Montefiore Einstein cardiothoracic surgeons were recently awarded several highly competitive grants from the American Association for Thoracic Surgery (AATS) Foundation, the world’s most prestigious academic association for cardiothoracic surgeons. Montefiore Einstein was the only institution to receive grants in both cardiac and thoracic surgery.
The AATS Foundation awards were given to the following members of the Department of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery:
Neel P. Chudgar, MD, Attending Physician and Associate Director of Clinical and Translational Research, Thoracic Surgery, Montefiore Einstein, and Assistant Professor, Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery, Albert Einstein College of Medicine: Dr. Chudgar received the AstraZeneca Care Equity Surgical Investigator Award for a proposed trial to decrease no-show appointments to lung cancer screenings.
His study will identify patients who are at high risk of no-show to their first scheduled lung cancer screening appointment based on sociodemographic and clinical factors, identify behavioral factors associated with no-shows and initiate a phase 3 randomized trial to compare the effect of peer navigation to usual care on the no-show rate.
The AstraZeneca Care Equity Surgical Investigator Award provides up to $50,000 per year for up to three years for early to mid-career women and faculty underrepresented in medicine (defined by the Association of American Medical Colleges) to develop the foundations for successful careers in academic cardiothoracic surgery. Awardees will also be invited to join the AATS Abstract Review Committee in the year of their award and the AATS Foundation Award selection committee for the year following their award, with the aim of supporting academic mentorship and development.
Mayuko Uehara, MD, PhD, Attending Cardiothoracic Surgeon, Montefiore Einstein, and Assistant Professor, Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, received the Lawrence Cohn Surgical Investigator Award for her project on ADP-ribosyltransferase-1 (ART1) in heart transplantation. The Surgical Investigator Program supports clinical and translational research by young cardiothoracic surgeons, including on topics related to quality and outcomes, new and innovative therapies and procedures and technologies in cardiothoracic surgery.
Dr. Uehara’s study will address how there is a substantial unmet medical need to develop therapeutic strategies to reduce ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) and intragraft inflammatory responses to create a longer graft survival and prevent organ transplant failure.
Rajika Jindani, MD, MPH, MS, General Surgery Resident, Montefiore Einstein, received the David J. Sugarbaker Surgical Resident Investigator Award with a focus on thoracic surgical oncology and particular interest in mesothelioma and lung cancer. The award supports surgical residents engaged in cancer research in the lab of an established thoracic surgical investigator who then directs the research project and serves as a mentor.
Her study will address how to determine the presence of Mena invasive (MenaINV) tumor cells and tumor microenvironment of metastasis (TMEM) doorways in lung tumors and their association with the recurrence of cancer. It will also look at whether commonly used therapeutics increase TMEM doorways in human and murine models of lung cancer.
“I am incredibly proud of these young investigators. No other single institution received more than one of these prestigious AATS awards this year. The fact that our team received three grants across this wide variety of topics is a testament to the high-level research being conducted at Montefiore Einstein and to our growing national reputation.”
