Summer Research Program Abstracts
Summer Research Program abstracts from 2026-current.
If you are a McGovern Medical School at UTHealth first-year medical student, you can gain hands-on laboratory experience under the supervision of a faculty sponsor during the summer between your first and second year of medical school.
As a summer research program student, you will be guided by your faculty mentor on a research project over 10 weeks. Students are expected to work 40 hours weekly on their research in their selected faculty mentor’s laboratory. At the conclusion of the program, you will submit an abstract of your research. Your mentor will also help you develop a poster that must be presented at the annual Research Forum held in the fall.
Submissions from 2026
Sociodemographic and Clinical Factors in NMOSD and MOGAD: Disability, Psychiatric Burden, and Disparities, Neha S. Patil
Staging the Stagers: Clinicians vs. Large Language Models in Head and Neck Cancer Staging, Samantha R. Brown
Streamlining Pediatric Appendicitis Evaluation in the Emergency Department, Joan C. Bruce, Douglas J. Fox, Owen N. Ferriola, et al.
Strength on Wheels Improves Exercise Motivation in Homebound Older Adults, Supraja Kadagandla
Surface Imprinting to Enhance Antibiotic Elution of Bone Cement Spacers Abstract, David Tran
Synergistic Impact of a Colorectal Bundle on Surgical Site Infections in Children, Allen J. Huang, Nicholas A. Long, Owen N. Ferriola, et al.
“Tell YOUR Story”: Storytelling to Enhance Mental Health and Social Connection in Older Adults, Faith O. Folorunso
The Antibacterial Properties of the Infrapatellar Fat Pad Organ, Mark A. Coggins
The Cost of Helping Hand: Lost Revenue on Overnight Hand Call, Tia Taylor
The Effects of C-arm Positioning on the Accuracy of Acetabular Reorientation in a Periacetabular Osteotomy Surgical Model, Cameron S. Baller
The Hemostatic Properties of Green Plasma, David J. Sun
The Impact of Narrative Interventions on Cognitive and Emotional Well-Being in Elders, Jasmine N. White
The Impact of Sex Hormones on Heritable Thoracic Aortic Disease: A Montalcino Aortic Consortium Study, Catherine E. Wilson
The Impact of Social Determinants of Health on Length of Stay for Neonates Discharged with Feeding Support from the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), Claire C. Hockett
The Relationship Between Anaphylatoxin Receptors, T Cell Polarization, and Vascular Inflammaging, Kathryn D. Hok
The Relationship Between Functional Measures and Patient Reported Outcomes in Adult Spine Patients, River M. Tomlinson, Eric Klineberg, Jacob Jelmini, et al.
The role of the hs1582 enhancer in the regulation of SPRY1 in human neural crest cells, Maia Williams and Vershanna E Morris
Thinking Out Loud: Distinguishing Overt, Mimed, and Covert Speech Using Stereo-Electroencephalography for Brain-Computer Interfaces, Hasan K. Mubarak
Timing of Kangaroo Care and Neurodevelopmental Outcomes in Extremely Preterm Infants, Sarah G. Eknoyan
Too Many Hands on Deck: Assessing the Appropriateness of Hand Surgery Transfers to the Texas Medical Center, Khang T. Le
Transitioning Pediatric Clubfoot Care: Early Custom Clubfoot Orthotic Use from Hospital NICU to Outpatient Care, Antonia L. Dinulescu, Rohini M. Vanodia, Lise Lehoux, et al.
Translating FAP-Targeted Probes to the OR: Preclinical Evaluation of FAPi-Cy5 in Pancreatic Cancer, Nicolette R. Mardik
Tumor Cell-Derived Gremlin1 Correlates with Tumor Progression in Gastrointestinal Cancers, Amanda C. Bean