The Cincinnati Diabetes and Obesity Center hosted its annual research retreat Monday, May 20. Five early investigators were selected to present on their research during the day-long event. They were:

• Kirk Habegger, PhD, internal medicine
• Jonathan Howell, MD, PhD, pediatrics, Cincinnati Children’s
• Laurie Nommsen-Rivers, PhD, pediatrics, Cincinnati Children’s
• Karen Ryan, PhD, internal medicine
• Yvonne Ulrich-Lai, PhD, psychiatry and behavioral neuroscience

Early investigator bios

Additional awards from the retreat included:

Best Clinical Poster Award
Pranati Jha, MD, clinical fellow at Cincinnati Children’s
Title: Low serum Vitamin D levels are associated with increased arterial stiffness in youth

Best Basic Science Poster
Daniel Giles, PhD, second-year graduate student, UC and Cincinnati Children’s
Title: Better mouse models of disease: Role of thermoneutrality in NAFLD development and progression

Best Basic Science Poster
Sandy Rebholz, research assistant, UC
Title: Multiparity-induced inflammation and obesity

Best Basic Science Poster
Bhushan Kulkarni, MBBS, PhD, fellow, UC
Title: Mini vertical sleeve gastrectomies suggest role of rapid gastric emptying in weight loss following bariatric surgery

Postdoctoral Career Development Award
Joram Mul, PhD, postdoc, UC
Title: Loss of melanocortin- 4 receptor function potentiates metabolic responses to a PPARy agonist

New to this year’s event was an artwork competition. Winners were:

• First Place: "What governs the day,” by Maher Al-Samkari, MD, endocrinology fellow
• Second Place: "Pate’ de foie gras,” by Mike Haas, research assistant