Student Awards and Honors
Faraz Ahmad
First year student, Faraz Ahmad has received two fellowships to support his summer research. Faraz received the American Federation on Aging Research Summer Research Fellowship to support his project evaluating the impact of age, pain, and anxiety on medical decisions made by cancer patients. Faraz also received the Chicago-Area Schweitzer Fellowship to support his plans to design and implement a childhood obesity and type II prevention program at a local elementary school. The elementary school is affiliated with the Hambard Center, a multi-cultural social and health service agency dedicated to serving the South Asian, Middle Eastern, and the Bosnian communities in Illinois .
Jessica M. Buck
Second year student, Jessica M. Buck is first author on a study which will be published in an upcoming issue of the Journal of Correctional Health Care. The piece entitled “Hepatitis B Vaccination in Prison: The Perspectives of Formerly Incarcerated Men” emanated from research she conducted as an undergraduate at Brown University.
Justin Coffey
Fourth year medical student Justin Coffey and MD/PhD student Anupam Jena participated in the second annual National Interprofessional Team Case Competition: A Systems Based Practice, held April 7 and 8 at the University of Minnesota. The competition is sponsored by CLARION a student organization dedicated to improving health care through interprofessional collaboration. Justin and Bapu were joined by Karen Sheng, a master’s student at the Harris School of Public Policy, and Nicole Eitmann a doctoral student at the Harris School. Judges at the competition commended the University of Chicago team for their deep analysis and good recommendations. Faculty advisors Vineet Arora, MD and Julie Johnson, PhD helped the team prepare for the competition and were on hand to provide guidance and support.
Roy DaVee
Roy DaVee a second year medical student was recently promoted from 2 nd Lieutenant to 1 st Lieutenant in the United States Army. During his 2 ½ years of service as a 2nd Lieutenant, he directed the annual training of two platoons of medics which were subsequently deployed to Iraq and Kosovo. Roy has served as a medical platoon leader since 2003, where he is responsible for coordinating training and use of platoons to support battalion activity.
In addition, Roy’s summer research was recently accepted for presentation at the 126th annual meeting of the American Surgical Association, and will be published in the Annals of Surgery. Roy is co-author on the piece entitled “Duodenal Switch Provides Superior Weight Loss in the Super-Obese (BMI>50) Compared to Gastric Bypass” along with faculty members Vivek N. Prachand, MD and John C. Alverdy, MD.
Baiju Gandhi
Baiju Gandhi, a second year student participated in the Paul Ambrose Political Leadership Institute which was hosted by the American Medical Student Association in Washington DC. Baiju’s unique interest in bioterrorism and the intersection of politics and public health led to his nomination for the program. During the three day institute, Baiju explored ways to develop global health infrastructures and learned skills that will enable him to be an effective advocate in the political process for both patients and the profession of medicine.
Shannon Hensley, a fourth year medical student was selected to be a Zuckerman Fellow at the Harvard University School of Public Health. Shannon will be taking a year to pursue her master’s in public health before pursuing her residency. Aiming to increase the ranks of future leaders committed to addressing significant issues in the public sector, Harvard Law School alumnus Mortimer Zuckerman, the owner of U.S. News & World Report, gave $10 million to establish the Zuckerman Fellows Program. The program is open to candidates who have earned or are pursuing a business, law, or medical degree at Harvard or elsewhere and will commit to earning an additional degree at one of three Harvard Graduate Schools dedicated to public service: HSPH, Harvard Graduate School of Education, or John F. Kennedy School of Government. The number of Zuckerman Fellows named each year is expected to be 25. In addition to their coursework, participants in the Zuckerman Fellows Program will meet regularly for dinner and discussions with one another and with a Harvard faculty member, policymaker, educator, public health professional, or private sector leader who is strongly involved in the public sector. They will also travel together on an annual basis to directly observe the work of public sector professionals and to discuss challenges with leading figures in these fields.
Andy Hong
Second year medical student, Andy Hong is co-author on a recent publication in Cell. This work emanates from Andy’s summer research experience at Children’s Hospital of Boston, under the auspices of the American Pediatric Society/Society for Pediatric Research Student Research Fellowship. Andy also received a Travel Award from APS/SPR to present his research at the Pediatrics Academic Societies Annual Meeting held on April 29-May 2 in San Francisco. Andy is first author for the poster entitled “Genomic Instability in the Absence of Mammalian SIRT6.”
Elizabeth Myers
Elizabeth Myers, a fourth year student, is one of 15 medical students nationally to receive a summer grant from the Women’s Dermatologic Society Medical Student Awareness Program. With this award, Elizabeth received support to work closely with a private practice dermatologist in California over the summer of 2006 in order to learn more about this field of medicine.
Katie Sharff, a third year medical student, received the Carolyn L. Kuckein Student Research Fellowship from the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society to support her research project on the role of the Hey 1 gene in the BMP-9 mediated osteogenic signaling pathway of mesenchymal stem cells. Katie will work with Dr. Tong-Chuan He in the Department of Surgery.
Katie Sharff
Scott Stern, MD is this year’s recipient of the SGIM National Award for Scholarship in Medical Education. Dr. Stern was selected on the basis of his extensive work to improve education of medical students. Not only has Dr. Stern taught in a wide range of topics, the high quality of his teaching has been recognized through multiple teaching awards. He demonstrated innovation and strength in integration through his work in the Clinical Pathophysiology and Therapeutics course and the recent publication of Symptom to Diagnosis. Dr. Stern was presented with this national award at the SGIM 29th Annual Meeting in Los Angeles, CA on April 29th.
On Friday April 14th, second year student Daniel Turner-Lloveras organized Cesar Chavez day for an undergraduate Latino society and Pritzker students at the Biological Sciences Learning Center. Fittingly, Cesar Chavez’s granddaughter was the keynote speaker and shared her grandfather’s accomplishments with attendees. In addition, Danny Turner-Lloveras discussed the health of migrant farm workers followed by faculty member Monica Vela, MD who lectured on a variety of Latino health topics. Dr. Vela will be teaching the new “Health Care Disparities,” this fall through the funding of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Teri Vieth
