SOM Eastern Campus announces 2024 Research Symposium winners

The WVU School of Medicine’s annual Eastern Campus Research Symposium, held each spring at the Health Sciences Center Eastern Division in Martinsburg, provides students and residents on the campus with a platform to conduct vital clinical research while building their investigative and presentation skills.

This year’s symposium was held on Friday, March 22, and featured more than 30 presentations from students, residents and faculty members.

Winners were recognized during the Eastern Campus faculty meeting, where researchers once again presented their findings and opened the floor to questions. See the full list of winners and their poster titles below:

• 1^st Place – Cameron Anderson, M.D. (PGY-3) “QI: Screening for HCC in patients with liver cirrhosis.”
  Co-Authors: Adrienne Zavala, M.D.
• 2^nd Place – Cassandra Clayborne, M.D. (PGY-3) “Home Visit Models: Literature review of existing models to inform development of a high-quality home-based primary care model in Jefferson County, West Virginia.”
  Co-Authors: David Baltierra, M.D.; Madison Humerick, M.D.; Richard Ward, M.D.
• 3^rd Place – Ever Hernandez (MS3) “Dural manipulation coinciding with transient asystole during lumbar spine surgery: A case report.”
  Co-Authors: Jonathan Sherman, M.D.
• People’s Choice Award – Sara Novotny (MS3) “Jejunal intussusception secondary to ascending duodenal heterotopic pancreas in a 38-year-old: A case report and literature review.”
  Co-Authors: Mazin Shackour, M.D.
• Honorable Mention – Amanda Chamberlain, Ph.D. “Treating what hurts: A case study of pain improving with PTSD treatment.”
  Co-Authors: Jonathan Deiches, Ph.D.
• Honorable Mention – Brittany Galucki, D.O. “Complications of ‘muscling’ in persons who inject drugs.”
  Co-Authors: Savannah Leyda, MA

Dr. Anderson, a third-year resident in the Rural Family Medicine Residency Program located in Harpers Ferry, explained that his project examined the rates at which at-risk patients in the area received crucial liver cancer screenings. He hopes the findings of his research will go towards increased access to these screenings, leading to earlier detection of liver cancer among patients.

“I feel incredibly humbled to have my research recognized by our faculty members, but even more than that I am proud to have helped identify a potential issue in our community and be a part of developing a solution,” Anderson said.

Following Anderson’s graduation from the residency program in June, a group of fellow resident researchers will inherit this project to continue the research next year.