Educational Research Grants

2026-2027 Educational Research Grantees

Congratulations to this year’s recipients of the Apgar Academy Educational Research Grants. Four grants were awarded to proposals that seek to implement new ways of teaching the complex skill set necessary to advance health care during the 26-27 fiscal year at CUIMC. Areas of impact include: General Medicine, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Pediatrics, and Psychiatry. Principal Investigator photos are featured below:

2026 Educational Research Grant Recipients

Four headshots of female grantees — *(L to R: Jenny Wu, MD; Danielle Rome, MD; Faith Kim, MD; Margaret Hamilton, MD)*

Proposal: Using Da Vinci DV5 Kinematic Data to Accelerate Robotic Surgery skills in Gynecology Residency Training: A Simulation-Based Feasibility Study

Principal Investigator: Jenny Wu, MD

Co-Investigator: Arnold P. Advincula, MD, FACOG, FACS

Proposal: Teaching Quality Improvement Through Experience: A Longitudinal Curriculum Integrating Quality Improvement and Digital Health Equity in the Ambulatory Setting

Principal Investigator: Danielle Rome, MD

Co-Investigators: Jessica Singer, MD, MPH, Mytra Haerizadeh, MD, Maria de Miguel, MD, MS

Proposal: From Follow-Up to Follow-Through: An Innovative Curriculum for Early Detection of Cerebral Palsy for Neonatology Fellows

Principal Investigator: Faith Kim, MD

Co-Investigators: Sandhya Brachio, MD, Kathleen Brennan, MD

Proposal: Creating and Implementing a Workplace Based Assessment Tool for Psychiatry to Assist in learner Assessment and Feedback

Principal Investigator: Margaret Hamilton, MD

Previous Grantees

2025 Educational Research Grant Recipients

Side by Side images of two grantees smiling — (L to R:) Himabindu K. Ekanadham, MD, Razan Hamed, PhD, OTR/L, FAOTA

Proposal: Primary Care Training Redesign: A Multi-Modal Longitudinal Program Geared at Equipping Primary Care Providers With Advocacy Skills, Community Engagement, and Leadership Development to Achieve Health Justice

Principal Investigator: Himabindu K. Ekanadham, MD; Co-Investigators: Ana Esteban, MD, Aury Garcia, MD, Melissa Encarnacion, MD

Proposal: Using Virtual Reality In Teaching Professional Skills In Healthcare

Principal Investigator: Razan Hamed, PhD, OTR/L, FAOTA

2024 Education Research Grant Recipients

Three headshots arranged side by side on a plain background. — *(L to R: Patrice Pryce, MD; Moneek Madra, PhD, Said S. Saab, MD, MEd, MPhil)*

Proposal: Development of a Health Equity-Focused Simulation for Pediatric Critical Care Trainees to Improve End of Life Communication with Parents

Principal Investigator: Patrice Pryce, MD; Co-Investigators: Linda Aponte-Patel, MD; Tarif Choudhury, MD

Proposal: Lifestyle Medicine Course Development

Principal Investigator: Moneek Madra, PhD

Proposal: Development of a Program to Assess MCY Students’ Practical Skills

in Suturing and Knot Tying

Principal Investigator: Said S. Saab, MD, MEd, MPhil; Co-Investigators: Jessica Chaoul, MD; Zachary Milligan, BS

2023 Education Research Grant Recipients

Woman with long blonde hair smiling in black top and white coat

Proposal: Students’ Perceptions of a Learner Completed Workplace Based Assessment for Resident Teaching

PI: Dr. Shoshana Friedman; Co-investigators Marguerite Costich MD MS, Nicole Meyers MD and Marina Catallozzi MD MSCE

2022 Education Research Grant Recipients

side by side images of two BIPOC women smiling — (L to R:) Dr. Shivani Ghoshal; Dr. Hetty Cunningham

Proposal: Simulation-enhanced Curriculum to Improve Critical Care Trainee Education in Brain Death Communication: Consensus Framework and Simulation Pilot Study.

PI: Dr. Shivani Ghoshal (Professor of Neurology & Neurosurgery); Co-investigators: Kristi Burkhart (Medicine), Vivek Moitra (Anesthesiology) and David Wang (Anesthesiology)

Proposal: Building the Capacity of Healthcare Professionals Toward Anti-Racist and Inclusive Interprofessional Care

PI: Hetty Cuningham, MD (Associate Professor and Associate Vice Chair for Education and the Learning Environment, Department of Pediatrics; VP&S Director for Equity and Justice in Curricular Affairs); Co-Investigators: Laurel Daniels Abbruzzese, PT, EdD (Reahbilitation and Regerative Medicine- PT) and Ashley Graham-Perel, EdD, RN, NPD-BC, MEDSURG-BC, CNE (Nursing)

2021 Education Research Grant Recipients

Block of eight headshots of various faces smiling — *(Top L to R: Ahimaz, Wynn, Bell, Ader; Bottom L to R: Hill, Saha, Barron, Carpenter)*

Proposal: Developmental of an Interactive Educational Module to Teach Physicians How to Consent for Whole Exome Sequencing

Principal Investigator: Priyanka Ahimaz, MS, CGC; Co-Investigator: Julia Wynn, MS, MS, CGC

Proposal: Intervention to capture the diagnostic potential of individuals in a group-based learning or clinical environment: A feasibility study

Principal Investigator: Michelle Bell MD; Co-Investigator: Jeremy Ader MD, MBA

Utilization of a 3D printed Ultrasound Phantom Model of Shoulder Dislocation as a Novel Training Tool

Principal Investigator: Jason Hill MD-PhD

Training Medical Students in Motivational Interviewing: Improving Skills in Substance Abuse Counseling

Principal Investigator: Prantik Saha, MD MPH; Co-Investigators: Beth Anne Barron, MD and Kenneth Carpenter, PhD

2020 Virginia Apgar Academy Education Research Grant

Smiling woman in doctor's white coat — Beth Barron, MD

Proposal: PHASE II: The development of a faculty student progress coaching aid: NLP approach to EPA sentiment analysis & text classification

PI:Beth Barron, MD in collaboration with CERE

2019 Virginia Apgar Academy Education Research Grants

three headshots of diverse female winners side by side — (L to R:) Jean-Marie E. Alves-Bradford, MD; Hemangi Shuklah, MD; Beth Barron, MD

Proposal: Training psychiatric residents in primary care in integrated care settings

PI: Jean- Marie E. Alves-Bradford, MD

Proposal: AudoBon-Bons, Bite-sized learning for Residents and students in the Ambulatory Ob/Gyn Clinic

PI: Hemangi Shukla, MD with Co-Investigators Rini Ratan MD, Tiffany Sia MD, and Elizabeth McMillian

Proposal: The development of a faculty student progress coaching aid: NLP approach to EPA sentiment analysis & text classification

PI:Beth Barron, MD in collaboration with CERE

2018 Virginia Apgar Academy Education Research Grants

Four headshots of diverse winners smiling — (L-to-R:) Christopher Kevin Wong, PT, PhD; Kanwal M. Farooqi, MD; Ruth Landau, MD; Allison Lee, MD

Proposal: Developing CUIMC Clinical Faculty to Meet the Need for Published Clinical Scholars in the Pipeline of Future Physical Therapy Faculty with a New Journal Author Advising Project

PI: Christopher Kevin Wong, PT, PhD

Proposal: 3D Printing as a Teaching Tool

PI: Kanwal M. Farooqi, MD

Proposal: ‘Improving Providers’ Education On Opioid Prescription After Surgery

PI: Ruth Landau, MD

Proposal: A randomized controlled trial to compare the effectiveness of a serious game versus an educational video to improve competency in the management of perioperative anaphylaxis among PGY-1 residents

PI: Allison Lee, MD