MD Students Shine at Soma Weiss Research Day

83rd annual HMS gathering highlights student research

By BOBBIE COLLINS Research Education

3 min read

Nearly 60 HMS medical students shared their research during the poster session at Soma Weiss Student Research Day.

“It is absolutely a joy for me to welcome you to the 83 annual — and the first-in-three years in-person — Soma Weiss Research Day,” said Harvard Medical School Dean for Medical Education Edward Hundert, as he welcomed students to this year’s event.

Held online between 2020 – 2022 because of the coronavirus pandemic, this year’s Soma Weiss Day brought together nearly 60 MD students to once again present their research projects in person in the Tosteson Medical Center atrium.

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The pandemic hiatus did not break the now eight-decade streak of holding the event dedicated to highlighting student research at HMS. The first research day, which was organized in 1940 by a five-member faculty committee that included Soma Weiss, was renamed to honor Weiss after his death in 1942.

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“Soma Weiss, for whom this was named, was not just a leading researcher, clinician, and role model, he was a beloved teacher and mentor to HMS students,” said Hundert.

“I think student research really sharpens the thinking of the individual student and challenges them to think creatively,” said Myron Belfer, HMS professor of psychiatry at Boston Children’s Hospital and one of the poster judges. “And the rigor of doing research is good discipline for the students.”

Connecting with patients through research

HMS student Amina Ziad has been studying a long-term, painful dermatological condition called hidradenitis suppurativa that affects three times as many women as men, and disproportionately affects women of color.
“For me the best part of doing this research was really being able to connect with patients,” said Ziad. “The human connection is what grounds me in medicine, in doing research.”

Focusing on home-hospital care-giving models, HMS student Carson Moss studies how they can affect patient care and caregiver burden.

“It’s a spot that touches close to home for me, growing up with ill family members and seeing my family members provide care,” he said.

“This is something I keep in mind when I’m seeing patients and their caregivers in the hospital,” Moss said. “This research has inspired me and keeps me excited about medicine, new findings, and caring for patients.”

Family connections

A special Soma Weiss Research Day tradition has also been that some of Weiss’s family members often attend the gathering.

“I am really thrilled we have his [Weiss’s] daughter-in-law, Joyce DeBona, Zooming in. She’s come here almost every year — but she’s in Florida this year,” said Hundert.

“I want to say on behalf of the family, we appreciate organizing such a great event,” DeBona said via Zoom. “It’s always been a special tribute to my father-in-law and my late husband. Thank you very much.”

The full list of student presenters and awards for this year follows.

2023 Soma Weiss Student Research Day presenters

Janice Chung presented “Transcriptome Profiles of The Inner Ear in States of Synaptopathy and Regeneration”

Jett Crowdis presented “Genetic Interactions and Pathogenic Mechanisms in a Murine Model of Immune-Related Adverse Events”

Kushal Kadakia presented “Use of Recalled Devices in New Device Authorizations under the US Food and Drug Administration’s 510(k) Pathway and Risk of Subsequent Recalls”

Catherina Pan presented “Histopathological Predictors of Immune-Related Adverse Events among Patients with Melanoma Treated with Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors”

2023 Martin Prince Award

Bryce Starr, “Characterizing Hemodynamics of Soft, Bileaflet Prosthetic Venous Valves for Caval Valve Implantation”

2023 Soma Weiss Student Research Day poster award winners

Elizabeth D. Hay Prize for Basic Science Research

Janice Chung, “Transcriptome Profiles of the Inner Ear in States of Synaptopathy and Regeneration”

Runner up: Akansha Tarun, “A(SXL1) to Z(BTB33): How clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential (CHIP) mutations alter genomic expression in hematopoietic cells, particularly of the myeloid lineage”

Judah Folkman Prize for Clinical/Translational Science Research

Grace Baldwin, “Evaluating the Association of Wide-field Swept Source Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography with Visual Function in Common Retinal Vascular Diseases”

Runner up: Sumita Strander, “NeuroCARE: A Randomized Controlled Trial Evaluating the Efficacy of a Supportive Care Intervention for Caregivers of Patients with Primary Malignant Brain Tumors”

Charles Janeway Prize for International Research or Service

Rachel Wittenberg, “In-hospital mortality and major infection are low and improved in the past decade in a large global cohort of children and adolescents undergoing atrial septal defect closure in lower-resource settings”

Leon Eisenberg Prize for Medicine in Society Research

Katherine Rich, “Projected impact of improving HIV care on life expectancy among Black and white men who have sex with men”

Runner up: Kushal Kadakia, “Use of Recalled Devices in New Device Authorizations Under the US Food and Drug Administration’s 510(k) Pathway and Risk of Subsequent Recalls”