{"id":41980,"date":"2016-08-08T14:36:27","date_gmt":"2016-08-08T18:36:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/?p=41980"},"modified":"2016-08-08T14:36:28","modified_gmt":"2016-08-08T18:36:28","slug":"boonshoft-school-of-medicine-student-selected-for-minority-medical-student-award-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/2016\/08\/08\/boonshoft-school-of-medicine-student-selected-for-minority-medical-student-award-program\/","title":{"rendered":"Boonshoft School of Medicine student selected for Minority Medical Student Award Program"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Ramanjot<\/a>

Ramanjot Kang, a third-year medical student at the Boonshoft School of Medicine.<\/p><\/div>\n

Ramanjot Kang, a third-year medical student at the Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine<\/a>, was one of 14 medical students nationwide selected to participate in the American Society of Hematology 2016 Minority Medical Student Award Program (MMSAP), an eight- to 12-week research experience.<\/p>\n

The program encourages minority medical students\u2019 interest in hematology by providing the opportunity to create and implement a hematology-related research project. Participants will receive $7,000 to help cover their research projects and travel expenses to the 58th annual meeting in December, where they will present their research projects.<\/p>\n

Kang\u2019s research project, \u201cThe Development of Autoimmune Diseases Following HPA-1a Alloimmunization in Fetal-Neonatal Alloimmune Thrombocytopenia (FNAIT),\u201d focuses on a blood-related disease that affects newborns. During pregnancy, platelets are able to cross the placenta. In some cases, these platelets have antigens, substances that the immune system views as foreign to the mother\u2019s body. Antibodies form, destroying the platelets.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis incompatibility is referred to as alloimmunization,\u201d Kang said. \u201cStudies show that mothers with specific genes are predisposed to developing incompatibilities.\u201d<\/p>\n

The genes that predispose mothers to developing incompatibilities also are associated with several autoimmune diseases, including type 1 diabetes, systemic erythematous lupus and rheumatoid arthritis.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause mothers with specific genes are predisposed to developing FNAIT and those same genes are related to autoimmune diseases, our research will determine whether there is an increased incidence of autoimmune diseases in mothers with pregnancies affected by FNAIT,\u201d Kang said.<\/p>\n

He became interested in this research topic after working with his MMSAP research mentor, James Bussel, M.D., of Weill Cornell Medicine in New York.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile researching alloimmune neutropenia with Dr. Bussel, we realized that there really was no significant research devoted to understanding the long-term effects of these newborn conditions on the mothers who gave birth to the affected infants,\u201d Kang said. \u201cThere was already a strong suspicion that FNAIT was linked to the development of autoimmune diseases later in life, but it had not been investigated up to that point.\u201d<\/p>\n

This study will be the first to provide data about the frequency of autoimmune diseases following pregnancies affected by FNAIT and provide support for examining how such diseases can be prevented.<\/p>\n

As part of the MMSAP program, Kang also will work with Mukund Dole, a pediatric hematologist-oncologist at Dayton Children\u2019s Hospital and an associate professor of pediatrics at the Boonshoft School of Medicine. He also is the medical director for the West Central Ohio Sickle Cell Center based at Dayton Children\u2019s Hospital.<\/p>\n

Kang is interested in the field of hematology\/oncology. Although his research has focused on pediatric conditions, he is interested in how these conditions impact individuals later in life. He would like to pursue a residency in internal medicine followed by a fellowship in hematology\/oncology.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith advances in treatment and technology, many conditions that were primarily seen in the pediatric population are now also seen in the adult population because of our ability to treat them,\u201d said Kang, who is involved in several student organizations at the Boonshoft School of Medicine, including the Research Learning Community, ENT Interest Group, Medical School Student Council, Radiology Interest Group and Pre-med Mentoring Program.<\/p>\n

Kang, who was born and raised in Queens in New York City, is a first-generation American and was the first in his family to finish high school and college. He earned his undergraduate degree in psychology and a graduate degree in biology from New York University. Despite his interest in medicine, it wasn\u2019t until a family member was diagnosed with cancer that he began to better understand the complex nature of medicine and the immense role that philosophy and the training of a physician played in the treatment of patients. A primary care physician led a team of physicians caring for Kang\u2019s family member.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe primary care physician took the time to learn how the diagnosis impacted not only the family member but our entire family,\u201d Kang said. \u201cThis physician showed me that in addition to having clinical knowledge and skills, he or she also must have compassion and a sense of empathy in order to understand an individual\u2019s situation.\u201d<\/p>\n

The experience cemented his desire to pursue a career in medicine. But while he was in medical school, another family member\u2019s diagnosis of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) piqued his interest in pediatric hematology-oncology. ALL is the most common type of childhood cancer, but it is very rare in adults.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis contributed to my interest in pediatric hematology-oncology,\u201d Kang said. \u201cIn order to better understand ALL, I started to research pediatric cancers.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The program encourages minority medical students\u2019 interest in hematology by providing the opportunity to create and implement a hematology-related research project. Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":50,"featured_media":41982,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[722,725,2149,2016,715,18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-41980","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academics","category-home-news-sidebar","category-medical-students","category-medicine","category-news","category-research"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41980","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/50"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41980"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41980\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":41984,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41980\/revisions\/41984"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41982"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41980"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41980"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41980"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}