Congratulations to the Research Day 2025 Winners
Congratulations to the Research Day 2025 Winners
More than 125 posters were presented by medical, nursing, medical biotechnology and pharmacy students covering a wide array of impressive health sciences research.
Congratulations to all the award winners from Research Day 2025.
Excellence in Health Equity Research Award
Sponsored by: Rockford Campus Committee on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Winner: Adam Geibel
Poster: “Assessing the Food Environments of Dollars Stores in Rockford, Illinois”
Best Basic Science Research Poster Award
Sponsored by: Thermo Fisher Scientific
Winner: Sarvika Periyapalayam Murali
Poster: “Restoring Mitochondrial Balance in SPG11 Associated Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia: Fission-Fusion Dynamics and Lipid Metabolism”
Best Basic Science Research Poster Award
Sponsored by: Department of Biomedical Sciences
Winner: Avdhi Tripathi
Poster: “Targeted Drug Delivery for Prostate Cancer Treatment Using RAP-Decorated DHNA-Loaded Liposomes”
Best MBT Student Research Poster Award
Sponsored by: MBT Program
Winner: Sharmishthaa Gudetee Padmanaban
Poster: “Denatured Basal Lamina Targeted Liposomes for Cancer Drug-Delivery Application”
Best Student Technical Poster Basic Science
Sponsored by: Winnebago County Medical Society
Winner: James Jin, Dalton Rogers
Poster: “Role of SPHK2 in EGFR-TKI Resistance and Lung Cancer Tumorigenicity and Survival”
Best Student Technical Poster Clinical
Sponsored by: Winnebago County Medical Society
Winner: Janay Taylor
Poster: “Assessing the Health of Unhoused Individuals in Rockford, IL”
Best Use of Literature in a Student Research Project
Sponsored by: University of Illinois Chicago Crawford Library of Health Sciences
Winner: Amanda Bargiel
Poster: “Improving Diabetes Self-Management Using Mobile Application-Mediated Methods”
College of Pharmacy Outstanding Poster Award
Sponsored by: UIC College of Pharmacy
Winners: Bintou Timbine, Julia King
Poster: “Rural Guardians’ And Teachers’ Ability to Identify Mental Health Resources and Symptoms of Anxiety and Depression in Adolescents”
Dean’s Action Council Award
Sponsored by: Dean’s Action Council, University of Illinois College of Medicine Rockford
Winner: Subaranjana Saravanaguru Vasanthi
Poster: “Enhancing Awareness and Access to Low-Dose Computed Tomography Screening for Early Lung Cancer Detection in Rural and Minority Communities of Northern Illinois”
Innovation in Basic Science Research Award
Sponsored by: Office of the Regional Dean, University of Illinois College of Medicine Rockford
Winner: Gitika Thakur
Poster: “Therapeutic Potential of LXR Agonists for SPG3A: Rescuing Lipid Metabolism and Neuroinflammation in an iPSC Model”
Best Case Study Award
Sponsored by: UICOMR Office of Research
Winner: Amaan Chalisa
Poster: “Eculizumab as a Desensitization Protocol for ABO-I Living Donor Liver Transplant: A Series of Four Cases”
James Scholar Award
Sponsored by: Rockford Gastroenterology Associates, Ltd and the James Scholar Committee
Winner: Mathew Jeffers
Poster: “Toxicity Risk from CoCrMo Particles: The Impact of Dynamic Flow Rate on Neuronal Cells in Microfluidic Systems”
NCRHP Poster Award for Encouraging Excellence in Rural Health
Sponsored by: National Center for Rural Health Professions
Winner: Luke Sieving
Poster: “Postpartum Mental Health Screening and Diagnoses in Rural Communities”
Sister Mary Linus Nowak Research Award
Sponsored by: Saint Anthony College of Nursing
Winner: Lindsay Bennett
Poster: “Algorithm for Postpartum Depression Screening in Pediatric Primary Care”
Research Mentoring Program-Rockford (RMPR) Award (First Place)
Sponsored by: University of Illinois College of Medicine Rockford-Office of Research
Winner: Zhenyu Chen
Poster: “Construction of Dual-Fluorescent Reporter Stem Cell Lines to Study Human Cortical Motor Neuron Development with 3D Cultures”
Research Mentoring Program-Rockford (RMPR) Award (Second Place)
Sponsored by: University of Illinois College of Medicine Rockford-Office of Research
Winner: Emily Orr
Poster: “Development and Implementation of the Research Fundamentals Seminar Series for 1st and 2nd Year Medical Students”
Best Rockford Research Mentoring Program Mentor Award
Sponsored by: University of Illinois College of Medicine Rockford – Office of Research
Winner: Manu Khare
Best Innovative Project Award (First Place)
Sponsored by: Office of Technology Management (OTM) – University of Illinois Chicago
Winner: Sarvika Periyapalayam Murali
Poster: “Restoring Mitochondrial Balance in SPG11 Associated Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia: Fission-Fusion Dynamics and Lipid Metabolism”
Best Innovative Project Award (Second Place)
Sponsored by: Office of Technology Management (OTM) – University of Illinois Chicago
Winner: Sucheta Rajaraman
Poster: “Expression, Purification, and Evaluation of a Novel Tetravalent Vaccine Against Heartworm Infection”
Best Innovative Project Award (Third Place)
Sponsored by: Office of Technology Management (OTM) – University of Illinois Chicago
Winner: Sharmishthaa Gudetee Padmanaban
Poster: “Denatured Basal Lamina Targeted Liposomes for Cancer Drug-Delivery Application”