Five MedStar Health Researchers Awarded Funding Through Associate Giving Campaign

Hyattsville, MD—MedStar Health Research Institute has awarded five early-career investigators designated grant funding through the New Investigator ‐ Associate Giving Grant Fund. This fund is supported through designated funds contributed by the associates of MedStar Health during the associate giving philanthropy campaign.

“MedStar Health is committed to growing as an academic health system,” said Neil Weissman, MD, chief scientific officer for MedStar Health and president of MedStar Health Research Institute. “Early-career funding can have a lasting impact on both researchers and the patients we care for by changing the way we treat them. Our ability to support this work is through the commitment of our associates to help us reach our vision of advancing health for our community.”

Associate gifts designated for research during the 2018 MedStar Health Associate Giving Campaign, the Power to Heal, were used to support the work of new investigators through the New Investigator—Associate Giving Grant Fund. These grants are awarded to new MedStar Health investigators who have joined MedStar Health in the previous five years, with the goal of supporting research focused on advancing health for patients in the communities we serve. This initial funding can have the potential to lead to external grant funding for their research.

The following five physician-investigators have been awarded funding for their research.

• Ankit B. Shah, MD, MPH, FACC (MedStar Sports & Performance Cardiology Program)
  “Atrial size, function and fitness level among endurance runners with known paroxysmal atrial fibrillation”
• Leila Shobab, MD, FRCPC (MedStar Washington Hospital Center)
  “Sex-Specific Immune Landscape of Differentiated Thyroid Cancer”
• Pashna M. Munshi, MD (MedStar Georgetown University Hospital, Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center)
  “We're in This Together: Health-Related Quality of Life, Self Preparedness, and Caregiver Burden in Patient/Primary Caregiver Dyads in the Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation Setting”
• Shashwati Geed, PT PhD (MedStar National Rehabilitation Medicine)
  “Identifying a signal for critical period plasticity: Function of PV+ interneurons post stroke”
• Yasar Torres-Yaghi, MD (MedStar Georgetown University Hospital)
  “MicroRNA in Neurodegenerative Diseases: Parkinson Disease, Lewy Body Disease, Alzheimer’s Disease”

Thank you to all associates who contributed to the 2018 Power to Heal Campaign. In 2018, over 3,200 associates, physicians, and board members across the MedStar Health system chose to participate in philanthropy.  Please consider making a gift online to support MedStar Health Research Institute and our new investigators. Select “MedStar Health Research Institute” from the drop-down menu to direct your gift to this fund.

About MedStar Health Research Institute
The MedStar Health Research Institute is the research arm of MedStar Health, the largest healthcare provider in Maryland and the Washington, D.C., region. MHRI provides scientific, administrative and regulatory support for research programs throughout the MedStar Health system. MHRI’s expertise includes translational research into disease prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. These programs complement the key clinical services and teaching programs in the 10 MedStar hospitals and other MedStar entities. Visit us at www.MedStarResearch.org. 

About MedStar Health
MedStar Health is a not-for-profit health system dedicated to caring for people in Maryland and the Washington, D.C., region, while advancing the practice of medicine through education, innovation, and research. MedStar’s 31,000 associates, 6,500 affiliated physicians, 10 hospitals, ambulatory care, and urgent care centers, and the MedStar Health Research Institute are recognized regionally and nationally for excellence in medical care. As the medical education and clinical partner of Georgetown University, MedStar trains more than 1,100 medical residents annually. MedStar Health’s patient-first philosophy combines care, compassion and clinical excellence with an emphasis on customer service. For more information, visit www.MedStarHealth.org.