Poster Contest Winners
TRI Director Laura James, M.D., concluded Research Day 2024 with the presentation of poster awards in four categories, selected by a four-judge panel of UAMS faculty. The winners and poster titles are:
Best Overall Content (tie):
David Church, Ph.D., assistant professor, College of Medicine Department of Geriatrics; a TL1 TRI Health Sciences Innovation and Entrepreneurship Program trainee and TRI Strategies for Training and Advancing Researchers (STARS) Program participant.
Muscle Protein Synthesis and Whole-Body Protein Balance Following Ingestion of Beef or a Soy Protein Based Meat Alternative
Stephen Shrum, Ph.D., TL1 postdoctoral trainee in the TRI TL1 Health Sciences Innovation and Entrepreneurship Program; College of Pharmacy Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences.
Development of a Novel Tocotrienol Analogue, Tocoflexol, as a Radiomitigator
Best Overall Visual:
Akilah Jefferson, M.D., M.Sc., assistant professor, College of Medicine Department of Pediatrics, Division of Allergy and Immunology; TRI KL2 Mentored Research Career Development Scholar Award Program scholar (KL2 scholar).
Association of Asthma Specialty Care and Adverse Outcomes for Children Enrolled in the Arkansas Medicaid Program
Best Overall Impact:
Timothy “Cody” Ashby, Ph.D., assistant professor, College of Medicine Department of Biomedical Informatics, KL2 scholar.
Unraveling the Impact of Alternative Splicing in Multiple Myeloma
People’s Choice:
Megha Sharma, M.D., M.S., assistant professor in the College of Medicine Department of Pediatrics, Division of Neonatology, KL2 Scholar
Objectively Assessed Skin Color and Its Association with Pulse Oximeter Bias in Critically Ill Infants
Winners of the Content, Visual and Impact awards received certificates for their choice of an electronic manuscript submission or support for design of a research poster via TRI, and the People’s Choice winner received a certificate for manuscript submission fee support up to $2,000.
Talking About Research Day
Research Day was an opportunity for investigators and research staff to network, gather ideas and feed off the enthusiasm of their peers. Here is what some had to say:
“Research Day gives us an opportunity to mingle with like-minded research professionals, voice our achievements, seek advice from our counterparts, and brainstorm together to find answers to lingering questions. More than that, these gatherings spur new collaborations, ideas and connections.” – Laura Adkins, MAP, CCRP, CCRA, CRS, AdvCRS, director, UAMS Office of Research Regulatory Affairs
“It was great to see what so many other people are doing. This is one of those events where you find ways to engage with other collaborators and come up with creative solutions to problems.” – Jocelyn Anderson Ph.D., RN, associate professor, UAMS College of Nursing
“Having a Research Day like this is very helpful because we all do our research in different locations and we rarely get a chance to talk to each other. When you come here and attend some of these research meetings, you get to hear about basic science, clinical science and community partnered projects.” – Shruti Tewar, M.D., MPH, associate professor of pediatrics and a TRI implementation science scholar.
“The Research Day was the first conference I attended after joining UAMS two months ago. It was very well organized, and I learned a lot from presentations and meeting with new colleagues. Specifically, I am impressed by the translational effort of the TRI, which brings researchers across the campus together. As a molecular cancer epidemiologist, I hope to integrate more molecular tools into population-based research and contribute to the ongoing success of the TRI.” – Yong Zhu, Ph.D., professor, Fay W. Boozman College of Public Health, and associate director for population science and translational science, Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute
“This is a wonderful way to learn about all of these other researchers and clinicians that have similar stories like mine. They’re implementing research that they are so passionate about, and they are overcoming barriers and creating their own pathway to get to their dream.” – Ashley Pike, Ph.D., postdoctoral fellow, TRI Health Sciences Innovation and Entrepreneurship Program trainee
“Coming from a basic science background, I really appreciated the examples of how researchers have involved the community in their research. That and the networking opportunities have provided me with new ideas and resources to help guide my research to the next translational step. Ultimately, I want my research to impact human health in a meaningful way and it seems that Research Day was beneficial in this regard.” – Brian Piccolo, Ph.D., assistant professor of pediatrics, Arkansas Children’s Nutrition Center, and TRI KL2 scholar and pilot grant recipient
“As one of the program evaluators of the TRI, it was wonderful to watch the presentations and see the exceptional work being done by the TRI scholars. Hearing the scholars talk about their experiences and the support they received from their mentors demonstrates how well those programs are conducted and the importance of those support networks to produce exceptional research. – Alex Jauregui-Dusseau, DH.Sc.
Read here about Research Day keynote speakers Susan Emmett, M.D., and Al Richmond, MSW.