Congratulations to the Abstract Winners from SMA’s 6th Annual Physicians-in-Training Leadership Conference

The Southern Medical Association (SMA) extends its gratitude to all of the physicians-in-training who presented abstracts at the 6th Annual Physicians-in-Training (PIT) Leadership Conference, held February 21, 2026, at the Clemson School of Nursing in Greenville, South Carolina.

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.

Click here to view photos from the conference, and thank you to PIT Committee member Kevin Lillis for capturing the event.

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

 

Orals

1st Place
Olivia Halter, DO
"Double Trouble: A Case of ICI Pneumonitis and PJP"
Prisma Health, Greenville, SC

2nd Place
Pallavi Roshini Ganesan, DO
"17-yo presenting with Gastroparesis and found to have High-grade Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma and Sarcina Ventriculi infection: A Case Report"
Prisma Health, Greenville, SC

3rd Place
Matthew Merritt, BA
"Lift Your Neighbor Up: Community Health in the 20th-Century Rural Deep South"
Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA

Posters

1st Place
Jane Quackenbash, BS
"Impact of antibiotic prophylaxis regimen change on hysterectomy surgical site infections"
University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD

2nd Place
Emma Smith, DO
When a Tricyclic Turns Toxic: A Rare Case of Amitriptyline-Induced Acute Liver Failure
Prisma Health, Greenville, SC

3rd Place
Adonicah Cumings, BS
Double Dose Dilemma: Spontaneous Tumor Lysis Syndrome in a Child With Wilms Tumor Requiring Repeat Rasburicase
FIU HWCOM, Miami, FL