Relentless in pursuit of discovery, the University of Missouri School of Medicine and Sinclair School of Nursing turned the spotlight on innovation during Health Sciences Research Day (HSRD). Sponsored by the School of Medicine Research Council, this annual event brings together investigators determined to uncover insights that will save and improve lives.
HSRD 2025 featured more than 260 poster presentations reviewed by more than 70 judges. Throughout the day, undergraduate, medical and nursing students, as well as predoctoral and postdoctoral trainees working with faculty in the school of medicine and nursing examined findings that challenge assumptions and push the boundaries of health science.
Fourth-year medical student, Connor Stevenson, participated in his third Mizzou HSRD. His research, “QL vs. TAP Blocks: The Role of Pain and Ketamine in Postoperative Opioid Use,” focused on two nerve blocks used to numb a patient before surgery that could decrease the amount of opioids an individual might need postoperatively for pain management.
“This event is a great way to encourage students to get more involved in research because sometimes it can feel intimidating to take that first step,” said Stevenson. “It has been rewarding to see my growth in research from my second year to my fourth year. I’ve really enjoyed the whole process.”
Following the morning clinical and basic science category poster session, Wafik El-Deiry, MD, PhD, FACP, associate dean for Oncologic Sciences at the Brown University Warren Alpert Medical School, presented this year’s keynote address. HSRD 2025 concluded with an afternoon session of clinical and basic category poster presentations and an awards ceremony.
The Dorsett L. Spurgeon, MD, Distinguished Medical Research Award, which recognizes School of Medicine researchers for outstanding accomplishments early in their career, was presented to Mohammad Badran, PhD, assistant professor of Pediatrics. This year’s recipient of the Excellence in Research Mentoring Award was Dima Dandachi, MD, associate professor of Medicine.
Three health sciences students were recognized for their exemplary research abstracts at HSRD 2025:
- School of Medicine Dean’s Award – Julia de la Cruz Contry, DVM, PhD, postdoctoral fellow
- Sinclair School of Nursing Dean’s Award – Pamelia O. Bertrand, PhD(c), RN
- Dean’s Advisory Research Council Award – Anjugam Paramanantham, PhD, postdoctoral fellow
The students’ basic science, clinical research and translational science projects were judged in two sections: Category I for undergraduate students, medical students and Summer Research Fellowship Participants, and Category II for graduate students, resident physicians and postdoctoral researchers and fellows.
Health Sciences Research Day 2025 Poster Awards
Category 1 (All Undergraduate students, Summer Research Fellowship participants, Medical students)
Basic Science
First Place
Eva Ruterschmidt for “Myofibroblast Dedifferentiation: An Emerging Concept for Treating Fibrosis in Human Cornea in Vitro.”
Second Place
Grant Bertucci for “Potential of AKR1B10 Inhibition in Overcoming Chemoimmunotherapy Resistance in NSCLC Patients.”
Third Place
Priyanka Paradkar for “Reduced Cortico-muscular Excitability in TDP-43 ALS Mice is Associated with Reduced Persistent Inward Currents (PICs) in the Motor Cortex.”
Clinical Science
First Place
Hannah Barnes for “Preliminary Evaluation of the Trial of Propranolol in Older Adults with Primary Progressive Aphasia.”
Second Place
Brady Barron for “Autograft Versus Allograft Medial Patellofemoral Ligament Reconstruction in Adolescent Patients: Comparable Patient-Reported Outcomes but Lower Failure Rates with Autograft.”
Third Place
Samantha Swinfard for “Bowel displacement via a Blunt Needle Technique During Microwave Ablation of a Peripheral Hepatic Tumor.”
Translational Science
First Place
Hannah Zimmernan for “From Blast to Brain: Decreased Cerebral Blood Flow in Female Mice Following Blast-Induced Mild TBI.”
Second Place
Chelsie Mackanos for “Repeated Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Induced Cardiac Remodeling in Female Mice.”
Third Place
Jaxsen Ball for “Low-Level Blast Exposure and CNS Disease in Gulf War Veterans.”
Category 2 (Graduate students, Post-doctoral research and medical fellows, residents)
Clinical Science
First Place
Kristen Hemmersmeier for “The Effect of Offering Colon Cancer Screening Options on the Number of Patients over 45 that Complete Screening.”
Second Place
Deepthi Akella for “Association Between Weight Loss Interventions and Patulous Eustachian Tube.”
Third Place
Bryce Rizvanovic for “Practices and Perceptions of Alcohol Screening Among Orthopaedic Clinicians Treating Older Adults.”
Basic Science
First Place
Taylor Kelty for “Hepatic Ketogenic Insufficiency Exacerbates Cognitive Impairment and Mitochondrial Dysfunction in the 5xFamilial Alzheimer’s Disease Mouse Model.”
Second Place
Lal Krishan Kumar for “Altered Lipid Metabolism Modulates Fibrosis and Contractility of Trabecular Meshwork (TM), Leading to TM Dysfunction in Glaucoma.”
Third Place
Xue Bai for “DUSP11 Modulates Tumor Microenvironment as an Innate Immune Checkpoint.”
Translational Science
First Place
Nestor Rubio-Infante, PhD, (post-doctoral fellow) for “Developing Probiotic L. Lactis as Contrast Agent and Molecular Probe for the in Vivo Study of the Gastrointestinal Tract Using Multispectral Optoacoustic Tomography.”
Second Place
Anjugam Paramanantham, PhD, (post-doctoral fellow) for “Precision Immunotherapy-Targeting Dual Immune Checkpoint Proteins in Immuno ‘Cold’ Ovarian Cancer Tumors.”
Third Place
Oluwatola Femi-Olatunji, MS, (graduate student) for “Harnessing Attenuated Bacterial Therapeutics (SPIKE) for the Treatment of Epithelial Ovarian Cancer.”
In conjunction with HSRD 2025, the fourth annual ForMUlation research networking event was held on Thursday, November 13, at Memorial Union. More than 40 medical students attended and had the opportunity to meet School of Medicine faculty researchers.
As a majority of students in attendance were first-year medical students, networking with faculty research mentors have historically led to research partnerships in programs such as the Summer Research Fellowship Program.
