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Current PSDP scholars are listed by the year PSDP funding was awarded and current institutional affiliation.

The PSDP Steering Committee is pleased to announce the 8 selected outstanding trainees who will begin their PSDP research in July 2023

(2022 PSDP Award Recipients)

Natalie Guerrero, MD, PhD Indiana University Adolescent Medicine Evaluation of the Role of Parental Support in Buffering the Negative Impacts of Racial Discrimination on Mental Health

Jairo Fonseco, MD

(NIH Office of AIDS Scholar)

Emory University Infectious Diseases Characterizing the Cellular Mechanisms of HIV Latency in Childhood
Benjamin Rodrigues, MD University of California, San Francisco Neonatology Targeting Premyelinating Oligodendrocytes in Perinatal White Matter Injury
Cassandra Simonich, MD, PhD University of Washington Infectious Diseases Mapping the antigenic evolution of respiratory syncytial virus
Benjamin Solomon, MD, PhD Stanford University Allergy and Immunology Predicting Immune Dsyregulation from the Antigen Receptor Repertoire

Bob Sun, MD, MA

(Cystic Fibrosis Scholar)

Boston Children’s Hospital Pulmonology Volatile Organic Compound Exposure and Respiratory Morbidity in Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia
Sahal Thahir, MD University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Infectious Diseases The Impact of Soil-Transmitted Helminth and Schistosoma exposure on Plasmodium falciparum immunity in Kenyan infants receiving RTS,S vaccination

Anna Williams, MD

(March of Dimes Scholar)

Duke University Nephrology Improving Acute Kidney Injury Outcomes among Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Survivors
Aaron Bodansky, MD University of California, San Francisco Critical Care Novel Autoantibody Discovery in Kawasaki Disease and Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome-Children

Sean Cullen, MD, PhD

(March of Dimes Scholar)

Weill Cornell Medicine Neonatology Regulation of Germ Cell Small RNAs and Epigenetically-Inherited Disease by Khdc3
Xavier Gaeta, MD, PhD Stanford University Nephrology A Wnt signaling approach to improving kidney tubule regeneration and recovery after acute kidney injury in human organoid and mouse models
Logan Grimes, MD Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Infectious Diseases Leveraging MHC Molecules and Gnotobiotic Mice to Identify Early-Life Microbes That Prevent Autoimmunity

Tuba Kockar Kizilirimak, MD

(Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Scholar)

Yale University Pulmonology Does the lack of CFTR result in alterations in circulating myeloid cells early in the disease process, setting the stage for the hyperinflammatory state in CF?
Taylor LaFlam, MD, PhD University of California, San Francisco Rheumatology The role of the P2RY8 pathway in B cell immune tolerance and systemic lupus erythematosus

Melody Lun, MD, PhD

(American Academy of Pediatrics and American Pediatric Society Scholar)

University of California, San Francisco Neonatology Neurodevelopmental impairment by in utero exposure to pathogenic maternal antibodies
Rameshwar Rao, MD, PhD Stanford University Hematology/Oncology On-Demand Drug Delivery System Composed of Gold Nanoparticles Targeting the Extracellular Matrix for the Treatment of Osteosarcoma

Jessica Ruiz, MD

(Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Scholar)

Boston Children’s Hospital Endocrinology Leveraging Continuous Glucose Monitoring to Define Dysglycemia Induced by Celiac Enteropathy and Parenteral Nutrition

Ali Reza Rais Sadati, MD, PhD

(Burroughs Wellcome Fund Scholar)

Stanford University Cardiology Donor-derived cell-free-DNA in allorecognition and heart transplant rejection

Jordan Tyris, MD, MSHS

(NICHD DIR Scholar)

Children’s National Hospital Pediatric Hospital Medicine Social determinants of health and pediatric asthma: evaluating individuals in the context of place
Andrew Cox, MD, PhD Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center Infectious Diseases Improving vaccine efficacy by circumventing NK cell-mediated immune suppression
Taylor Eddens, MD, PhD UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh Allergy/Immunology The role of CD4+ T cells and the PD-1 signaling pathway in protective and pathologic immunity against human metapneumovirus infection
Matthew Kan, MD, PhD University of California, San Francisco Allergy/Immunology Targeted gene correction in Artemis-deficient Severe Combined Immunodeficiency Syndrome
Francis LeBlanc, MD, PhD Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center Hematology/Oncology The role of innate immune signaling in resistance to venetoclax-based treatment regimens in myeloid malignancies
Jacquelyn Lajiness, MD, PhD Indiana University Neonatology Maternal lipids regulate neonatal dendritic cells during development of allergic disease
Nina Prasanphanich, MD, PhD Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center Infectious Diseases Decidual natural killer cell response to placental infection
Steven Spurgin, MD University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center Cardiology Genesis of Pulmonary Arteriovenous Malformations after Diversion of Hepatic Venous Flow
Phillipp Hartmann, MD University of California, San Diego Gastroenterology Fungal Microbiome in Pediatric NAFLD/NASH
Imran Khan, MD, PhD University of California, San Francisco Neonatology Impaired myofibroblast proliferation drives pathologic alveolar simplification
Ben Macadangdang, MD, PhD University of California, Los Angeles Neonatology The role of diversity generating retroelements in creating genome plasticity within the gut microbiota
Glenn Rapsinski, MD, PhD UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh Infectious Diseases Evolution of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in the pediatric cystic fibrosis airway
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