Congratulations to the following fourteen CARTI alumni who recently received funding!

NIH Career Development (K) Award Class Scholars:

Jamie Podell, MD, Assistant Professor, Department of Neurology, UMSOM, was awarded an NIH K23 entitled "Understanding and modulating paroxysmal sympathetic hyperactivity (PSH) after traumatic brain injury (TBI): A neuroimaging and physiologic data analytic approach."

 

Kale Carter, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Epidemiology & Public Health, UMSOM, was awarded an NIH K01 entitled “Host-pathogen-microbiome interactions in Mycoplasma genitalium infection, pathology, and treatment: experiments in a 3D organotypic cervical epithelium model to strengthen clinical guidelines.”

 

 

Esther Ndungo, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Pediatrics, UMSOM, was awarded an NIH K01 entitled “Defining the gastrointestinal immune and microbiome response to shigella infection in children.”

 

 

 

Ian Drobish, MD, Clinical Fellow: Critical Care, Infectious Diseases, Clinical Center, NIH, was awarded the Children’s National Global Health Initiative Pilot Award & Thrasher Research Fund Early Career Award entitled “Characterizing Metabolic Dysfunction in the Pathogenesis and Survival from Cerebral Malaria.”

 

 

 

Susmit Tripathi, MD, Assistant Professor, Department of Neurology, UMSOM, was awarded the UMMC & UMB Innovation Challenge Award entitled “Next-Generation Epilepsy Monitoring: Intracranial EEG-Based Benchmarking and Algorithm Development for Focal Seizure Detection Using Wearable Devices.”

 

 

Florence Doo, MD, Department of Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, UMSOM, was awarded the 2026 UMB ICTR Artificial Intelligence/Cybersecurity/Machine Learning Pilot Grant.

 

 

Megan Kowalcyk, PhD, MPH, Research Associate, Center for Vaccine Development and Global Health: Malaria Research Program - Division of Geographic Medicine, UMSOM, was awarded the 2026 UMB ICTR/CTSA K12 Mentored Career Development Award.

 

 

 

NIH Career Development (K) Award Class & Clinical/Translational Research Training Track Scholar:

Prajwal Ciryam, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Neurology, UMSOM, was awarded an NIH K08 entitled “Role of the Choroid Plexus in Neutrophil Recruitment After Traumatic Brain Injury.”

 

 

 

 

Basic Science Research Training Track Scholar:

Bing Guo, PhD, MD, BM, Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine, UMSOM, was awarded an NIH R01 entitled “Incorporating the Missing Time Dimension into Identity-by-Descent-based Malaria Genomic Surveillance” and the 2026 UMB ICTR Artificial Intelligence/Cybersecurity/Machine Learning Pilot Grant Award.

 

 

Alip Ghosh, PhD, MSc, Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine, UMSOM, was awarded an NIH R01 entitled “Impact of opioid use disorder on mitochondrial dysfunction among antiretroviral therapy-receiving aging people with HIV.” 

 

 

 

 

NIH R01 Grant Writing Class Scholars:

Dario Rodrigues, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Radiation Oncology, UMSOM, was awarded an NIH R01 entitled “A non-invasive MR-compatible hyperthermia system for brain tumor treatment.”

 

 

 

Bethea (Annie) Kleykamp, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry, UMSOM, was awarded an NIH R03 entitled “Comparative Cardiovascular Effects of Combustible and Electronic Cigarettes in Older Adults with Hypertension.”

 

 

 

Janet Alexander, MD, Associate Professor, Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, UMSOM, was awarded the UMMC & UMB Innovation Challenge Award entitled “A Novel Simulation Training Program for Retinopathy of Prematurity Eye Exams.”

 

 

 

 

Clinical/Translational Research Training Track Scholar

Chenchen Zhang, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine, Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care & Sleep Medicine, UMSOM, was awarded the 2026 UMB ICTR/CTSA K12 Mentored Career Development Award and the 2026 UMB ICTR Pilot Grant Award.

 

 

 

We look forward to some exciting findings from all these projects. Congratulations!