Research Awards | Department of Internal Medicine | UC Davis Health

Research Awards

Recognizes faculty at the professor level for their distinguished contributions to research. Awardee is provided with a plaque and recognized at the department’s annual Academic Forum.

2024

Richard L. Kravitz, M.D., M.S.P.H., Professor, General Medicine and Bioethics 

Past Recipients

Recognizes faculty at the assistant and associate level for their distinguished contributions to research. Awardee is provided with a plaque and recognized at the department’s annual Academic Forum.

2024

Theresa H. Keegan, Ph.D., M.S., Professor, Hematology and Oncology

Past Recipients

John C. Rutledge, M.D.

Dr. John (Jack) Rutledge, M.D. was an outstanding cardiologist and physician scientist who dedicated 45 years of his life to a distinguished career in academic medicine contributing greatly to elevating the standing of the University. He held many leadership roles and served as The Department of Internal Medicine's Vice Chair for Research. He was admired by his colleagues for his many qualities including his intellect, creativity, and selflessness in advancing the careers of others having mentored over 70 health science trainees during his long and distinguished career including graduate students, residents, and fellows. The Trainee Research Award is named in his honor to acknowledge his remarkable legacy of dedication to mentoring and developing science trainees and early career faculty.  Awards are given for outstanding papers or manuscripts published, submitted, or in preparation during current academic year. 

Each awardee is presented with a $1,500 research award and plaque.  Each mentor is presented with a $500 research award. Awards are distributed at the department’s annual Academic Forum.  The award is intended to:

  • Recognize and reward trainees (residents, clinical fellows, graduate students, and postdoctoral scholars) for excellence in research
  • Encourage scientific academic careers
  • Attract research-oriented medical students to our residency program
  • Encourage trainees’ scholarship by pairing them with highly successful mentors
  • Increase departmental cohesion around trainee scholarship
  • Encourage philanthropic support from the community for our department’s academic mission because of our commitment to developing medical scientists

2024 Residents

Morgan Casper, M.D.
Mentor: Uma Srivatsa M.B.B.S., M.A.S., F.H.R.S.
"Mapping Ventricular Arrhythmogenic Substrates: Insights from Electroanatomic and Cardiac Magnetic Resonance in Ischemic and Non-Ischemic Cardiomyopathies"

Tahir Mahmood, M.D.
Mentor: Michael D. Shapiro, DO
"Effect of PCSK9 inhibition on plasma levels of small dense low density lipoprotein-cholesterol and 7-ketocholesterol"

Ayman Teeham Ullah, M.D.
Mentor: Jonathan Riess, M.D., M.S.
"Genomic Associations of Chemoimmunotherapy Outcomes in a Real-World Cohort of Small Cell Lung Cancer (SCLC) Patients"

2024 Clinical Fellows

Madhab Ray, M.D., M.S., M.B.A.
Mentor: Baback Roshanravan, M.D., M.S.P.H., M.S.
"Development and validation of a predictive model for the diagnosis of rheumatic heart disease in low-income countries based on two cross-sectional studies"

Aaron Tsumura, M.D.
Mentor: Joseph Tuscano, M.D.
"Checkpoint inhibition in hematologic malignancies"

Alex Zhornitskiy, M.D.
Mentor: Eric J. Mao, M.D.
"Epidemiology and Clinical Outcomes of Hospitalized Hispanic Patients with IBD: Results of a Large National Cohort Study"

2024 Postdocs and Graduate Students

Armin, Ahmadi
Mentor: Baback Roshanravan, M.D., M.S.P.H., M.S.
"Impaired incretin homeostasis in non-diabetic moderate-severe chronic kidney disease"

Nicholaus L. DeCuzzi
Mentor: Amir Zeki, M.D. and John Albeck, Ph.D.
"Spatiotemporal Clusters of ERK Activity Coordinate Cytokine-induced Inflammatory Responses in Human Airway Epithelial Cells"

Yang Zheng, Ph.D.
Mentor: Nipavan Chiamvimonvat, M.D.
"Acute PKA Modulation of the Cardiac Sodium Current is Mediated by 14-3-3"

Past Recipients

Awards are given for outstanding papers or manuscripts published, submitted, or in preparation during current academic year. Awardees are presented with a $250 monetary award and plaque at the department’s annual Academic Forum. The award is intended to:

  • Reward trainees (residents, clinical fellows, graduate students, and postdoctoral scholars) for excellence in diabetes research
  • Encourage trainee scholarship

2024

Grace LeBleu, MSc, RDN
Mentor: Fawaz G. Haj, Ph.D.
"Phospho-Proteomic Analysis of Insulin Signaling in Cultured  Podocytes Reveals Novel Signaling Networks Between PTP1B, TCPTP, and Shp2"

Saivageethi Nuthikattu, Ph.D.
Mentor: Amparo Villablanca, M.D.
"Single nuclei transcriptomics in diabetic mice reveals altered brain hippocampal endothelial cell function, permeability, and behavior."

Madhab Ray, M.D., M.S., M.B.A.
Mentor: Baback Roshanravan, M.D., M.S.P.H., M.S.
"Prevalence of diabetes mellitus in Calcutta schoolteachers and its relationship with cardiovascular risk as assessed by the ASCVD model"

Rahaf Shishani
Mentor: Bethany Cummings, D.V.M., Ph.D.
"Defining regulation of 14-3-3-eta expression by beta cell GLP1R signaling"

Nicolle K. Sweeney
Mentor: William M Ridgway, M.D.
"Reversal of T1D by agonistic anti-TLR4 antibody is mediated via TRIF/IRF3 signaling"

Past Recipients

Awards are given for outstanding proposals. Awardees receive $7,000 to support their project. 

  • Support and promote collaborative translational research with focus on infectious diseases and endocrinology
  • M.D. physician researcher investigators at all levels.   

2024

John C. Yoon, M.D., Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Endocrinology 
Title of Proposed Study: "Finding new approaches to harness brown fat activity for liver health"

Past Recipients