William H. Pearce, MD Research Symposium

The annual research symposium, which takes place on Edelstone-Bendix Day, is a department-wide event to share and promote the research accomplishments of our trainees

The William H. Pearce, MD Research Symposium, which was started in 2019, is named in honor of a beloved vascular surgeon, scientist, and educator at Feinberg School of Medicine. In addition to serving as Program Director of the Vascular Surgery Fellowship and Chief of the Division of Vascular Surgery, Dr. Pearce was President of the American Association for Vascular Surgery and Chairman of the American Vascular Association. He had wide-ranging research interests and established the Vascular Surgery Scientist T32 Training Program in 2009. His many honors include induction into the Teaching Hall of Fame at Feinberg School of Medicine and Lifetime Achievement Award from the Society for Vascular Surgery. Many of his former mentees have reached positions of eminence as clinicians, researchers, division chiefs, and department chairs.

The annual research symposium, which takes place on Edelstone-Bendix Day, is a department-wide event to promote trainee development through the sharing and promotion of research accomplishments.

See all 2026 Abstracts

See all 2025 Abstracts

See all 2024 Abstracts

2026 Awards Winners

Kanavel Surgical Scholarship Award

Ryan Jacobs, MD, MS
Marjorie Liggett, MD, MS
Margaret Reilly, MD, MS
Dominic Vitello, MD, MS

William H. Pearce, MD Research Awards

Fellow Competition

First place: Bilal Khan Mohammed, MBBS, MD
Research with distinction: Sam Hongzhang Mei, MD, Sarbjeet Niraula, PhD, and Bianka Progri, MS

Resident Competition:

First place, basic science: Daniel Liesman, MD
First place, clinical research: Nancy Ly, MD
Research with distinction, senior residents: Paola Barrios, MD MSAI, Teja Devarakonda MD PhD, Jes Sanders, MD
Research with distinction, junior residents: Daniel Romary, MD, MSBME, Jack Scaife, MD, Mariia Shipovskaia, MD

Student Competition:

First place: Claire Shen
Research with distinction: Kacie Ford, Angie Jang, Ben Mazurek

Past Awards Winners

2025 Award Winners

Kanavel Surgical Scholarship Award

Calvin Chao, MD
Lauren M. Janczewski, MD MS
Steven T. Papastefan, MD
Jes McDaniel Sanders, MD

William H. Pearce, MD Research Awards - Fellow Competition

First Place: Atieh Hajirahimkhan, PhD
Resarch with Distinction: Sarbjeet Niraula, PhD, Rashi Singh, MD, Yinan Guo, MD

William H. Pearce, MD Research Awards - Resident Competition

First Place, Basic Science: Daniel R. Liesman, MD
First Place, Clinical Research: Raheem Bell, MD MS
Research with Distinction, Senior Residents: Joy E. Obayemi, MD MS, Dominic Vitello, MD MS, Saieesh Alan Rao, MD
Research with Distinction, Junior Residents: Ani Chandrabhatla, MD, Emily George, MD

William H. Pearce, MD Research Awards - Student Competition

First Place: Zhanlin Chen, MS
Research with Distinction: Kacie P. Ford, BS, Zaiba Shafik Dawood, MBBS, Krishay Sridalla, BA

2024 Award Winners

Kanavel Surgical Scholarship Award

Jessie Ho, MD, MSCI

William H. Pearce, MD Research Awards - Fellow Competition

First Place: Sarbjeet Niraula, PhD - Video of Research Presentation
Research with Distinction: Taylor G. Hallman, BS
Research with Distinction: Veronica Villanueva, PhD - Video of Research Presentation
Research with Distinction: Li Yin, MD

William H. Pearce, MD Research Awards - Resident Competition

First Place, Basic Science: Calvin Chao, MD - Video of Research Presentation
First Place, Clinical Research: Eric Pillado, MD MBA MS - Video of Research Presentation
Research with Distinction, Senior Resident: Raheem Bell, MD - Video of Research Presentation
Research with Distinction, Senior Resident: Joseph Sanchez, MD - Video of Research Presentation
Research with Distinction, Senior Resident: Charesa Jeana Smith MD MS - Video of Research Presentation
Research with Distinction, Junior Resident: Joanna Buchheit, MD MS - Video of Research Presentation
Research with Distinction, Junior Resident: Kelley Chan, MD - Video of Research Presentation
Research with Distinction, Junior Resident: Meredith Taylor, MD - Video of Research Presentation

William H. Pearce, MD Research Awards - Student Competition

First Place: Zaiba Shafik Dawood, MBBS - Video of Research Presentation
Research with Distinction: Megan Alagna, BS - Video of Research Presentation
Research with Distinction: Hyebin Han, MS - Video of Research Presentation
Research with Distinction: Bilal Abdullah Naved, BS - Video of Research Presentation

2023 Award Winners

Kanavel Surgical Scholarship Award

Andrew Hu, MBChB MS
Rachel Joung, MD MS
Katherine Ott, MD

William H. Pearce, MD Research Awards - Fellow Competition

First Place: Bima J. Hasjim, MD - Video of Research Presentation
Research with Distinction: Booker T. Davis IV, PhD MS
Research with Distinction: Mecca Bennta Abour Rahim Islam, MS - Video of Research Presentation
Research with Distinction: Jonathan Jung, MBChB MSc - Video of Research Presentation

William H. Pearce, MD Research Awards - Resident Competition

First Place, Basic Science: Steven Papastefan, MD - Video of Research Presentation
First Place, Clinical Research: Charles D. Logan, MD - Video of Research Presentation
Research with Distinction, Senior Resident: Jessie Ho, MD - Video of Research Presentation
Research with Distinction, Senior Resident: Lauren Janczewski, MD - Video of Research Presentation
Research with Distinction, Senior Resident: Charesa Jeana Smith MD - Video of Research Presentation
Research with Distinction, Senior Resident: Dominic Joseph Vitello, BS MD - Video of Research Presentation
Research with Distinction, Junior Resident: Raheem Dajian Bell, MD MS - Video of Research Presentation
Research with Distinction, Junior Resident: Ariel Ester Figueroa, MD - Video of Research Presentation
Research with Distinction, Junior Resident: Casey M. Silver, MD MS - Video of Research Presentation

William H. Pearce, MD Research Awards - Student Competition

First Place: Zhangying (Jennie) Chen, MS - Video of Research Presentation
Research with Distinction: Taylor Brown, BS - Video of Research Presentation
Research with Distinction: Kacie Ford, BS - Video of Research Presentation
Research with Distinction: Veronica Jierong Zheng, BA - Video of Research Presentation

2022 Award Winners

Kanavel Surgical Scholarship Award

Matthew C. Chia, MD, MS
Daniel P. Dolan, MD MPH
Benjamin T. Many, MD MS

William H. Pearce, MD Research Awards - Fellow Competition

First Place - Atieh Hajirahimkhan, PhD - Video of Research Presentation
Research with Distinction: Kristof Gutowski, BS
Research with Distinction: Mecca B.A.R. Islam, MS
Research with Distinction: Sarbjeet Niraula, PhD - Video of Research Presentation
Research with Distinction: Oveyaa Vignesh, MS

William H. Pearce, MD Research Awards - Resident Competition

First Place, Basic Science: Emily Cerier, MD - Video of Research Presentation
First Place, Basic Science: Megan Fracol, MD
First Place, Clinical Research: Andres Guerra, MD MS - Video of Research Presentation
First Place, Clinical Research: Casey M. Silver, MD MS - Video of Research Presentation
Research with Distinction, Senior Resident: Jessie Ho, MD - Video of Research Presentation
Research with Distinction, Senior Resident: Rachel Joung, MD - Video of Research Presentation
Research with Distinction, Senior Resident: Audra Reiter, MD MPH - Video of Research Presentation
Research with Distinction, Junior Resident: Sarah A. Applebaum, MD
Research with Distinction, Junior Resident: Paige Hackenberger, MD - Video of Research Presentation
Research with Distinction, Junior Resident: Gwyneth Sullivan, MD - Video of Research Presentation

William H. Pearce, MD Research Awards - Student Competition

First Place: Zhangying Jennie Chen, MS - Video of Research Presentation
Research with Distinction: Taylor Brown, MS - Video of Research Presentation
Research with Distinction: Kacie P. Ford, BS - Video of Research Presentation
Research with Distinction: Praneet Polineni, BA - Video of Research Presentation

2021 Award Winners

Kanavel Surgical Scholarship Award

Tarik Yuce, MD, MS - Video of Research Presentation
Courtney Harris, MD - Video of Research Presentation

William H. Pearce, MD Research Awards - Fellow Competition

First Place: Mecca B.A.R. Islam, MS - Video of Research Presentation
Research with Distinction: Booker Davis, IV, PhD, MS
Research with Distinction: Monika Halas, MD
Research with Distinction: Natalie Luehmann, MD

William H. Pearce, MD Research Awards - Resident Competition

First Place, Basic Science: Katherine Ott, MD - Video of Research Presentation
First Place, Clinical Research: Arielle Thomas, MD, MPH - Video of Research Presentation
Research with Distinction, Senior Resident: Megan Bouchard, MD, MPH
Research with Distinction, Senior Resident: Matthew Chia, MD
Research with Distinction, Senior Resident: Rachel Joung, MD
Research with Distinction, Senior Resident: Charles Logan, MD
Research with Distinction, Junior Resident: Sarah Applebaum, MD
Research with Distinction, Junior Resident: Ruojia Debbie Li, MD, MS

William H. Pearce, MD Research Awards - Student Competition

First Place: Jennie Zhangying Chen, BS - Video of Research Presentation
Research with Distinction: Nina Byskosh, BS
Research with Distinction: Daniel Sasson, BA
Research with Distinction: Madeline Timken, BS