Medical students recognized for summer research

Winners of the Huggins Award for Summer Research and their mentors: front row, William Richards, M.D., Mariam Hashmi, Paul Doan, Kevin Macaluso, Ph.D.; middle row, Robert Barrington, Ph.D., Seth McClendon, London Hinton, Timothy Casselli, Ph.D.; back row, Jonathan Rayner, Ph.D. 

The Whiddon College of Medicine recently announced the top oral and poster presentations from the 52nd Annual Medical Student Summer Research Day. These exceptional students have demonstrated outstanding dedication, creativity and excellence in the research projects they worked on as part of the Medical Student Summer Research Program. 

Winners of the 2025 Clyde G. Huggins Award for Summer Research, all second-year medical students, each received a plaque and a $100 prize. The award honors the memory of Clyde G. “Sid” Huggins, who served as the first dean of students at the Whiddon College of Medicine.

This year’s oral presentation winner is:

• Seth McClendon: “Macrophage dysfunction in Job syndrome”
  Sponsored by Robert Barrington, Ph.D, Department of Microbiology and Immunology

McClendon assessed the role of macrophages in Job syndrome, a rare primary immunodeficiency characterized by eczema and recurrent skin and lung infections that primarily affects children. 

“We found that macrophages in Job syndrome exhibit decreased antigen presentation, decreased ROS (reactive oxygen species) production, and decreased TLR-4 signaling in response to pro-inflammatory stimuli (LPS),” he said. “This suggests that macrophages in Job syndrome have a decreased capacity to respond to and clear pathogens when challenged with infection.”

The summer experience served as a reminder for McClendon of the interdependence of the two divisions of medicine. “Collaboration between clinicians and basic scientists is vital to ensuring that we are considering various aspects of how we develop and implement treatments,” he said. “It has demonstrated to me that every person in this field has unique interests and expertise, and that when we put our trust in each other, we can find the answers we need to continue to try to improve patients’ lives in this increasingly nuanced profession.”

Leading up to Research Day, McClendon felt nervous, having never presented to such a large audience. Once on stage, his stress gave way to excitement as he shared the team's work.

“Once the presentation was finished, I felt very proud of not just the presentation itself, but of all the work we had done in such a short period of time,” he said. “I hope to continue working on this project through my medical education and expand our understanding of the pathologic mechanisms of Job syndrome.” 

Winners in the poster presentation category are:

1. London Hinton: “Interferon-stimulated gene expression during neuroborreliosis is enriched near ventricular and vascular structures”
   Sponsored by Timothy Casselli, Ph.D., Department of Microbiology and Immunology
2. Paul Doan: “Longitudinal host cutaneous response to tick bloodmeal acquisition”
   Sponsored by Kevin Macaluso, Ph.D., Department of Microbiology and Immunology
3. Mariam Hashmi: “Prevalence of scurvy in surgical patients”
   Sponsored by William Richards, M.D., Department of Surgery

Hinton studied how the brain responds to infection with Borrelia burgdorferi, the causative agent of Lyme disease. In specific cases, this infection can spread to the central nervous system, leading to a condition known as Lyme neuroborreliosis (LNB). Cerebrospinal fluid in patients with LNB contains white blood cells, elevated cytokines, and B. burgdorferi; however, the underlying mechanism that drives neurological complications within LNB patients remains unclear.

To investigate this, the team used RNAscope in situ hybridization to localize the expression of Type I Interferon-Stimulated Genes (ISG) within the brains of LNB-infected mice. “We observed intense ISG expression in the ventricles, choroid plexus, and circumventricular organs,” Hinton said. “ISG signaling also often appeared in close relation to blood vessels, suggesting vascular involvement in interferon signaling in the brain.”

Hinton’s biggest insight from this summer was learning to think like a scientist. “I developed skills in forming meaningful questions, conducting in-depth content analysis, and troubleshooting potential complications within the experiment beforehand,” he said. “I also gained a stronger understanding of neuroanatomy and neuroinflammation, both of which align with my interest in neurology.”

Doan’s research aimed to visualize how the skin reacts when a tick bites into it, specifically the Dermacentor (American dog tick) and Gulf Coast tick. Using a microscope, he analyzed a piece of mouse skin at the exact point where the tick’s mouth entered and examined how the mouse’s immune system responded to that bite.

The summer research program helped Doan realize that a lot of research is done best as a team. “While there will certainly be main contributors and such, I definitely could not have conducted this research without the help of my fellow lab members,” he said. “I went into my project with very very minimal knowledge on ticks and the lab protocols necessary to complete this work, but with the help of my lab members, they taught me how to work through my knowledge gaps and led me to my end goal.”

Hashmi analyzed vitamin C levels in surgical patients and discovered that over a third of those tested had deficiency severe enough to be classified as scurvy. Although scurvy is often thought of as a historical disease, today's vitamin C deficiency presents differently, she said. Instead of the classic symptoms like bleeding gums, patients seem fatigued, bruise easily and heal slowly — things usually attributed to other causes or normal post-surgical recovery.

“Our findings suggest that many complications we see after surgery might be preventable if we routinely checked vitamin C levels perioperatively,” Hashmi said. “This pattern appeared across all types of surgery, suggesting that scurvy could be a much more widespread problem than we currently suspect.”

Partaking in the project, Hashmi said, opened her eyes to how clinical research works and taught her valuable skills in data collection, statistical analysis, and presenting findings.

“Dr. Richards had noticed patterns in his own patients, and we were able to turn those observations into systematic data that could improve patient care,” she said. “The biggest takeaway was realizing how research can directly impact patient outcomes and that important discoveries often come from paying attention to what we see in everyday practice.”