The Southern Medical Association (SMA) extends its gratitude to all of the physicians-in-training who presented abstracts at the 5th Annual Physicians-in-Training Leadership Conference, held February 7-9, 2025, at UAB’s Heersink School of Medicine in Birmingham, Alabama. SMA also appreciates the medical schools and residency programs that supported their participation. In total, $6,000 was awarded to this year’s abstract winners, made possible through contributions to SMA’s Research and Education Endowment Fund.

Congratulations to the winners of this year's Abstract Competition!

Photos of the abstract winners with SMA Physicians-in-Training Committee Chair Buckley McCall, MD, are provided by Haleigh Duke.

Orals

1st Place
Luke Anderson, BS
“The Use of Infrared Thermal Imaging
During Revision Palatoplasty
with Buccinator Myomucosal Flaps”
UAB Heersink School of Medicine

2nd Place
Benjamin Loftis, BS
“A Rare Presentation of Epiphyseal Stippling in a Neonate with a Likely Pathogenic CASR Mutation”
Frederick P. Whiddon College of Medicine

3rd Place
Amy Jasani, MPH
“Miller Fisher Syndrome Variant: An Anti-GQ1b Antibody Positive Patient with
Multiple Atypical Features” 
UAB Heersink School of Medicine 

Posters

1st Place
Ankit Tomar, MD
“Diffuse Infiltrating Retinoblastoma:
A Multicenter,International,
Data-sharing Study”
Tulane University School of Medicine

2nd Place
Aimee Knott, BS
“A Case Report of An Emerging Phenotype Associated with 6p Chromosomal Duplication”
Frederick P. Whiddon College of Medicine

3rd Place
Ishika Patel, MS, BS
“The Role of Diet in Hidradenitis Suppurativa”
UAB Heersink School of Medicine