Summer Research Program Summary for Previous Years

The UW Cardiovascular Research Center Summer Research Opportunities Program places UW medical students between years I and II into cardiovascular sciences laboratory settings. This program offers a stipend for a minimum 8 weeks to a maximum of 12 weeks for medical student interns.
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2008 Activities

During the summer of 2008, the UW Cardiovascular Research Center sponsored seven medical students in cardiovascular research laboratories:

• Ryan Baxter, collaborating with Pamela Kling, MD, Assistant Professor, Pediatrics, on “Discerning the Causes and Consequences of Iron-Deficiency in Infancy (ZnPPn Sub-Project).”

• Melinda Chen, collaborating with Pamela Kling, MD, Assistant Professor, Pediatrics, on “Discerning the Causes and Consequences of Iron-Deficiency in Infancy (ZnPPn Sub-Project).”

• Michael DeVita, collaborating with William Shrage, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Kinesiology, on “Exercise in obesity: Endothelial and sympathetic control of limb blood flow.”

• Moltu Guy, collaborating with Jeffery Walker, Professor, Physiology, on “Post-Translational Modifications of Cardiac Troponin I in Heart Disease.”

• Brian Hong, collaborating with Amish Raval, MD, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Cardiovascular Medicine, on “Wisconsin Occluded Artery Databank.”

• Ryan Schmidt, collaborating with Jeffery Walker, Professor, Physiology, on “G-Protein Coupled Receptor Heterodimerization Evaluated by Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer.”

• Jozef Lazar, collaborating with Jeffery Walker, Professor, Physiology, on “A High Throughput Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer Assay for Characterizing the Pharmacology of Endothelin A:B Receptor Heterodimers.”

2007 Activities

During the summer of 2007, the UW Cardiovascular Research Center sponsored eleven medical students in cardiovascular research laboratories:

• Mourad Abouelleil, collaborating with Susan Smith, Ph.D., Professor, Nutritional Sciences on, “The Effect on Angiotensin II in Cardiac Hypertrophy.”

• Christopher Baggottt, collaborating with DanDan Sun, MD, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Neurosurgery, on “The Role of Cation-Chloride Cotransporters in Neuropathic Hyperalgesia Following Spinal Cord and Peripheral Nerve Injuries.”

• Paul Bergl, collaborating with Naomi Chesler, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Biomedical Engineering, on “Comparing the Role of Nitric Oxide Pathways in Modulating Pulmonary Vascular Impedance During Hypoxic Exposure.”

• Jensena Carlson, collaborating with Marlowe Eldridge, MD, Assistant Professor, Pediatrics, on "Functional Regulation of Inducible Intrapulmonary Arteriovenous Shunt Pathways in Hypoxic Pulmonary Hypertension.”

• Keri Drake, collaborating with Pamela Kling, MD, Assistant Professor, Pediatrics, on “Interplay Between Iron and Erythropoietin on Renal Development in Newborn Rats.”

• Meghan Furlong, collaborating with William Shrage, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Kinesiology, on “Aging and Microvascular Dysfunction in Human Skeletal Muscle.”

• Andrew Janowski, collaborating with Gary Lyons, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Anatomy, on “Axotrophin’s Role in Cytokine Production in Human T Cell Lines and Primary Human T Lymphocyte Cultures.”

• Li Lin, collaborating with DanDan Sun, MD, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Neurosurgery, on “The Role of Cation-Chloride Cotransporters in Neuropathic Hyperalgesia Following Spinal Cord and Peripheral Nerve Injuries.”

• Irene Rahman, collaborating with Nancy Sweitzer, MD, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Cardiovascular Medicine, on “Assessment of Cardiac Functional Reserve in Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction.”

• Anjali Tannan, collaborating with Amish Raval, MD, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Cardiovascular Medicine, on “MRI to detect residually bound iron oxide/dextran on CD133+ endothelial progenitor cells following magnetic separation with the CliniMACS Cell Sorting System.”

• Olamide Zaka, collaborating with Pamela Kling, MD, Assistant Professor, Pediatrics, on “Iron Deficiency, Ethnicity and Maternal-Child Interactions in Infancy.”

2006 Activities

During the summer of 2006, the UW Cardiovascular Research Center sponsored eight medical students who applied through the UW Medical School’s Shapiro Program for positions in cardiovascular research laboratories. These students were:

• Carissa Bauer, collaborating with Susan M. Smith, Ph.D., Professor, Nutritional Sciences, on “Vitamin A: An Essential Role in Cardiac Hypertrophy.”

• Nikhila Deo, collaborating with Niloo M. Edwards, MD, Associate Professor, Surgery, on “Trends in Complication Rates of Recent Cardiothoracic Surgery Modalities to Repair Ascending Aortic Aneurysms and Dissections.”

• Odinakachukwu Ehie, collaborating with Hector H. Valdivia, MD, Ph.D., Professor, Physiology, on “Role of Calcium Release Channels (Ryanodine Receptors) in Heart Failure.”

• Adam Gepner, collaborating with James H. Stein, MD, Associate Professor, Medicine (Cardiovascular), on “Determinants of Arterial Stiffness and Carotid Atherosclerosis in Individuals with Sleep Apnea.”

• Brad Gillman, collaborating with Craig T. January, MD, Ph.D., Professor, Medicine (Cardiovascular), on “Effects of Cocaine, Methadone, and Levo-Alpha-Acetyl-Tethadol on the Maturation, Trafficking, and Current of HERG Cardiac Channels.”

• Nathan Grabher, collaborating with Timothy J. Kamp, MD, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Medicine (Cardiovascular), on “Neovascularization of the Post MI Mouse Heart as a Result of Mouse ES Cell Transplantation.”

• Andrew Navarrete, collaborating with Gary E. Lyons, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Anatomy, on “3-D Culture of Mouse Embryonic Stem Cell-Derived Cardiac Myocytes.”

• Jose Andres Vasconcellos, collaborating with Marlowe W. Eldridge, MD, Assistant Professor, Pediatrics, on “Role of Mixed Venous Oxygen Tension on Functional Regulation of Intrapulmonary Arteriovenous Anastomoses.”

Summary of 2005 Activities

During the summer of 2005, the UW Cardiovascular Research Center sponsored four medical students who applied through the UW Medical School’s Shapiro Program for positions in cardiovascular research laboratories. These students were:

• Milad Hakimbashi, worked in the laboratory of Eugene H. Kaji, MD, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Medicine (Cardiovascular), on “The role of nuclear factor of activated T cells (NFATs) in alpha myosin heavy chain (MHC) transcriptional activation.”

• Christopher Joel Hess, worked in the laboratory of Jerome A. Dempsey, Ph.D., Professor, Population Health Sciences, on “Effect of Hypoxemia on Muscle Fatigue and its Contribution to Exercise Limitation.”

• Adam Kadlec, worked in the laboratory of Nancy K. Sweitzer, MD, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Medicine (Cardiovascular), on “Changes in Cardiac Output as Filling Pressures are Lowered in Diastolic Heart Failure.”

• Benjamin Soriano, worked in the laboratory of Jerome A. Dempsey, Ph.D., Professor, Population Health Sciences, on “Carotid Chemoreceptors and Cardiovascular Function During Exercise."

Summary of 2004 Activities
During the summer of 2004, the UW Cardiovascular Research Center provided funding to seven students who applied for Summer Internships through the UW Medical School’s Shapiro Program for positions in cardiovascular research laboratories. Of the seven, two received awards of excellence for their posters in the fall research presentation: Rajeev Mannem working with Raghu Vemuganti and Elizabeth Charipar working with Eugene Kaji.

The students and their projects were:

• Elizabeth Charipar, working in the laboratory of Eugene Kaji, MD, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Medicine (Cardiovascular) on In vitro Cardiomyocyte Hypertrophy in Genetically Altered Mice
   
• Dawn Hannah, working in the laboratory of Timothy J. Kamp, MD, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Medicine (Cardiovascular) on Revascularization of infracted myocardium by human embryonic stem cells
   
• Rajeev Reddy Mannem, working in the laboratory of Raghu Vemunganti, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Neurological Surgery, on Role of inflammation in post-ischemic neuronal damage and neurogenesis
   
• Andrew Nelson, working in the laboratory of Timothy Christian, MD, Professor, Medicine (Cardiovascular) on Cardiac MR Imaging in Post Myocardial Infarction Subjects as Prognostic Tool
   
• Kunal M. Patel, working in the laboratory of Ailiang Xie, Ph.D., Associate Scientist, Medicine (Pulmonary) on Hypoxic-induced Ventilatory Instability in Patients with Obstructive Sleep Apnea
   
• Gina Renteria Shirah, working in the laboratory of Timothy Christian, MD, Professor, Medicine (Cardiovascular) on The relation of infarct volume and transmurality on the left ventricular systolic function by MRI
   
• Charles Wiltrout, working in the laboratory of Raghu Vemunganti, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Neurological Surgery, on Neurogenesis in Rodent Brain

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