BY BETH BALES AND BRYAN KAY
They included the SVS Foundation and American College of Surgeons Mentored Clinical Scientist Research Career Development Award (K08), presented to Areck A. Ucuzian, MD, of the University of Maryland School of Medicine, for the project “Mechanisms of aortopathy in LRP1 deficiency”; the E.J. Wylie Traveling Fellowship, which was bestowed on Cassius Iyad Ochoa Chaar, MD, of Yale University School of Medicine, for “Building a vascular and endovascular surgery outcomes research center (VESOReC) at Yale”; and the Research Career Development Travel Award, won by John Byrne, MD, at the University of Toronto.
Mohammad Qadura, MD, of the University of Toronto, meanwhile picked up a Clinical Research Seed Grant for “Combating anti-platelet resistance through personalized medicine.” Other awardees included a Community Awareness and Prevention Project Grant for Kelly Kempe, MD, of the University of Oklahoma School of Community Medicine for a project called “Realizing primary care barriers to limb salvage in Oklahoma.”
A Bridge Grant was allocated to BEST-CLI investigators Matthew Menard, MD, of Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, and Alik Farber, MD, of Boston University Medical Center.
A Vascular Research Initiatives Conference (VRIC) Trainee Award was presented to Derek Afflu, MD, of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Mentored by Ryan McEnaney, MD, he tackled research entitled, “Elastic fibers of the internal elastic lamina are unraveled but not created with expanding arterial diameter in arteriogenesis.”
Frank Davis, MD, of the University of Michigan Medical School, was another recipient. Guided by mentor Katherine Gallagher, MD, he tackled the project, “Epigenetic modifications influence macrophage-mediated inflammation in abdominal aortic aneurysms.” Katherine Hekman, MD, of the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, also claimed a VRIC prize for “Autophagy remodels mitochondria during differentiation and enhances longevity through Ulk1 kinase signaling of induced pluripotent stem cell-derived endothelial cells,” under the mentorship of Jason Wertheim, MD. Likewise, “Downregulation of inflammation and a cascade of pro-angiogenic signals mediate the beneficial effects of gene-modified stem cell therapy in hindlimb ischemia,” landed Hallie Quiroz, MD, of the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, a VRIC Trainee Award. She was mentored by Omaida Velazquez, MD.
There was also a series of Student Research Fellowship Awards. Kamran Ali, of the University of Chicago, sponsored by Ross Milner, MD, collected one for the project, “Development of a mixed-mode ductile fracture cohesive zone model for use in evaluating aortic neck-endograft seal behavior.”
Thomas Wen-Tao Cheng, of Boston University School of Medicine, claimed another for “Analysis of presentation for dialysis and dialysis access outcomes in the immigrant and refugee population.” He was sponsored by Jeffrey Siracuse, MD, and was awarded an SVS General Surgery Resident/ Medical Student VAM Travel Scholarship.
Natasha Ilyana Edman of the University of Washington, was another recipient. She claimed the award for “Assessment of the causes for lower intervention rates among women with thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysms” under the sponsorship of Matthew Penn Sweet, MD.
Louis Hinkle, of Houston Methodist Research Institute, sponsored by Maham Rahimi, MD, received one for “Nanoparticle delivery of a hybrid NO donor/ROS scavenger for the treatment of ischemia-reperfusion injury.”
And Yiyuan David Hu, of Harborview Medical Center— sponsored by Benjamin W. Starnes, MD—for “Understanding secondary intervention in ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysms following open repair vs. EVAR” was among the other recipients to receive an SVS General Surgery Resident/ Medical Student VAM Travel Scholarship.