2023

Meet the former students of the Summer Medical Student Respiratory Research Fellowship (SMURRF) and learn about their projects.

Jackson Alexander
Medical School: University of Cincinnati College of Medicine
Mentor: David Smith, MD, PhD
Project Title: "Quantitative Profiling of Fecal Microbes in Mice"

Cassandra Almasri
Medical School: University of Kentucky Medical School
Mentor: Amanda Schondelmeyer, MD
Project Title: “Insurance-based differences in discharge practices of acute respiratory infections for children with neurologic impairment”

Elliot Brown
Medical School: University of Cincinnati College of Medicine
Mentor: William Hardie, MD
Project Title: “Comparison of exercise protocols for diagnosing dyspnea on exertion”

Shivatej Dubbaka
Medical School: University of Cincinnati College of Medicine
Mentor: Jason Woods, PhD
Project Title: "Using Hyperpolarized Xe MRI to Compare Lung Defects in Pediatric Cystic Fibrosis Patients of Varying Ages"

Aneesha Gala
Medical School: University of Cincinnati College of Medicine
Mentor: Paul Kingma, MD, PhD
Project Title: "Investigating the impact of anhydroamnios due to renal anomalies on fetal lung development using DW-MRI"

Heather Gamble
Medical School: University of Cincinnati College of Medicine
Mentor: Joanna Thomson, MD
Project Title: "Hospitalization Outcomes Associated with Evidence-Based Recommendations for the Management of Pneumonia in Children with High-Intensity Neurologic Impairment"

Cassidy Kershner
Medical School: University of Cincinnati College of Medicine
Mentor: Adam Powell, MD
Project Title: "Effects of Cardiac Rehabilitation on Pulmonary Function in Patients with Cardiac Disease"

Harsimran Makkad
Medical School: University of Cincinnati College of Medicine
Mentor: Cole Brokamp, PhD
Project Title: "Assessing individual- and community-level proxies of SES to improve racial fairness of pediatric asthma prediction algorithms"

Svitlana Shyrobokova
Medical School: Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine
Mentor: Hitesh Deshmukh, MD, and Shelby Steinmeyer, MD, PhD
Project Title: "Using SCENIC to identify gene regulatory network involved in fetal bone marrow inflammation"

Anoosha Sri
Medical School: University of Cincinnati College of Medicine
Mentor: Nehal Parikh, DO, MS
Project Title: "Associations between Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia and Neural Structural Connectivity Abnormalities in Very Preterm Infants"

Kara Zehr
Medical School: University of Cincinnati College of Medicine
Mentor: Jeffrey Whitsett, MD
Project Title: "Immunofluorescence Imaging of TBX4 Related Acinar/Alveolar Dysplasia"