Meet the 2024 Winners - Manual Cantu Gutierrez & Lyndsey Shorey-Kendrick
Manuel Cantu (he/him), a Staff Scientist in the Lingappan Lab at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, discovered his passion for research during his undergraduate studies at the University of Texas-Pan American. Under the guidance of Dr. Dan Plas, he delved into neurodegeneration research using pond snails. Through the HHMI EXROP program, he contributed to genetic research in Dr. Hugo Bellen’s lab at Baylor College of Medicine (BCM), enhancing his appreciation for model organisms' power in advancing development biology and disease understanding.<0/p>
Completing his doctoral studies in Developmental Biology at BCM under Dr. Joshua Wythe's mentorship, Manuel focused on unraveling the molecular mechanisms governing angiogenesis using zebrafish and mice models. Currently, in the Lingappan Lab, his research explores sex-specific developmental responses to lung injury, particularly in premature infants developing bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD). Utilizing a mouse model of hyperoxic injury, Manuel aims to uncover insights that could pave the way for targeted BPD treatments.<0/p>
Lyndsey Shorey-Kendrick is a Computational Biologist in the Division of Neuroscience at the Oregon National Primate Research Center. She completed a Ph.D. in Environmental and Molecular Toxicology at Oregon State University, in 2012, with a specific interest in how environmental exposures can interact with epigenetic programming to alter development.
Her research has mainly centered on the effects of maternal smoking during pregnancy on lung development and future lung function. As part of a NIH randomized clinical trial led by Drs. Cindy McEvoy, Eliot Spindel, and Robert Tepper, she has examined whether maternal vitamin C supplementation can prevent or restore some of the effects of prenatal smoking on offspring lung function through epigenetic and/or transcriptional regulation. Dr. Shorey-Kendrick is also a co-investigator in the NIH ECHO pediatric consortium, as part of the McEvoy-Spindel cohort, looking at long term effects of in utero exposures.
More recently, Dr. Shorey-Kendrick began working with Drs. Jamie Lo and Eliot Spindel to investigate the impact of prenatal THC (main psychoactive component of cannabis) use on placental, fetal, and childhood outcomes in a non-human primate model, as well as the impact of paternal preconception THC use on the sperm epigenome.
Description:
These awards are given in recognition of young investigators for their exceptional contribution to research submitted to the Assembly on Pediatrics.
Past Recipients of the Scientific Abstract Awards:
2023
Emily Skeen, MD
Lyndsey Shorey-Kendrick, PhD, BA
2022
Sarah Commodore, PhD
Kathryn McCauley, PhD
2021
Nara Higano, PhD
Matthew Kielt, MD
2020
Deepthi Alapati, MD, MS
Jonathan Gaffin, MD, MMSc
2019
BreAnna Kinghorn, MD, MS
Benjamin Kopp, MD, MPH
2018
Divya Chhabra, MD, MMSc
Erik Hsyinger, MD, MS
2017
Arun Pradhan, PhD
Christian Rosas-Salazar, MD, MPH
2016
Douglas Bush, MD
Anya McClaren, MD
2015
Laura Walkup, PhD
Binoy Shivanna, MD, D.M.
2014
Michelle Trivedi, MD
Chandra Mohen Reddy Tamatam, PhD
2013
Laurie C. Eldredge, MD, PhD
Amjad Horani, MD
2012
Takuji Suzuki MD, PhD
Alexander Lange, PhD
2011
Lisa Burns, MD
Jessica Pittman, MD, MPH
