Last week, more than 200 faculty, staff, and trainees from across the nation attended the Gill Heart & Vascular Institute's Cardiovascular Research Day to share the latest research on cardiovascular health. 

The event, in its 21st year, showcased the research of postdoctoral fellows, students, and faculty, much of it focused on the prevention or reversal of cardiovascular diseases, including heart attacks and strokes. 

This year’s event featured two judged poster sessions; four trainee presentations; a research blitz of one-minute research presentations and faculty oral presentations from distinguished alumni Gregory Graf, PhD, Professor in the University of Kentucky College of Pharmacy, and Ming Gong, PhD and Scott Gordon, PhD, both of the Saha Cardiovascular Research Center.

Oral presentations by distinguished scientists from around the country included:

• Dianne Milewicz, M.D., Ph.D from the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston, on the mechanisms of thoracic aortic aneurysms.   
• Mary McDermott, M.D. from Northwestern University, also serves as a Senior Editor for the Journal of the American Medical Association, on clinical trials related to peripheral artery disease.  
• Jerome Rotter, M.D. from University of California at Los Angeles, on the genomic aspects of heart disease.  

Awards were presented in three different categories:

Best Research Blitz Presentation: David Henson

Top Poster Presenters:

• Outstanding Graduate Student Poster Presentation “The Deneys van der Westhuyzen Award”: Hsuan Peng
• Outstanding Postdoctoral Fellow Poster Presentation “The Stewart Whitman Award”: Yasir Alsraj
• Outstanding Postdoctoral Fellow Poster Presentation – 2nd Place: Michihiro Okuyama
• Outstanding Graduate Student Poster Presentation – 2nd Place: Brooke Ahern
• Outstanding Graduate Student Poster Presentation – 3rd Place: Jaqueline Leachman
• Outstanding Undergraduate Poster Presentation – 1st Place: Kaitlyn Samuels
• Outstanding Undergraduate Poster Presentation – 2nd Place: Jennifer Wayland
• Outstanding Staff Poster Presentation – 1st Place: Lei Cai

Saha Awards

• Medical Student Award: Rahul Annabathula
• University of Kentucky Nursing Student Award: Jessica Harman
• Eastern Kentucky Nursing Student Award: Nikita Tamara Watts

The 22nd Gill Heart & Vascular Institute Cardiovascular Research Day will be held on Sept. 20, 2019 in the University of Kentucky's Bill Gatton Student Center.