Lilly Gu, MD
Dr. Lilly Gu is a resident physician in the Emory University Internal Medicine Residency Program with a passion for translating insights from clinical practice into impactful research that advances patient care. Her work focuses on cancer immunotherapy and improving outcomes for patients with multiple myeloma. Dr. Gu earned her undergraduate degree from Duke University. Prior to medical school, she conducted research at the National Cancer Institute as a Post-Baccalaureate Cancer Research Training Award Fellow. During her medical training at Weill Cornell Medicine, she developed a strong foundation in cancer biology and clinical research, culminating in a research fellowship year at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. At Emory, Dr. Gu’s research has focused on characterizing early relapse in newly diagnosed multiple myeloma patients treated with quadruplet therapy (daratumumab, lenalidomide, bortezomib, and dexamethasone or D-RVd). Her work has underscored the unmet need for more effective second-line therapies in this high-risk population.
Research Summary
As part of the StARR program, Dr. Gu continues research in the field of myeloma therapeutics. She is currently investigating the use of CAR T-cell therapy as an early-line treatment for patients with multiple myeloma who experience early relapse following D-RVd induction therapy. Her project evaluates the efficacy and toxicity of early CAR T-cell therapy and seeks to identify clinical and biological predictors of treatment response and complications. Dr. Gu plans to pursue a fellowship in hematology-oncology and a career as a physician-scientist, integrating clinical care and translational research to improve cancer outcomes and contribute to the evolving field of cancer therapeutics.
Perice Manns, MD
Perice Manns is a resident physician in the Emory General Surgery Residency Program with an interest in plastic surgery and cutaneous oncology reconstruction. Perice earned her undergraduate degree in Biology from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University and completed her MD at East Carolina University. She aims to bridge her interest in plastic and reconstructive surgery and cutaneous oncology to improve outcomes for patients with cutaneous and soft tissue malignancies. In her free time, Perice enjoys exploring the live music scene in Atlanta, traveling and spending time with her family and friends.
Research Summary
As a part of the StARR program, Perice is working with Dr. Delman to understand how surgical margin status affects disease recurrence and long-term outcomes in extramammary Paget’s Disease. She is also interested in the reconstructive approaches necessary after oncologic resection, and how these influence both functional results for patients and disease recurrence. Her goal is to contribute to the evidence base that informs surgical decision-making and improve both oncologic and reconstructive outcomes for patients affected by understudied diseases.
Daniel Rzewnicki, MD, MPH
Daniel Rzewnicki is a resident physician in the Emory University Internal Medicine Residency Program interested in improving outcomes in critical care. Particularly, he is interested in leveraging existing data to answer new questions and in utilizing techniques in bioinformatics and machine learning to modernize and improve the treatment of sepsis and septic shock.
After earning his undergraduate degree from Grove City College, Daniel worked as a project coordinator for an HIV cohort study at the University of Pittsburgh where he developed clinical skills and interests as well as an interest in the use of an existing cohort to answer new questions. During this time, he also earned his master's degree in public health and interned for the population health division of the UPMC Health Plan, where he studied the use of just-in-time adaptive interventions to promote behavior change. It was the combination of these experiences that developed his interest in intervention approaches that could improve the health of a population while also being tailored to a particular individual.
Research Summary
As part of the StARR program, he is working with Dr. Siva Bhavani on precision medicine approaches for the treatment of sepsis. Namely, he will be utilizing an algorithm developed by Dr. Bhavani's lab to stratify patients into sepsis phenotypes using vital sign data and studying the benefits of antibiotics and corticosteroids for each phenotype. Additionally, he will be working to develop an algorithm that can accurately stratify patients into sepsis phenotypes with fewer data points so that patients could more rapidly receive tailored treatments that might improve survival in sepsis.
In addition to his work with StARR, he is also a member of his residency’s quality improvement Distinction Program. His hope is that gaining skills in quality improvement will allow him to gain translational and implementation skills that could allow his research findings to translate to clinical practice. His goal is to pursue training in pulmonary and critical care as well as clinical informatics with the vision of becoming a physician-scientist with the skillset capable of studying novel and tailored treatment approaches in critical care and implementing these approaches into practice.
Evan Straub, MD
Evan Straub is a resident physician in the Emory General Surgery Residency Program with an interest in surgical critical care. Evan earned his undergraduate degree in Biomedical Engineering with a concentration in Biomaterials from Clemson University and completed his MD at Eastern Virginia Medical School. He aims to use his background in biomedical engineering to identify key mechanisms of sepsis and develop unique therapeutic strategies to mitigate the deleterious effects of sepsis on host tissues. As a physician-scientist, he strives to bridge bench research with translational clinical applications in a variety of settings. In his free time, Evan enjoys travelling, baking, and learning new languages.
Research Summary
As part of the StARR program, Evan is working with Dr. John Lyons to better understand molecular signaling mechanisms underlying the initiation and progression of septic inflammation. He is specifically focused on intestinal epithelial dysfunction during sepsis, and he is utilizing human and animal tissue to generate 3D intestinal epithelial organoids to model how the gut epithelium responds to septic insults. By characterizing weak points in the barrier between patients and the gut microbiome, Evan hopes to identify new strategies to prevent persistent immune stimulation and dysregulation during sepsis.
Jillian Thompson, MD, MS
Jillian “Jill” Thompson is a resident physician within Emory’s J. Willis Hurst Internal Medicine Residency Program who is passionate about collaborating with others within the domains of patient care, clinical research, and medical education to support patients and their families. Jill is motivated to become an oncologist after her residency training and is driven to work with others to improve outcomes for cancer patients.
She was born and raised in metro Atlanta and completed her undergraduate degree in biology within the honors program at Kennesaw State University. She then worked for a year in biotechnology before pursuing her master’s degree in biomedical sciences from Duke University School of Medicine. After earning her master’s degree, she discovered her passion for serving cancer patients while working in clinical research at Duke Cancer Institute within the Division of Hematologic Malignancies and Cellular Therapy, specifically working with her team on multiple studies focused on outcomes within the adult bone marrow transplant population.
During medical school at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, she continued to pursue her interests in oncology clinical research by contributing to clinical research projects with both bone marrow transplant patients and lung cancer patients. She also co-founded a clinical research scholarly concentration program aimed at providing medical students with longitudinal training and a structured curriculum in clinical research. As a resident physician at Emory, Jill continues to not only work in a variety of clinical care experiences but also engages in training in medical education through the Medical Education Distinction, as well as training in clinical research through the StARR Program. After residency, she plans to further her training through a hematology/oncology fellowship.
Research Summary
Under the mentorship of Dr. Mehmet Asim Bilen, MD, of Emory Winship Cancer Institute, Jill works with the genitourinary oncology team on projects focused on assessing immune-related adverse events associated with immuno-combination therapies utilized in the treatment of metastatic renal cell carcinoma, as well as examines survival outcomes and response rates related to these novel treatment modalities. Jill also collaborates with her team on projects aimed at assessing survival outcomes and response rates related to treatment combinations in the context of addressing metastatic prostate cancer. Through her research training at Winship Cancer Institute and the StARR Program, she hopes to learn and grow as an aspiring physician-scientist with the goal of making a difference in the lives of cancer patients and their families.
Nancy Wareing, MD, PhD
Nancy Wareing is an internal medicine resident who plans to pursue a fellowship in Rheumatology. Nancy graduated from UTHealth McGovern Medical School as a member of Alpha Omega Alpha and the MD Anderson UTHealth Houston Graduate School with a PhD in Biochemistry and Cell Biology in May 2023. During her time in medical school, she founded an organization to support fellow medical students interested in pursuing a career in academic medicine, particularly those who identify as belonging to underrepresented groups in academia. Her PhD work combined molecular and translational approaches to identify a novel gene, SIX1, as an early marker of skin fibrosis and established its role in promoting dermal fat loss in systemic sclerosis. As a physician-scientist, Nancy hopes to continue expanding our understanding of autoimmune diseases. Outside of work, Nancy enjoys exercise, cooking, and gardening.
Research Summary
As a StARR recipient, Nancy is working at the Emory Hope Clinic, combining the fields of translational immunology and nutrition to explore the link between processed food consumption, inflammation, and dysbiosis. She will compare the inflammatory profile and gut microbiota composition of individuals consuming heavily processed diets versus those on less processed diets using dietary analytics, modeling, and metagenomic sequencing techniques. Ultimately, she hopes her work can aid in developing preventive strategies and dietary interventions to mitigate inflammation-related health risks.