USA College of Medicine announces summer research award winners

Summer Research Day winners, from left, are medical students Claudia Stephens, Daniel Irelan, Ben Kimbell, Anthony Fant and Bailey Manning.

The USA College of Medicine recently announced the top oral and poster presentations of the 48th annual Summer Research Day.

Ben Kimbell, a second-year medical student, won the Clyde G. Huggins Award for Summer Research for his oral presentation “Development of Novel Fluorescent-Linked Immunosorbent Assay to Measure Antibody Responses in Vaccinated Individuals.”

“I’m honored to have been chosen out of such a great group. All the oral presentations were incredible,” Kimbell said.

Kimbell said his project was made possible through the collaborative efforts of faculty and staff in the labs of Jonathon Audia, Ph.D., professor of microbiology and immunology; Robert Barrington, Ph.D., associate professor of microbiology and immunology; and Brian Fouty, M.D., professor of internal medicine. He also acknowledged Andrew Stokes, Brandon Webb, Peter Whitehurst and Rachael Motamed for their support and contributions.

The four poster presentation winners were:

• Anthony Fant, first-year medical student: “Barriers to the Retention of Human Mitochondrial DNA in Human-Mouse Hybrids”
• Daniel Irelan, second-year medical student: “Inactivation of Type 4 Cyclic-am Phosphodiesterase Subtypes 4B and 4D Induce Weight Loss and Improve Glucose Handling in Mice”  
• Bailey Manning, second-year medical student: “Proximity-dependent Biotinylation (BIO-ID) Identifies Histone Chaperone Nap-2 as a DNA Damage Dependent Methylpurine DNA Glycosylase Binding Protein”
• Claudia Stephens, second-year medical student: “Racially Disparate Levels of Hormones and Cytokines in Breast Cancer Patients" 

For their accomplishments, the dean’s office presented each winner with a plaque and $100.

The  Clyde G. Huggins Award for Summer Research honors the memory of Clyde G. "Sid" Huggins who served as the first dean of students at the USA College of Medicine.

The USA Summer Research Program is a 10-week program that allows medical students to develop an appreciation of how research is needed to improve the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of diseases.