The 2014 Paul L. Foster School of Medicine Scholarly Activity and Research Program (SARP) Symposium was held November 12 and 13. Students presented their posters to a panel of faculty judges and four students were selected to receive travel awards to attend national level meetings or conferences. The project titles and awardees are:
1) “Does Social Support Moderate the Association of Socioeconomic Status and Subclinical Atherosclerosis?” Zameer Abedin, MS2 (mentor: Norrina Allen, Ph.D., Northwestern University)
2) “Suicide Prevention: A Culturally Sensitive Approach to Determine Best Prevention Program for the El Paso Area” Emily Moody, MS2 (mentor: Marie Leiner, Ph.D.)
3) “Biochemical Characterization of Tamoxifen-treated Oligodendrocyte Progenitor Cells” Caleb Smith, MS2 (mentors: Cynthia Perry, PhD and Olivera Nesic-Taylor, Ph.D.)
4 )“Examining the Role of AP-1 in Mouse Myoblast Differentiation” Mark Girton, MS3 (mentor: Curt Pfarr, Ph.D.)
Six additional students rounded out the ‘Top 10″ poster presenters. They are:
Rahul Chhana (MS4) “Starting a Gastroenterology Fellowship Increased the Adenoma Detection Rate in a University Practice” (mentor: Sharif Elhanafi, M.D.)
Kevin Lowder (MS3) “Prevalence of Eosinophilia among Hispanic Hemodialysis Patients on the US-Mexican International Border” (mentor: Pedro Blandon, M.D.)
Huy Ly (MS3) “Relationship Between Plasma Polyunsaturated Fatty Acid Levels and Depressive Symptoms in the Cooper Center Longitudinal Study”(mentor: Sherwood Brown, M.D., Ph.D., UT Southwestern Medical Center)
Rebecca Rodriguez (MS2) “Mission Thrive Summer: A Comprehensive Summer Health Program for Urban High School Students”(mentor: Christopher R. D’Adamo, Ph.D., University of Maryland SOM)
Gabriel Scott (MS2) “A New Look Into Lacrimal Gland Innervation” (mentors: Thomas Gest, PhD and Heather Balsiger, MS)
Meredith Wittie (MS2) “Differentiation of Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells of Danon Disease Patients into Neural Stem Cells” (mentor: Cynthia N. Perry, Ph.D.)
