Hosted by the MedStar Health Research Institute, MedStar Health Academic Affairs, and Georgetown University Medical Center, the MedStar Health-Georgetown University Research and Education Symposium is open to all members of the research and education community interested in learning more about scholarship at MedStar Health and Georgetown. The symposium brings together the MedStar Health and Georgetown University communities to celebrate the breadth of our academic pursuits. The event offers the opportunity to connect with researchers, educators, residents, executive leaders, and collaborative partners from across the region and our system to build meaningful relationships to further advance the health of our community.
2024 Symposium: Celebrating our academic community
More than 1,000 members of our academic community attended the 2024 MedStar Health–Georgetown University Research & Education Symposium on April 29, 2024 – our largest event yet! From our humble beginnings at the first Research Day held in 1998 to this year’s event with more than 1,000 attendees, we are proud to celebrate our rich community of scholars, academics, clinicians, and scientists from across our two organizations.
This year’s event featured 275+ juried poster presentations, plus numerous oral presentations and academic workshops. Additionally, we recognized several best-scoring abstracts from residents, fellows, and educators.
Highlights included a keynote address by Anthony, Fauci, MD, Distinguished University Professor at Georgetown University School of Medicine and the McCourt School of Public Policy, and Distinguished Senior Scholar at the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law. A renowned physician, leading immunologist and infectious disease researcher, and advisor to seven U.S. presidents, Dr. Fauci served as the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for 38 years until his retirement in 2022.
Other main stage speakers were Stephen R.T. Evans, MD, executive vice president for Medical Affairs and chief medical officer for MedStar Health, Jack DeGioia, Ph.D., president of Georgetown University, Neil J. Weissman, MD, president of MedStar Health Research Institute and chief scientific officer for MedStar Health, and Jamie S. Padmore, DM, vice president of Academic Affairs at MedStar Health.
The day began with Georgetown University’s Center for Innovation and Leadership in Education (CENTILE) Colloquium for Educators in Health Professions, with more than 300 scholars in attendance. In the afternoon, more attendees joined for professional workshops on academic topics including research statistics, institutional review board, and curriculum design. This was followed by resident and fellow oral presentations, presentations from four MedStar Health Research Scholars, and presentations from graduates of the MedStar Health GME Social Medicine and Health Equity and Global Health Equity tracks. The Symposium closed with a reception hosted by MedStar Health Philanthropy.
Awards & Recognitions
Numerous awards were presented at the Symposium. Nine residents and fellows were recognized for outstanding research in oral and poster presentations:
First Place:
Bria Johnson, MD (PGY-2, Ob/Gyn): “Delays, fragmentation, and no alternatives: a qualitative study of patient experience through diagnosis and treatment of endometrial cancer.”
Allison Kumnick, MD (PGY-2, Ob/Gyn): “Establishing normative findings of ovarian anatomy and sex hormones through puberty.”
Kalyan R. Chitturi, DO (PGY-7, Interventional Cardiology): “High-risk percutaneous coronary intervention with or without prophylactic mechanical circulatory support: Will Impella show superiority in the PROTECT IV Randomized Trial?”
Desiree Pinto, MD, MPH (PGY-4, Burn): “Identifying new and unmanaged co-morbities at hospital admission to improve acute and chronic management of burn patients.”
Second Place:
Olivia Wilkins, MD (PGY-1, Internal Medicine): “Associations between myeloproliferative neoplasms, ischemic stroke, and agent orange exposure in U.S. veterans: a comprehensive analysis.”
Andrew Tiu, MD (PGY-6, Hematology/Oncology): “Patient-reported outcomes among U.S. veterans living with myeloproliferative neoplasms.”
Jin Kook Kang, MD (PGY-4, Surgery): "Impact of obesity on neurological outcomes in patients undergoind venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation.”
Third Place:
Sean Sequeria, MD (PGY-3, Orthopedics): “Isolated syndesmotic fixation is associates with increased risk of arthrodesis and arthroplasty operations compared to nonoperatively managed syndesmostic injury: A propensity-scored analysis.”
Panagiotis Koutoupias, MD (PGY-4, Infectious Disease): “Analysis of Cabotegravir-Ripivirine use in HIV patients at MedStar Washington Hospital Center.”
Mary Kim, MD (PGY-4, Surgery): “Development and validation of a computer vision-based approach for identifying PPE nonadherence in a medical setting.”
Desiree Pinto, MD, MPH (PGY-4, Burn) also received the 2024 CENTILE Colloquium Best Oral Abstract Award.
Special thanks
The event was a success, thanks to the dedicated planning committee and chairs.
2024 Symposium Chairs were Stephanie Detterline, MD and A. Jay Khana, MD. Aarthi Shenoy, MD and Kenneth Fan, MD co-chaired the Scientific Review Committee. Aviad Haramati, PhD, was chair of the Education Committee.
