The future of medicine is shaped not only by the diligent practice of today’s clinicians, but also by the innovative research efforts of tomorrow's leaders. Each year, the AMA Research Challenge seeks to combine curiosity, collaboration and creativity with rigorous inquiry and ethical integrity to push medicine forward and answer unmet needs.
The nation’s largest multispecialty research event invites medical students, residents, fellows, and international medical graduates to showcase their groundbreaking work. Research abstracts for the 2026 AMA Research Challenge are being accepted through July 16. Submission guidelines, eligibility criteria and additional information can be found here.
Elevating science through competition
More than 1,400 abstracts were submitted last year across the AMA Research Challenge’s six topics: clinical and translational research, basic science, medical education, public health and health policy, health systems science, and clinical vignettes. The diversity and quality of those entries reflect the growing sophistication of the medical community and our dedication to improving patient outcomes.
The 2025 AMA Research Challenge awarded its $10,000 prize, presented by Laurel Road, to Addison Shenk, a fourth-year medical student at Edward Via Virginia College of Osteopathic Medicine. Her project, “Hands-On Naloxone Training: Advancing Curriculum and Assessment Through Simulated Manikins Learning” (PDF), developed a curriculum designed to equip medical students with the critical skills needed to distinguish between opioid and nonopioid overdoses.
Shenk and her team enhanced traditional, lecture-based naloxone training by incorporating simulation with Wi-Fi-enabled manikins that were programmed to display various overdose symptoms. This type of hands-on approach better prepares physicians for drug-related emergencies—an urgent need as more than 75,000 Americans succumb annually to overdoses, largely driven by illicit fentanyl.
Virginia, where Shenk studies, reported 2,463 overdose deaths in 2023, with the vast majority linked to opioids. Such statistics underscore the importance of Shenk’s work and demonstrate how medical research can directly impact pressing public health concerns. Shenk’s project not only improved training at her institution, but also serves as a blueprint for other schools to adopt experiential learning methods to combat the opioid crisis.
Finalists drive medical progress
The 2025 AMA Research Challenge Finals celebrated exceptional research across diverse fields. The finalists included:
- Bijoya Basu, a student at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, who investigated an adipose-to-brain signaling pathway for treating anxiety disorders.
- Tiffany Bellomo, MD, a vascular surgery resident at Massachusetts General Hospital, who explored lipoprotein(a) as a prognostic marker of atherosclerotic vascular disease progression.
- Karishma Popli, MD, MBE, chief resident of adult neurology at John Hopkins University School of Medicine, who focused on developing and evaluating a novel neuropalliative care education curriculum.
- Anthony Wong, a student at the Carle Illinois College of Medicine at the University of Illinois, who studied an accelerated pathway for next-generation therapeutics for diabetes and obesity.
The common thread of these projects is the commitment to translating complex science into accessible, actionable solutions that elevate patient care across specialties and settings. The dedication, creativity, and skill demonstrated by these finalists and our winner remind us that excellence in medicine flourishes when inquiry and compassion go hand in hand.
Your opportunity to inspire change
I invite all eligible researchers to join us in advancing medicine through this year’s AMA Research Challenge. Whether your interest encompasses disease mechanisms, health systems science, medical education, or pressing public health issues, your insights can shape tomorrow’s standards of care. Submitting an abstract offers not only the possibility of a $10,000 prize, but also an opportunity to expand your work’s reach, strengthen your CV, and gain national recognition.
Every medical breakthrough starts with a question, followed by dogged determination to tackle unmet needs and improve an untold number of lives. The work of our finalists and winner demonstrate how fresh perspectives and innovative methods can transform health care training and delivery.
Together, we can advance the future of medical research through innovation, determination and drive.
