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

R!L received over 400 abstracts and showcased research. Below are the��

Master’s Basic Science Graduate Student Award:��Steven Gootee,��Completing the Death Certificate Accurately: results from a survey evaluating existing knowledge among practicing physicians. Mentor: Julio Ramirez, PhD.

Doctoral Basic Science Graduate Student Award:��Joshua Royal,��Epicertin, a cholera toxin B subunit variant, utilizes an ER retention signalto enhance intenstinal wound healing via an unfolded protein response. Mentor: Nobuyuki Matoba.

Masters Engineering Student Award:��Luke Ackerman,��Automated Flight Ready Fluid Management System. Mentor: Thomas Roussel.

Doctoral Engineering Student Award:��Ahmed Shaffie,��A novel technology for Accurate, early, and non-invasive diagnosis of lung cancer.Mentor: Ayman El-Baz.

School of Dentistry Basic Science Student Award:��Regina Friedl,Rdh10 mutant mice reveal pharyngeal arch patterning defects underliecleft palate in retinoid deficiency. Mentor: Lisa Sandell.��

School of Dentistry Clinical Science Student Award:��Sarah Downes,��A novel oral health outreach activity for elementary grade students.��Mentor: Cynthia Metz.

Norton Healthcare Medical Student Award:��Mallory Zaino,��Myocardial infarction regulates prolidase activity and promotes insulin-mediated collagen remodeling in the heart.��Mentor: Brad Hill, PhD.��

Postdoctoral Fellow Award:��Natia Kelm, Novel Role of Thbs-1/CD47-Drp1 signaling following ischemia reperfusion in the aging heart.

Research Associate Award:��Sarah Andres,��Cancer-selective metal complexes: effects and a novel mechanism of action.��Mentor: Paula Bates.

Research Staff Award:��Kimberely Buckner,��The two Diamond Open Access Journals at the University of Louisville: The University of Louisville Journal of Respiratory Infections and the Journal of Refugee and Global Health.Mentor: William Mattingly, PhD.

School of Medicine Medical Resident Award:��Christian Eccles,��Skin fiducial markers enable accurate computerized navigation resection of simulated soft tissue tumors: an in vitro cadaveric pilot study.

School of Medicine Clinical Research Fellow Award:��Penn Muluhngwi,��Identification of Oncogenic Driver Mutations in Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer Patients.��Mentor: Mark Linder, PhD.

Public Health & Information Sciences:��Master’s Student Award Ogochukwu Owolabi,Missing laboratory values among patients with pneumonia should not exclude them from analysis in clinical research.Mentor: William Mattingly, PhD.

Doctoral Student Award:��Stacey Konkle,��Secular Trends in Ambient Volatile Organic Compound Levels, Biomarkers of Exposure and Associations with Cardiometabolic Syndrome: An Analysis of Data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey and the National Monitoring Program.

Basic Research in Public Health Award.��Yiqun Mo,��Comparative mouse pulmonary toxicity of nickel nanoparticles with different surface modification.��Mentor: Qunwei Zhang.

Research & Practice in Public Health Award:��Connor Glick,��Multiple comorbidities among patients with community-acquired pneumonia lead to higher mortality regardless of age.��Mentor: William Mattingly, PhD.

Nursing Graduate Student:��Barbra Cave,Care navigation for moms and babies after universal hepatitis C virus.��

Pharm D Award:��Claire Thieneman,��Impact of regimen selection on response to antiretroviral therapy in treatment-naïve individuals infected with human immunodeficiency virus.��

Jewish Hospital & St. Mary’s Foundation�� Faculty Award in Basic Science:��Leila Gobejishvili,��Pathogenic role of PDE4 enzymes in the development of liver fibrosis in humans and mouse models.

Jewish Hospital & St. Mary’s Foundation Faculty Award in Clinical Science:��Kimberly Hartson,��Predictors of physical activity among a predominantly Hispanic sample of high school aged adolescents.��

Ruth Greenberg Award for Excellence in Medical ����ֱ�� Research:��Sara Petruska,��Interprofessional learning on Labor and Delivery is associated with improved team climate and increased clinical involvement of students.

Louisville Chapter-Women in Medicine and Science:��Smita Ghare, Assessment of sex-based differences in gut-immune interactions in viral-controlled HIV patients.

Excellence in Health Disparities Research Award:��Yusuf Mehran,��Survival Impact of Prolonged Postoperative Radiation Therapy for Patients with Glioblastoma treated with Combined-Modality Therapy.

NCI Cancer ����ֱ�� Program Norbert J. Burzynski Award Professional Student Category:��Evan Delfino,��Radioembolization with Yttrium-90 in Patients with Unresectable Hepatocellular Carcinoma and a Transjugular Intrahepatic Portosystemic Shunt. Mentor: Melissa Potts/

NCI Cancer ����ֱ�� Program Norbert J. Burzynski Award Undergraduate Student Category:��Keegan Curry,��The development of hybrid lipid-polymer nanoparticle architectures for the sustained-release of small hydrophilic molecules. Mentor: Jill Steinbach-Rankins.

That’s a wrap: 23rd annual symposium��

For its 23rd year, R!L’s week-long series of events featured three nursing research symposiums which covered a wide range of topics for nursing research professionals within our local, state and regional communities. Lectures given by outstanding research scientists included the s on the human microbiome in precision medicine by Dr. Joseph Petrosino, interim chair and professor of Microbiology and Molecular Virology, Baylor College of Medicine; the human oral microbiome and its systemic effects by , assistant research professor, Emory University’s Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing; global health issues and international emergency responses by Dr. Stefanie Bumpus, public health analyst from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; and macroaggressions and their impact on the academic environment for health professional students and researchers of color by , Deputy Dean for Diversity and Inclusion and Chief Diversity Officer, Yale School of Medicine. Follow the links in this paragraph to view video-recordings of these lectures.

R!L’s schedule also included the UofL Cooperative Corsortium for Transdisciplinary Social Justice Research, the Envirome Institute, recently named The Christina Lee Brown Envirome Institute, Commonwealth Institute of Kentucky, and the UofL Research Integrity Office’s seminar and global health issues lecture. The University of Louisville and Kentucky One Health/Jewish Hospital & St. Mary’s Foundation sponsored an in-depth program at the Kentucky Science Center geared toward 7^th-12^th grade students which offered an introduction to alternative science career opportunities for students interested in biomedical research. The sponsorship of the program involved collaboration with the Greater Louisville Medical Society and Louisville Women in Medicine and Science (L-WIMS), and the UofL School of Medicine’s faculty, staff and students. R!L is sponsored by the University of Louisville, Norton Healthcare, and Kentucky One Health/Jewish Hospital and St. Mary’s Foundation.

R!L received over 400 abstracts and showcased research by master’s, doctoral basic science and engineering students, bioengineering coop students, dental and medical students, postdoctoral scholars, research associates, research staff, medical residents, fellows, public health students, nursing graduates, NCI R25 undergraduates, UofL faculty and PharmDs. R!L co-chairs, Drs. Jon Klein and J. Christopher States acknowledge all volunteer judges for their time and expertise which contributed greatly to the success of R!L 2018. ��For R!L winners and video-recording of the ceremony go to . (Note a revised list of winners has been posted.)

Christopher States, PhD, co-chair of R!L and associate dean for research, conducted the closing program and introduced sponsor representatives Robert Keynton, PhD, interim vice president for research and innovation (UofL); Rhonda Hoffman, CCRP, systems director of research administration (Norton Healthcare); and Ms. Kathy Golightly Sanders, director of major and planned gifts (Kentucky One Health/Jewish Hospital & St. Mary’s Foundation). Drs. David Hein and LaCreis Kidd presented certificates to the NCI R25 undergraduate award recipients and Dr. Robert Keynton presented to all other R!L winners. were taken by Ron Harrison (UofL) and video recordings were provided by the UofL ATO support team.��