Research News

Lerner Research Institute’s Research Education and Training Center recently announced the recipients of the 2020 Lerner Research Institute Awards for Excellence, which recognize staff, students and trainees for their outstanding scientific achievements. Two Genomic Medicine Institute graduate students received awards.

Sara Akhavanfard, MD, PhD, doctoral graduate from the lab of Charis Eng, MD, PhD, received the first place LRI Graduate Student Award for Excellence. This award recognizes two graduate students who submitted a first author article based on research conducted in Lerner Research Institute and who demonstrated high significance of their work. Dr. Akhavanfard’s winning paper, titled “Comprehensive Germline Genomic Profiles of Children, Adolescents, and Young Adults with Solid Tumors,” was published in Nature Communications.

Dr. Akhavanafard graduated from the Molecular Medicine PhD Program earlier in 2020. She currently is a clinical laboratory genetics and genomics fellow at Nationwide Children's Hospital.

Abigail Dooley, graduate student in the lab of Christine O’Connor, PhD, received the Dr. Sylvain Brunet Award for Outstanding Accomplishment by a Graduate Student. Established in loving memory of Dr. Brunet to commemorate his commitment to furthering research education opportunities for junior investigators, this award recognizes graduate students who have achieved a significant accomplishment in their training, including, but not limited to, a first author paper, presentation at a national meeting, obtaining certification in a new area or attending a workshop.

Ms. Dooley won the award for her work investigating the role of US28 in the latency and disease progression of the human cytomegalovirus. One of her most notable achievements is winning a 2020 American Heart Association Predoctoral Fellowship titled “Investigating the role of US28 in HCMV latency-enhanced atherosclerotic plaque formation.”

Image: Sara Akhavanfard, MD, PhD (left) & Abigail Dooley (right)