Discovery Day (Research Day)
Discovery Day 2025
Thursday, November 6
Thank you to everyone who joined us at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Center City for our annual day of research!
Doctoral and master's students, medical students, MD/PhD students, undergraduate, residents, clinical fellows and postdoctoral trainees from the Drexel University College of Medicine community presented their research, featuring posters and platform presentations on biomedical science and clinical research topics.
Discovery Day 2025 Winners
Presentations were judged for awards across several categories.
Bondi Fellowship Recipient
- Deepa Reddy, Pharmacology & Physiology PhD candidate | Mentor: Seena Ajit, PhD
Barry Waterhouse Outstanding Platform Presentation
- 1st Place – Mariah Wulf, Neuroscience
Targeting the Potassium-Chloride Cotransporter, KCC2, to Improve Cardiovascular and Immune Function After Spinal Cord Injury | Mentor: Veronica Tom, PhD
- 2nd Place – Lindsay Barger, Microbiology & Immunology
The Immune Landscape of Melanoma in People Living With HIV (PLWH) | Mentor: Gabriele Romano, PhD
Outstanding Junior Graduate Student Poster
- 1st Place – Amanda Modica, Microbiology & Immunology
Impact of Antidepressants on HIV Infection Dynamics in Peripheral and Central Myeloid Cells
Mentor: Stephanie Matt, PhD
- 2nd Place – Christina Nelson, Neuroscience
- 3rd Place (tie) – Alexander Osidach, Biomedical Engineering
- 3rd Place (tie) – Sharada Saraf, MD/PhD, Microbiology & Immunology
- Honorable Mention – Allie Bradley, Molecular & Cell Biology & Genetics
- Honorable Mention – Chantal Kontor, Cancer Biology
- Honorable Mention – Kylie Volksdorf, Neuroscience
Outstanding Senior Graduate Student Poster
- 1st Place – Isaac Turkson, Pharmacology & Physiology
Macrophage Derived Small Extracellular Vesicles as Epigenetic Modulators of Pain Chronification
Mentor: Seena Ajit, PhD
- 2nd Place – Dayani Pillai, Neuroscience
- 3rd Place – Oluwatofunmi Oteju, Pharmacology & Physiology
- Honorable Mention – Felicity Tso, Microbiology & Immunology
- Honorable Mention – Sophie Cohen, Neuroscience
- Honorable Mention – Arden Edgerton, Microbiology & Immunology
- Honorable Mention – Elizabeth D'Lauro, Biochemistry of Health & Disease
Outstanding Postdoctoral Fellows Poster
- 1st Place (tie) – Cheikh Cambel Dieng, Microbiology & Immunology
- 1st Place (tie) – Jill Lawrence, Microbiology & Immunology
Medical Student Award for Bench Research
- 1st Place – Etinosa Osagie
- 2nd Place – Dante Freeman
- 3rd Place – Jane Zheng
- Honorable Mention – Alexander Zhang
- Honorable Mention – Jacob Brocious
Medical Student Award for Case Studies and Clinical Vignettes
- 1st Place –Medha Gupta
- 2nd Place – Dmytro Iovenko
- 3rd Place – Sancia Noriega
- Honorable Mention – Elizabeth Gammer
- Honorable Mention – Mansi Patel
- Honorable Mention – Vasavi Peruru
- Honorable Mention – Julian Rupkey
Medical Student Award for Community Service and Educational Research
- 1st Place – Julia Teymouri
- 2nd Place – Diego Compte
- 3rd Place – Caitlin Cross
- Honorable Mention – Jesse Howard
- Honorable Mention – Yash Verma
Medical Student Award for Clinical Research and Epidemiology
- 1st Place – Nikki Rimlinger
- 2nd Place – Jessica Dalkiran
- 3rd Place – Andrew Yun
- Honorable Mention – Kacie Wheeler
Outstanding Clinical Resident/Fellow Poster – Research
- 1st Place – Karan Bamb
- 2nd Place – Hannah Molk
Outstanding Undergraduate Poster
- 1st Place – Jaden Drumm, Pharmacology & Physiology
- 2nd Place – Alexia Badoiu, Biomedical Engineering
- 3rd Place – Nishi Vyas, Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
- Honorable Mention – Faith Clark, Pharmacology & Physiology
- Honorable Mention – Anna Pfeffer, Microbiology & Immunology
Discovery Day 2025: 400-Plus Abstracts Showcased Online
Discovery Day is fast approaching on Thursday, November 6, 2025, and again this year, the research showcase is available to attendees through the virtual platform Fourwaves. Registrants can access the full collection of posters and abstracts on the day of the event.
Serving as the virtual hub for Discovery Day 2025, Fourwaves has over 400 posters available online, representing a wide range of disciplines from clinical research and translational science to public health and medical education. The robust research posted was conducted by students, trainees, residents and fellows across the College of Medicine.
A common theme within this year’s abstracts is the utilization of TriNetX, a data platform that allows researchers to securely access and analyze clinical data. This year, 87 abstracts highlight research that employed TriNetX, reflecting the increasing integration of data-driven approaches in medical research at the College.
The Fourwaves interface allows users to seamlessly browse posters by topic, author or keyword, and engage with presenters through comments and questions. This virtual platform is a great way for attendees to connect and collaborate with the College’s research community and engage with research that they may not have seen otherwise.
Whether you are a student, mentor, alum, judge or attendee, Fourwaves offers a comprehensive and interactive experience to discover the scientific contributions of the College of Medicine community. Visit the Discovery Day Fourwaves site and immerse yourself in the cutting-edge research shaping the future of clinical, translational and biomedical sciences.
For many years, Hahnemann University held Grad School Day, an opportunity for biomedical graduate students to share their research with their peers. Elizabeth Blankenhorn, PhD, professor of microbiology and immunology, has fond memories of the event’s earlier days, which included a day of graduate student research presentations at Hahnemann University followed by an elegant evening celebration at the Franklin Institute. She describes Grad School Day as “a grand tradition.” Read more.
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