BS/MD Student Jay Patel Travels to France to Give Presentation

Jay Patel, BS/MD student in the Department of Biology and the College of Medicine, will be presenting his abstract, “Does Molecular Diagnostic Testing Offer an Insight in the Differential Effects of Cyclosporine and Tacrolimus on Immune Activation?” at the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplant’s annual meeting in Paris, France on April 24th, 2009.  As well as presenting his abstract to an international audience, it was also been published in the February, 2009 issue of the Journal of Heart and Lung Transplant.

As first author on the abstract, Mr. Patel’s oral presentation will cover research performed this past term alongside Dr. Howard Eisen, Chief of Cardiology at Hahnemann University Hospital.  The research focused primarily on a recently government approved non-invasive gene test called Allomap which can be used to test graft rejection in heart transplant patients.  Mr. Patel’s abstract discussed Allomap scores of patients whom are on the calcineurin immunosuppressants: Prograf and Cyclosporin.

Jay Patel is currently a senior in the 7 year BS/MD joint program with the College of Medicine and will be starting medical school this fall.  During winter term 2008, Mr. Patel began clinical research in the field of heart transplantation at the University of California Los Angeles’s Department of Cardiology.  His work at UCLA has been featured as three abstracts in the Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation, an article in the Journal of Investigative Medicine, and as a presentation at the American Federation of Medical Research conference in Carmel, CA.  It was this outstanding track record that pushed Dr. Eisen to recommend Mr. Patel to present his most current abstract in Paris.

The Department of Biology congratulations Mr. Patel on his achievements!