In Sept. 2026, Heersink School of Medicine hosted its 2026 Dale J. Benos Medical Student Research Day. The annual event celebrates the research accomplishments of medical students and provides them with the opportunity to present their projects to fellow students and faculty. Medical students, faculty, and staff gather to view the poster session highlighting research from students enrolled in the M.D., M.D./MPH, M.D./MSPH, M.D./M.S., M.D./MBA, and M.D./Ph.D. programs.
Leadership in the Physician Scientist Development Office expressed their gratitude for the effort and passion the students placed in their research and posters this year. Finalists and category winners are listed below.
Anesthesiology
- Campbell Farr (1st Place)
- Alyssa Christian (2nd Place)
Cancer
- William Grogan (1st Place)
- Clarisse Nacilla (2nd Place)
- Logan Sheppard (2nd Place)
- Grace Brown (2nd Place)
Cardiovascular
- Ammar Rana (1st Place)
- Navaneeth Shibu (1st Place)
- Davies Kalange (2nd Place)
Emergency Medicine
- Samantha Garcia (1st Place)
- Shelby Gray (2nd Place)
Endocrine, Diabetes, & Metabolic Disease
- Anushka Patel (1st Place)
Genetics & Bioinformatics
- Meghan Hall (1st Place)
- Vinay Gupta (2nd Place)
Medical Education & Quality Improvement
- Jennifer Toral-Orduno (1st Place)
Neuroscience & the Brain
- Ananya Vadlakonda (1st Place)
Orthopedics
- Harrison Massie (1st Place)
- Peyton Hinojosa (1st Place)
- Noorullah Imran (2nd Place)
- Anjali Kurse (2nd Place)
- Ayona Roychowdhury (2nd Place)
Pathology
- Jack Alford (1st Place)
- Lily Kilgore (1st Place)
Pediatrics
- Ella Mann (1st Place)
- Wesley Bryant (2nd Place)
- Victoria Son (2nd Place)
Public Health Outcomes
- My-Linh Nguyen (1st Place)
- William Wyatt (2nd Place)
Renal/Nephrology
- Pierce Plumlee (1st Place)
- Savannah Walker (2nd Place)
- Branden Duyvestyn (2nd Place)
Surgery
- Hyunjin Kim (1st Place)
- Sarah Ali (1st Place)
- Kyle Hsu (2nd Place)
- Jacob Palmer (2nd Place)
Vision Sciences & Ophthalmology
- Gift Nnamdi (1st Place)
- Faris Abouchaleh (2nd Place)
Other
- Abbie Kleckley, Lexie Leggett, Rabab Meghani (1st Place)
- Carolyn Truong (1st Place)
- Caydn Campbell (1st Place)
- Hank Wang (1st Place)
- Isaiah Verde (1st Place)
- Shafkat Meraj (2nd Place)
- Sophia Ruckman (2nd Place)