Awardees & Updates – 2014

Fernanda Musa, MD is a forth year fellow in gynecologic oncology at NYU School of Medicine. Fernanda is pursuing research identifying and testing a specific enzyme inhibitor to prevent ovarian cancer cell growth and proliferation. Dr. Musa and her research are highly regarded and her academic record is impressive as is her research success to date.

Somaira Nowsheen is an MD/PhD candidate in the medical scientist training program at the Mayo Medical School (affiliated with the Mayo Clinic). Somaira has a masters degree in molecular biology and biotechnology. Her record of publishing and training in academic medicine are outstanding. Her current research concerns improving understanding of how to prevent and/or treat breast cancer caused by the BRCA1 gene by targeting DNA repair pathways (BRCA1 being a genetic instability and cancer predisposition).

Marnie Silverstein, DVM is a post-doc fellow in comparative medicine and a PhD student in tengrated physiology and pharmacology at the Wake Forest University School of Medicine. Her supervisor wrote, “Marnie is one of the brightest and most focused, capable students and young scientists I have encountered.” She is currently researching SSRI anti-depressant drugs long-term health effects, particularly for atherosclerosis and stroke risk. This is of particular concern to women since they are 2.5 times more likely than men to take SSRIs. SSRIs are also commonly prescribed to treat premenstrual dysphoric disorder, hot flashes and migraine headaches.

Georgina Cheng is an MD/PhD ob/gyn currently training in gynecologic oncology at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. Georgina’s supervisor wrote that she is an “outstanding clinician and researcher” with a strong academic and publishing record and publishing record to date. Her current research involves molecular biology investigation of estrogen receptor and responsive pathways involved in ovarian cancer in order to develop new treatment targets.