AMA Foundation announces Seed Grant Research recipients

CHICAGO - The American Medical Association (AMA) Foundation announced today the 47 recipients of the 2008 Seed Grant Research Program. Established in 2001, the program provides $2,500 grants to medical students, physician residents and fellows to conduct basic science, applied, or clinical research projects. This year's grant winners are conducting research in the following five categories:

• Cardiovascular/pulmonary diseases
• HIV/AIDS
• Leukemia
• Neoplastic diseases
• Secondhand smoke

"We are excited to be able to help young physician investigators with their research endeavors," said AMA Foundation President Barbara Rockett, MD. "The AMA Foundation is committed to supporting the discoveries and professional development of scientists at the start of their careers."

This year's program is partially supported by the Flight Attendant Medical Research Institute (FAMRI). FAMRI is specifically supporting the seed grants for research on the health effects of second-hand smoke. The 2008 Seed Grant Research Program recipients are:

• Kalil Abdullah, Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio.
• Amir Aghajanian, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, N.C.
• Vance Albaugh, Penn State University College of Medicine, Hershey, Pa.Harty Ashby-Richardson, DO, Tufts-New England Medical Center, Boston, Mass.
• Timothy Carroll, MD, Children's Medical Center Dallas, Dallas, Texas.
• Mark Chao, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, Calif.
• Laura Cheney, Stony Brook University School of Medicine, Stony Brook, N.Y.
• Michael Choma, MD, Children's Hospital Boston, Boston, Mass.
• Alexis Dougherty, University of Texas Medical School at Houston, Houston, Texas.
• Eric Duncavage, MD, Washington University, St. Louis, Mo.
• Michael Galvez, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, Calif.
• Rebecca Gilbride, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, Ark.
• Michael Hall, MD, University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson, Miss.
• Whitney Harrington, University of Washington, Seattle, Wash.
• Melissa Hogg, MD, McGaw Medical Center of Northwestern University, Chicago, Ill.
• Andrew Hsu, MD, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, Calif.
• Pooya Iranpour, University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas.
• Matlock Jeffries, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, Okla.
• Maziyar Kalani, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, Calif.
• Charles Kanaly, MD, Duke University, Durham, N.C.
• Joseph LaConti, Georgetown University School of Medicine, Washington, D.C.
• Clarence Lin, New York University School of Medicine, New York, N.Y.
• Abner Louissaint, Jr., MD, PhD, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Mass.
• Gerald Morris, MD PhD, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Mo.
• Jeffrey Nowak, MD, Cincinnati Children's Memorial Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio.
• Melanie Ochalski, MD, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, Pa.
• Mark O'Hara, Stony Brook University School of Medicine, Stony Brook, N.Y.
• Sumanta Pal, MD, City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center, Duarte, Calif.
• Daniel Pietras, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio.
• Rebecca Pomerantz, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pa.
• Yawar Qadri, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Ala.
• Alexander Sailon, New York University Medical Center, New York, N.Y.
• Mark Santillan, MD, University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, Iowa City, Iowa
• Erin Schmidt, Loma Linda University, Loma Linda, Calif.
• Nikolai Sopko, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio.
• Hong Tieu, MD, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, N.Y.
• Vinit Varu, MD, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Ill.
• Jeffrey Velotta, MD, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, Calif.
• Kellie Vigna, University of Washington, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, Wash.
• Elaine Wan, MD, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, N.Y.
• Jiping Wang, MD, PhD, State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, N.Y.
• Judy Wang, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, N.Y.
• Shaun Wason, MD, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Lebanon, N.H.
• Eric Weiss, MD, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Md.
• Risheng Xu, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Md.
• Joannie Yeh, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, Ill.
• Anna Yusim, MD, New York University Medical Center, New York, N.Y.

The Seed Grant Research Program was established to encourage more medical students, residents and fellows to enter the field of research.

As the philanthropic arm of the American Medical Association, the AMA Foundation supports a broad range of programs in medical education, research, and public health. For more information, please visit the AMA Foundation Web site or call (312) 464-4200.

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For more information, please contact:

Leah Dudowicz
AMA Media Relations
(312) 464-4813