Pictured at right is Kathryn Welch, M.D.
The Wayne State University School of Medicine Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and its Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine presented "Wayne Day 2016: Diabetes in Pregnancy - It's Time for an Update!" on Dec. 6 at the Detroit Marriott at the Renaissance Center.
The annual event included the Kamran S. Moghissi, M.D. Lecture, delivered by The Ohio State University College of Medicine's Richard Meiling Professor and Chair of Obstetrics and Gynecology Mark Landon, M.D., on "Gestational Diabetes Mellitus: A Diagnosis Comes of Age."
Several residents, fellows and graduate students of the department also presented research posters at the annual event.
Third-year resident Kathryn Welch, M.D., received first place in the resident poster category for her presentation of "Knowledge Retention after Formal Resident Training in Electronic Fetal Monitoring." The team project explored how first-year Obstetrics and Gynecology residents learn fetal heart rate monitoring terminology and concepts in a one-day course, and analyzed the educational retention six months later.
"We saw that the course we have provided for almost 30 years is effective in teaching. However, at six months, many of the residents did not retain the new knowledge they had obtained, despite having experience on the labor-and-delivery ward," Dr. Welch said.
She and her project teammates will present the data at the Association of Professors of Gynecology and Obstetrics and Council on Resident Education in Obstetrics and Gynecology's annual joint meeting in March. She thanked her father, Southeast Michigan Center for Medical Education Fetal Assessment Course leader and Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology Robert Welch, M.D., for his help in launching the project and for his continuing support in her professional and personal life.
Javier Rodriguez-Kovacs, M.D., received second place for "Risk Factors for Cervical Ectopic Pregnancy" and Erica Louden, M.D., '13, received third for "Embryonic Stem Cell Markers May Predict Poor Pregnancy Outcomes in Toxicological High Throughput Screens Using Viable Fluorescent Reporters."
In the Fellow category, third-year Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility Fellow Roohi Jeelani, M.D., won first place for her presentation of the impact on infertility from chemotherapy used to treat cancers and autoimmune diseases, a project summarized in the poster "Cyclophosphamide and its Metabolite Impact on Fertilization Through Mitochondrial Dysfunction."
"I think not only does my work help the physician understand why and how the infertility is caused, it helps answer questions for the patients, such as what to expect after chemo, will they be able to get pregnant, why this is happening, what's exactly going on and how can we help prevent such infertility," she said. "I felt honored to get first place recognition at Wayne Day. All the research that was presented there was outstanding and to win among them was truly a privilege."
Dr. Jeelani thanks her co-workers and lab members for their hard work and contribution to the project.
"I would like to thank Dr. Husam Abu-Soud and Dr Robert Morris. Without their continuous help and support I would not be here. Dr. Abu-Soud is the driving force behind my success. The time and effort he puts in to make sure I'm ahead of the game is undoubtedly more then any mentor is expected to do or willing to do," she said. "And Dr. Morris, he is available at the drop of a hat for questions and helping me connect my basic science to a clinical aspect and do translational research."
In the same category, resident Michael Awadalla, M.D., received second place for "Fetal Heart Rate and Gestational Sac Size as Predictors of Spontaneous Abortion in Pregnancies Achieved by Assisted Reproductive Technology," and School of Medicine graduate student Leena Kadam received third place for "Sequencing of the Fetal Genome Obtained by Pap Exams at Five Weeks of Pregnancy."