Faculty Advisor Sadandandan Velu

Excellence in Research – Residents/Fellows

First place: Rashed Alfarra, MD, “Severe Drug Induced Cholestasis Five Weeks after Anabolic Steroids Exposure,” Faculty Advisor Kimberly Bates, MD

Honorable mention: Haris Hatic, DO, “Folate Deficiency in May-Thurner Syndrome,” Faculty Advisor Kimberly Bates, MD

Honorable mention: Cynthia Francis, PhD, “The Role of Renal Epithelial Cell Crosstalk in the Regulation of Cyclosporine A-Induced MMp-9 Production in Calcineurin Isoform-Specific Renal Fibroblasts,” Faculty Advisor Yun Bai, PhD

Fisher Scientific - Excellence in Research

Hyeon Jeong Park (DO '21), "Is 'BPA-Free Really Safe? A comparison of the Effects of Bisphenol-A and its Analog Bisphenol-S on the Production of Biomarkers of Inflammation, Neurodevelopment and Oxidative Stress," Faculty Advisor Morgan Peltier, PhD

Faculty members who participated as judges and/or on the Research Day planning committee included:

Srujana Rayalam, PhD; Rangaiah Shashidharamurthy, PhD; Brent Rollins, PhD, RPh; Phillip Palmer, PT, PhD; Lori Redmond, PhD; Abby Hielscher, PhD; Skye Bickett, DHSc, MLIS, AHIP; Valerie Cadet, PhD; Robert McAfee, PhD; Frank Jenney, PhD; Shu Zhu, MD, PhD; Kim Baker, PhD; Dennis Peffley, JD, PhD; Adwoa Aduonum, PhD; Brian Matayoshi, PhD; Mary Owen, JD, PhD; Mike Selby, PhD; Harry Komiskey, PhD; Desuo Wang, PhD, MD; Yun Bai, PhD; Vicky Mody, PhD; Caroline Champion, PharmD; Shirin Madzhidova, PharmD; Jay Lee, PharmD, BCACP, CACP; Vishakha Bhave, PhD; and Shari Allen, PharmD, BCPP

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