Keerthi S. Anand, Emily Fennell, and Brittany Rickard represented the UNC School of Medicine in award-winning research on ischemic stroke, breast, and ovarian cancer.
The Graduate Impact Awards are designed to recognize the importance of graduate student research and contributions to North Carolina in the areas of educational, economic, physical, social, and cultural well-being.all 11 winnersTheir research interests range from mudflat sediment to childhood obesity and represent the graduate students and their dedication to improving the lives of the people of North Carolina.
Graduate students and recent graduates apply for annual awards and are nominated by the department. The Impact Awards are Graduate Education Advancing Board (GEAB)This year, students from over 15 programs applied for the award. Three of his honorees this year are from his UNC medical school.
Keerti S. Anand PhD Candidate Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering at UNC-Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University He received an Impact Award for his project “High Frame Rate Carotid Plaque Imaging with Simultaneous Assessment of Blood Flow and Wall Shear Stress to Predict Stroke Risk”.
Anand’s research focuses on ischemic stroke, which affects nearly 300,000 North Carolina people each year. He is developing a rapid, real-time and feasible non-invasive method of imaging his ultrasound plaques. Ultimately, the study hopes to better predict stroke risk and reduce the number of unnecessary surgeries.
Emily Fennell PhD student Department of Pharmacology Received Impact Award for her project at UNC School of Medicine “Multi-omics analysis of pharmacological ClpP activation in triple-negative breast cancer cells.
Fennell’s research focuses on breast cancer, the leading cause of new cancer diagnoses in women. Triple-negative breast cancer is considered the most aggressive breast cancer subtype and requires more effective treatments. A drug, ONC201, was identified in a chemical screen as a promising new anticancer therapeutic. Fennell’s research could be used to develop combination therapies that improve overall treatment efficacy.
Brittany Ricardo PhD Candidate Toxicology and Environmental Medicine Curriculum UNC School of Medicine Wins Impact Award for Her Project “Understand the mechanism by which perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contribute to platinum resistance in ovarian cancer. ”
Rickard’s research focuses on ovarian cancer patients who have a high mortality rate due to resistance to chemotherapy. Environmental contaminants called perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contaminate drinking water throughout North Carolina. Her research found that PFAS could increase ovarian cancer cell proliferation and induce resistance to chemotherapy. Findings from her study support her PFAS testing of ovarian cancer patients to identify those more likely to become chemotherapy-resistant and to identify better treatment options. increase.
The full list of this year’s Impact Award winners is available here.
