In the keynote address, Nora D. Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, presented “,” followed by a rigorous Q&A. Volkow’s talk provided a current overview of the drug overdose epidemic, a top concern in Kentuckiana, and drew interest from UofL research scholars, community health, academic and clinical experts.��As a research psychiatrist, Volkow pioneered the use of brain imaging to investigate how substance use affects brain functions.

Event co-chairs J. Christopher States and Amanda Jo LeBlanc led a steering committee with a mission to raise awareness about research, engage in fundraising for research initiatives and address health equity, to name a few of its goals.

“Research!Louisville’s mission seeks to provide excellence in education, training and career development through interdisciplinary research collaborations designed to bring trainees and young and established research scientists together to work on finding solutions to the world’s complex problems,” said LeBlanc, interim associate dean for research in the UofL School of Medicine. “We engage with the most acclaimed research scientists to address our goals to achieve health equity, provide insight into the crucial topics of our time and advance translational and clinical research to improve human health.”

R!L 2024, held Sept. 16-20 at the Kosair for Kids Clinical and Translational Research Building on the UofL Health Sciences Center, marked the 29^th year of showcasing health sciences research at the Louisville Medical Center.

The schedule of events during the week featured experts in a variety of disciplines. The week began with an inaugural symposium which highlighted breakthroughs in clinical and translational research. Other events included presentations by grant awardees funded by the Jewish Heritage Fund, a School of Nursing lecture about advancing equity in maternal and child health, the health equity keynote, “Disabusing Disability: Demonstrating Disability doesn’t mean Inability,” three mentoring training sessions, a series of presentations by the Center for Integrative Environmental Health Sciences and four days of research scholar poster sessions. The IRB featured workshops on human subjects mentoring and IRB protocol writing, as well as panels on navigating investigator initiated human subjects research.

In honor of National Postdoctoral Week, R!L hosted a postdoctoral research event spotlighting postdocs as the “unsung heroes of research.” Among first-time events were a session that featured experts on the topics of animal welfare, science, government relations and public outreach and another that demonstrated the use of virtual reality for biomedical sciences.

The poster sessions showcased research by engineering graduate students, medical residents/clinical fellows, science graduate students, case reports, medical students, medical students in distinction tracks, postdoctoral associates/scholars, research associates and staff, public health graduate students, dental students, nursing graduate students and faculty, including faculty in the . Awardees are listed below.��

“Research!Louisville offers a window into UofL research and how it positively impacts our daily lives — from creating groundbreaking treatments to launching new companies,” said Jon Klein, interim executive vice president for research and innovation. “I’m excited to see so many community members, researchers and aspiring researchers engage, learn and share those activities with the world.”

R!L is a proud co-sponsor of the Kentucky Science Center’s program for 8^th-12^th grade students in STEM programs. The KSC holds a half-day program including a real-time, open-heart surgery and sessions with health care research and medical professionals focusing on career options.

Recordings of the event sessions and a slide presentation of the award winners, as well as photographs have been posted on the

RESEARCH!LOUISVILLE AWARDEES

Masters Basic Science Graduate Student Award
Morgann Delnicki 3rd Place
Dianet Sanchez Vega 2nd Place
Sayra Moni 1st Place

Doctoral Basic Science Graduate Student Award
Dana Hammouri 3rd Place
Katarina Mayer 2nd Place
Idoia Meaza Isusi 1st Place

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Award
Natural & Physical Sciences
Mustafizur Rahman 1st Place
Isaiah Burciaga 1st Place

Engineering Co-op Student Award
Ahmed Badr 3rd Place
Miriam Ismail 2nd Place
Rana Zayed 1st Place

Master Engineering Student Award
Kirsten Waits 3rd Place
Israa Sharaby 2nd Place
Mostafa Abdelrahim 1st Place

Doctoral Engineering Student Award
Ahmed Aboudessouki 3rd Place
Hossam Magdy Balaha 2nd Place
Mohamed Azam 1st Place

School of Dentistry Basic Sciences Student Award
Abigail Hacker 3rd Place
Samrat Tanwani 2nd Place
Jared Williams 1st Place

School of Dentistry Clinical Sciences Student Award
Jung-Woo Hong 3rd Place
Holland Bakker 2nd Place
Amanda Dilliha 1st Place

Rhonda A.Hoffman Medical Student Award
Idil Tuncali 2nd Place

Postdoctoral Fellow Award
Belinda Petri 2nd Place

Research Associate/Research Scientist Award
Jingjing Zhao 2nd Place
Yiqun Mo 1st Place

Research Staff Award
Harshini Sarojini Winner

Clinical Fellow Research Award – School of Medicine
Zaraq Khan Winner

Masters Program Student Award – School of Public Health & Information Sciences
Chandrima Chatterjee 1st Place

Doctoral Student Award – School of Public Health & Information Sciences
Irina Kondaurova Winner

Basic Research Award– School of Public Health & Information Sciences
Yiqun Mo 1st Place

Research & Practice Award– School of Public Health & Information Sciences
Carly Middleton 1st Place

Nursing Graduate Student Award – School of Nursing
Shubha Sapkota Winner

Faculty Basic Science Award
Sophia Sears Winner

Faculty Clinical Science Award
Nicole Herring Winner

Ruth Greenberg Award for Medical ����ֱ�� Research
Ellee Grosser 3rd Place
Ragan Howard 2nd Place
Nada Kaissich 1st Place

Leslie Martin Medical ����ֱ�� Student Award
Ally Render Winner
Sydney Wichmann Winner

Professional & ����ֱ��al Development Award
Hannah Turner Winner
Raleigh Boulware Winner

Excellence in Health Disparities Research Award
Joy Adeleye 3rd Place
Shorye Durrett 1st Place

Postdoctoral Symposium: Unsung Heroes of Research Oral Presentation
Mohamed Shehata 2nd Place
Chase Hellner 1st Place

Professor Oluwaferanmi Okanlami encouraged attendees to ask that question at the 2024 health equity keynote: “Disabusing Disability: Demonstrating that Disability Doesn’t Mean Inability.” Okanlami, whose mission is to close the gap among the diverse members of our society to create a more equitable and promising future for all, highlighted shortcomings in how most of society views disabilities and what must change.

Born in Nigeria before immigrating to the U.S. at a young age, Okanlami attended high school at Deerfield Academy and went on to Stanford University where he also ran track & field, serving as captain his last two seasons and achieving Academic All-American recognition.��Okanlami earned his medical degree from the University of Michigan before matching into orthopedic surgery residency at Yale University. At the beginning of his third��year of residency, he experienced a spinal cord injury, paralyzing him from the chest down. After two surgeries and intense rehabilitation, he recovered some motor function and navigates the world as a proud wheelchair user.

Today, Okanlami is director of student accessibility and accommodation services at the University of Michigan, where he oversees the Office of Services for Students with Disabilities, two Testing Accommodation Centers and the Adaptive Sports & Fitness Program. He also is an assistant professor of family medicine, physical medicine & rehabilitation and urology at Michigan Medicine and an adjunct assistant professor of orthopedic surgery at David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. In addition, he earned a master’s in engineering, science and technology entrepreneurship from the University of Notre Dame and completed his family medicine residency at Memorial Hospital in South Bend, Indiana.

As an accomplished athlete, he is passionate about adaptive sports and fitness and champions access to physical fitness and inclusive recreational and competitive sports for all.

At Research!Louisville, Okanlami’s topic provided insight into creating a health system which is accessible to and inclusive of both patients and providers with disabilities, as well as providing provisions necessary for students and employees with disabilities in higher education.

The Americans with Disabilities Act defines a person with a disability as an individual who has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, a person who has a history or record of such an impairment or a person who is perceived by others as having such an impairment. Okanlami’s work emphasizes that disabilities do not fairly identify individuals, but more than likely perceptions of disabilities can lead to artificially placing limits on people who have just as much or more to contribute to society.

As a disabled, Black, Nigerian, immigrant, cis-gender heterosexual, male, physician and athlete, Okanlami doesn’t just speak from an acquired knowledge-based perspective. He has experienced firsthand the difficulties of being identified in a culture that does not understand his main message that “disability does not mean inability.”

In his talk, Okanlami illustrated how each individual with a disability has unique needs for accommodations.

“When you have met one person with a disability, you have met one person with a disability,” he said.

Okanlami said that everyone must recognize that we live in an ableist world and we need to provide reasonable and appropriate accommodation for people that identify has having disabilities, whether those disabilities are visible or invisible.

“The health care system is ableist by definition. The medical model of disability teaches us that disability is pathology. It is something that is broken that should be fixed, prevented or cured,” Okanlami said. “The social model of disability does not see the problem living in the individual, it sees the system we are in as being inaccessible. If someone is born without the ability to walk, that shouldn’t be a problem if we have access to the resource they need to be able to navigate.”

But he encouraged everyone to take action.

“What is it we can do to make someone’s tomorrow better than their yesterday?” Okanlami said. “There is something that each of you can do, even if it is a tiny little bite, but the impact that little bite can have could be something that makes a profound impact on someone else’s life.”

Okanlami’s Research!Louisville presentation on Sept. 19 at the University of Louisville Health Sciences Center was led by the HSC Office of Health Equity and Engagement and the School of Medicine Office of Community Engagement and Diversity. To watch his entire keynote discussion, visit the .

Betty Coffman contributed to this story.

“Research!Louisville is a great opportunity to explore the important role UofL research plays in our day-to-day lives,” said Kevin Gardner, executive vice president for research and innovation. “That work positively impacts our world, from creating meaningful educational experiences and career pathways for students to developing innovative new technologies and companies.”

This year, R!L highlighted 365 abstracts for presentation. Among the scientific poster competition participants represented were masters and doctoral engineering students, NCI R25 undergraduate students, cancer and health disparity Summer Bridge Program students, Brown Cancer Center high school scholars, dental students, masters and doctoral basic science students, medical students, distinction tract medical students, case reports, postdoctoral scholars, research associates, research staff, PharmDs, masters and doctoral public health students, nursing students, medical residents, clinical fellows and faculty.

A full list of award winners and their slide presentations, as well as photos/recording of the closing ceremony are available on the .

Richard Woychik, director of the National Institute of Environmental Science and the National Toxicology Program delivered the keynote address, “Looking to the Future of Environmental Health Sciences.” Woychik oversees federal funding for biomedical research to discover how the environment influences human health and disease. His lecture drew a full house and was preceded with an introduction by UofL President Kim Schatzel.

R!L’s symposium featured seminars, presentations and lectures on a variety of subjects, including nursing research, environmental health sciences, anti-racism research, IRB protocol and more.

The event schedule included a Q&A forum with renowned medical ethicist and author, Harriett Washington. The School of Nursing presented Imelda Wright, assistant professor of nursing, whose research focuses on the effects of perioperative nurse practice and the environment on patient safety in the operating room. UofL’s Social, ����ֱ��al and Behavioral IRB presented a workshop to provide an overview of the UofL SBE IRB and HSPP Office. The IRB also hosted a workshop geared toward biomedical researchers from the UofL Health Sciences and Shelby Campuses. The Research Integrity Office presented Leslie Hollie, a distinguished expert in health care fraud and economic crimes, including grant fraud with a concentration in foreign influence/interference and administrative conflict of interest investigations.

The Center for Integrative Environmental Health Sciences (CIEHS) hosted two forums of presentations by Pilot Project awardees and Research Voucher awardees highlighting their accomplishments from their third-year awards. The Office of HSC Diversity and Inclusion hosted a panel discussion, “The Past is Present: Slavery & Medicine in Louisville History” and an anti-racism program which supports anti-racism research occurring at the University of Louisville which encourages further research aimed at impacting racial inequities.

Juw Won Park, director of the Center for Integrative Environmental Health Sciences Biostatistics and Informatics Facility Core, director of Brown Cancer Center Bioinformatics Core, and colleagues discussed their research interest in bioinformatics and computational genomics which requires high-performance computing. Finally, R!L sponsored a seminar at the Kentucky Science Center for students in grades 7-12 with a biomedical focus. The day also included a “Pulse of Surgery” program, a real-time, open-heart surgery. The full schedule of 2023 events are on the .

The co-chairs of R!L, Jon Klein, vice dean for research, and Chris States, associate dean for research, along with the R!L Steering Committee, look forward to R!L 2024. Look for announcements of dates/agenda in UofL Today.

This year, R!L presented 325 abstracts to a panel of more than 125 judges. Among the scientific poster competition participants represented were master’s degree and doctoral engineering students, NCI R25 undergraduate students, cancer and health disparity Summer Bridge Program students, Brown Cancer Center high school scholars, dental students, master’s degree and doctoral basic science students, medical students, distinction tract medical students, case reports, postdoctoral scholars, research associates, research staff, pharmDs, master’s degree and doctoral public health students, nursing students, medical residents, clinical fellows and faculty.

“UofL is true a research engine,” said Kevin Gardner, executive vice president for research and innovation. “This event is a unique opportunity to engage with UofL students, faculty and staff and showcase the full breadth of their work to produce groundbreaking discoveries and new innovations that save and improve lives.”

A full list of award winners and a slide presentation of the winners, including the names of their mentor(s), as well as photos/recording of the closing ceremony are available on the .

The closing ceremony included a keynote address by John D. Carpten, a renowned expert in translational genomics whose research spans multiple disciplines. Carpten is a pioneer in cancer disparities and is highly regarded for his superb leadership in the African American Hereditary Prostate Cancer Study Network. He serves as professor and chair of translational genomics, director of the Institute of Translational Genomics, Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California. Carpten’s lecture, “Closing the Gaps in Cancer Health Equity,” has inspired substantial scientific inquiry.

R!L’s symposium featured seminars, presentations and lectures on a variety of subjects, including nursing research, environmental health sciences, core facilities, anti-racism research, faculty development and more. Highlights included presentations by research scholars who received funding by the Jewish Heritage Fund for Excellence, the Center for Integrative Environmental Health Sciences’ series of presentations, Research Integrity’s lecture by Jean Shin of the Scientific Workforce Diversity Office at the National Institutes of Health, a documentary film “Healing in the Valley” and the Kentucky Science Center’s half-day program for seventh to twelfth-grade students with a focus on biomedical sciences. The full schedule of events is on the .

The symposium serves to offer valuable opportunities to research scholars in need of gaining essential presentation skills and experience, meet scholarship requirements for faculty ranking and promotion, build peer networks and gain feedback from research scientists in a wide range of disciplines.

“The University of Louisville is a true research powerhouse,” said Kevin Gardner, UofL’s executive vice president for research and innovation. “This event is an opportunity to showcase the breadth of that work, create career pathways for students and raise awareness of the important role research plays in our day-to-day lives.”

More than 126 judges with various fields of expertise devoted their time during the four days of poster sessions.

R!L’s symposium also featured seminars, presentations and lectures on a variety of subjects, including nursing research, research security and foreign influence, environmental health sciences, core facilities, anti-racism research and more. Highlights included presentations by research scholars who received funding by the Jewish Heritage Foundation for Excellence, the Center for Integrative Environmental Health Sciences’ series of presentations, the Kentucky Science Center’s seminar for seventh to 12th grade students with a focus in biomedical sciences and, most notably, a media event/announcement of a $5.5 million grant from Kosair Charities to fund the Pediatric NeuroRecovery program and an additional $900,000 to other children’s health programs at UofL ().

R!L’s keynote speaker Mary Jo Turk, professor of microbiology and immunology with Dartmouth College’s Geisel School of Medicine and co-director of the Immunology and Cancer Immunotherapy Program, Norris-Cotton Cancer Center, presented the lecture, “Lymph node resident memory T responses to metastatic melanoma.” Other keynote speakers included Derrick L. Franklin, acting chief of investigative operations, U.S. Department of HHS/OIG; Heather Hardin, assistant professor of nursing with Case Western Reserve University’s Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing; and Michael L. Blakey, National Endowment for the Humanities professor of anthropology, Africana studies and American studies and director of the Institute for Historical Biology, College of William & Mary.

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R!L 2020 did not feature its traditional scientific poster competitions, however, co-chairs, Jon Klein and Christopher States plan to arrange for a spring 2021 showcase if circumstances allow.��

“These impressive presentations demonstrate the value of research capacity to respond to events of our time,” said Kevin Gardner, PhD, Executive Vice President for Research and Innovation��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������

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Paula Bates: How a Cancer Researcher Became a Coronavirus Researcher

Julio Ramirez: COVID-19 Clinical & Epidemiological Research: Lessons Learned

Ted Smith: Wastewater sample site selection at neighborhood scale to estimate changes in community prevalence of COVID-19

��Joshua Fuqua: Wastewater Virology for SARS-CoV-2

The virtual event also included:��

• R!L at the Kentucky Science Center: A half-day program for middle and high school students with focus on S.T.E.M.
• UofL Health Jewish Hospital’s Pulse of Surgery program featured a live open-heart surgery, then a discussion lead by medical student, Victoria Smith, about health care career options.
• School of Nursing presentation: “Promoting equity in access to healthcare for the underserved: Intervening on social determinants of health.” Jean Edward, assistant professor at UK College of Nursing and nurse scientist for UK Healthcare’s Markey Cancer enter, presented her research which focused on health literacy, health insurance literacy, healthcare access disparities, social determinants of health and healthcare reform/policy.
• hosted by the UofL Office of Research Integrity:��David C. Stieren, division chief, Extension Services, National Institute of Standards and Technology Manufacturing Extension Partnership (NIST MEP) Program, explained how cybersecurity threats exploit the increased complexity and connectivity of all types of systems operating into today’s society and economy, placing the nation’s security, economy, and public safety and health at risk.
• Presenter Steven��D. Kniffley Jr. is the associate director for the Center for Behavioral Health and an assistant��professor in Spalding University’s School of Professional Psychology. Dr. Kniffley’s area of expertise is research and clinical work with Black males and the treatment of race- based stress and trauma.

Dr. Justin Mog kicked things off with a workshop focused on the challenges of guiding a large institution away from a business-as-usual mindset and toward a thoughtful balance of environmental, social and economic stewardship.

The HSC Green Team coordinated a pumpkin decorating event and bike repair station on the HSC Plaza, as well as two showings of the critically acclaimed documentary, “Paris to Pittsburgh–The Climate for Change is Now.”�� Two other films were featured during the week: “Forks over Knives” and “Current Revolution.”

The decorated pumpkins were placed on display at the Gray Street Farmers Market.

Falls City Community Bike Works sponsored a bike repair and training station on the Plaza.�� Falls City Community Bike Works is a non-profit community bike shop in Louisville with a goal of making bicycling more affordable and widespread.

Through a collaborative effort by the University of Louisville, Greater Louisville Medical Society and the Louisville Women in Medicine and Science (L-WIMS), students participated in a variety of health-sciences sessions at the Kentucky Science Center.

Dr. Sara Petruska and two third-year medical students, along with Kevin Martin, director of the Paris Simulation Center, conducted an OB/GYN workshop and demonstration utilizing the Lucina Delivery Mannequin. Petruska serves as the steering committee chair for L-WIMS and also as its designated representative to the Group of Women in Medicine and Science (GWIMS) at the American Association of Medical Colleges (AAMC).

Martin has participated in the R!L program at the Kentucky Science Center for at least three years.

“I always enjoy speaking with future students and having the Science Center as a backdrop is nice,” he said.

In addition to the simulator work session, the students participated in a variety of activities, including:��

• Galvanized Skin Response (GSR): A reaction demonstration whereby students were connected to a device that monitored their GSR level as they were exposed to both scary and soothing images.
• See Your DNA: Students extracted DNA from their saliva using salt water, dish soap and alcohol.
• Anatomy of Vision: Students were provided visual models and engaged in discussion about visual sciences to learn more about their own vision.��
• MakerPlace 3D Pen Cardiac Design-Build: Students were challenged to create a device that could help clear clogged arteries and used 3D pens to connect the “arteries.”��
• Heart Monitoring Technology: Students were shown the latest in heart-monitoring technology.

Organized by the UofL Office of Health Sciences Research, the symposium offers an opportunity for research scholars in need of gaining essential presentation skills and experience. More than 180 judges with various fields of expertise devoted their time during the three days of poster sessions.��

The event also included poster presentations by a diverse group of medical, dental, nursing, public health and graduate students, postdoctoral scholars, research associates, research staff, bioengineering co-op students, PharmDs, residents, fellows, faculty, NCI-R25 undergraduates and high school scholars.

Seminars, presentations and lectures honed in on a variety of subjects, including nursing research, updates on brain health and Alzheimers, advances in cancer therapeutics/research, exploration of the legacy of housing discrimination and more. The event also included program at the Kentucky Science Center geared toward 7th through 12th grade students with a focus on biomedical sciences.��

R!L’s keynote speaker, Cheryl Lyn Walker, PhD, director of the Center for Precision Environmental Health at Baylor College of Medicine, is recognized as one of the preeminent scholars in the field of environmental epigenomics. Her lecture, “Environmental Epigenomics: What the Epigenome can Teach us about Environmental Causes of Disease,”��

Other distinguished presenters included:

• Kelly Willenberg, MBA, BSN, CHRC, CHC from Kelly Willenberg, LLC and Michael Roach, JD, Meade Roach & Annulis, LLP
• Jiying Ling, PhD, MS, RN, Michigan State University College of Nursing
• Les Hollie, Assistant Inspector General for Investigations, Department of Health and Human Services
• John Wise, Sr., PhD, UofL professor of Pharmacology & Toxicology
• Sam Cotton, PhD, Trager Institute
• Joshua Poe, MA, Acknowledge, Recognize, Connect (ARC) LLC
• Dr. Gaya Amarasinghe, Washington University, St. Louis, UofL Drs. Venkatakrishna Jala, Matt Lawrenz and Juhi Bagaitkar
• And an upcoming presentation by Nancy M. Albert, PhD, Cleveland Clinic’s Kaufman Center for Heart Failure, scheduled on Sept. 27th at Baptist Health Louisville

Friday’s closing ceremony was held at the Kosair Charities Clinical and Translational Research Building with J. Christopher States, PhD, R!L co-chair and associate dean for research officiating the program and introducing sponsor representatives, Robert Keynton, PhD, UofL interim vice president for research and innovation, and Dawn Diehl, director of research compliance & regulatory affairs at Norton Healthcare. States also recognized the sponsorship of a new award, “Excellence in Quality Improvement in Patient Care,” by the Kentuckiana Medical Reciprocal Risk Retention Group, represented by Sandy Pugh, RN.

Jon Klein, MD, PhD, R!L co-chair and vice dean for research, presented certificates to the R!L award winners.�� NCI-R25 undergraduate award winners were presented certificates by David Hein, PhD, endowed chair, professor and chair, Pharmacology and Toxicology, and La Creis Kidd, PhD, associate professor of Pharmacology & Toxicology, and “Our Highest Potential” endowed chair in cancer research.��

Walker is internationally recognized for her work in environmental health and elucidation of molecular mechanisms of disease. Because of her impact on the science of toxicology and the more than 30 years she has spent in dedication to advancing the field, Walker was awarded the 2019 Society of Toxicology Distinguished Toxicology Scholar Award.

Her studies on the role of the epigenome in gene-environment interactions have yielded significant insights into mechanisms by which early life environmental exposures influence health and disease across the life-course.

The epigenome is often described as the “software” that operates our genome. This epigenomic software is installed very early in life at key developmental windows in utero and during early childhood and adolescence. Adverse environmental exposures experienced early in life can re-program the epigenome and increase susceptibility to many diseases in adulthood.

Walker’s research is providing new insights into how the environment molds the epigenome, and how developmental reprogramming induced in early life exposures can change normal physiology to increase risk for diseases such as obesity and cancer.

Research!Louisville runs Sept. 10-13. More details about this lecture and other presentations, seminars and research showcases are .��