Pediatrics PSTP Scholars

Research Interests:

Kristin Mayoral-Palarz, MD, PhD 

Categorical Pediatrics 

Email: kmayoralpalarz@luriechildrens.org  

Research Interests:

Lauren Boland, MD, PhD 

Categorical Pediatrics 

Integrated Research Pathway

Email:  lboland@luriechildrens.org 

Research Interests:

Samuel Dowling, MD, PhD

Categorical Pediatrics 

Integrated Research Pathway | Research Mentor: Harris R. Perlman, PhD 

Email: sdowling@luriechildrens.org 

Research Interests:

Laura Swanson, MD, PhD 

Child Neurology 

Email: laswanson@luriechildrens.org 

Research Interests:

Ashley Zurawel, MD, PhD 

Categorical Pediatrics 

Integrated Research Pathway | Research Mentor: Leonidas C. Platanias, MD, PhD 

Email: azurawel@luriechildrens.org 

Research Interests:

Megan Garcia-Curran, MD, PhD 

Child Neurology 

Email: mgarciacurran@luriechildrens.org 

Research Interests:

Heather Voss-Hoynes, MD, PhD 

Child Neurology 

Email: hvosshoynes@luriechildrens.org 

Research Interests:

Robyn Lottes, MD, PhD 

Categorical Pediatrics 

Cardiology Fellow 

Email: rlottes@luriechildrens.org 

Research Interests:

Ryan Hurtado, MD, PhD 

Categorical Pediatrics 

Pediatric PICU Fellow 

Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago 

Email:  rrhurtado@luriechildrens.org 

Research Interests:

Randall McAuley, MD, PhD 

Fellow Physician, Division of Pediatric Immunology and Allergy  

Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago 

Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine 

Email: jmcauley@luriechildrens.org

Research Interests:

Lily Zeng, MD 

Fellow, Pediatric Hematology and Oncology 

McGaw Medical Center of Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine/ 

Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago  

Residency: Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago   

Email:  xzeng@luriechildrens.org 

Research Interests:

Bridget McGowan, MD 

Fellow, Neuromuscular – Adult 

McGaw Medical Center of Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine/ 

Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago  

Residency: Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago  

Email:  bmcgowan@luriechildrens.org 

Research Interests:

Sarah Walker, MD 

Advanced Research Fellow & Pediatric Critical Care Attending Physician 

McGaw Medical Center of Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine/ 

Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago 

Residency: Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia   

Email:  sbwalker@luriechildrens.org 

Research Interests:

Leah Setar, MD

Fellow, Critical Care

McGaw Medical Center of Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine / Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago

Residency: Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago

Email:  lsetar@luriechildrens.org

Research Interests:

I conducted my undergraduate research in federal and state children's health insurance programs under the direction of Dr. Kate Whetten at the Sanford Institute of Public Policy at Duke. After graduating, I spent two years working in Washington, DC. During the first year, I was a research assistant at the Institute of Medicine, working with the Committee for Improving Palliative and End of Life Care for Children and Their Families. I spent the remaining year as a research analyst with the Advisory Board Company, a health care consulting firm, working primarily with the Cardiovascular Roundtable and Physician Leadership Council.

While at Illinois, I worked with Dr. Reginald Alston in the Department of Community Health. My research focuses included health disparities in health care outcomes, and federal legislation targeted towards the uninsured. I completed a post-doctoral internship at the National Cancer Institute following completion of graduate studies; my project investigated serum HDL as a protective marker for non-Hodgkin Lymphoma. I plan on continuing research on health care policy as it relates to children's health insurance programs, and expand to study the impact of bullying on children.

Research Interests:

As an undergraduate at Princeton, I collaborated with Dr. Robert Ring at Wyeth Pharmaceuticals (now Pfizer) on a study using transcriptional profiling and microarray techniques to identify novel targets for anxiety and depression. As a graduate student in the lab of Dr. D. James Surmeier, I studied the effects of dopamine modulation in neurons of the basal ganglia. Using electrophysiologic and anatomic techniques, I investigated how neurons of the caudate-putamen adapt to the loss of dopamine signaling in both mouse models of Parkinson’s disease and in chronic treatment with antipsychotic medications.

Moving forward, I hope to answer circuit-level questions in pediatric neurology by incorporating my experiences in molecular biology, electrophysiology, and anatomy. I am interested in continuing to investigate the role of neuromodulators such as dopamine in diseases like ADHD and Tourette’s syndrome, which are prevalent in pediatric populations.

Research Interests:

I did my undergraduate research with Dr Jane Cavender, investigating the reactivation of previously silenced genes in the nucleolar organizing region by SV40 T-Antigen. I completed my PhD under Dr Linda Shapiro. Her lab investigates the role of two transmembrane peptidases in various disease processes, including inflammation, angiogenesis and cancer. I focused on a protein called Prostate Specific Membrane Antigen (PSMA), a transmembrane peptidase which is virtually absent on normal prostate epithelium and on low grade prostate tumors, but highly up-regulated on metastatic and high grade prostate cancer, where its expression is correlated with poor prognosis. In addition, it has also been shown to be present on the vasculature of virtually all solid human tumors, but absent on normal and quiescent vessels. I investigated the relative contribution of tumor vs. endothelial PSMA expression to prostate tumor angiogenesis, and showed that PSMA expression on endothelial cells is necessary for tumor angiogenesis and that it’s absence cannot be compensated for by tumor expressed PSMA. PSMA contribution to pathologic angiogenesis is not restricted to tumor angiogenesis; inhibiting PSMA in a mouse model of retinopathy of prematurity nearly abrogates the pathologic neovascularization and allows a more normal vascularization of the retina. Interestingly, PSMA plays a VEGF-independent role in pathologic retinal angiogenesis; combined, these findings indicate that the inhibition of PSMA may represent a novel therapeutic strategy for treatment of angiogenesis-based ocular diseases.

Research Interests:

I conducted my graduate research in the laboratory of Dr. Larry Jameson and focused on the genetics of male infertility. Infertility is a pervasive issue, with male infertility affecting approximately 40 million men worldwide. While some of the underlying processes involved in spermatogenesis are known, many of the key genes remain a mystery. Using ENU mutagenesis and a forward genetic screen in mice, I searched for mutations in genes that resulted in defective spermatogenesis. Several phenotypes were produced including ones with cryptorchidism (undescended testes), hypogonadism (small testes), and germ cell loss. Through genomic mapping and sequencing, I identified the mutated genes and completed a detailed characterization of each line. The affected gene in the cryptorchidism line was relaxin/insulin-like family peptide receptor 2 (Rxfp2). The missense mutation resulted in a novel finding of abnormal RXFP2 protein localization. In the germ cell loss line, I identified a mutation in polo-like kinase 4 (Plk4), a cell-cycle gene with a previously unknown role in mammalian spermatogenesis. The ENU mutagenesis screen provided new information on male reproductive biology and has significant translational implications as a Plk4 mutation was recently found to cause infertility in humans. In the future, I hope to continue my work in reproductive endocrinology and am excited to participate in the PSTP as a Pediatrics Resident at Lurie Children’s.

Research Interests:

My graduate work was is in the laboratory of Dr. Stephen Tapscott at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, working on the pediatric tumor rhabdomyosarcoma. Rhabdomyosarcoma is a pediatric tumor of skeletal muscle that fails to undergo the normal process of skeletal muscle development, a failure that permits the tumor cells to continue to grow. My doctoral work demonstrated that multiple proteins that help regulate normal muscle development can be utilized in the tumor cells to promote their development and stop their growth. My work also demonstrated that the proteins affect each other and integrate their effects through a microRNA that serves as an important single point of control that functions to "lock in" the process of development. I extended my work to examine the genomic landscape in the tumor cells and show it is highly similar to what is seen in normal muscle cells, but with a relatively small number of key differences that help explain the ability of the tumors to continue to grow. Taken together, this suggests 1) there are multiple potential cancer therapy targets in rhabdomyosarcoma that would function not by killing pediatric tumor cells, but by forcing development in those cells and halting their growth, and 2) that studying the biology of normal muscle cells can help identify such targets. In the future, I plan to continue to focus my research efforts on understanding the biological underpinnings of pediatric tumors, as well as looking for novel treatment approaches.