Pritzker School of Medicine Class of 2024 Awards

The University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine announced its Class of 2024 awards.

They include awards for the clinical department, senior scientific session, the medical and biological services alumni association prize, poster presentations and more.

Overall Awards

• The Joseph A. Capps Award for outstanding proficiency in clinical medicine: Nikhil Umesh
• The John Van Prohaska Award for outstanding potential in teaching, research, and clinical medicine: Saara-Anne Azizi, PhD
• The Outstanding Achievement Award: Santiago Avila
• The Mary Roberts Scott Memorial Prize, given to a woman medical student who demonstrates leadership and academic excellence during both the basic and clinical science years: Ashley Diaz
• The Pritzker Leadership Award for outstanding extracurricular accomplishments during four years in medical school: Maria Ruiz
• The Urban Health Initiative Strongin Community Service Prize, given to one or more senior medical students who has contributed the most through community service: Saara-Anne Azizi, PhD
• The Pritzker School of Medicine Advocacy & Equity Award, given to a senior medical student who has been an advocate for service, research and policy changes that address inequities in health, and a leader in promoting a diverse and inclusive community for all, voted by their peers: Dominic Robolino

Clinical Department Award Recipients

• The Departmental Award for outstanding performance in the field of Anesthesia & Critical Care: Katie Long, PhD
• The Departmental Award for outstanding performance in the field of Family Medicine: Samantha Morris
• The Departmental Award for outstanding performance in the field of Medicine: Romy Portieles Peña & Elizabeth Terman
• The Society for Academic Emergency Medicine Excellence Award for demonstrated excellence in the specialty of Emergency Medicine: Emily Feuka
• The Richard W. Reilly Prize for Outstanding Aptitude in Gastroenterology: Celyn Bregio
• The Steven Lukes Memorial Prize for excellence in the fields of both Medicine and Neurology: Madison Weigand
• The Peter Huttenlocher and Douglas Buchanan Prize in Neurology for best medical student clinician/researcher: Grace Hansen, PhD
• The Dr. Javad Hekmat-panah Award for outstanding performance in the field of Neurological Surgery: Sharbel Romanos
• The Departmental Award for outstanding performance in the general field of Neurology: Nydia Kung
• The Departmental Award in recognition of outstanding performance in the field of Obstetrics and Gynecology: Melinique Walls Castellanos
• The Departmental Award for outstanding performance in the field of Ophthalmology & Visual Science: John Moir & Jason Xiao
• The Departmental Award for outstanding performance in the general field of Pathology: Allen Zhu, PhD
• The F. Howell Wright Award for outstanding performance in the general field of Pediatrics: Gabriela Betancourt
• The Diana Woo Memorial Award for excellence in Clinical Pediatrics: Rachel Son
• The Daniel X. Freedman Award for outstanding performance in the general field of Psychiatry: Kristen Chalmers
• The Departmental Award for outstanding performance in the general field of Radiation & Cellular Oncology: Liam Spurr
• The Nels M. Strandjord Award for outstanding performance in the general field of Radiology: Omar Vayani
• The Departmental Award for outstanding performance in the general field of Surgery: Willa Li

2024 Senior Scientific Session Award Recipients

Oral Presentation Winners

Catherine Dobson Prize, for the best oral presentation given by a student in the area of Scientific Investigation in Clinical Research or Social Sciences.

Elizabeth Terman, for The Early-Stage Breast Cancer by Time Since Parity in the Chicago Multiethnic Cohort. Mentor: Rita Nanda, MD

Leon O. Jacobson Basic Science Prize (MD/PhD students), granted to the MD/PhD student whose Basic Science Research is judged to be the most meritorious from among session participants:

• Cody He, PhD, for Exon junction complexes and exon architecture control m6A methylation and gene expression. Mentor: Chuan He, PhD

Leon O. Jacobson Prize (non-PhD students), for the best oral presentation given by a non-PhD student in the area of the Basic Biological Sciences:

• Sid Ramesh, Mentor: Alexander Pearson, MD, PhD, for artificial intelligence-based cancer progression prediction of oral premalignant lesions via self-supervised deep learning on histopathology.

Medical and Biological Sciences Alumni Association Prize, for the best presentation made by a student in the area of Applied Scholarship (Global Health, Community Health, Medical Education, or Quality & Safety):

• Romy Portieles Peña, for Attitudes towards Video-Module Education in Patients with COPD or Asthma. Mentor: Valerie Press, MD, MPH

The Alpern Preisig Research Prize for Impact on Society – Oral Presentation, granted to the oral presenter whose research was judged as most impactful on society:

• Sharon Zeng, for Examining Development of a Risk Model Predicting Death Without Transplant in Adult Kidney Transplant Candidates. Mentor: William Parker, MD

Poster Presentation Winners

Award for Best Poster Describing Applied Scholarship

• Anya Agrawal, for Evaluation of an OUD Consult Service on Success of Non-Home Discharge Recommendations for Hospitalized Patients with OUD. Mentor: Mim Ari, MD

Award for Best Poster Describing Scientific Investigation in Basic Sciences

• Sara Saheb Kashaf, PhD, for a new genomic blueprint of the skin microbiome. Mentors: Julie Segre, PhD, and Heidi Kong, MD, MHSc

Award for Best Poster Describing Scientific Investigation in Clinical Research or Social Sciences

• Kevin Lazenby, for Predicting Post-transplant Survival For Adult Heart Transplant Recipients: The US Transplant Risk Score. Mentor: William Parker, MD

The Alpern Preisig Research Prize for Impact on Society – Poster Presentation, granted to the poster presenter whose research was judged as most impactful on society:

• Katie Long, PhD, for texture coding along the somatosensory neuraxis. Mentor: Sliman Bensmaia, PhD

Oral or Poster Presentation Award Winner

Franklin McLean Medical Student Research Award, granted to the non-PhD student who has performed the most meritorious research in the medical field:

• Liam Spurr, for validation of tumor aneuploidy as a novel predictor of immunotherapy response in metastatic non-small cell lung cancer. Mentor: Sean Pitroda, MD

Karnezis Research Scholarship Recipient, awarded to recognize and reward achievement in research to promote scientific inquiry among all students in the Pritzker School of Medicine: Santiago Avila