Research Spotlight
Lauren Johnson is a third year general surgery resident at UAMS, starting her first year of the Surgical Research Fellowship. She attended Saint Louis University, where she completed a major in Biomedical Engineering. Lauren is doing research in Dr. Marie Burdine’s laboratory at ACRI.
Research Projects
In vivo CAR-T Development through Interventional Radiology techniques in a porcine splenic model with Dr. Lyle Burdine. Understanding the role of DNA-PKcs in T cell migration with Dr. Marie Burdine and Dr. Ana Azevedo-Pouly.
Research Mentors
- Dr. Marie Burdine
- Dr. Lyle Burdine
- Dr. Steliga
- Dr. Muesse
- Dr. Marino
Publications/Conferences
- Southwestern Surgical Congress, April 2022
- Will be presenting at the North America Conference on Lung Cancer in September 2022
Future Career Plans
Cardiothoracic Surgery Fellowship
Fun Facts
In her spare time, Lauren enjoys gardening, reading, hiking (especially in the fall) and eating Mexican food
Recent Award
TRI and the UAMS Center for Implementation Research (CIR) have selected five UAMS-based and Arkansas Children’s Hospital clinical faculty as UAMS 2021 Implementation Science Scholars. Using the principles of implementation science, CIR faculty will guide the scholars through 10 didactic sessions per year and provide oversight and mentoring for their experiential implementation science projects. The two-year program will provide 20% salary support (up to salary cap).
Kyle J. Kalkwarf, M.D., Assistant Professor, Acute Care Surgery Division Department of Surgery, was one of the awardees for his project “Implementation of Combined Strategies to Reduce Opioid Consumption for Acute Pain in the Surgical ICU at UAMS”
Recent Grants
- Dr. Lauren Appell (pediatric heme/onc fellow in Dr. Burdine’s lab) – ACRI Postdoctoral Fellowship – $15,000.
- Dr. Marie Burdine awarded NIH COBRE Center for Translational Pediatric Research Project Leader Grant, $525,000.
- Dr. Zachary Waldrip (post-doc in the Burdine Laboratory) received the TRI TL1 Health Sciences Innovation and Entrepreneurship Postdoctoral Fellowship. This award includes a $55,000/year stipend.