The Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP) at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine provides a training environment and ample opportunities to be prolific in the sciences and active in the community. Here are just a few of our students' recent accomplishments.
Leadership Roles
- Andy Chen, G2, Genetics and Genome Sciences. has been a Teaching Assistant and Course Manager for CWRU SOM's Introduction to Psychedelic Medicine since 2024.
- Erin Cohn, M4, Genetics and Genome Sciences, serves as a Scientific Officer for Rise Up: Northeast Ohio.
- Rupleen Kaur, G4+, Systems Biology and Bioinformatics, serves as a Scientific Officer for Rise Up: Northeast Ohio.
- Kayla Klatt, G2, Pathology/Immunology, serves as President for HyperCASE at CWRU.
- Tommy Nguyen, M2, undecided, is a Student Leader for CWRU SOM's Medical Students for Deaf Awareness.
Recent Publications
- MSTP students Hans Leier, Alexander Foden, and M4 Darren Jindal co-authored the following article: Leier HC#, Foden AJ#, Jindal DA, Wilkov AJ, Van der Linden Costello P, Vanderzalm PJ, Coutinho-Budd J, Tabuchi M, Broihier HT. Glia Control experience-dependent plasticity in an olfactory critical period. Elife. 2025 Jan 30;13. doi: 10.77554/eLife. 100989. PubMed PMID: 39883485; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC11781797. (#contributed equally)
- Christina MacAskill published the following paper in Kidney International Reports: MacAskill CJ, Kretzler ME, Parsons A, Gange V, Hach J, Larson S, Zhu Y, Perino J, Farr S, Markley M, Pritts N, Perera-Gonzalez M, Clark HA, Kuehn B, Liu KC, Yu X, Ma D, Chen Y, Flask CA, Dell KM. Multimodal magnetic resonance imaging assessments of kidney disease severity in autosomal recessive polysystic kidney disease. Kidney Int Rep. 2024 Dec;9(12):3592-3595. doi: 10.1016/j.ekir.2024.09.006. eCollection 2024 Dec. PubMed PMID: 39698366; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC11652188.
- MSTP students Claire Fritz, Daniel Feinberg, and Kayla Klatt published the following article: Fritz C, Feinberg D, Radhakrishnan A, Klatt K, Chan ER, Rock P, Burack R, Parameswaran R. B cell activating factor induces drug resistance in hairy cell leukemia variant. Biomedicines. 2025 Apr 7;13(4). doi: 10.3390/biomedicines13040890. PubMed PMID: 40299479; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC12025152.
Conferences and Presentations
- Melissa Bonner received the AAI Young Investigator Award for her presentation at the 2025 Translational Cancer Centers Consortium (TRCCC) Annual Meeting.
- Himanshu Dashora was invited to present his work at the 2025 Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Innovators Symposium.
- Brian Kim won Best Poster at the 2025 Keystone Conference.
- Alice Liu won first place in Oral Presentations at the 2025 Asian Pacific American Medical Student Association (APAMSA) National Conference.
- Kevin Newhall received the 2025 Cleveland Immunology Retreat Poster Award.
- Paulameena Shultes received the Travel Award / Landahl Travel Grant Recipient Award. for the 2025 Society of Mathematical Biology (SMB) Annual Meeting.
- Prerna Singh received the Young Investigator Award for her presentation at the 2025 Society of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography (SCCT) Annual Meeting.
Research Grants and Scholarships
Twenty of our current students have been awarded F30 or F31 grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Many more have received scholarships or fellowships from other organizations. Below is a list of those newly awarded 2024 and 2025.
- Corynn Appolonia was awarded an F30
- Bijoya Basu received the Futures in Neurologic Research Scholarship from the American Academy of Neurology (AAN)
- Sofia Corella was awarded an F31
- Diana Chin received the Keystone Symposia Future of Science Fund Scholarship and was awarded an F30
- Himanshu Dashora was awarded an F30
- Emily Klemm was awarded an F30
- Stephen Wang was awarded an F30
Medical School Graduation Awards 2025
MSTP students were well represented this year at the CWRU School of Medicine Graduation Awards Ceremony:
- All of our 2025 MD Graduates received Honors with Distinction in Research
- Muta Abiff
The Harry Resnick Memorial Fund Award - Michaela Cooley and Emma Kundracik
The Leslie T. Webster, Jr. Graduation Award - Michelle Cruz
The Donald E. Minch, MD, Memorial Award - Marc Ferrell
The Miverva and Carl Wiggers Prize in Physiology - Katrina Piemonte
The Noether Memorial Fund Award - Preethy Sridharan
The Martin Wahl Memorial Fund Award - Derek Wong
The Max Miller Award
The Martin Wahl Memorial Fund Award
Graduate and Doctoral Excellence Awards 2025
Doctoral Excellence Awards are given for Original Scholarly Work, Significant Contribution to the Field, and Significant Service Contributions.
- Eshan King received the award from Systems Biology and Bioinformatics Program
Other Awards 2024-25
- Lucie Ahn was named as a member of the 2025 Student Cohort of the American Neurological Association (ANA) Futures Program.
- Razaq Durodoye was named as a 2024-2026 Human Genetics Scholar by the American Society of Human Genetics
- Claire Fritz received the Graduate Student Appreciation Award, Case Western Reserve University.
- Kayla Klatt received the Lenore A. Kola Graduate Student Community Service Award, Case Western Reserve University.
- Christina MacAskill received the Outstanding Biomedical Engineering Student Award and was also named the 2024 inaugural Young Investigator awardee for the Research Institute for Children's Health.
- William Wulftange earned a 2024-2026 Predoctoral Fellowship from the American Heart Association (AHA).
- Walter Zhao was the recipient of the Hiro Fujita Award, a top imaging trainee award. Walter also won the 2024 Excellence in Mentorship award.
PhD Defenses 2026
- Natalie Hong "Immunonanoparticles for simultaneous modulation of inflammation and lipids"
- Emily Klemm "Human Homomeric GlyRα2: Pore Architecture, Gating, and Inhibition"
- Thomas Lavin "Use of HIV-Based Virus-Like Particles in the Kick-and-Kill Approach to an HIV Cure"
- Katherine Letai "Transcriptional Blueprints of Gastrointestinal Disease: A Focus on Pathologic Glia"
- Michelle Pan "Investigating Mechanisms of Cell Death Regulation in Innate Immunity"
- Joseph Schindler "Control of RNA Metabolism by Nitric Oxide"
- Prerna Singh "Cardiovascular risk prediction beyond the agatston score: Opportunistic analysis of CT calcium score imaging"
Match List 2026
Our MSTP students had an incredible year. The key here is not only where they went, but where they wanted to go and whether they had options. First choice was once again the rule rather than the exception.
| Specialty | Institution |
|---|---|
| Neurology | Northwestern McGraw/ NMH/ VA |
| Pathology | MGB- Brigham & Women’s Hospital |
| Ophthalmology | The John Hopkins Wilmer Eye Institute |
| Neurology | CWRU/ UH Cleveland Medical Center |
| Internal Medicine | University of Arizona College of Medicine |
| Emergency Medicine | Temple University Hospitals |
| Ophthalmology | University of South Florida |
| Neurological Surgery | CWRU/UH Cleveland Medical Center |
| Internal Medicine | University of Washington Affiliated Hospital |
| Pathology | Cleveland Clinic Foundation |
| Pediatrics | CWRU/ UH Cleveland Medical Center |
| Dermatology | Northwestern McGraw/ NMH/VA |
| Pathology | UPMC |
| Internal Medicine | Mayo Clinic School of Graduate Medical Education |
| Psychiatry/ EPSP | Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania |
Students: If you have something new to add, tell us about it here.