2025 Resident Research Day Winners Announced

The Department of Medicine held its annual Resident Research Day on Friday, May 23  with residents Catherine Cheney, MD, MSc; Auston Stiefer, MD; and Lilianna Suarez, MD, MPH, presenting their Califf Medicine Resident Winning Abstracts.

This lecture covered multiple clinical research topics, including a retrospective study on interstitial lung disease progression due to environmental exposures, the implementation of EHR-based probabilistic matching in pediatric obesity treatment, and the cost-effectiveness of FIT screening for colorectal cancer. It also discussed methodological challenges and future research directions.

2024-2025 Annual Califf Medicine Resident Research Award Abstract Presentation

Fecal Immunochemical Testing for Colorectal Cancer Screening Among People Living Outside High-income Countries: a Systematic review and Meta-analysis
Catherine Cheney, MD, MSc
Mentors: Brian A Sullivan, MD, MHS and Nathan Thielman, MD, MPH

We Are What We Breathe: Environmental and Occupational Exposures Are Associated with Disease Progression Among Patients with Interstitial Lung Diseases
Auston Stiefer, MD
Mentor: Aparna Swaminathan, MD, MHS

Creating Child and Caregiver Linkages in the Electronic Health Record: A Study of Children Receiving Obesity Treatment
Lilianna Suarez, MD, MPH
Mentor: Karen A. Scherr, MD, PhD

2024-2025 Faculty Resident Research Grant Winners

HBIG to Prevent HBV Recurrence in HBsAg Positive Liver Transplant Recipients
Hiwote Abate, MD
Mentor: Kara Wegermann, MD

Tolerability and Outcomes of Oral Targeted Inhibitors for Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia in Patients with Severe Renal Dysfunction
Clare Anderson, MD
Mentor: Chenyu Lin, MD

Cardiac Testing Patterns in People Living With HIV
James Davis, MD
Mentor: Gerald S. Bloomfield, MD, MPH

Impact of Class II and III Obesity on Liver Transplant Qualification and Outcomes
Averie Dickinson, MD, MBA
Mentor: Kara Wegermann, MD

Impacts of Virtual Care Center on Telehealth Performance
Elisabeth Fassas, MD, M.Sc
Mentor: Joanna Cavalier, MD

Real World Data Assessing the Impact of Glucagon-like Peptide-1 Receptor Agonists in Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease
Reeti Gulati, MD
Mentor: Amreen Dinani, MD

Exploring the Impact of Social and Environmental Vulnerabilities on Liver Disease in the South: A study of the STRIVE (Southern Liver Health Study) Cohort
Ashley Jowell, MD
Mentor: Cynthia A. Moylan, MD

Cost Effectiveness Analysis for the Medical Treatment of Moderate and Severe Erosive Esophagitis
Kate Lee, MD, MS
Mentor: David A. Leiman, MD

A Retrospective Trial of Lutetium-177-PSMA-617 in Black and White Males With Metastatic Castrate-Resistant Prostate Cancer
Valeria Maldonado Grijalva, MD
Mentor(s): Matthew Labriola, MD

2024-2025 Faculty Resident Research Grant Winners

Assessing Mortality and End-of-Life Care Associated with Infectious Disease Consultation: A 10-Year Retrospective Analysis
Alison Smith, MD, M.Sc
Mentor: Jason Stout, MD, MHS

Inhaled Inequities: Evaluating Disparities Among Interstitial Lung Disease Outcomes Based on Social and Environmental Factors
Auston Stiefer, MD
Mentor: Aparna Swaminathan, MD, MHS

Solid Organ Transplant and Contraception Counseling at Duke University Hospitals
Karen Young, MD
Mentor: Carla Brady, MD