The Department of Medicine has awarded the 2019 Chair's Research Award to four junior investigators who are making the transition to becoming independent scientists prior to their acquisition of extramural funding.
Recipients (with their project titles and mentor names) are listed below:
Julia Messina, MD
Medical Instructor (Infectious Diseases)
"Gut Microbiome in Patients with Hematologic Malignancies"
Mentor: Nelson Chao, MD
Samira Musah, PhD
Assistant Professor of Medicine (Nephrology)
"Human Stem cell technologies for mechanistic studies of kidney disease"
Mentor: Myles Wolf, MD
Joshua Thaden, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor of Medicine (Infectious Diseases)
"Characterization of E. coli Type III Secretion System Associated with Mortality"
Mentor: Vance Fowler, MD
Nicholas Turner, MD
Fellow, Infectious Diseases
"Molecular Epidemiology of C. difficile in the Healthcare System and Community"
Mentor: Deverick Anderson, MD
"This was an especially competitive year with impressive applications from investigators across several divisions," said Scott Palmer, MD, MHS, vice chair for research. “We are especially proud to be able to support the career development of Julia, Josh, Nic and Samira and look forward to their continued scientific success.”
Dr. Palmer thanked Thomas Ortel, MD, PhD, director of lab-based research, for coordinating the process, as well the dozen faculty members who assisted with the application reviews.