2010 Award Recipients
Awards:
- Research Scholar Award
- Bernard L. Schwartz Designated Research Scholar Award in Pancreatic Cancer
- Fellowship to Faculty Transition Award
- R. Robert & Sally Funderburg Research Scholar Award in Gastric Biology Related to Cancer
- June and Donald O. Castell, MD Esophageal Clinical Research Award
- Elsevier Pilot Grant
- Student Research Fellowship Award
- Student Abstract Prize
- Morti L. & Kamla Rustgi International Travel Awards
Research Scholar Award
Ian Corbin, PhD
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
A novel lipoprotein-based nanoparticle platform for enhanced targeting, detection and treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma using local regional stratagies
"First and foremost I would like to thank the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) Foundation for Digestive Health and Nutrition for granting me this award. I am equally grateful to the donors of this foundation who generously support and enable young up and coming medical scientists establish and develop their research endeavors. To be recognized as a recipient of this award is truly an honorable experience.
Over the years of my graduate and post-doctoral research training I have had the opportunity to be involved in a number of research projects (pre-clinical and clinical) in gastroenterology. The vivid realization of the high morbidity and mortality resulting from injury or disease to organs of this system, has reinforced, in my eyes, the great need for committed and active research in the area of medicine. As such my career goal is to establish a research program in hepatology/gastroenterology. Finances from this award will be directed to my research which aims to bring further insight and advances to the management of abdominal malignancies, such as liver cancer. This is particularly timely, as the incidence of liver cancer is steadily increasing in the United States. Through innovative molecular imaging techniques and nanomedicine approaches my research will employ local regional strategies to deliver biocompatible nanoscale particles directly to the liver tumor. Moreover, these nanoparticles are engineered to ferry anticancer agents and imaging probes and deposit these cytotoxic/diagnostic payloads upon entry of the complex into the cancer cell. The innovations and strategies investigated in these studies aim to ultimately improve our capacity to detect and treat challenging cancers like hepatocellular carcinoma. AGA funding of this proposal will undoubtedly help launch my research program by providing the necessary resources needed to initiate this project. The results generated from this work will subsequently be used as preliminary data for an NIH R01 application. Once again, thank you AGA for being a part of helping make my scientific endeavors become a viable research program."
Ype deJong, MD, PhD
Weill Medical College of Cornell University
Role of innate immune activation on T cell function in mice infected with hepatitis C
Porfirio Nava-Dominguez, PhD
Emory University
Role of Desmosomal cadherins in regulation of intestinal epithelial barrier function in IBD
Andres Roig, MD
University of Texas at Southwestern Medical Center
Validating colorectal cancer candidate mutations using adult human colonic epithelial cells
"It is an honor to have been selected as a recipient of the AGA Research Scholar Award and I sincerely thank the AGA, FDHN, and the Linscheer Memorial Fund for supporting my research in colorectal cancer (CRC) progression. Over the last three years, I developed a cell culture model of immortalized normal human colonic epithelial cells to study in vitro CRC progression. Recent bioinformatics data has confirmed previously well known CRC driving mutations and has identified many new candidate genes, that when altered, can provide a significant driving force in CRC progression. My goal is to use the immortalized colonic cells to validate, via biological assays, which combinations of specific candidate genetic alterations confer the greatest survival advantage to experimentally progressed (but not fully malignant) human colonic epithelial cells. Using shRNA technology we screened the experimentally progressed cells and identified a set of gene alterations conferring a significant growth advantage to cells. Many of these genes are involved in pathways whose roles in CRC pathogenesis are thought to be important but not fully understood. The purpose of the current study is to further understand the biology of how these mutations drive cancer and determine if some of these genetic changes are critical for tipping the balance between a premalignant and malignant lesion. By biologically identifying important genes critical to malignant behavior, and deciphering their frequency of occurrence in tumor specimens, new treatment modalities can be designed aimed at specific pathways. With the support of the AGA, FDHN, and the Linscheer Fund, I will continue to have the protected time necessary to perform these experiments."
Catherine Rongey MD, MSHS
University of California, San Francisco
Patterns and related determinants of healthcare utilization in rural veterans with HCV associated chronic liver disease
Bernard L. Schwartz Designated Research Scholar Award in Pancreatic Cancer
Kenneth Olive, PhD
Columbia University Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center
The influence of hedgehog pathway inhibition on pancreatic cancer metastasis
"I am extremely grateful to the AGA and FDHN for selecting me as the 2010 Bernard L. Schwartz Designated Research Scholar Award in Pancreatic Cancer. This award comes just at the point when I am establishing my own laboratory and its significance cannot be overstated. My field of research, preclinical therapeutics in genetically engineered mouse models, is extremely resource-intense. These experiments are difficult to support properly even for an established investigator. This award will help me to initiate preclinical evaluations of novel anticancer agents in a clinically relevant model of pancreatic cancer. In particular, we will investigate the effect of inhibitors of the hedgehog signaling pathway and their effects on suppressing metastasis in pancreatic cancer. My laboratory stands at the junction of basic and clinical science and I intend that the investment made in our work will be returned, with interest, to patients with pancreatic cancer. I would like to express my deep appreciation to the family of Mr. Bernard L. Schwartz for making this award possible."
Fellowship to Faculty Transition Award
Anamika Chaudhuri, MD
Yale University
The role of pathologic calcium signaling in low pH effects in the pancreatic acinar cell
"I would like to thank the AGA Foundation for selecting me to receive the Fellowship to Faculty Transition Award.
Despite the common and severe nature of acute pancreatitis, the treatments for the disease remain supportive. The lack of understanding about the intracellular events that lead to acute pancreatitis is, in part, responsible for the absence of targeted prevention and treatment strategies. This gap in knowledge attracted me to the study of the cellular basis of acute pancreatitis. My studies investigate the mechanisms through which acidosis sensitize to acute pancreatitis, focusing on changes in calcium signaling. This generous award will provide the protected time that is essential to achieving my ultimate goal of becoming an independent investigator and academic physician."
Edward Huang, MD
Massachusetts General Hospital
Long Term Aspirin Use and The Risk of Gastrointestinal Bleeding
"I am honored to be selected as a recipient of the Fellowship to Faculty Transition Award and would like to thank the AGA Foundation for their generous support. My overall research goal is to better understand the epidemiology of gastrointestinal bleeding. I believe this award will give me the opportunity to develop and refine the necessary research skills to be an independent investigator in the future. I will gain valuable experience working with the leading experts in the field of epidemiology and biostatistics using large prospective cohorts. This opportunity will allow me to build on my research interests in gastrointestinal disease epidemiology and prepare me for the next phase of my research career."
R. Robert & Sally Funderburg Research Scholar Award in Gastric Biology Related to Cancer
Jason Mills, MD, PhD
Washington University
The Role of Mucous Neck Cells in Gastric Cancer
"It is a great honor to be selected to receive the Funderburg Award. The gastric epithelial stem cell makes a constant supply of surface cells whose function is to secrete large amounts of protective mucus, parietal cells that secrete acid, and digestive enzyme-secreting (zymogenic) cells. My lab studies how these differentiation pathways are regulated both normally and how they undergo alterations during progression to cancer. It can be argued that, in terms of cancer, the parietal and zymogenic lineages undergo the most dramatic changes. Precursor lesions for the most common gastric carcinoma histological subtype, intestinal-type adenocarcinoma, involve profound alteration (metaplasia) of the zymogenic lineage and loss (atrophy) of the parietal lineage. The second most common histological type, diffuse adenocarcinoma, appears to arise from mucous neck cells, which are zymogenic cell precursors. These altered mucous neck cells are thought to lose cell-cell adhesion because of mutations in E-cadherin. Loss of E-cadherin leads to inhibition of differentiation to mature zymogenic cells and/or inability to remain within the epithelium. As a result, the cells accumulate, often in mesenchymal space between adjacent gastric glands, and eventually undergo additional mutations, thereby becoming invasive (i.e., malignant).
Thus, in both major types of gastric carcinoma, the zymogenic cell lineage undergoes pre-cancerous changes that may be key in understanding how gastric epithelial tumors form. In my lab, we are trying not only to describe these changes in humans but also to delineate the underlying molecular mechanisms using mouse models. There are good models of zymogenic cell metaplasia underlying intestinal-type adenocarcinoma, and there is recent work that shows that diffuse-type gastric adenocarcinomas can also be induced in mice that are deficient in E-cadherin. But a tool that those of us interested in understanding gastric cancer clearly do not have are lines of mice that show cell lineage-specific, stomach-specific gene expression. What the Funderburg award will allow my lab to do is develop a new mouse pedigree that expresses inducible Cre recombinase activity specifically in the stomach and specifically within the mucous neck cells (i.e., the zymogenic cell progenitors). We will be able to use this mouse line to specifically delete genes within mucous neck cells and determine the effects on both differentiation and metaplasia. We are hopeful that the development of this tool will be of considerable help for all of us who are interested in finding how to prevent or treat gastric cancer."
June and Donald O. Castell, MD Esophageal Clinical Research Award
Kathryn Peterson, MD, MSci
Unversity of Utah
Utility of an Elemental Diet in Adult Eosinophilic Esophagitis
"I am extremely excited to accept the AGA Don Castell Esophageal Award for 2010! Awards given through the AGA provide renewed energy for physicians such as myself to pursue research endeavors. Realizing that a group of very experienced gastroenterologists have faith in my endeavor to further elucidate the causal mechanisms of eosinophilic esophagitis, I am more determined than ever to complete my project and utilize subsequent information I discover to further the care in the eosinophilic patient population. I hope that the information obtained from my project will allow investigators to understand how food allergy (and possibly environmental) allergy may result in esophageal eosinophilia.
My aspirations are to use this research to jump start a research career in gastrointestinal allergy and eosinophilia with the help of my colleagues Gerald Gleich, John Fang, Leonard Pease, and Curt Hagedorn.
My goals are to become a major contributor to the understanding of gastrointestinal allergy. I hope that I am lucky enough to continue along this research track with future funding through a program project grant from the NIH!"
Elsevier Pilot Grant
Saurabh Mehandru, MD
Mount Sinai School of Medicine
Induction of gastrointestinal immunity against HIV using a dendritic cell targeted vaccine
"I am very grateful to the AGA Foundation for Digestive Health and Nutrition for considering my application and for awarding me with this Pilot Research Award. Our goal is to induce intestinal immunity against HIV using a novel dendritic cell (DC) targeted vaccine approach. This area of research has become important in the overall HIV vaccine development effort for the following reasons: 1) The rectal and genital mucosae serve as primary portals of HIV entry in a majority of cases. 2) The GI tract harbors a large complement of immune cells that are preferentially targeted during acute HIV infection, regardless of the route of inoculation and 3) HIV Vaccine efficacy has been correlated with preservation of mucosal memory CD4+ T lymphocytes after virus challenge in rhesus monkeys. However, despite overwhelming evidence demonstrating the importance of inducing GI immune responses to HIV, such studies have been limited due to significant challenges in the induction and detection of antigen specific mucosal immunity. Here, we propose using a novel strategy to harness the immunizing properties of DCs to induce GI mucosal immune responses. This involves the engineering of antigens into anti-DC antibodies that selectively deliver these vaccine proteins to DCs in lymphoid tissues. This approach has been shown to greatly enhance the efficiency of antigen presentation and allows protein based vaccines to induce large numbers of Th1 type CD4+ T cells. One example of this novel approach involves conjugating HIV Gag protein to anti-DEC-205, an antibody directed against DEC-205, a well characterized DC endocytic receptor. When compared to other vaccine strategies in mice, anti-DEC-205-HIV-Gag fusion induces quantitatively and qualitatively stronger immune responses in the peripheral blood and spleen. To date, there is little information about mucosal immunity that is induced by this approach. We wish to optimize the delivery of this vaccine and to explore the mechanisms and sites of induction of mucosal immunity in this pilot proposal. Notably, this grant will provide crucial funding to help me generate data in support of future proposals. In that, it will be a critical resource as I transition from a GI fellow to an independent investigator, studying GI mucosal immunity with a novel HIV vaccine."
Student Research Fellowship Award
Asim Ahmad
Growing up with the dream to become a scientist, I have always had an interest in examining objects and figuring out how they work. This very interest drove me to work in the laboratory of Dr. Sohail Husain for two consecutive summers during high school. I went to the laboratory with the intention of learning more about the basic sciences. I shadowed lab members and learned various experimental techniques in the fields of biochemistry and cellular biology. With this grant, I will be able to continue my learning experience while pursuing an important academic goal.
Our lab is interested in acute pancreatitis, a disease which begins with the premature activation of digestive enzymes within the pancreatic acinar cell. Our previous studies demonstrate that this activation requires a distinct pathologic rise in cytosolic calcium.
However, the downstream effectors of the calcium rise are not known. We believe the phosphatase calcineurin is a prime target which mediates pathology. In this proposal, we will utilize calcineurin deficient mice to examine its effect on disease outcomes.
This award would not have been possible without the help of Dr. Sohail Husain and former award recipient, Abrahim Orabi. I am very grateful to the AGA for acknowledging this work and providing me the opportunity to pursue my dreams. With this grant I hope to make important contributions towards better understanding this devastating disease.
Mary Brown
Being chosen as the recipient of this prestigious award is a great honor. This award will assist in the completion of my project, Acute mechanisms of repair in ischemic-injured Caco-2 bbe cells, under the mentorship of Dr. Anthony Blikslager at the North Carolina State University College of Veterinary Medicine.
This research aims to develop a model of ischemic intestinal disease in human intestinal cell culture to facilitate the study of mechanisms of acute repair of the interepithelial tight junction during the latter phases of restitution. We hypothesized that it is possible to induce ischemic injury in established Caco-2 cells, and that they will recover by a ClC-2 orchestrated mechanism. This would begin to clarify the role caveolin-1 and the small GTPase Rab-5 play in the localization of ClC-2 to the tight junction in repairing Caco-2 cells.
From this research, I will gain vital experience and learn techniques which will be invaluable to my career as an aspiring researcher of gastrointestinal disease. I am sincerely grateful to the AGA foundation for this opportunity.
Rebecca Fine
Dylan Hans
I am honored to receive the 2010 AGA Student Research Fellowship Award. As a high school student and as a young researcher, this award will help me to further my studies and knowledge in the world of science, research, and gastroenterology. The work I am performing this summer would not have been possible without the help form the AGA and I thank the Foundation immensely for allowing me to accept this grant. It has helped pique my interests for science and research even more. Research has always been a passion of mine and I look to continue performing experiments related to the one I am doing this summer. This award will only benefit me and help increase my knowledge as I plan to pursue science and medicine in college. My mentor, Dr. Ype de Jong, as well as Dr. Charlie Rice have thoroughly helped me through the application process. Working alongside Dr. de Jong has helped me focus on the task at hand as well as future research relating to my project. Dr. de Jong and I will continuously work hard on this research project and brainstorm various explanations of our results. I am very thankful to Dr. de Jong, the Rockefeller University Summer Outreach Program, Dr. Charlie Rice and the Rice Lab, and the AGA Foundation for allowing me to study and complete my research project during the term of the award. This project and the award have helped make me a more scientific thinker, which will benefit me in my future endeavors with science and medicine. I fully accept this award and look to ascertain further knowledge in gastroenterology and generally in the world of science and research.
Janet Keku
I am very honored to receive the AGA Student Research Fellowship Award. This fellowship will help me gain further experience in the laboratory and learn more about gastroenterology research. In class, I have learned about the digestive tract, circulation and absorption of nutrients. However there is nothing like hands-on learning in the lab. I believe that this summer internship in Dr. Lund’s lab with the help of the AGA Student Research Fellowship Award will give me the opportunity to apply what I have learned in class and understand how scientists formulate research questions that address digestive diseases and other health problems. After this internship I hope to go to a 4 year university and then to graduate school to study a field related to the effects of obesity on stem cells in the crypts of the small intestine. I can use the different molecular biological techniques such as DNA extraction, PCR, and Gel electrophoresis to help me reach my future goals in GI research. Thank you AGA for allowing me this opportunity.
Ryan Lam
First, it is an honour to receive this fellowship. I am very grateful for the opportunity that the AGA foundation has provided to me, especially because I know that it is a rarity for high school students to work in a research lab. However, I also feel obligated to excel and make a significant contribution immediately. I do realize that research is a long and tedious – albeit rewarding – process from my past experience in the cellular mechanobiology lab at the University of Toronto. Despite this, I remain excited - not only because I am conducting research in a field that I know very little about, but also because I know that I will be able to improve the lives of the people around me. As I am intent on studying the sciences in university and pursuing a career in medicine, this award offers a perfect opportunity for me to explore my interest in biology, gain more experience in scientific research, and clarify my future career path. Under the guidance of Dr. Croitoru, I will strive to contribute as much as I can to the field of gastroenterology.
Pooja Linsewala
I feel tremendously honored to receive the Student Research Fellowship Award and would like to thank the AGA Foundation for the support and opportunities it has provided me for the future. I am especially grateful to Dr. Nicholas F. La Russo, my mentor, for the encouragement and guidance. During the last academic year in my mentorship at Mayo Clinic Foundation, Dr. La Russo inspired me for this research fellowship award. Through the grant application process, I not only became exposed to the field but I also learned how to write a grant. The research process has been inspirational experience, deepening my interest and broadening my understanding of scientific research. In the process of learning basic laboratory procedures, using highly advanced technological equipment, and interpreting raw data to prepare publication quality figures, I will obtain the knowledge that will become the building blocks of my scientific career. However this project is not just a learning experience, it is an opportunity for me to be a productive member of the academic community and assist in investigating cutting-edge science. Through this experience, I will be able to expand my knowledge about the mechanism of regulatory expression and activation of the RAS proto-oncogene in pathogen-induced inflammatory response of epithelia. From my perspective this fellowship will be a critical learning experience for my academic career it will help me achieve my dreams of attending medical school, and it will make me a better physician. In addition, working in Dr. La Russo’s laboratory is amazing! Never before have I had so much fun while learning. I hope to continue working in academic research labs throughout the school year and during the summer. Again, my sincere appreciation goes out to the AGA foundation for providing me with this opportunity.
Nolan Neu
The 2010 AGA Foundation Student Research Fellowship award will help me make great strides in my researching career. As a soon to be senior in high school, I will have to start making decisions about what I would like to do as a career for the better part of the rest of my life. This grant will help me make those future decisions by giving me a standard of what researching is like. It will give me a perspective on what type of research I am interested in, the pros and cons of research from my point of view, and most of all a great opportunity to get experience in an area I love to learn about. This grant is an extraordinary opportunity that I could not let pass and it will put my knowledge far beyond what it would have been if I did not research. This will be a learning experience as well and will hopefully set me on the right course for college and future research endeavors.
Eitan Neugut
Columbia University
Development of a novel model of pancreatitis-associated pancreatic cancer
I am very honored to have received an AGA Foundation Student Research Fellowship Award. It provides me with a tremendous opportunity to work in the laboratory of my mentor, Dr. Timothy Wang, who has been extraordinarily supportive and accessible to me. Both he and his research team have been very patient in teaching me how to conduct various lab assays as well as how to work with mice. With this Award, in the coming year, I will be able to broaden my experience and undertake a project of my own, with their guidance. In particular, we are focusing on pancreatic cancer, perhaps the deadliest major cancer there is. Dr. Wang’s group has developed the first mouse model for chronic pancreatitis, a known risk factor for pancreas cancer, but very interestingly, none of those mice develop cancer. On the other hand, there is an oncogene, Kras, which is almost always involved in pancreatic carcinogenesis. A different mouse model that has a Kras gene mutation also does not develop pancreatic cancer, presumably because there is no pancreatitis present. These two mouse lines have been cross-bred to produce mice with both chronic pancreatitis and the Kras oncogene mutation. I will work with Dr. Samuel Asfaha, a postdoctoral fellow, to examine the pancreases in these mice for the presence of various markers associated with carcinogenesis and to determine how cancer arises.
I am very grateful to have the opportunity to work in Dr. Wang’s lab and to be part of such stimulating and exciting research. My experience will also allow me to see what medical research at the highest levels is really like, and maybe to make a contribution as well. Again, I would like to acknowledge my sincere appreciation to the AGA Foundation.
Hannah Weinberg-Wolf
I am going to college at one of the most prestigious research universities in the country; Johns Hopkins University. Not only will I be competing against the brightest and hardest working students, but also amongst a student body that all crave to make a difference. Receiving the AGA Foundation Student Research Fellowship Award means I will have gained the experience and skill needed to work in a biological lab during my freshman year. This incredible opportunity taught me the necessary skills to further my biological research ensuring I develop the training given to me by Dr. Jerrold Turner and Dr. Emily Bradford.
In the Turner Lab I am able to study and work towards a treatment for Crohn’s disease, an illness that proves particularly significant to my family, as my cousin suffers from Crohn’s. In the lab I work towards a treatment for my cousin and am therefore afforded the opportunity to make a difference in the world.
Will the skills and guidance given to me at the Turner Lab through the assistance of the AGA, I will be able to continue along my path to a Biological PHD and continued research. I feel honored and would once again like to impress my deepest thanks upon the AGA for this incredible opportunity.
Student Abstract Prize
Melanie Craven, BVetMed
Cornell University
Acute intestinal inflammation decreases microbial diversity and triggers the proliferation of adherent and invasive e. Coli
"It is truly a privilege to be a recipient of the 2008 AGA Foundation’s Student Abstract Prize. This generous award will help to defray the costs of my travel to DDW 2010 in New Orleans. My PhD research is centered on inflammatory bowel diseases in people and domestic animals, and host-microbial interactions in the gastrointestinal tract. The opportunity to attend DDW will enable me to meet other researchers in this field and is a very valuable experience for discussing ideas and shaping my future research and career."
Mathieu Darsigny, BSc
Universite' de Sherbrooke
NF4a protects against reactive oxygen species and promotes gut neoplasia
"I am grateful to the AGA for offering these financial supports. These contributions help foreign students to attend more frequently to international meetings abroad that are crucial to the development of young talents. The AGA meetings such as the Digestive Disease Week offer the opportunity to exchange with many of the best experts in the field. The content is always of high quality and is a very good learning environment for graduate students. These meetings have stimulated my interest for gastroenterology and have nourished my motivation to pursue an academic career in research. Independent researchers that I have met are a source of inspiration for myself and others. Also, it is always a great honor to have one of your abstracts recognized as relevant to the field by your peers. Once again I would like to acknowledge the AGA abstract prize program as an excellent stimulus package for the future minds."
Tien Dong, BS
University of Chicago
Butyrate's anti-colon cancer properties are mediated by microRNAs
"I am honored to be the recipient of the 2010 Student Abstract Prize. Not only does this award help me present my work at the 2010 Digestive Disease Week’s National Conference, it also motivates me to continue my research in microRNA and their roles in tumorigenesis.
While as an undergraduate, I went through my four years exploring mostly clinical research without much basic science research exposure. That was why when I entered medical school I made the choice to explore basic science research in a field that interests me, cancer development. I have known many people who have fought against cancer and so that is why I have made it my goal to learn more about it. My current research is exploring the roles of short-chain fatty acids on colon cancer through their interactions with microRNAs. We hope to elucidate the mechanism of the protective role that fiber may play in cancer development. My current future long term goal is to have research incorporated with my clinical career. This award, therefore, means a lot to me because it represents my first few steps in that direction. Even though this may have been my first experience with basic science research, the current progress in my work along with this award motivates me to make sure that it will not be my last."
Fareeda Hussain, BSc
Mayo Clinic
Noninvasive detection of serrated colorectal polyps by stool assay of methylated vimentin and mutant BRAF genes
"I would like to acknowledge the AGA Foundation for awarding the 2010 AGA Student Abstract Prize for my abstract entitled “Noninvasive detection of serrated colorectal polyps by stool assay of methylated vimentin and mutant BRAF genes”. I am particularly indebted to Dr. David A. Ahlquist, my mentor at Mayo Medical School, who has encouraged and guided me throughout the course of my research. As a first year medical student, the entire research process has provided me with a translational mindset that will prove valuable in both the clinic and the laboratory. This experience has done much to broaden my understanding of scientific research and deepened my interest in scientific innovation that leads to better healthcare. It has facilitated the development of skills necessary to deal with new challenges and responsibilities that lie ahead in a career in medicine. It has also fueled my desire to pursue academic medicine as an integral part of my medical career. To this end, I hope to continue my research on the utility of stool DNA testing in colorectal cancer. Furthermore, I am looking forward to exploring additional scientific research opportunities and contributing to the advancement of health and medicine. I'd like to thank the AGA for their support in my research endeavors and for their continued support of student-generated research."
Michelle Jones, BSc
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
Genome wide association study in ashkenazi Jewish Crohns' Disease patients reveals novel susceptibility lici
"I would like to thank the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) Foundation for being selected as a recipient of the 2010 AGA Student Abstract Prize for my abstract entitled, Genome wide association study in ashkenazi Jewish Crohns' Disease patients reveals novel susceptibility lici. As a graduate student, the opportunity to travel to meetings of the calibre of the annual meeting of the American Gastroenterological Association, Digestive Disease Week is an incredible opporutnity to be exposed to science at the very highest level. To attend a meeting of this nature, and to be able to present my own work, allows new horizons to be discovered, through networking, learning about new research fields and participating in student and trainee forums. The recognition and support from the award facilitates students such as myself to attend meetings that are crucial to our training and greatly enriches our academic exposure. As a student the opportunity to participate in projects such as the work presented in this abstract improves my didactic as well as my laboratory experience and this award will facilitate the continuation of this project into new fields for me."
Xiaoxiao Li, PhD
Candidate University of California, Los Angeles
Detecting disease-related biological neighborhoods by human mucosal interface metaproteome analysis
Victoria Lyo, BA
University of California, San Francisco
Cathepsin activity in pacreatitis: Imaging indentification and contribution to disease
My career ambition is to be an academic surgeon and physician-scientist intensely involved in translational biomedical research. I aspire to make significant contributions to medicine and society through my research and help bridge the gap between scientific progress and clinical medicine. Working in the lab as a HHMI Medical Fellow was an invaluable experience that acquainted me with the process of scientific investigation and provided me with direct mentorship from successful physician-scientists. I recognized that scientific investigation possesses intellectual challenges that appeal to my desire to understand the basic mechanisms in disease processes covered in my medical training. Taking ownership of my current research project has given me immense satisfaction, and allowed me to practice forming solid hypotheses based on my data, to plan and troubleshoot experiments, and critically analyze the data.
Presenting my work at Digestive Disease Week with the aid the AGA student travel award is the culmination of my research training during medical school. We have learned that inflammation and pain in pancreatitis is associated with increased levels of proteases using novel activity-based probes and imaging modalities. Sharing my results with the scientific community allows me to further develop my skills in scientific discourse and to network with other scientists in the field. These are skills that will allow me to perform cutting-edge, collaborative research and to help bridge the gap between scientific progress and clinical medicine in my future career as a physician-scientist.
Momo Nakagawa
University of Pennsylvania
Cyclin D1 and EGFR promote invasive growth of human esophageal epithelial cells in concert with impaired Notch signaling
"I feel tremendously honored to receive the Student Research Fellowship Award and would like to thank the AGA Foundation for the support and opportunities it has provided me for the future. I am especially thankful to Dr. Anil K. Rustgi, my mentor, who has encouraged and guided me in the course of my research, providing me with the necessary resources at the University of Pennsylvania. The entire research process has been a truly inspirational experience, deepening my interest and broadening my understanding of scientific research. From learning the basic laboratory procedures of preparing samples, running reactions, and using highly advanced technological equipments to manipulating and interpreting the raw data for future experiments, the knowledge I obtained from working in a lab is beyond my initial expectations. I would also like to thank the research team under Dr. Rustgi who were very generous and patient in teaching me various techniques such as Western blotting and quantitative real-time PCR. The scientists and doctors who I interacted with daily also helped me develop new critical thinking skills, which I found to be an essential aspect in scientific research. Through this, I hope to continue my research to expand my knowledge about molecular and cellular biology, particularly through studying more about the role of EGFR and p53 in esophageal epithelial differentiation and the tumor microenvironment. Furthermore, I am looking forward to conducting other scientific research to contribute to the field of health and medicine. Again, I would like to acknowledge my sincere appreciation to the AGA Foundation."
Laura Patwa, PharmD
University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill
Genes encoding E.coli small heat shock proteins IbpA/B have a protective role in experimental colitis in E. coli momoassciated IL-10-deficient mice
"I am humbled and profoundly grateful to the AGA Foundation for selecting me as one the recipients of the 2010 AGA Student Abstract Prize Award. My interest in the gastrointestinal diseases began during my second year of medical school. This interest was solidified in my third year clerkships which led to an opportunity of spending a one year long experience doing basic science research in inflammatory bowel diseases focusing on host-microbial interactions. I am deeply indebted to Dr. R.B. Sartor and Dr. Jonathan Hansen for their unwavering support and guidance. They have been instrumental in deepening my understanding of inflammatory bowel diseases via models of chronic experimental colitis.
It goes without saying that the support extended to me by the AGA Foundation will allow me to be part of DDW for the first time and allow me the exposure to exciting and cutting edge science in the gastrointestinal diseases. This opportunity also has the potential for collaboration with other scientists in the field of IBD research which should help introduce me to new methods and techniques. These are essential tools towards fulfilling my scientific endeavors and curving a way into academic medicine."
Andrea Tyler, HBSc
University of Toronto/Mt. Sinai Hospital
Genetic polymorphisms, serum anti-flagellin and ASCA are associated with outcome following ileal pouch-anal anastomosis (IPAA)
"I am truly honored that the AGA has chosen me as one of the recipients of an AGA Student Abstract Prize. As a Graduate Student at the University of Toronto, my primary area of interest is the study of genetic factors associated with Inflammatory Bowel Disease. This award will facilitate my travel to DDW in New Orleans and will give me the opportunity to meet and interact with other students and research professionals in this field. I hope to be able to exchange ideas and information that will further my research scope. I intend to continue my work in the field of Inflammatory Bowel Disease and hope to continue to contribute to the ongoing research in this area. Having my research recognized by the AGA is an honor that will be beneficial in these future endeavors.
I once again thank the committee for having granted me this award and look forward to my time at DDW."
Kelli VanDussen, BS
University of Michigan
Notch signaling induces expression of the intestinal stem cell marker olfactomedin 4 (Olfm4)
"I am honored to be a recipient of the AGA Student Abstract Prize. The proceeds from this award will help support my attendance at Digestive Diseases Week (DDW) 2010, the preeminent annual conference for both clinical and gastroenterological research. This will be my third appearance at a DDW meeting. Each attendance has enhanced my training experience by providing a platform for presentation of my research to the scientific community, for networking opportunities, and for advancing my knowledge of the current state of the gastrointestinal research field. The 2010 DDW meeting is particularly important for me because I will be transitioning from a graduate student position to a post-doctoral position soon, and I am looking forward to talking to potential mentors for the next stage of my scientific career."
Morti L. & Kamla Rustgi International Travel Awards
Jan Däbritz, MD
University Hospital of Münster
GM-CSF induced monocyte subsets ameliorates intestinal inflammation by specific immune activation
"I am honored to be selected as a recipient of the 2010 AGA Rustgi Research Award for the second time and I would like to thank Dr. Anil K. Rustgi, his family, and the American Gastroenterological Association Foundation for Digestive Health and Nutrition for their support.
The overall aim of my work at the University of Münster, Germany, is to reveal novel insights into the pathogenesis of Crohn’s Disease, and to identify mechanisms by which the modulation of innate immunity bears a potential of altering the natural history of this disease. Clinical trials showed that Granulocyte Macrophage-Colony Stimulating Factor (GM-CSF) induces clinical response and remission in patients with active Crohn’s disease. Recent studies suggest a causal link between impaired inflammation and impaired bacterial clearance in CD due to alterations of monocytes/macrophages. As blood monocytes are the exclusive source of macrophages in inflamed intestinal mucosa I therefore characterize GM-CSF induced monocyte subsets in vitro and analyzed their role in experimental colitis in vivo.
This work was generously supported by the Broad Medical Research Program (BMRP), the Medical Faculty of the University of Münster, Germany, the German Research Foundation (DFG), and the German Society for Digestive and Metabolic Diseases (DGVS). Again, I would like to acknowledge my sincere appreciation to the AGA Foundation."
