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2022 Robert F. Furchgott Award Recipients

Robert F. Furchgott Medical Student Award for Excellence in Research 

Ryan Bender, M.D.

Bender

Ryan Bender is the 2021 recipient of the Robert F. Furchgott Award for Excellence in Research. Ryan is the first student in 19 years to match directly into Integrated Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Residency. He will be starting at MedStar Georgetown in Washington, D.C., where he hopes to delve deeply into new advances in microsurgery and complex reconstructive surgery. Originally from Rochester, NY, Ryan studied biological and biomedical engineering at Cornell University with an emphasis on tissue engineering, microfluidics, and computer-assisted engineering. Before medical school, Ryan spent some time outside of medicine, gaining a rich appreciation of the world through extensive travel and roles in the industries of hospitality and winemaking. As a member of Dr. Jason Spector’s Laboratory of Bioregenerative Medicine and Surgery at Weill Cornell Medicine since December 2017, Ryan has spent several years working on translational applications of vascular and cartilage tissue engineering. In this time, he has advanced a tissue decellularization protocol and cultivated 3D modeling and 3D printing expertise. Most notably, he developed a low-cost, self-contained sterile perfusion system using 3D-printed components. This system has enabled long-term perfusion culture of cellular tissue constructs, promoting vascular network maturation over the course of several weeks. This focus on research informs his future goals: Ryan hopes to serve as a reconstructive plastic surgeon in a large academic medical center, splitting his time between operative cases, mentoring roles, and oversight of a translational research laboratory. He plans to continue pursuing biomedical developments, both in regenerative medicine, and in 3D-printing and augmented reality applications in reconstructive plastic surgery.

William Fyke, M.D.

fykeWilliam Fyke is the 2021 recipient of the Robert F. Furchgott Award for Excellence in Research. William completed his thesis under the mentorship of Dr. Juan Marcos Alarcon at SUNY Downstate. William’s thesis work was performed in the labs of Dr. Susana Pietropaolo at the University of Bordeaux France and Dr. Kathy Chadman and Dr. Milen Velinov at the Institute for Basic Research in Developmental Disabilities. His thesis expanded the literature on the role of the endocannabinoid system in Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), specifically the role of the primary endocannabinoid components DGL-α lipase, 2-AG, and CB1R. This work identified novel therapeutic targets and contributed a promising new mouse model of ASD. William was a member of the COVID-19 task force team and helped establish PCR testing at Downstate. He helped design and analyze studies which grew out of the clinical diagnostic and treatment work, including outcomes for individuals treated with COVID-19 convalescent plasma. For this work, he was co-first author of the manuscript published in Human Immunology. His work at Downstate has produced six peer reviewed publications, five of which he is the first author, two PhDs, and a new international cotutelle program between SUNY Downstate and the University of Bordeaux. William has completed the MD/PhD program at SUNY Downstate and will be starting the combined Pediatrics and Medical genetics program at NYP Columbia at the end of June. William will be the first medical graduate to enter the combined program at Columbia. 

Eric Schoenfeld, M.D.

Schoenfeld

Eric Schoenfeld is the 2021 recipient of the Robert F. Furchgott Award for Excellence in Research. In Jeremy Coplan’s Nonhuman Primate Laboratory, Eric completed a full-year research scholarship sponsored by the Downstate Alumni Association. His research concerned the neuro-substrates of affective disorders with a focus on adult hippocampal neurogenesis. Granule cell neurons in the dentate gyrus are some of the few that proliferate throughout life. A deficiency in dentate gyrus neurogenesis may manifest in affective psychopathology, and conversely SSRI antidepressants have been shown to boost neurogenesis on a time scale that corresponds to the time of onset. Eric first-authored a paper in the Journal of Affective Disorders that demonstrated a prolonged effect of early-life adversity and vulnerable polymorphisms of the serotonin transporter gene on diminished neurogenesis using a bonnet macaque model. The paper was also the first to show a correlation between low hippocampal volume, a putative biomarker of depression, and a neurogenic deficiency. Eric later led a project showing that abundance of only the most immature of adult-born granule cells correlate with SSRI anxiolytic efficacy in macaques. He participated in further projects involving the effect of early-life adversity on diminished hippocampal expression of PKMzeta, a protein kinase proposed to be essential to long-term memory formation. Eric will continue his clinical training at Downstate, entering the Psychiatry Residency Program in the summer of 2022.

Past Award Recipients

Sairaman Nagarajan, M.D., MPH

nagarajan

Sairaman Nagarajan is a final year Allergy-Immunology fellow with the Departments of Internal Medicine and Pediatrics. He received his MD with honors from SRM University in Chennai, India. He gained advanced epidemiological and biostatistics skills during his MPH program at Rutgers University and is proficient in using the public databases of the CDC including the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) and National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). He completed a post-doctoral research fellowship in Epigenetics at Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School, examining epigenetic DNA methylation markers of the NR3C1 gene of the HPA axis in relation to clinical disease. He led the first ever national investigation between atopy and cancer, as well as the first investigation of a family history of cancer with clinical and lab markers of allergy. The findings of both of these studies garnered international press attention. A proficient statistician, he is also leading two current investigations of NHIS and NHANES data, looking at the relationship of allergic disease and biomarkers of allergy (eosinophils and IgE) with coronary artery disease (CAD). He is interested in examining how these factors influence the development of metabolic syndrome, and potentially play a mediating role as a forerunner of CAD. His other clinical research has focused on designing clinical trials and developing randomization protocols for drug administration. 

Robert F. Furchgott Scholar

Rong Xia, M.D., Ph.D.

Rong Xia, MD

Dr. Rong Xia is a fourth-year pathology resident at SUNY Downstate Medical Center. She received her medical degree from Nanjing Medical University in China. After graduation, she pursued a Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences at the University of Leeds, United Kingdom. Dr. Xia has been the recipient of several national and international awards including the Overseas Research Students (ORS) Awards from the UK government, and the Award for Outstanding Overseas Students from the Chinese government. Dr. Xia then worked as a scientist at AstraZeneca R&D in Sweden for pharmaceutical research, and postdoctoral research scientist at the University of Chicago and Northwestern University. Dr. Xia began her pathology residency training at SUNY Downstate Medical Center in 2016 and served as a chief resident between 2018 and 2019. She developed strong interests in Gastrointestinal and Liver Pathology and has been working with her research mentor, Dr. Raavi Gupta, on a research project to develop computer-assisted diagnosis for liver neoplasms. Their results demonstrated that computational and statistical image analysis of nuclear features can help differentiate well-differentiated hepatocellular carcinoma from nonmalignant liver with high accuracy and thus assist in the pathologic diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma. Dr. Xia’s other research projects include studying the inhibitory role of ω-3 epoxy polyunsaturated fatty acid on pancreatic ductal carcinoma, and using image analysis to characterize the morphological features of well-differentiated hepatocellular neoplasm of uncertain malignant potential (WD-HUMP), and other liver neoplasms. During her residency, Dr. Xia has published five peer-reviewed journal papers and eleven abstracts in international pathology conference publications. 

Robert F. Furchgott Medical Student Award for Excellence in Research

Connor Berlin, M.D.

Connor Berlin, MD

Dr. Connor Berlin is a recent early graduate from SUNY Downstate College of Medicine, Class of 2020.  He graduated from Cornell University with a B.S. in Neurobiology.  He will begin his residency in Neurosurgery at the University of Virginia. As a medical student, Connor spent all four years conducting research at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center working in the lab of Neurosurgery Chair, Dr. Viviane Tabar.  His work was generously funded by the Neurosurgery Research and Education Foundation Medical Student Summer Research Fellowship, as well as an NIH Core Facility grant.  Connor’s project focused on creating and investigating a juvenile rodent model of chemotherapy-induced cognitive impairment (“chemobrain”), specifically the mysteries behind leukoencephalopathy, the white matter damage that we see clinically on MRI, for example, in children who have undergone methotrexate chemotherapy treatment for leukemia. Chemobrain is a well-documented phenomenon resulting from chemotherapy, and is associated with difficulties in memory, attention, speed of processing, executive function, thought process, and mood disorders. While many papers have found an association between damage from chemotherapy to the neural stem cell population in grey matter like the hippocampus, few have sought to identify whether there are lasting effects on white matter. Utilizing diffusion tensor imaging, stereology, and animal behavior studies, Connor’s research demonstrated significant damage from clinical doses of methotrexate on the oligodendrocyte compartment and white matter, with associated cognitive impairment, that lasts virtually for the lifetime of the individual. Together, the study data supports the use of diffusion tensor imaging in monitoring white matter integrity in this clinical context, as well as reparative strategies utilizing oligodendrocyte progenitor cells.  His first-author study has been accepted for publication in Neuro-Oncology.

Robert F. Furchgott Award for Excellence in Research

Emiliya Storman M.D., Ph.D.

Emiliya Storman

Emiliya Storman is the 2019 recipient of the Robert F. Furchgott Award for Excellence in Research. She is currently in her third year of medical school in the MD/PhD program at SUNY Downstate. Emiliya completed her thesis in 2019 under the mentorship of Dr. Alan Gintzler. Her research focused on defining an oligocrine modality of estrogenic action. In this modality, estrogens act as intracellular messengers within the same oligomer in which they are produced, enabled by the physical association of aromatase and a membrane-associated estrogen receptor (mERα). In her thesis, Emiliya investigated the plasticity of aromatase-mERα associations as a consequence of sex, estrous cycle stage, and central nervous system (CNS) regional functionality. Main findings included that aromatase-mERα associations and the resulting estrogenic signaling vary between functionally-distinct CNS regions, and CNS aromatase activity can be modulated independently of systemic aromatase, revealing a remarkable complexity of estrogenic regulation. This research could inform potential therapies for restoring impaired estrogen-dependent CNS functionalities, such as chronic pain, while limiting undesirable effects by targeting specific subpopulations of aromatase and mERα. In addition to her thesis work published in Endocrinology, Emiliya co-authored four full-length original research articles and a book chapter on the topics of sex differences in molecular mechanisms of pain and endogenous analgesic pathways. Emiliya received a BS Neural Science from NYU, where her research focused on the pathogenic mechanisms of Alzheimer’s disease in Dr. Jorge Ghiso’s laboratory, investigating degradation and clearance of CNS amyloid deposits, along with identifying potential biomarkers of Alzheimer’s disease.

Robert F. Furchgott Scholar

Salvador Dura-Bernal, Ph.D.

Salvador Dura-Bernal, Ph.D.Salvador Dura-Bernal is Research Assistant Professor in the department of Physiology and Pharmacology. He did his PhD and first postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Plymouth, UK; followed by postdoctoral research at Johns Hopkins and Downstate. He has conducted his work under the mentorship of Prof. Bill Lytton. His research focuses on understanding cortical circuits through large-scale biophysically-detailed simulations on supercomputers. Dr. Dura-Bernal has developed the most detailed model of mouse primary motor cortex (M1) circuits by integrating experimental data available at multiple scales -- molecules, neurons, networks and systems. The model provides insights into cortical dynamics, physiological oscillations, information flow and molecular neuromodulatory mechanisms, which has helped develop new hypotheses and guide experimentation. He also developed a software tool (www.netpyne.org) for multiscale modeling of brain circuits. It has already been used worldwide in over 20 labs, to train students and to investigate different brain regions and phenomena. The tool can help to better understand neural brain function and disorders, and aid in developing novel pharmacological or neurostimulation treatments. Dr. Dura-Bernal was invited to present his work at the 2018 Google Next supercomputing conferences in London and San Francisco. He also received the Best Use of AI Award from HPCwire, a leading supercomputing publication. He was recently elected a member of the NeuroML Editorial Board, an international initiative to standardize brain network models. Dr. Dura-Bernal has obtained funding for his research from the NY State Spinal Cord Injury Board, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Science Foundation (NSF).

Robert F. Furchgott Scholar

Rachelle Mendoza, M.D.

Rachelle Mendoza, M.D.Rachelle Mendoza is a second year resident in the Department of Pathology in SUNY Downstate Medical Center. She was awarded a medical degree with honors from De La Salle Health Sciences Institute in the Philippines. She then became the associate director for the institution’s Center for Biopharmaceutical Research, where she served as the Principal Investigator of several early phase drug development clinical trials. She was also involved in drug discovery plant-based research, and has published on the anti-cancer activity of a local plant, Smallanthus sonchifolius. When she started her pathology residency training, her research interest involved gynecologic malignancy and infectious diseases. She and her research mentor, Dr. Raavi Gupta, have been working on a cervical cancer project that aims to determine the PD-L1/PD-1 expression levels on cervical squamous cell carcinoma of mostly African-American patients. Their results revealed vital immunologic and histopathologic characteristics of the tumor cells from the African-American patients, highlighting disparity from published data for white patients. In contrast to previous studies, their results documented high PD-L1 expression on cervical cancer tumor cells, as well as a correlation between high PD-L1 expression and better disease-free and overall survival rates. Dr. Mendoza’s other ongoing project focuses on the utility of multi-locus sequence typing to predict antibiotic resistance of Neisseria gonorrhoeae, and is being done under the supervision of Dr. Caitlin Otto, Director of Microbiology.

Robert F. Furchgott Medical Student Award for Excellence in Research

Teresa Song

Teresa SongTeresa Song is a current 4th year medical student at SUNY Downstate College of Medicine, class of 2019. She previously attended the Sophie Davis School of Biomedical Education for her undergraduate education and the first two years of her medical school education. She is expected to start her residency with a preliminary medicine year at NYU-Winthrop, followed by her dermatology residency at Mount Sinai. During her time as a medical student, she completed a dedicated research year at the laboratory of inflammatory skin diseases located at Mount Sinai, under the mentorship of Dr. Emma Guttman-Yassky. While there, their translational studies focused on deciphering the immune mechanisms involved in the pathogenesis of various inflammatory skin conditions, including atopic dermatitis, alopecia areata, vitiligo, acne vulgaris, and ichthyosis. Through elucidating the pathogenesis of various diseases, they identify potential novel targets for future therapeutic development. Their profiling studies also identified response biomarkers to correlate with clinical severity, and evaluated for the mechanistic effects of therapeutics currently tested in clinical trials. Their latest studies profiled biomarkers in alopecia areata, and evaluated the efficacy of JAK/SYK inhibitors in clinical trials for atopic dermatitis.

Robert F. Furchgott Scholar

Andrew Mamalis, M.D.

Andrew Mamalis, M.D.Andrew Mamalis is a resident in the Department of Dermatology. He graduated from University of California, Merced with his B.S. in Biological Sciences and then attended University of California, Davis for his M.D. and master’s degrees. He has conducted his research under the mentorship of Dr. Jared Jagdeo. His research focuses on the therapeutic use of visible red LED-generated light and its potential to treat scars and skin fibrosis. His basic science findings demonstrate that red light is capable of downregulating fibroblast proliferation and collagen production through modulation of reactive oxygen species and the TGF-beta pathway. He has also published on the mechanisms underlying these red light induced effects, including investigating the role of mitochondrial modulation and transcriptome changes. Dr. Mamalis is also involved in the study to translate these in vitro findings to a Phase II clinical trial. His other research projects include studies on novel uses of laser therapies and photodynamic therapy in clinical dermatology.

Robert F. Furchgott Scholar

Irina Abaeva, Ph.D.
Irina AbaevaIrina Abaeva is the 2018 Robert F. Furchgott Scholar. She was awarded her Ph.D. in Chemistry by Moscow State University for research into the role of prothymosin alpha in protecting cells against oxidative stress and apoptosis. She is now conducting research in the laboratory of Dr. Tatyana Pestova and Dr. Christopher Hellen, with a primary focus on viral translation. Irina is interested in the mechanisms that viruses use to exploit and control the cellular protein synthesis machinery. One strategy to gain access to the host’s translational apparatus is for viral mRNAs to contain an internal ribosomal entry site (IRES) that promotes 5’ end-independent initiation of translation, commonly using only a subset of the initiation factors needed by cellular mRNAs. Her studies led to the discovery a new and remarkably compact type of IRES, located in the intergenic region (IGR) of the Halastavi arva virus (HalV) genome. Biochemical analysis enabled Irina to establish the novel, potentially primordial mechanism for translation initiation mediated by this IRES in which a pseudoknot in the IRES binds to the peptidyl (P) site of the ribosome in the complete absence of factors and initiator tRNA and establishes the reading frame for translation. Irina used bioinformatics approaches to identify previously unrecognized HalV-like IRESs in viral genomes from diverse arthropods, hinting at the potentially ancient origin of IGR IRESs. She also prepared high-quality ribosomal complexes assembled on the HalV IRES for characterization by cryoelectron-microscopy, which yielded a high resolution(3.6A) structure that fully validated her conclusions concerning the structure and mechanism of action of this IRES.

Robert F. Furchgott Award for Excellence in Research

Jesse Sengillo, M.D.
Jesse SengilloJesse Sengillo, M.D. graduated from SUNY Downstate College of Medicine in 2018. He is currently in his transitional year of residency at Reading Hospital in Pennsylvania and will subsequently complete his specialized training in ophthalmology at the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute in Miami, FL. As a medical student, he completed a dedicated year of research under the mentorship of Stephen H. Tsang, M.D., Ph.D at the Harkness Eye Institute, generously funded by Research to Prevent Blindness (RPB). Together they studied factors contributing to the visual prognosis of inherited retinal disease. For one condition in particular, namely Usher syndrome, Drs. Sengillo and Tsang found that these patients have a more severe decrease in cone photoreceptor response compared to their non-syndromic counterparts. Additionally, this difference between the two disease entities was found to be associated with the severity of the underlying genetic defect. This study was published in Scientific Reports. Dr. Sengillo’s career aspirations include seeking a fellowship in surgical or medical retina and finding ways to treat patients suffering from irreversible vision loss.

Robert F. Furchgott Scholar

Kaylene Barrera, MD

Barrera

Kaylene Barrera is a resident in General Surgery. She conducted research in the general surgery lab under the direction of Dr. Chongmin Huan studying pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer. At the American College of Surgeons Clinical Congress, she shared her research on the unfolded protein response's role in the development of acinar cell injury. In both cerulein and alcohol induced pancreatic injury, the unfolded protein response was found to have a protective effect. Concurrently, she also continued the lab's work in researching the mechanisms of chemoresistance in pancreatic cancer. Previously, regenerating protein 1 (REG1) was associated with AKT and chemoresistance. Her early results in an animal model suggest that blocking the receptor to the REG family of proteins may increase the efficacy of chemotherapeutic agents. In addition to basic science research she is also involved in outcomes research, advocacy and surgical education.

Robert F. Furchgott Scholar

Panayiotis Tsokas, PhD

Tsokas

Dr. Panayiotis Tsokas is Research Assistant Professor in the Departments of Physiology & Pharmacology and of Anesthesiology since 2009. He did his PhD and post-doctoral work in the department of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, focusing on the regulation of dendritic protein synthesis by the mechanistic Target of Rapamycin (mTOR) during long-term potentiation (LTP), a physiological model of learning and memory. Through this work, Dr. Tsokas became world-class in his ability to examine localized changes in protein levels and distribution in hippocampal slices, following synaptic stimulation, such as LTP and long-term depression (LTD). He then joined the laboratory of Dr. Todd C. Sacktor to study the regulation and neural function of protein kinase Mζ (PKMζ), a unique, persistently active kinase discovered in the Sacktor lab that maintains LTP and underlies the persistence of long-term memory in the brain. His current research, which combines electrophysiological and behavioral approaches with immunohistochemical, biochemical and molecular biological methods, helped resolve a recent controversy regarding the status of PKMζ as a memory molecule. He used a pharmacogenetic approach employing antisense oligodeoxynucleotides to block new synthesis of PKMζ during LTP, and showed that under normal physiological conditions in wild-type mice, PKMζ is essential for the maintenance of LTP and long-term memory; in mutant mice without PKMζ, another atypical PKC, PKCι/λ, compensates for normal PKMζ function. This work was published in May 2016 in eLife, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute/Max Planck/Wellcome Trust-sponsored journal, and was selected by the editors to be highlighted by a News and Views-style article, and by the editors of Nature as a Nature News and Views.

Robert F. Furchgott Award for Excellence in Research

Sara Abou Merhi Irani, PhD

Irani

Sara Abou Merhi Irani is the 2017 recipient of the Robert F. Furchgott Award for Excellence in Research. Sara completed her thesis under the supervision of Dr. M. Mahmood Hussain. Her thesis project investigated whether the delivery of microRNA-30c (miR-30c) mimic to the liver can be used for the treatment of hyperlipidemia and atherosclerosis. She demonstrated that the overexpression of miR-30c mimic in different mouse models can lower plasma lipids and atherosclerosis without causing adverse side effects. These studies provided a proof of concept that increasing hepatic miR-30c levels might be a viable treatment option for reducing plasma lipids and atherosclerosis. Her thesis work was highly considered by the American Heart Association in which she received the prestigious pre-doctoral fellowship award in 2015. In addition, Sara was also the recipient of multiple awards including SUNY Downstate Research Day award and Morse Symposium award in 2015 and 2016.

Robert F. Furchgott Award for Excellence in Research

Jeans Miguel Santana, MD

Santana

Jeans Miguel Santana is the 2017 recipient of the Robert F. Furchgott Award for Excellence in Research who graduates with the honor of Distinction in Research from the SUNY Downstate College of Medicine. Jeans developed an interest in research while at Boston College where he was a CURE Scholar at the Dana-Farber Harvard Cancer Center from 2008 to 2010. When he graduated from Boston College he was awarded a National Institutes of Health Cancer Research Training Award from 2010 to 2012. During this time, Jeans realized research was exciting and an essential pillar of academic medicine. These experiences gave Jeans a strong research foundation which ultimately propelled him to seek more research opportunities in medical school. His summer research on peripheral vascular disease after his first year was funded by the New York Academy of Medicine; and in between his third and fourth year he was awarded a year-long Sarnoff Cardiovascular Research Fellowship. In Dr. Alan Dardik's laboratory at Yale University, Jeans explored the molecular basis of vein graft adaptation and arteriovenous fistula (AVF) maturation. Here, Jeans showed that eNOS is a mechanism of Eph-B4-mediated vein graft adaptation and AVF maturation. His work went well beyond the acquisition of molecular skills as this project may prevent vein graft failure and improve AVF maturation, preventing mortality and morbidity and improving AVF usage in patients. As a result, he gave an oral presentation of this research at the 2016 American College of Surgeons Surgical Forum and the 2017 Association for VA Surgeons Annual Meeting. Today Jeans is an aspiring physician-scientist with ten co-authored manuscripts. He is excited for what more he will learn and accomplish as well as the impact he will have as a resident of anesthesiology at the SUNY Downstate Medical Center.

Robert F. Furchgott Scholar

Amir M. Boroujeni, MD

Boroujeni

Dr. Amir Momeni Boroujeni is a second year pathology resident at SUNY Downstate Medical Center. He was awarded a medical degree from the Isfahan University of Medical Sciences in Iran, where he won the best student researcher award in 2006. Prior to coming to Downstate, he pursued postgraduate studies at the University of British Columbia and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. His principal research interests are pathology informatics and molecular bioinformatics. Under the supervision of Dr. Neil Chen and Dr. Raavi Gupta, he has been working on a project aimed at understanding the molecular basis of epithelial mesenchymal transition in uterine carcinosarcomas. It was as part of that research that he discovered that mutations in FRG1bp may play an important role in carcinogenesis. His other research projects involve big data mining and analysis in laboratory medicine and computer vision algorithms for diagnostic pathology. He is also the author of an upcoming title on statistics in pathology and laboratory medicine.

Robert F. Furchgott Scholar

Alexandra Zinoviev, PhD

Zinoviev

Alexandra Zinoviev received her PhD from Ben-Gurion University in Israel where she investigated the mechanism of translation initiation in Leishmania parasites. She then joined the lab of Tatyana Pestova and Christopher Hellen in 2012 for her post-doctoral research that focuses on the mechanisms of cellular and viral translation in mammals. Initially Alexandra studied the reinitiation process on calicivirus mRNAs and was able, for the first time, to reconstitute this process in vitro and describe in detail three parallel pathways by which reinitiation can occur, exemplifying the multiple ways in which viruses subvert cellular processes for their own benefit. Alexandra's current research focuses on the mammalian GTPBP proteins, a group of translational GTPases with largely unknown roles and mechanisms of activity. This groundbreaking work showed that GTPBP1, one of the mammalian GTPBP proteins, can deliver aa-tRNA into the ribosomal A site and thus promote translation elongation, similarly to the canonical elongation factor eEF1A. However, GTPBP1 has unique N- and C-terminal extensions, not present in any other proteins, that attenuate its activity in translation elongation, suggesting it may not be an elongation factor per se. A function related to translation elongation was not previously proposed for GTPBP1 and it opens a new way of thinking about this group of proteins, which includes a homolog that was shown to be involved in neurodegeneration in mice. Currently, Alexandra continues to investigate GTPBP proteins in order to understand their function in the context of the cell.

The Robert F. Furchgott Award for Excellence in Research

Matthew Boylan, MD

Boylan

Matthew (Matt) Boylan is a member of the class of 2016 of the SUNY Downstate College of Medicine. His interest in research began during his senior year at Brown University, where he graduated with a BS in Neuroscience in 2010. He subsequently spent two years as a clinical research assistant at the Massachusetts General Hospital, where he studied dietary and lifestyle risk factors for gastrointestinal disease. During his time in Boston, he developed an interest in population health, which motivated him to enroll in SUNY Downstate's 4-year MD/MPH dual-degree program, with his MPH concentration in epidemiology and biostatistics. During medical school, he utilized his background in public health to study the risk factors for adverse outcomes of common orthopaedic procedures using national and statewide insurance databases. Under the mentorship of Dr. Carl Paulino, an orthopaedic surgeon at SUNY Downstate, and Dr. Michael Mont, an orthopaedic surgeon at Johns Hopkins University, Matt has served as an author on 20 peer-reviewed publications and presented multiple times at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. The focus of Matt's most recent research is to identify inefficiencies and variation in the provision of orthopaedic care, which have become increasingly relevant with recent health policy reform and the development of alternative payment models. Matt is a member of the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society and the Delta Omega Public Health Honor Society. He will pursue his residency in orthopaedic surgery at the NYU Hospital for Joint Diseases in Manhattan.

The Robert F. Furchgott Award for Excellence in Research

Arjun Kumar

Kumar Arjun

Arjun Kumar is the 2016 recipient of the Robert F. Furchgott Award for Excellence in Research. He is currently in his third year of medical school in the MD/PhD program at SUNY Downstate. Arjun completed his thesis in 2015 under the mentorship of Dr. Alan R. Gintzler. His thesis investigated the physiological basis of sex differences in pain behavior and opioid analgesia. Using animal models and biochemical methods, Arjun explored the mechanisms regulating spinal release of endomorphin 2 (EM2), an endogenous agonist of the mu-opioid receptor (MOR). He demonstrated that activation of spinal MORs augments spinal EM2 release in males but not females, and that the EM2 released by opioid analgesics contributes to the antinociception they produce in an agonist-dependent, sexually dimorphic manner. He also determined that in females, ovarian and spinally-derived estrogens act synergistically to suppress spinal EM2 release in phase with the estrous cycle. This research provides new insight into the relationship between the endocrine and nervous systems, and could help identify pharmacological targets for sex-specific pain medications. In addition to his thesis work, Arjun has authored papers on a variety of topics in neuroscience including visual memory, cognitive aging, and sleep. He was a recipient of the SUNY Downstate Research Day Travel Award in 2014. Arjun received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology, with honors in Cognition, Brain, and Behavior studies, from Harvard College.

The Robert F. Furchgott Award for Excellence in Research

Sean Mahase, MD

Mahase

Sean Mahase is a member of the class of 2016 of the SUNY Downstate College of Medicine, and he will graduate with Distinction in Research. Prior to his time at SUNY Downstate, Sean graduated as valedictorian from NYU Tandon School of Engineering in 2011 with a B.S. in Biomolecular Sciences. During his undergraduate years, he researched reactive astrocytosis and CNS myelination mechanisms in the context of autoimmune demyelination diseases at the John Laboratory at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. While attending medical school, Sean focused on understanding hypoxia-induced mechanisms of glioblastoma therapeutic resistance in the Zagzag laboratory in the departments of neurosurgery and pathology at NYU Langone Medical Center. Ultimately, he showed that a novel CXCR4 antagonist may mitigate anti-angiogenic therapy-induced glioma dissemination. Additionally, Sean was involved in several other projects during his tenure at SUNY Downstate, including researching "Correlations between genomic and metabolomic parameters and organ system dysfunction after total body irradiation" at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and "Survival disparities in the radiotherapeutic management of lung cancer" at NewYork Presbyterian-Weill Cornell Medical Center. He is also co-founder and co-chair of the Helping Hand Prosthetics Foundation, a C501 non-profit organization providing prosthetic limbs, braces, and corresponding physical therapy in other countries. After graduating from SUNY Downstate, Sean will complete his intern year training at Northwell Health-Lenox Hill Hospital, followed by his residency training in Radiation Oncology at NewYork Presbyterian-Weill Cornell Medical Center.

The Robert F. Furchgott Award for Excellence in Research

Andre Valentin, MD

Valentin

Andre Valentin is a member of the class of 2016 of the SUNY Downstate College of Medicine. His interest in research began while attending the Sophie Davis School of Biomedical Education, a 7-year BS/MD program. While there he was accepted into the Memorial Sloan Kettering/ City College of New York internship program, where he studied the correlation between Lupus phenotype and CD4+/CD25+ regulatory T cells in autoimmune NZB/W mice under the guidance of Jerry Guyden, PhD. His interest in research continued during his studies at SUNY Downstate Medical Center (DMC). During the 2014-2015 academic year, Andre studied pancreatic cancer chemoresistance under the mentorship of Dr. Chongmin Huan MD, PhD in the Department of Surgery at DMC. His work investigated the role of non-neoplastic derived factor REG1 on chemotherapy resistance in the human pancreatic cancer cells Panc-1 and Mia-paca-2. This work demonstrated that REG1 is an AKT activator, which leads to increased chemoresistance in pancreatic cancer cells, thus suggesting that acinar cells play an adverse role during pancreatic cancer chemotherapy treatment. Future studies aim to target REG1 to overcome chemoresistance through investigation of a REG1-deficient orthotopic mouse model of human pancreatic cancers. His work has been recognized by the American College of Surgeons via the "Excellence in Research Award," and has been published in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons (2015, Vol 221). Outside of his academic pursuits, Andre enjoys spending time with his family and playing sports. He will continue his training as a general surgery resident at Northwell Health, where he plans to obtain a PhD.

Robert F. Furchgott Scholar

Srinath Gopinath, MD

photo of Haroon Kamran

Srinath Gopinath completed his psychiatry residency in India at Osmania Medical College in 2010. Having received honors distinction in the state board exam, he was accepted at The National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro- Sciences (NIMHANS), India's foremost academic center in psychiatry. He was joined SUNY Downstate Medical Center to pursue his residency training in Psychiatry and is currently in his third year. Since joining the program in 2012, Dr. Gopinath has been working under the mentorship of Dr. Jeremy Coplan, Professor of Psychiatry and Director of the Primate Behavioral Facility at SUNY Downstate Medical Center. He has been working on a project analyzing 1H-MRSI (magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging) data in patients with generalized anxiety disorder, investigating the process of aberrant "molecular coupling" between the hippocampus and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex which disrupts normal function of the default mode in the healthy state. Dr. Gopinath has also been developing techniques to process brain imaging data in human subjects in collaboration with Dr. Chadi Abdallah at Yale University. Concurrently, Dr. Gopinath is training in analyzing non-human primate scans at the University of North Carolina. During his PGY4 year, Dr. Gopinath will be working at Yale University Department of Psychiatry learning advanced MRI techniques in the context of studies of novel medications for depression. Drawing on his hands- on research experience, he will also serve as the Chief Resident for Research in Psychiatry at SUNY Downstate. In that role, he will work with junior residents to help develop their research interests.

Robert F. Furchgott Scholar

Parimal Kumar, PhD

Kumar

Parimal Kumar holds a doctoral degree from the Indian Institute of Science where he studied the mechanistic details of tubercular pantothenate kinase, which catalyzes the first step of coenzyme A biosynthesis. He joined the laboratory of Dr. Tatyana Pestova in 2010 to study the mechanism of ribosomal attachment to the capped mRNAs in eukaryotic translation initiation. Using various molecular biological and biochemical techniques, Parimal has been able to propose a coherent and well-supported mechanism for mRNA entry into the ribosome. He proposed that mRNA 5' cap-eIF4E-eIF4G-eIF3-40S chain of interactions places eIF4E (the cap binding protein) at the leading edge of the 40S ribosomal subunit, after which mRNA penetrates through the entrance into the mRNA binding channel. However, before entering, the cap must be released from eIF4E to overcome steric hindrance. Parimal has also investigated the mechanism of action of Interferon-induced proteins with tetratricopeptide repeats (IFITs), which are effector molecules of innate immunity. He showed that the IFITs constrain viral infection by specifically inhibiting viral translation without affecting cellular translation. IFITs do so by differentiating viral mRNAs from cellular mRNAs based on their 5'- end structure, sequestering viral mRNA and hence inhibiting its translation. Parimal's research done on translation initiation is helping to better understand the mechanism of eukaryotic translation initiation. His research on IFITs has shed light on the novel means adopted by host innate immune system to discriminate non-self from self.

The Robert F. Furchgott Award for Excellence in Research

Margalit Haber, PhD

Haber

Margalit Haber is the 2015 recipient of the Robert F. Furchgott Award for Excellence in Research. She is currently a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine where she is continuing to pursue her interest in the study of potential therapeutics for traumatic brain injury. She completed her thesis in early 2015 under the supervision of Dr. Peter J. Bergold. Her thesis investigated the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying traumatic brain injury. Utilizing a promising potential therapeutic treatment for traumatic brain injury, Minocycline plus N-acteylcysteine, Dr. Haber discovered key brain injury and repair mechanisms. Specifically, she elucidated the mechanisms of white matter damage and neuroinflammation after mild experimental traumatic brain injury. She discovered that the drug combination synergistically protects the resident white matter tract cells, oligodendrocytes, from injury, thus allowing them to repair damaged white matter tracts. She went on to discover that the drug combination synergistically enhanced acute neuroinflammation in damaged white matter tracts while suppressing chronic inflammatory cells, thus creating a potentially more protective neuroinflammatory environment. Her work will help move this promising therapeutic into clinical studies. Dr. Haber has authored numerous papers and received a number of awards. She is the 2009 recipient of the Carolyn R. Freeman Award for the undergraduate student most proficient in the study of psychology at Brooklyn College. Dr. Haber has also received several travel awards: a Tow Undergraduate Travel Award (2007) and a SUNY Downstate Research Day Travel Award (2012). Dr. Haber received her Bachelor of Science Degree in Psychology with Honors, and a concentration in Neuroscience, from the Macaulay Honors College at Brooklyn College.

The Robert F. Furchgott Award for Excellence in Research

Charles Hall, MD

Hall

Charles Hall is a graduating senior in the College of Medicine (Class of 2015). During the 2013-2014 academic years, Charles was awarded an NIMH-funded R25 fellowship at the University of Pittsburgh, Department of Psychiatry. Under the mentorship of Dr. Charles Reynolds III, Charles's first investigation focused on identifying neurocognitive differences in individuals with Complicated Grief (Persistent Complex Bereavement Disorder). This work demonstrated that individuals with Complicated Grief may have greater cognitive deficits compared to individuals without the disorder. His most recent investigation focused on differences in antidepressant remission rates among older black and white adults with depression. His work showed that both groups responded equally well to the antidepressant venlafaxine, despite the fact that older black adults had greater medical comorbidity, lower cognitive function, and less education. This suggested that disparities faced by older minorities with depression may be mitigated with appropriate pharmacotherapy embedded in good supportive care. His work has been published in the Journal of Psychiatric Research, Maturitas and Psychiatric Services (in press). Charles was also elected to the Gold Humanism Honor Society and was the New York chair of the American Psychiatric Association's student interest group psychSIGN in 2012-2013. Before attending medical school he worked in a group home as a counselor and advocate for individuals with developmental and psychiatric disorders. In his free time, Charles enjoys thrifting and live music. He will continue his training as a psychiatry resident at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center this July.

The Robert F. Furchgott Award for Excellence in Research

John Odackal, MD

photo of Haroon Kamran

John Odackal is an MD candidate in the class of 2016 whose research interests revolve around the physical principles governing biological function. He has participated in numerous research projects prior to medical school including work at the University of Chicago, where he completed a B.A. in biological sciences. In his first year of medical school, John joined the lab of Dr. Sabina Hrabetova, Associate Professor at SUNY Downstate, to investigate the effects of hyponatremia on extracellular calcium in brain. John demonstrated that hyponatremia induced calcium dysregulation in brain is partially mediated by t-type calcium channels. This finding suggests chronic hyponatremia might contribute to neurological diseases involving brain calcium dysregulation and that t-type calcium channel blockers could be a therapeutic option. Following his work in Dr. Hrabetova's lab, John was awarded the SUNY Downstate Alumni Full Year Research Scholarship. Under this award, John is investigating alveolar wall liquid homeostasis in the lab of Dr. Jahar Bhattacharya, Professor at Columbia University. In addition to research, John is also passionate about education. Prior to attending medical school, John earned his M.A. in teaching from New York University and was a NYC public high school teacher for three years. John continues his development as an educator by serving on SUNY Downstate's Curriculum and Education Policy Committee and as Co-Chair of the Student Committee to the LCME.

Robert F. Furchgott Scholar

Haroon Kamran, MD
PGY2 Resident
Department of Internal Medicine

Kamran

Haroon Kamran graduated from Dow Medical College in Pakistan and is currently Training as a second year resident in the Internal Medicine Program at SUNY Downstate Medical Center. Dr. Kamran initially started as a research associate and continued his investigative work during residency in the noninvasive section of the Division of Cardiology, under the supervision of Dr. Jason Lazar and Dr. Louis Salciccioli. His work is focused on non-invasive assessment of cardiac and non-cardiac disease states. He has characterized a variety of arterial abnormalities including arterial stiffness, arterial wave reflection, and vascular reactivity using novel multimodality approaches. Of note, Dr Kamran characterized and reported normative values of arterial stiffness, a marker of increased cardiovascular disease in African American and Caribbean subjects. He also found Beta-Blocker medication use, which was used to be commonly prescribed for increased blood pressure but has recently fallen out of favor due to its lack of efficacy in recent trials, to be associated with increased Aortic Pressures. In another study, Dr Kamran found that Ankle Brachial Index, a measure of peripheral vascular disease to be associated with Ejection Fraction. This finding may be very important to consider when assessing patients for peripheral vascular disease. Moreover, Dr. Kamran has proposed passive leg raising induced brachial artery dilatation as an alternate to reactive hyperemia, for the assessment of endothelial dysfunction, an early step in the development of atherosclerosis. His most recent work has led to a novel strategy proposed to differentiate and quantify microvascular and macrovascular dysfunction. His work at SUNY Downstate has led to the publication of over 30 manuscripts in peer reviewed journals.

Robert F. Furchgott Scholar

Yun-Kyoung Lee, PhD
Postdoctoral Associate
Department of Cell Biology

photo of Yun-Kyoung Lee

After receiving her PhD in cancer biology from Hannam University in 2010, Dr. Yun-Kyoung Lee joined the laboratory of Dr. Janice L. Brissette to study the molecular control of tissue and organ development. Her work has focused on the function of Foxn1, a transcription factor that is essential for the proper development of the skin and thymus and that, when mutated, is responsible for the nude phenotype of rodents and an equivalent "nude-like" disease in humans, namely, T-cell immunodeficiency, congenital alopecia, and nail dystrophy. Using a novel chimeric system - part mouse and part fruit fly - Dr. Lee sought to isolate new components of the Foxn1 pathway and ultimately identified Aff4, a transcription factor. She then found that Aff4 activates the same genes as Foxn1, promotes the same steps of transcription as Foxn1, binds to sites adjacent to Foxn1-binding sites, and, when mutated in mice, produces phenotypes similar to the nude phenotype. Thus, Dr. Lee has shown that Aff4 and Foxn1 work together to control gene expression and that their combined activities are needed for the proper morphogenesis of the skin and thymus. As such, she has identified the first functional partner of Foxn1 and the first nude-like locus since the nude phenotype's discovery 50 years ago. Moreover, she has pioneered a unique method by which to meld mammalian traits with fly genetics and uncover the traits' key genes.

Robert F. Furchgott Scholar

Vidya Dhote, PhD
Postdoctoral Associate
Department of Cell Biology

photo of Vidya Dhoto

Vidya Dhote joined Dr. Tatyana Pestova's laboratory in 2009 after completing her PhD on resistance mechanisms in antibiotic-producing microorganisms at Portland State University. Her postdoctoral studies initially focused on the structure-function analysis of different domains of DHX29, a recently discovered helicase that is essential for scanning by mammalian ribosomes, particularly on mRNAs with highly structured 5'UTRs. This study yielded a comprehensive set of data that constitutes a landmark in understanding the function of DHX29. Vidya has also carried out collaborative studies with the laboratory of Dr. Joachim Frank (HHMI/Columbia University) to determine the cryo-electron microscopic structures of various eukaryotic translation initiation complexes. The cryo-EM structure of DHX29-bound ribosomal 43S pre-initiation complexes revealed that the position of DHX29 is favorable for inducing conformational changes in the 40S subunit that could open and close the mRNA entrance, which might help 43S complexes to unwind entering stems. Vidya also assembled excellent quality, high-occupancy ribosomal complexes containing eIF3 and classical swine fever virus (CSFV) internal ribosome entry site (IRES), and confi rmed by biochemical assays the hypothesis suggested by the cryo-EM structure of these complexes that the specifi c interaction of hepatitis C virus (HCV)-like IRESs with eIF3 relieves the competition between the IRES and eIF3 for a common binding site on the 40S subunit, and favors translation of these viral mRNAs over translation of cellular mRNAs. The unprecedented observations made in this study mark a signifi cant advancement in understanding the mechanism of action of HCV-like IRESs.

Robert F. Furchgott Medical Student Award for Excellence in Research

Sunny X. Tang, MD
MS4

photo of Farah Hussain

Sunny Tang will be graduating with an M.D. from SUNY Downstate College of Medicine in May 2014. She has a long-standing interest in research, beginning in high school at Ward Melville H.S. At age 16, she joined a biomedical engineering lab at Stony Brook University. This interest was carried forward to her time at Harvard University, where she worked in psychology and developmental neurobiology. Her current research focus is psychopathology in 22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome (22Q11DS), under the mentorship of Raquel E. Gur, M.D., Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania. Sunny began her work as a Doris Duke Clinical Research Fellow (2012-2013), and continues as a fourth year student. She became interested in 22q11DS because of the staggering risk conferred for psychosis. As a member of the Brain and Behavior Lab at Penn, Sunny has helped collect detailed psychopathology, cognitive, genetic and imaging data on the largest single-site cohort of 22q11DS to date. Her studies indicate that individuals with 22q11DS have a high burden of psychopathology and often display subthreshold symptoms of psychosis -- particularly in adolescence. Future directions aim to understand the neurobiological underpinning of psychosis risk. Sunny also conducted research in the Department of Ophthalmology at SUNY Downstate, under the mentorship of Roman Shinder, M.D. Since her third year in medical school, she has led a project describing bilateral lacrimal gland disease - a conglomerate clinical entity never before addressed in the literature. Outside of her academic and scientifi c pursuits, Sunny enjoys painting and spending time with her husband, Eric, and their dog, Ody. She looks forward to residency in psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania, where she hopes to continue her research.

Robert F. Furchgott Award for Excellence in Research

Dr. Isaac Naggar, MD, PhD

photo of Isaac Naggar

Dr. Isaac Naggar is the 2014 recipient of the Robert F. Furchgott Award for Excellence in Research and is currently a third year medical student in the MD/PhD Program. He completed his work in the laboratory of Dr. Mark Stewart in the Department of Physiology & Pharmacology. Dr. Naggar's thesis work focused on short- and long-term autonomic and cardiac consequences of epileptic seizures in rats. Specifically, the work elucidates the conditions under which autonomic derangements and hypoxemia can produce fatal cardiac arrhythmias, a critical step toward understanding the mechanisms that underlie Sudden Unexplained Death in Epilepsy (SUDEP). Interestingly, chronic structural changes in hearts protected animals against fatal tachyarrhythmias. Dr. Naggar is involved in a number of other related projects, including the development of a vagus nerve stimulator to convert ventricular fibrillation and the use of the electronic stethoscope to quantitate autonomic status, both with Drs. Mark Stewart and Jason Lazar. Dr. Naggar is an author in 8 research articles, one patent, and a book chapter reviewing his work within the context of sudden death in epilepsy. For his research, he has received three travel awards, the AAN annual meeting scholarship (2010), Downstate's annual research day travel fellowship (2011), and an NINDS young investigator travel award to the Partners Against Mortality in Epilepsy conference (2012). In addition, Dr. Naggar was awarded two research fellowships, the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) medical student summer research scholarship and the Epilepsy Foundation health sciences student fellowship in 2008. Dr. Naggar received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Mathematics, with honors, and Biochemistry at Brandeis University, where he was granted a Brandeis Presidential Scholarship.

2013 Robert F. Furchgott Award Recipients

Robert F. Furchgott Scholar

Trevor Sweeney, PhD
Research Instructor
Department of Pathology

photo of Trevor Sweeney

After graduating with a PhD in Structural and Molecular Virology from Imperial College London in 2010, Trevor joined Dr Christopher Hellen and Dr Tatyana Pestova to begin his postdoctoral training studying translation initiation of viral proteins. He is specifically interested in the different mechanisms of internal ribosomal entry used by certain types of positive strand RNA viruses. Trevor has developed the first in vitro reconstitution assay to study the Type 1 class of internal ribosomal entry site. His research has shed new light on the translation mechanism used by poliovirus and related viruses such as enterovirus71 (that causes hand, foot and mouth disease) and coxsackievirus (which can cause heart disease). This work has identified the key role of an IRES trans-acting factor, the cellular protein PCBP2, in regulating translation of each of these viruses. Trevor's research has also contributed to the identification and detailed characterization of a new class of internal ribosomal entry site, as used by the Aichi virus, which causes severe gastroenteritis, and other related viruses. The Aichi virus internal ribosomal entry site was found to require the function of two IRES trans-acting factors, the RNA binding protein PTB and the RNA helicase DHX29, for activity. As well as identifying the minimal set of factors required for activity of these internal ribosomal entry sites, Trevor's research is helping us to get a better understanding of their mechanism of action.

Robert F. Furchgott Medical Student Award for Excellence in Research

Farah Hussain, MD
MS4

photo of Farah Hussain

Farah Hussain is an MD candidate in the Class of 2013. She has conducted research on the role of microRNAs in the physiology of atherosclerosis since the summer after her first year of medical school in the laboratory of Dr. Kathryn Moore, PhD, Professor of Medicine at NYU Medical Center. Her studies suggest that the inhibition of miR-33, a microRNA encoded in the 16th intron of the SREBP-2 gene, is a key regulator in the reverse cholesterol transport pathway. In mice, inhibition of miR-33 induced an increase in ABCA1, a molecule involved in shuttling cholesterol from macrophages to HDL particles, leading to increases in plasma HDL. It also caused a significant decrease in lipid and macrophage content of plaques, and increased collagen. Together, these data suggest that not only can miR-33 induce plaque regression, it can also cause plaques to become more stable. Continuing this work in African green monkeys as a non-human primate model showed that the inhibition of miR-33 increases reverse cholesterol transport, decreases fatty acid synthesis, and increases fatty acid oxidation, ultimately leading to improved cardiovascular health. Her work resulted in publications in the Journal of Clinical Investigation and Nature. This research is currently being investigated by Regulus Therapeutics as a novel therapy for the treatment of coronary artery disease and metabolic syndrome. Outside of her research, Farah has been an active member of the Downstate community. She has served on her class' Med Council, Student Liaison Committee, and the LCME Reaccreditation Committee. She is very excited to continue her training next year in Internal Medicine at Columbia University - New York Presbyterian Hospital.

Robert F. Furchgott Award for Excellence in Research

Lana Rabinovich, MD, PhD
MS3

photo of Lana Rabinovich

Dr. Lana Rabinovich is the 2013 recipient of the Robert F. Furchgott Award for Excellence in Research and is currently a third year medical student in the MD/PhD Program. She recently completed her thesis work under the supervision of Drs. Christopher Parks, Ross Lindsay, and Maria Chiuchiolo at the Design and Development Laboratory of the International Aids Vaccine Initiative (IAVI). Her research focused on the design of candidate HIV vaccines for evaluation in preclinical studies. Specifically, in collaboration with members of the IAVI lab, Lana designed stable replicating VSV Vectors that express HIV Envelope Trimers for analysis in murine studies. The results were highly encouraging as Env-specific immune responses were detected, including antibodies similar to known HIV-specific broadly neutralizing antibodies. She is the author of a number of research articles and patents. She is also the recipient of numerous awards including the the 2012 Keystone Vaccines Symposia Travel Scholarship and Jonas E. Salk Award for significant research potential as an undergraduate student. Lana received her Bachelor of Science Degree in Biochemistry and Chemistry with Honors from Macaulay Honors College at CUNY, College of Staten Island (CSI). Her interest in research began during high school and developed under the direction of Distinguished Professor and Provost Fred Naider as she investigated the biochemistry of receptor-related peptides, which belong to the G-protein coupled and chemokine receptor families, in his laboratory at CSI.

Robert F. Furchgott Scholar

Alice Pavlowsky, PhD
Department of Pathology

photo of Alice Pavlowsky

After obtaining her PhD in neuroscience from Paris-VI University and Cochin Institute, Dr. Pavlowsky joined the laboratory of Dr. Juan Marcos Alarcon for her post-doctoral training. Research in Dr. Alarcon's laboratory focuses on how neurons integrate multiple streams of neural activity arriving at separate synapses. The main goal is to understand how neurons encode and decode multifold information associated to a learning experience. In a recent study (PLoS One, 2012), Dr Pavlowsky and Dr. Alarcon studied the interactions between synapses expressing synaptic plasticity in located in different dendritic domains and characterized the spatial and temporal rules that govern such interactions. A main finding is that plastic changes compartmentalize within groups of synapses located in defined dendritic domains. The notion of groups of synapses forming functional compartments in response to the activation of plastic events made Dr. Pavlowsky hypothesize that plastic events triggered by a learning experience could promote the functional grouping of plastic synapses. In collaboration with Dr. Andre Fenton and his MD/PhD student Emma Wallace, Dr. Pavlowsky found that mice trained in a cognitive memory task, exhibit functional changes in defined groups of synapses in proximal, but not distal, apical dendrites of CA1 pyramidal neurons of the dorsal hippocampus. These findings provide first direct evidence of functionally-defined synaptic grouping associated to learning experience and suggests that the neuron needs to compartmentalize incoming information in order to correctly encode and store the multiple aspects of experience.

Robert F. Furchgott Scholar

Yongxia Sarah Qu, MD, PhD
Department of Medicine

photo of Yongxia Sarah Qu

Dr Yongxia Sarah Qu, MD/PhD is currently a second year cardiology fellow at Downstate Medical Center. Dr Qu's research focused on the pathogenesis of autoimmune associated congenital heart block under the mentorship of Professor Mohamed Boutjdir. Specifi cally, Dr Qu characterized the molecular and functional basis of complete atrio-ventricular (AV) block which occurs in newborn from mothers with anti-Ro/La antibodies. She demonstrated that anti-Ro/La antibodies bind directly to the L-type calcium channel protein and inhibit the calcium current at the AV node which results in AV block. Subsequently, Dr Qu identifi ed a novel isoform of L-type calcium channel (alpha1D isoform) in the heart which is also a target for anti-Ro/La antibodies. Dr Qu's work has been published in high impact journals such as circulation and circulation research. More recently Dr Qu's research extended to the effects of anti-Ro/La antibodies on the adult heart of patients with autoimmune diseases. Unlike the newborn heart, the adult heart exposed to anti-Ro antibodies is not affected by the AV block but unexpectedly has QT prolongation. Dr Qu elegantly demonstrated that sera from adult patients with anti-Ro antibodies and QT prolongation, but not control sera, inhibited potassium current, IKr, which is responsible for repolarization. She was also able to establish an animal model of autoimmune associated QT prolongation thus demonstrating direct causal relationship between the presence of anti-Ro antibodies and QT prolongation. The findings from her research will likely affect the clinical practice to monitor QT interval in patients with anti-Ro antibodies and to educate these patients to avoid medications causing QT prolongation.

Robert F. Furchgott Medical Student Award for Excellence in Research

Johnson F. Tsui, MD
College of Medicine 2012, MD Student

photo of Johnson Tsui

Johnson F. Tsui is an MD candidate in the class of 2012. Working under the mentorship of Dr. Weiss, Professor and Chair of Urology at SUNY Downstate Medical Center, and Dr. Blaivas, Clinical Professor at Weill Cornell Medical College and Adjunct Professor at SUNY Downstate Medical Center, he participated in numerous research projects in General Urology and Urooncology over the past two and a half years. During this time, on top of co-authoring various published journal articles and book chapters, he also functioned as the research coordinator for the Department of Urology at Downstate as well as the Institute for Bladder and Prostate Research. One of his projects, "Comparison of Nocturia Severity in Men, Interquartile Ranges of Voided Volume (IRVV) and Bladder Compliance" hypothesized that in men, low bladder compliance may play a role in the etiology of nocturia. The study also hoped to demonstrate that in men, IRVV may be used as a noninvasive surrogate for assessing bladder compliance, thereby providing physicians with an additional tool by which a patient may be evaluated. Johnson will continue his training as a General Surgery intern this July at SUNY Downstate Medical Center.

Robert F. Furchgott Award for Excellence in Research

Sam Neymotin, PhD
School of Graduate Studies, Biomedical Engineer Program

photo of Sam Neymotin

Dr. Sam Neymotin is the 2012 recipient of the Robert F. Furchgott Award for Excellence in Research. Sam received training in computer science (BS Queens College; MS Columbia University) but always had an interest in how the brain works. As a biomedical engineering PhD student at SUNY Downstate, he was able to explore these interests when he joined the Neurosimulation laboratory of Dr. William Lytton to begin study in computational neuroscience. Sam recently defended his PhD thesis under the mentorship of Dr. Lytton, in the Department of Physiology & Pharmacology, and the Dept. of Neurology at SUNY Downstate Medical Center. Sam's research was focused on developing biologically-realistic computer models of neuronal networks, including models of neocortex and hippocampus. The aim of the research was to better understanding of how dynamics emerge from the interacting neurons, how neurons process information, and the effects of learning on neuronal function. The models Sam developed have provided predictions on neuronal dynamics and information processing both in health and in diseases such as epilepsy and schizophrenia. Sam has also worked on additional projects under the mentorship of Dr. Lytton and Dr. Andre Fenton, analyzing and developing computational methods for the analysis of electrophysiological data obtained from Dr. Fenton's lab.

Sam has published 12 research papers during the course of his graduate studies. He was primary author on 7 of these with 2 first-author papers in Journal of Neuroscience. He also recently wrote a didactic chapter, Computational Neuroscience of Neuronal Networks, for use in the undergraduate textbook, Neuroscience in the 21st Century. In 2011, Sam was awarded a $1500 travel award for his Biomedical Engineering presentation at SUNY Downstate's annual research day. He has also won travel awards from the Organization for Computational Neuroscience and Statistical Analysis of Neuronal Data meetings. Sam recently had the chance to develop his teaching skills, by serving as a tutor in the fourth Latin American School on Computational Neuroscience in Brazil, for several weeks in 2012.

Robert F. Furchgott Scholar

Amon Asgharpour, MD
Department of Medicine

photo of Amon Asgharpour

Dr. Amon Asgharpour is a second-year Internal Medicine Resident. He has conducted research in new modalities of therapy for the treatment of pancreatic cancer. Dr. Asgharpour's mentorship was provided by Dr. Frank Gress, Professor of Medicine and Chief of Gastroenterology at SUNY Downstate Medical Center and Dr. Laura Martello-Rooney, Director of GI Research SUNY Downstate, and in collaboration with: Dr. Albert Stanek, Professor of Surgery SUNY Downstate Medical Center, Dr. Alicia Gooding, GI Research Technician SUNY Downstate, Dr. Richard Gross and Dr. Manoj Ganesh of NYU Polytechnic Institute. Their work has established the feasibility of direct injection of drug-eluting biodegradable polymer-based microparticles (MPs) into the tail portion of the mouse pancreas. He continues work with them to expand on this project and will soon inject Gemcitabine loaded MPs directly into tumors of mice with pancreatic cancer. The goal of this work is to use Endoscopic Ultrasound Fine-Needle Injection as a means of delivering drug-eluting MPs to patients with pancreatic cancer. The direct injection of drug-eluting MPs may provide a means to decrease systemic toxicity of chemotherapy, decrease dosing frequency of chemotherapy, provide a less invasive option compared to conventional surgery, and provide another option in non-surgical patients. Dr. Asgharpour was recently recognized with a travel fellowship award at SUNY Downstate's Annual Research Day for his poster titled: "Drug-eluting Microparticles for the Treatment of Pancreatic Cancer: Preliminary In Vivo Results".

Robert F. Furchgott Award for Excellence in Research

Ehsan Sarafraz-Yazdi, PhD
School of Graduate Studies, Molecular & Cellular Biology Program

photo of Ehsan Sarafraz-Yazdi

Dr. Sarafraz-Yazdi is the 2011 recipient of the Robert F. Furchgott Award for Excellence in Research. He received his M.Sc. in "Genetics" from University of Birmingham and Imperial College of London (U.K.) and recently defended his PhD thesis under the supervision of Drs. Josef Michl and Matthew Pincus in the Department of Pathology at SUNY Downstate Medical Center.

His research revealed a novel mechanism of action for anti-cancer peptide, PNC-27, which selectively kills tumor cells without harming normal cells. He found that PNC-27 binds to the protein HDM2 that is expressed only in the membranes of cancer cells. When it binds to HDM2 it induces pore-formation through the membrane that kills the cancer cells. This work was recently published in Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). Hiswork has strengthened the potential use of PNC-27 as an effective drug for treatment of cancer. The research of his thesis has also resulted in the identification of a potentially novel tumor marker which is expressed on the plasma membrane of a variety of transformed cells and is absent in untransformed cell's plasma membrane.

In 2010, he was awarded the "Outstanding Clinical Scholar" by the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) and the pharmaceutical company, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), from whom he received a 2-year travel award. He is also a winner of Downstate's Annual Research Day Award in 2010 for Platform Presentation. Recently, he received the "Chancellor's Award for Student Excellence", the highest student honor given by the State University of New York, which recognizes academic excellence, leadership, community service and career achievement.

Robert F. Furchgott Award for Excellence in Research

Marc Justin Braunstein, MD, PhD
School of Graduate Studies, Molecular & Cellular Biology Program

photo of Timothy Carter

Dr. Marc Justin Braunstein is the 2010 recipient of the Robert F. Furchgott Award for Excellence in Research and is currently a fourth year medical student in the MD/PhD Program. He received this award for his translational thesis research, which focused on endothelial cells in cancer and built upon the fundamental knowledge of blood vessel dynamics for which Dr. Furchgott received the 1998 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Performed under the guidance of his thesis advisor Dr. Olcay Batuman, Professor of Medicine in the Division of Hematology/Oncology, Dr. Braunstein's thesis, entitled "Vascular Progenitor Cells in Multiple Myeloma: Genomic Characterization and Clinical Significance," used high-throughtput microarray analyses to explore the genomic relationship between tumor cells and their vascular microenvironment in multiple myeloma, a bone marrow cancer that is currently incurable and is the second most common hematologic malignancy. Results of these studies revealed previously unknown genomic alterations in tumor-related endothelial cells that have the potential to enhance our understanding of myeloma pathogenesis and improve treatment strategies. The winner of Downstate's Annual Research Day Award on several occasions – in 2008 for Best Platform Presentation and in 2007 and 2005 for Best Poster – Dr. Braunstein has twice received a travel award from the American Society of Hematology. Dr. Braunstein is also active in campus and community activities, co-organizing a fundraiser for multiple myeloma patients as President of the Student Center Governing Board, working as a basic science tutor in the Department of Academic Development, and serving as a volunteer at the Brooklyn Free Clinic. This year Dr. Braunstein was also awarded the Chancellor's Award for Student Excellence, which recognizes academic excellence, leadership, and community service and is the highest student commendation within the State University of New York.

Robert F. Furchgott Medical Student Award for Excellence in Research

Timothy Carter, MD
College of Medicine 2010, MD Student

photo of Timothy Carter

Timothy Carter is an MD candidate in the class of 2010. He worked on wrist kinematics throughout medical school in the Department of Hand Surgery at the Hospital for Special Surgery, under the direction of Dr. Scott Wolfe and in collaboration with: Dr. Howard Hillstrom, Director of the Motion Analysis Laboratory; physical therapists, Aviva Wolf & Sherry Backus; and engineers, Brian Pansy and Mark Lenhoff. The group hypothesized that a specifi c arc of wrist motion, known as the Dart Thrower's Motion, was highly conserved between multiple activities. It has been suggested that this motion is unique to the morphology of the human wrist and as such may have provided an evolutionary advantage to Homo sapiens. Timothy worked specifi cally to develop and validate 3-D Motion Analysis (3DMA) for the measurement of wrist motion during functional activities. 3DMA is currently being applied to identify the Dart Thrower's Motion in a variety of functional activities, which may have conveyed a survival advantage to our species. Clinically, validation of 3DMA in the wrist joint will promote understanding of normal wrist kinematics, allow further study of wrist pathology and potentially lead to the development and refi nement of surgical therapies. Timothy was accepted as a medical student member in the American Association for Academic Surgeons and is a graduate student member to the American Physiologic Society. He will pursue his residency in General Surgery at Thomas Jefferson University.

Robert F. Furchgott Resident Award for Excellence in Research

Naveen Anand, MD
Department of Medicine

Photo of Naveen Anand

Dr. Anand is the Chief Medical Resident at Kings County Hospital Center, and the State University of New York, Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn (SUNY Downstate). Dr. Anand conducted his research under the mentorship and guidance of Dr. Vlado Simko, Professor of Medicine and former Chief of Gastroenterology at the Brooklyn VA Medical Center, and alongside Dr. Mujtaba Butt, Clinical Fellow in Gastroenterology. Together they conducted a retrospective study, investigating groups of patients with gastric intestinal metaplasia in an effort to identify groups at increased risks for gastric cancer. Their study entitled "Gastric Intestinal Metaplasia: Natural History and Surveillance", showed that patients with gastric intestinal metaplasia were more likely to develop gastric cancer when compared to the general population, and that patients above the age of 70 and of African-American ethnicity were at increased risk. For this work, Dr. Anand won the 2009 Lawlor Award from the American College of Gastroenterology for best scientifi c paper by a resident, and had the opportunity to present his work at the College's Annual Conference. Both his medical degree and graduate medical training were completed at SUNY Downstate, and he will begin his gastroenterology fellowship there in July 2010. During his fellowship, Dr. Anand plans to embark on additional research projects in the area of gastric cancer and gastric intestinal metaplasia, in the hope of answering questions that have arisen as a result of his study.

Robert F. Furchgott Award for Excellence in Research

Melissa James, PhD
School of Graduate Studies, Molecular & Cellular Biology Program

Dr. Melissa James is the recipient of the 2009 Robert F. Furchgott Award for Excellence in Research. Dr. James' thesis research, conducted in the laboratory of Dr. Stacy Blain, focused on the regulation of the oncogene cyclin D-cdk4 by the tumor suppressor p27. p27 is a potent inhibitor of cell cycle progression and detection of low p27 levels correlates with a poor prognosis in many cancers. Her studies demonstrated that p27 can be either a cyclin D-cdk4 bound, inhibitor or a bound, activator, depending on the growth state of the cell. In proliferating cells, p27 is tyrosine phosphorylated in its 3-10 helix and this allows it to bind to cyclin D-cdk4 without causing inhibition. When cells are arrested by contact, p27 is no longer tyrosine phosphorylated and now binds to the cyclin D-cdk4 complex in an inhibitory conformation. Tyrosine phosphorylation in the 3-10 helix appears to prevent an interaction between p27 and the cdk subunit, permitting ATP access to cdk4's activity site. Her work was among the first to demonstrate that p27 could be tyrosine phosphorylated and more importantly finally answered the long-standing question in the cell cycle field about how p27 could transition from activator to inhibitor, and vice versa. These studies were the first to demonstrate that tyrosine phosphorylation affected p27's ability to inhibit cyclin D-cdk4 and has been published in two peer reviewed journal articles. This work was also cited by Faculty of 1000 Biology for its important contribution to the field.

Robert F. Furchgott Medical Student Award for Excellence in Research

Jonathan Silverberg, MD, PhD, MPH
College of Medicine 2009, MD, PhD, MPH Student

photo of Jonathan Silverberg

Dr. Jonathan Silverberg is an MPH candidate ('09) and recipient of the 2009 Robert F. Furchgott Medical Student Award. Jonathan received this award for two translational studies of regulation of human allergic responses, conducted under the mentorship of Drs. Rauno Joks, Department of Medicine, Tamar-Smith Norowitz, Department of Pediatrics, and Helen G. Durkin, Department of Pathology. With Drs. Joks and Durkin, Jonathan discovered that minocycline, a new anti-allergic drug invented at SUNY Downstate, suppresses P38 MAP kinase phosphorylation, an upstream molecular event required for suppression of Th2 cytokine and IgE responses. With Drs. Smith-Norowitz, Joks and Durkin, he discovered a new T cell subpopulation (CD8+CD60+CD45RO+TCR alpha/beta+) whose 5 cytokines are absolutely required, along with IL-4 produced by CD4+ T cells, for induction of human memory IgE responses. These discoveries provide new targets for anti-allergic drugs. Jonathan received his PhD degree in Neuroscience in 2006 under the mentorship of Dr. Durkin and Drs. Mark Stewart and Vahe Amassian, Department of Physiology-Pharmacology, for which he was awarded the 2009 Chancellor's Award for Student Excellence.

Robert F. Furchgott Resident Award for Excellence in Research

Kelley A. Sookraj, MD
Department of Pathology

Photo of Kelley A. Sookraj

Dr. Kelley A. Sookraj's research was conducted in the laboratories of Drs. Wilbur B. Bowne, Josef Michl, and Matthew R. Pincus. Dr. Sookraj's studies focused on oncogenesis, oncoprotein structure, mitogenic signal transduction, and design of anticancer agents. This laboratories earlier work utilized a computer-based molecular modeling approach to identify various sequences from the murine double minute binding domain of p53, known as MDM-2, that were shown to possess anticancer activity. Two such synthesized peptides, designated PNC-27 and PNC-28, demonstrated potent anticancer activity against a rodent metastatic pancreatic and selected human cancer cell lines: an effect not observed among their untransformed cellular counterparts. The observed cytotoxic effect of these p53-derived peptides was later found to occur by the mechanism of necrosis rather than apoptosis in both wild-type p53 and p53 null cancer cell lines providing evidence for a p53-independent anticancer mechanism. Current studies reveal that these amphipathic, PNC peptides target the over-expressed MDM-2 oncoprotein, unique to selected cancer cell membranes, leading to trans-membrane pore formation, membranolysis, and cancer cell death by necrosis. The effect of these novel anticancer peptides, upon further investigation, suggests that these PNC peptides may potentially serve an important role in the future treatment of certain cancers.

Robert F. Furchgott Fellowship Award for Excellence in Basic Science Research

Xiaoyue Pan, PhD
Department of Cell Biology

Photo of Xiaoyue Pan

Dr. Xiaoyue Pan, in the laboratory of Dr. M. Mahmood Hussain, explored mechanisms responsible for diurnal and food-entrained regulation of nutrient absorption by the gut and changes in plasma lipids. She identified that transcriptional regulation of microsomal triglyceride transfer protein (MTP) correlates with changes in plasma triglycerides in rodents kept in 12 h light/dark cycle and fed ad libitum. To understand how light and food control MTP, Dr. Pan used cells that exhibit cyclic expression of MTP after exposure to high serum concentrations. Using siRNA, she elucidated that Clock transcription factor regulates SHP, a negative regulator of MTP transcription, and controls MTP expression. In addition, she investigated the role of clock genes, which are critical for circadian regulations, in the control of intestinal function. She showed that expression of intestinal protein, carbohydrate, and lipid transporters show diurnal variations. Dr. Pan also demonstrated that transcription factors involved in circadian rhythms are important for both light and food-entrainment of intestinal transporters using dominant negative Clock mutant mice. These studies indicate that both light and food entrainment mechanisms might utilize the same or similar set of clock genes that show cyclic expression to regulate metabolism. Therefore, disruptions in circadian regulations might contribute to hyperlipidemia and hyperglycemia. Understanding molecular and biological mechanisms regulating daily variations in plasma lipids may provide new perceptions about the pathobiology of common metabolic disorders.

The Robert F. Furchgott Award for Excellence in Research

Daisy Lin, PhD
School of Graduate Studies, Neuroscience Program

I studied the role of small untranslatable RNAs called BC (brain specific) RNAs in the regulation of gene expression. BC1 and BC200 RNAs are highly abundant in the brains of rodents and humans, respectively. BC RNAs localization, in dendrites of neurons where local postsynaptic protein synthesis takes place, make them candidates for the regulation of input specific synaptic plasticity. Previously, BC1 RNA has been shown to inhibit protein synthesis at the level of translation. In my thesis, I examined the underlying functional mechanisms between BC1 RNA and its two binding factors, eukaryotic initiation factors 4A (eIF4A) and poly (A) binding protein (PABP). Biochemically, BC1 RNA binding to either eIF4A or PABP is of high affinity. eIF4A is an RNA helicase that hydrolyzes ATP to unwind the mRNA secondary structure during translation initiation. I showed that eIF4A-dependent helicase activity is uncoupled from its ATPase activity by both BC RNAs. Helicase stimulator eIF4B and adenosine nucleotides are shown to be involved in the modulation of the BC1-eIF4A interaction. In HEK293 cells, I showed that BC1 RNA inhibits translation of 5' secondary structure containing chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) mRNA with or without a poly (A) tail. My data suggest that the mechanism by which dendritic BC1 RNA inhibits protein synthesis at the level of translation is by targeting the catalytic activity of eIF4A and interacting specifically with PABP, My work provide new insight in understanding the mechanism of local translation control by small neuronal RNAs.

The Robert F. Furchgott Fellowship Award

Ghazanfar Qureshi, MD
Department of Medicine

photo of Ghazanfar Qureshi, MD

Dr. Qureshi’s studies, conducted under the direction of Drs. Jason Lazar and Louis Salciccioli, examined the mechanisms and significance of increased arterial stiffness. Arterial stiffness, a biophysical property of the arterial system that is predictive of increased cardiovascular risk, is correlated with left ventricular hypertrophy and the presence and severity of coronary artery disease. Dr. Qureshi investigated the relationship between atherosclerosis and arterial stiffness and found stiffness to vary among patients with little atherosclerosis but to be uniformly increased in those with more marked atherosclerotic disease.  These data suggested multiple mechanisms contributing to arterial stiffness.  With further study, he found that the use of beta blockers, a commonly prescribed class of medications for patients with heart disease, is associated with higher arterial stiffness.  This may account for the decreased efficacy shown for this drug class in primary prevention trials.  Dr. Qureshi proposed a new measure of arterial stiffness, derived from the dynamic relationship between systolic and diastolic blood pressures called “self-measured arterial stiffness index”.  The index, which uses self-measured blood pressure recordings, increased with cardiovascular risk factors and was positively correlated with direct measures of arterial stiffness.  In two additional studies, Dr Qureshi found that arterial stiffness is higher in women with systemic lupus erythematosus, and that bone demineralization is associated with higher arterial stiffness, independent of atherosclerosis.  These latter studies suggest that inflammation and vascular calcification contribute to the development of arterial stiffness.

The Robert F. Furchgott Fellowship Award

Vera Pisareva, PhD
Department of Cell Biology

photo of Vera Pisareva, PhD

Dr. Pisareva’s studies, conducted in the laboratory of Dr. Tatyana Pestova, focused on the mechanism of translation initiation on eukaryotic mRNAs containing structured 5'-untranslated regions (UTR). Most eukaryotic mRNAs possess relatively short unstructured 5’- UTRs.  Initiation on unstructured 5'-UTRs is described in terms of the ribosomal scanning model, in which 43S preinitiation ribosomal complexes first attach to the capped 5’-proximal region of mRNA and then scan along the 5’UTR to the initiation codon where they form 48S initiation complexes. Attachment of 43S complexes is mediated by initiation factors eIF4F, eIF4A and eIF4B, which cooperatively unwind the cap-proximal region of mRNA. In addition to this role, eIF4F, eIF4A and eIF4B also assist 43S complexes during scanning. Dr. Pisareva's novel research demonstrated that these canonical initiation factors are not sufficient for efficient initiation on mRNAs with structured 5’-UTRs.  She identified an additional factor, the DExH-box protein DHX29, that is required for this process. DHX29 binds 40S subunits and efficiently hydrolyzes ATP, GTP, UTP and CTP. NTP hydrolysis by DHX29 is stimulated by 43S complexes, and is required for DHX29’s activity in promoting 48S complex formation.

The Robert F. Furchgott Award for Excellence in Research

Paul Stephen Rava., PhD
School of Graduate Studies, Molecular & Cellular Biology Program

Dr. Paul Stephen Rava, the recipient of the 2007 Robert F. Furchgott Award for Excellence in Research is currently in the fourth year of the College of Medicine and is one of the finest students to be trained in Downstate’s School of Graduate Studies.  Paul epitomizes the research excellence that is expected of the awardee of this prestigious prize.  Dr. Rava’s thesis is titled “The Evolution of Microsomal Triglyceride Transfer Protein and its Role during the Assembly of ApoB-lipoptroteins.”  As part of his research conducted in the laboratory of Dr. M. Mahmood Hussain, Dr. Rava designed a new fluorescence-based assay for measuring cholesterol ester and the phospholipid transfer activity of microsomal triglyceride transfer protein (MTP) a key enzyme in the biogenesis of apoB-lipoproteins.  He used this and other assays to compare MTPs from different organisms.  Dr. Rava demonstrated that the phopholipid transfer activity of MTP is evolutionarily conserved, and that its more recently acquired triacylgycerol transfer activity, found in vertebrates, resides in a particular domain of the enzyme.  His research results have been published in eight peer-reviewed journal articles including four first-authored papers.

The Robert F. Furchgott Fellowship Award

Andrey Pisarev, PhD
Department of Microbiology

Dr. Andrey Pisarev is the recipient of the 2007 Robert F. Furchgott Fellowship Award. Dr. Pisarev’s studies, conducted in the laboratory of Dr. Tatyana Pestova, were focused on determining the mechanism of eukaryotic ribosomal complex recycling. After termination, mRNA and P site deacylated tRNA remain associated with ribosomes in post-termination complexes (post-TCs), which therefore have to be recycled by splitting them into ribosomal subunits and dissociating mRNA and deacylated tRNA. Recycling of bacterial post-TCs requires elongation factor EF-G and a ribosome recycling factor RRF. Eukaryotes do not encode a RRF homologue and their mechanism of ribosomal recycling is unknown. Dr. Pisarev investigated eukaryotic recycling using post-TCs assembled in vitro on a model mRNA encoding a tetrapeptide followed by a UAA stop codon.  He reported that initiation factors eIF3, eIF1, eIF1A and eIF3’s loosely associated eIF3j subunit can promote recycling of eukaryotic post-TCs. eIF3 is the principal factor that promotes splitting of post-termination ribosomes into 60S subunits and tRNA- and mRNA-bound 40S subunits. Its activity is enhanced by eIF3j, eIF1 and eIF1A. eIF1 also mediates release of P-site deacylated tRNA, whereas eIF3j ensures subsequent mRNA dissociation.

The Robert F. Furchgott Fellowship Award

Anett Unbehaun, MD, PhD
Department of Microbiology

Dr. Anett Unbehaun is the recipient of the 2007 Robert F. Furchgott Fellowship Award. Dr. Unbehaun studies protein synthesis in eukaryotic cells in the laboratory of Dr. Tatyana Pestova. Her work focuses on the molecular mechanism by which eukaryotic initiation factor (eIF) 5B promotes joining of the ribosomal subunits at the end of the initiation process. Dr. Unbehaun determined the position of eIF5B on the 80S ribosome and described the first eIF5B/ 80S ribosome model. The data indicate that eIF5B is located in the intersubunit cleft of the ribosome. eIF5B occupies a large surface on the small subunit and is located in close proximity to the GTPase associated center and the peptidyltransferase center of the large subunit. The eIF5B/ 80S ribosome model also indicates that eIF5B induces substantial conformational changes in both ribosomal subunits.

The Robert F. Furchgott Award for Excellence in Research

Richard Pomerantz, Ph.D.
School of Graduate Studies, Molecular & Cellular Biology Program

Dr. Richard Pomerantz is the recipient of the 2006 Robert F. Furchgott Award for Excellence in Research. Dr. Pomerantz's studies, conducted in the laboratory of Dr. William McAllister, explored the potential applications of T7 RNAP, a polymerase in bacteriophage as a tightly regulated molecular motor in nanotechnology. He investigated the mechanism by which T7 RNAP selects for correct nucleotide substrates during transcription. T7 RNAP converts the chemical energy stored in nucleotide triphosphates (NTPs), like ATP, into the mechanical work of transcription. Previous studies had shown that T7 RNAP can exert forces up to 30 piconewtons as it moves along the DNA while copying the information in the DNA template into RNA. Dr. Pomerantz demonstrated that the forward motion of T7 RNAP is dependent on the availability of the next incoming (correct) NTP that is encoded by the template strand of the DNA. Dr. Pomerantz received his Ph.D. in Molecular and Cellular Biology from SUNY Downstate Medical Center in May 2006.