2005 Award Winners

WSMRF 2010 Award Winners

It is a great pleasure to publish the prizes presented to participants of the 2010 Western Student Medical Research Forum held January 28-January 30, 2010. Congratulations to all!

Selected by faculty abstract reviewers of the participating medical societies for highest ranking abstracts are the:

WAFMR/WSCI E.E. Osgood Award: Jayaji More, Stanford University

WAFMR/WSCI/WSPR Outstanding Resident Award: Patricia Liao, University of California San Diego

WSPR Lowell Glasgow Student Research Award: Rafeek Woods, Loma Linda University

WSPR Subspecialty Award: Lindsey Sheffler, University of California, Davis

WSPR Subspecialty Award: Daniel Hunt, Loma Linda University

WSPR Subspecialty Award: Kristina Gulliver, University of Utah

WSPR Subspecialty Award: Lauren Sanchez, University of California, Los Angeles

WSPR Subspecialty Award: Cierra Blair, University of Utah

WSPR Subspecialty Award: Nebil Mohammed, University of California, Berkeley

WSPR Subspecialty Award: Niklas Krumm, University of Washington

WSPR Subspecialty Award: Guy Jensen, University of Washington

WAFMR/WSCI Subspecialty Award: Richard Chiu, Stanford University

WAFMR/WSCI Subspecialty Award: James Kuo, University of Washington

WAFMR/WSCI Subspecialty Award: Anthony Edwards, University of Colorado

WAFMR/WSCI Subspecialty Award: Daniel Fang, University of California, San Diego

WAFMR/WSCI Subspecialty Award: Brandon Peterson, University of New Mexico

WAFMR/WSCI Subspecialty Award: Olivia Twu, University of California, Los Angeles

WAFMR/WSCI Subspecialty Award: Yusha Liu, University of Washington

WAFMR/WSCI Subspecialty Award: Liana Nikolaenko, St. George's University

WAFMR/WSCI Subspecialty Award: Karen Yan, Stanford University

WAFMR/WSCI Subspecialty Award: Benjamin Waterman, University of California, Los Angeles

WAFMR/WSCI Subspecialty Award: Patrick Evers, University of California, Los Angeles

WAFMR/WSCI Subspecialty Award: Julia Wiedmeier, University of Utah:

WAFMR/WSCI Subspecialty Award: Dan Savage, University of California, Los Angeles

WAFMR/WSCI Subspecialty Award: Omeed Elboudwarej, University of California, Los Angeles

The top five Western Student Medical Research Forum oral presentation awards will be determined during the 2010 meeting and announced at the Awards Banquet held Saturday, January 30, 2010:

Klea D. Bertakis Award: Mariam Totonchy, University of California, Los Angeles

Dionesia P. Bertakis Award: Kathleen Wachtler, University of Washington

Gale Hansen Starich Award: John Kah, University of Washington

Claude K. Lardinois, M.D. Award: Brandon Ishaque, University of California, Los Angeles

Clifford C. Lardinois, Sr. Award: Cynthia He, Stanford University

The awards are named in recognition of the incredible contribution and foresight these individuals have had in the development and support of student research over the last three decades. WSMRF participants were judged on presentation, PowerPoint quality, clarity, style of delivery, and response to questions.

The Sergio Huerta, M.D. Award for best case presentation in the Residents' Forum:

Heather Fremgen, M.D., University of Utah

Dr. Sergio Huerta founded the Residents' Forum and served as its Chair for its first five years.

Honorable Mention:

Arshad Jiffry, Loma Linda University

Laura Chng, University of British Columbia

Lidya Wlasiuk, University of California, Davis

Karan Grewal, University of British Columbia

About our awards...

KLEA D. BERTAKIS, M.D., M.P.H.: Dr. Bertakis received her B.S. from University of California, Davis, seeking her M.D. at University of Utah while finishing her M.P.H. at the University of California, Berkeley. She completed her residency in Family Medicine at the University of Utah, and joined the faculty of the University of California, Davis shortly thereafter. She currently serves as Professor and Chair of Family and Community Medicine at the University of California, Davis. Dr. Bertakis was a student presenter at multiple Western Student Medical Research Forums, and served as an officer. She has also presented the keynote address at the WSMRF Awards Banquet, along with multiple papers at the American Federation for Medical Research meetings held in conjunction. It was through her enthusiasm and efforts that her mother, Dionesia P. Bertakis, became interested in serving and expanding the WSMRF by becoming its first Executive Director.

DIONESIA P. BERTAKIS: Mrs. Bertakis was the founding Executive Director of the WSMRF, and mother of Dr. Klea D. Bertakis. Through her incredible contributions and foresight, the WSMRF was developed to support and foster student research over the last quarter century. Mrs. Bertakis was a fixture in Carmel, growing the WSMRF from its humble start (12 student presenters) to over a 100 students at the time of her retirement. She was very well known for her advocacy for students, not to mention her early morning breakfast meetings! She was a ball of energy that inspired so many! All of us who advance medicine through research owe people like Mrs. Bertakis a tremendous debt of gratitude, for they have provided shoulders on which to stand to peer over the fence of scientific discovery!

GALE HANSEN STARICH, Ph.D.: Dr. Starich became the Executive Director of the WSMRF in 1992 under the tutelage of Dionesia Bertakis. At the time, she was an Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine at the University of Nevada School of Medicine. During her 11 years of service, Dr. Starich tripled the size of the WSMRF, which is now the largest student research forum in the United States, expanded the Student Oral Sessions, and broadened the participation of institutions. With Sergio Huerta, she also founded the Residents Forum and strengthened ties with both the professional societies attending the Carmel Meeting and the American Medical Association Foundation. Award winners at the WSMRF now routinely attend the National Student Research Forum, and continue to publish their abstracts in the Journal of Investigative Medicine. Dr. Starich now resides in Gainesville, GA, and serves as Dean of the School of Health & Science and Professor of Biochemistry at Brenau University.

CLIFFORD C. LARDINOIS, SR.: This award was established by Claude K. Lardinois, M.D., past Faculty Advisor and long-time supporter of the WSMRF, in memory of his father. His father was a prominent biochemist and researcher. Dr. Lardinois served the WSMRF for 12 years, and before that, brought his research students to present in Carmel for many years. He began attending the Carmel meetings as an Endocrine Fellow at Stanford University with Gerald Reaven, M.D. Upon joining the faculty of the University of Nevada School of Medicine Department of Internal Medicine, he joined the research group of Drs. Ernest Mazzaferri and Gale Hansen Starich. Dr. Lardinois was well known for his intensity, especially when reviewing posters, which he would read, then interrogate hapless students! His rich sense of humor and fun-loving nature added to both the growth and the quality of student presentations at the WSMRF immensely. He remains as Professor of Internal Medicine at the University of Nevada School of Medicine, Division of Endocrinology.

CLAUDE K. LARDINOIS. M.D. This award was established by Dr. Lardinois in his own name and he continues to support both this award and that for his father to recognize excellence in student research.

SERGIO HUERTA, M.D. Award for Best Case Presentation in the Residents’ Forum

Dr. Huerta began attending WSMRF at the invitation of his mentor, Dr. Edward Livingston at the UCLA School of Medicine following his summer project. He continued to work with his mentor and attended WSMRF as the student representative from UCLA until he received his M.D. degree. Noting the absence of resident participation and case studies, Dr. Huerta founded the Residents’ Forum and served as its Chair for its first five years. He established this award and continues to support the achievements of outstanding residents.