In addition to research funding through grants, the Department of Medicine offers financial awards to residents to recognize their research achievements.
Research Research Day
In May of each academic year, residents present their research projects during Resident Research Day. Faculty and residents review and discuss their research findings in a stimulating environment during poster sessions and oral presentations, followed by the presentation of the annual research prizes for residents, the Califf Medicine Resident Research Awards.
Califf Medicine Research Awards
The Califf Medicine Resident Research Awards are annual research prizes dedicated to promoting resident research. The Califf Award competition is announced in March of each academic year and abstracts are due in May. A faculty committee reviews each abstract entry and determines the winners. Recipients of the Califf Medicine Research Awards are awarded $500 each, and an additional $250 is awarded to each of the three poster presentation winners, selected by the Divisional Chiefs during the poster session.
Califf Award Winners
| Award Year | Recipient | Mentor | Project Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-2026 | Daniel Bujnowski, MD | Kara Wegermann, MD | Impact of Obesity on the Liver Transplantation Process: A Retrospective Single-Center Cohort Study |
| 2025-2026 | Morgan Nakatani, MD | Thomas W LeBlanc, MD, MA | Where Hospice Fails Us: A Qualitative Study of Facilitators and Barriers in Transitions to Hospice According to Palliative Care Clinicians |
| 2025-2026 | Roshini Srinivasan, MD | Anastasia-Stefania Alexopoulos, MD, MBBS, MHS | As Seen on TikTok: Characterizing Interventions and Attitudes in #PCOS Content |
| 2024-2025 | Catherine Cheney, MD, MSc | Brian A Sullivan, MD, MHS and Nathan Thielman, MD, MPH | Fecal immunochemical testing for colorectal cancer screening among people living outside high-income countries: a systematic review and meta-analysis |
| 2024-2025 | Austin Stiefer, MD | Aparna Swaminathan, MD, MHS | We are what we breathe: environmental and occupational exposures are associated with disease progression among patients with interstitial lung diseases |
| 2024-2025 | Lilianna Suarez, MD, MPH | Karen A. Scherr, MD, PhD | Creating Child and Caregiver Linkages in the Electronic Health Record: A Study of Children Receiving Obesity Treatment |
| 2023-2024 | Isabelle Byers, MD | Stephanie Garbarino, MD | Care Coordination for Patients Admitted with Alcohol-Associated Liver Disease: An Assessment of Appropriate Follow-up and Treatment at Time of Discharge |
| 2023-2024 | Noah Hellermann, MD | Ruchi Doshi MD MPH | Readiness for Pediatric to Adult Healthcare Transition in Young Adult Hospitalized Patients |
| 2023-2024 | Jay Lusk, MD | Bradley G. Hamill, DrPH | Neighborhood Socioeconomic Deprivation, Healthcare Access, Characteristics of Treating Healthcare Facilities, and 30-day Mortality and Readmission for Patients Hospitalized with Common Medical Conditions |
| 2022-2023 | Nicole Dussault, MD, MS | Jessica Ma, MD | Internal Medicine Resident Barriers to Advances Care Planning in the Primary Care Clinic |
| 2022-2023 | Sriya Muralidharan, MD | Darin Dufault, MD, Jessica Seidelman, MD, Becky Smith, MD | Pathogenic flora continue to contaminate duodenoscopes despite novel disposable tips |
| 2022-2023 | Allison Taylor, MD, MS | Thomas W. LeBlanc, MD, MS | Facilitators and Barriers to Care Encountered During Treatment in Patients with Newly Diagnosed Acute Myeloid Leukemia |
Poster Winners
| Award Year | Recipient | Mentor | Project Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-2026 | Kaushik Puranam, MD | - | Trends in Medicaid Policy and Coverage for Liver Transplantation in Alcohol-Associated Liver Disease |
| 2025-2026 | Sarah Malik, MD | - | To Ignore or To React? Initial Trends of Triggers and Responses to the Qtc Prolongation Our Practice Advisory Alert |
| 2025-2026 | Tilicea Henry, MD | - | Heart Failure and Cocaine Use Disorder: Care Gaps and Key Opportunities for Enhanced Assessment and Management of Hospitalized Patients |
| 2024-2025 | Alexandria Danyluk, MD | - | POEM Study: Hospitalization for Acute Pulmonary Embolism Is Not Associated with Improved Outcomes |
| 2024-2025 | Othmane Jadi, MD | - | Tumor-Primed Neutrophils Mediate Colitis Following PD-1 Blockade via Epigenetic Memory: Insights from Single-Cell Multi-omic Profiling |
| 2024-2025 | Kate Lee, MD, MS | - | Proton Pump Inhibitors are More Cost-Effective than Potassium Competitive Acid Blockers for the Management of Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease |
| 2023-2024 | John Barber, MD | Garnett Kelsoe, D.Sc | Relative location of secondary immunization determines germinal center quality and memory B cell fate |
| 2023-2024 | Valeria Maldonado Grijalva, MD | Matthew Labriola, MD | Real-world clinical outcomes of patients treated with Lu-177-PSMA-617 for metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC): a single institution experience. |
| 2023-2024 | Gregg Robbins-Welty, MD | Anthony Galanos, MD | Psychiatry Resident Physicians Experience Personal and Professional Grief, Burnout and Depression: Results from a National Survey |
| 2022-2023 | Caroline Ahlers, MD | Vinay Choksi, MD | Extensive Palpable Purpura Preceding Renal Dysfunction in Immunoglobulin A Vasculitis due to Coronavirus-19 Infection |
| 2022-2023 | Joanna Cavalier, MD | Stephen Telloni, MD | Multidisciplinary Rounds for Dispersed Patients Reduced LOS, but Neither Scalable nor Sustainable |
| 2022-2023 | Katelyn Seale, MD | Jeremy Force, DO | Evaluation of the new inflammatory breast cancer (IBC) scoring system by testing outcomes in patients with IBC |
| 2022-2023 | Alison Smith, MD, MSc | Sonali Advani, MBBS, MPH | Assessing the Impact of Rach, and Social Determinants of Health on Inpatient Quality Metrics |