Awards Given at Annual Diabetes Research Retreat

The Cincinnati Diabetes and Obesity Center hosted its annual research retreat Monday, May 20. Five early investigators were selected to present on their research during the day-long event. They were:

• Kirk Habegger, PhD, internal medicine
• Jonathan Howell, MD, PhD, pediatrics, Cincinnati Children’s
• Laurie Nommsen-Rivers, PhD, pediatrics, Cincinnati Children’s
• Karen Ryan, PhD, internal medicine
• Yvonne Ulrich-Lai, PhD, psychiatry and behavioral neuroscience

Early investigator bios

Additional awards from the retreat included:

Best Clinical Poster Award
Pranati Jha, MD, clinical fellow at Cincinnati Children’s
Title: Low serum Vitamin D levels are associated with increased arterial stiffness in youth

Best Basic Science Poster
Daniel Giles, PhD, second-year graduate student, UC and Cincinnati Children’s
Title: Better mouse models of disease: Role of thermoneutrality in NAFLD development and progression

Best Basic Science Poster
Sandy Rebholz, research assistant, UC
Title: Multiparity-induced inflammation and obesity

Best Basic Science Poster
Bhushan Kulkarni, MBBS, PhD, fellow, UC
Title: Mini vertical sleeve gastrectomies suggest role of rapid gastric emptying in weight loss following bariatric surgery

Postdoctoral Career Development Award
Joram Mul, PhD, postdoc, UC
Title: Loss of melanocortin- 4 receptor function potentiates metabolic responses to a PPARy agonist

New to this year’s event was an artwork competition. Winners were:

• First Place: "What governs the day,” by Maher Al-Samkari, MD, endocrinology fellow
• Second Place: "Pate’ de foie gras,” by Mike Haas, research assistant