Medical Students Awarded Touro Research Fellowships

Three NYMC Medical Students Received the 2024 Touro University Student Research Fellowship Grant

September 12, 2024
Shoaib Syed and Ji Hyun Celine Kim
From left: Shoaib Syed and Ji Hyun (Celine) Kim

Three NYMC students were among the recipients of the Touro University Student Research Fellowship Grant Program dedicated to encouraging budding researchers with the guidance of faculty mentors. They were selected from a broad pool of proposals from across the Touro University system.

Shoaib Syed, SOM Class of 2026 

“Safety of intra-arterial injection of lidocaine, propofol, and methylprednisolone into middle meningeal artery on intractable headaches” 

Advisors: Fawaz Al-Mufti, M.D., associate professor of neurology, neurosurgery, and of radiology, and Iman Moeini Naghani, M.D., fellow in the CNS Endovascular Surgery Fellowship at Westchester Medical Center 

Syed is investigating a new treatment for severe, unresponsive headaches by injecting three medications—lidocaine, propofol, and methylprednisolone—directly into the middle meningeal artery (MMA), a key vessel that may be associated with chronic headaches and migraines with the goal of reducing reliance on long-term medications and opioids, lowering health care costs, and improving patients' quality of life.  
 
Ji Hyun (Celine) Kim, SOM Class of 2027 

“Combined Aphasia and Robot-Assisted Arm Treatment for Post-Stroke Rehabilitation”

Advisor: Tomoko Kitago, M.D., assistant professor of neurology 

Kim is participating in a National Institutes of Health clinical study for post-stroke rehabilitation in patients with language disabilities and motor impairment at Westchester Medical Center, using combined aphasia treatment with robot-assisted arm treatment. 
 
Yifei Wang, SOM Class of 2026 

“Proteostatis Regulation in Cell Senescence” 

Advisor: Jian Li, Ph.D, assistant professor of cell biology and anatomy