The Midwest Society for Pediatric Research (MSPR) held its 2025 Annual Scientific Meeting September 17–19 in Chicago, Illinois. Each year, the conference highlights innovative scientific discoveries and provides a space for collaboration and career development.
Dozens of researchers from the Department of Pediatrics were involved in the conference. Scientists participated in one symposium talk and three plenary talks, and the poster session included 14 posters by faculty and trainees from the department. View the full conference schedule.
Below is a list of people affiliated with the Department of Pediatrics who provided oral presentations. Click on a presentation title to view a list of co-authors.
- Matthew Harer, MD, associate professor, Division of Neonatology and Newborn Nursery, was an invited speaker at the Neonatal Symposium, “Advances in Neonatal AKI”
- Leela Shah, BA, MD/PhD student and member of the Douglas Dean Research Group, presented “Leveraging MRI Relaxometry to Examine Relationships Between the Area Deprivation Index and White Matter Myelination in Infants and Children”
- Pelin Cengiz, MD, professor, Division of Critical Care, on behalf of Teresita de Jesus Valdes Arciniega, DVM, MS, graduate student and member of the Pelin Cengiz Research Group, presented “Sex Differences in Hippocampal Steroid Contents and the Expression of Their Receptors Following Neonatal Hypoxia-ischemia in Mice”
- Nursena Yabalar, MD, postdoctoral research fellow and member of the Pelin Cengiz Research Group, presented “Hippocampal Sex Specific Transcriptomic Changes in Neonatal Mice Following Hypoxia Ischemia and Trkb Agonist Treatment”
Below is a list of poster presenters affiliated with the Department of Pediatrics. Click on a poster name to view a list of co-authors.
- Samuel Afah Annah, undergraduate student, and Nethan Kaluarachchi, high school student, both members of the Dinushan Kaluarachchi Research Group, presented “Outcomes of Extremely Preterm Infants with Severe Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia”
- Nur Aycan, MD, postdoctoral research fellow and member of the Pelin Cengiz Research Group, presented “Sex Differences in Neonatal Hypoxic-ischemic Encephalopathy: Clinical Outcomes and Neurodevelopmental Implications”
- Iris Chiou, BA, MPH, and Aiman Shafiq, BS, both UW School of Medicine and Public Health students and members of the Adam Bauer Research Group, presented “Preterm Neonates with Congenital Heart Disease: How to Feed and When to Transport”
- Paige Condit, MD, Neonatal and Perinatal Medicine fellow and member of Matthew Harer’s IKONIC Research Group, presented “Evaluation of Kidney Oxygenation Compared to Intestinal Oxygenation and Feeding Timing in Preterm Neonates”
- Yigit Erkus, MD, postdoctoral research fellow and member of the Pelin Cengiz Research Group, presented “Hippocampal Interneuron Development: Sex Differences in population size and Ntrk2 Expression”
- Jadin Heilmann, BS, UW School of Medicine and Public Health student mentored by Bryn Webb, associate professor, Division of Genetics and Metabolism, in the Undiagnosed Disease Program, presented “Improving Diagnostic Yield for Rare Genetic Disorders: Results from the University of Wisconsin-undiagnosed Disease Program”
- Julie Kessel, MD, associate professor in the Division of Neonatology and Newborn Nursery, presented “Adrenal Function in Preterm Infants: New Insights Using Dried Blood Spot 17-OHP4 and Cortisol Levels”
- Norman Liu, BS, UW School of Medicine and Public Health student and member of the Bryn Webb Research Group, presented “Tissue-specific Effects of MARS2 Deficiency Uncovered by Deep Profiling of Cardiac Mitochondrial Function”
- Ria Patel, BS, UW School of Medicine and Public Health student and member of Matthew Harer’s IKONIC Research Group, presented “Evaluating the Association of Renal Tissue Oxygenation to Venous, Arterial, and Capillary Blood Gas Oxygen Saturation in Preterm Neonates”
- Chase Schoenenberger, undergraduate student and member of Matthew Harer’s IKONIC Research Group, presented “Correlation of Systemic Blood Pressure and Renal Tissue Oxygenation in Preterm Neonates During the First Two Weeks of Age”
- Rutvi Shah-Jani, MD, Neonatal and Perinatal Medicine fellow and member of the Whitley Hulse Research Group, presented “GRADuates of the NICU: Evaluation of a Nutrition and Growth Support Clinic for Preterm Infants”
- Michael Shen, MD, pediatrics resident, presented “Promoting Family Voices: A QI Initiative to Increase In-person Interpreter Use on Pediatric Hospitalist Rounds”
- Kaisa Stolen, BS, a DTP-MPH student and member of the Awni Al-Subu Research Group, presented “Capnography- Derived Plateau CO₂ by Inspiratory Hold to Estimate PaCO₂ in a Swine Model of Pediatric ARDS”
- Nursena Yabalar, MD, postdoctoral research fellow and member of the Pelin Cengiz Research Group, presented “Internalizing Disorders in Survivors of Neonatal Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy: Scoping Review”
Conference highlights
Leela Shah, a member of the Douglas Dean Research Group, is a second-year student in the UW School of Medicine and Public Health Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP) and the UW–Madison Neuroscience Training Program. She received the MSPR Student Award for her oral presentation, “Leveraging MRI Relaxometry to Examine Relationships Between the Area Deprivation Index and White Matter Myelination in Infants and Children.”
Two members of the department were elected to join the Midwest Society for Pediatric Research Council: Awni Al-Subu, MD, associate professor, Division of Critical Care, and Bryn Webb, MD, associate professor, Division of Genetics and Metabolism. Their three-year terms will begin on January 1, 2026.
Next year’s conference will be held September 16–18, 2026, at Indiana University.
Scenes from the 2025 MSPR Annual Scientific Meeting
UW School of Medicine and Public Health students Norman Liu, left, and Jadin Heilmann, right, at the Midwest Society for Pediatric Research 2025 Annual Scientific Meeting.
