The 17th Annual Child Health Research Day, held at The Mount Sinai Hospital campus on Thursday, April 16, highlighted outstanding research in child health by Mount Sinai students, housestaff, clinical and research postdoctoral fellows, research staff, social workers, nurses, and junior faculty.
The event, sponsored by the Jack and Lucy Clark Department of Pediatrics and The Mindich Child Health and Development Institute, provided a unique opportunity for young investigators to share the results of their research with colleagues and identify potential areas for future collaboration. This year, 82 research projects were submitted for presentation. Eight projects were selected for oral presentations during a morning plenary session, and the rest were presented by the authors in poster format.
Joel N. Hirschhorn, MD, PhD, son of the former Chair of Pediatrics, Kurt Hirschhorn, MD, delivered the Dr. Howard Rappaport Memorial Grand Rounds Lecture, “Human Height and Weight: From Genetics to Biology.” Dr. Hirschhorn is Concordia Professor of Pediatrics, and Genetics, Harvard Medical School; Director, Center for Basic and Translational Obesity Research, Boston Children’s Hospital; and Senior Associate Member, Broad Institute.
The plenary presenters were: Ana Belen Blazquez, PhD; Thomas W. Church, research assistant; David Dunkin, MD; Maya Kappil, PhD, postdoctoral fellow; Yu Kevin Liu, PhD, postdoctoral fellow; Siri Sastry and Meryam Shikara, both Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai medical students; and Annemarie Stroustrup, MD, MPH.
Six poster presenters were selected for special recognition: Kelly Brunst, PhD, postdoctoral fellow, and Megan Horton, PhD, MPH, for population-based research; Nelson Rodriguez, medical student, and Nataly Shtraizent, PhD, postdoctoral fellow, for basic science research; and Doerthe Andreae, MD, PhD, and Brian Cohen, medical student, for clinical research.