2026 Scientific Retreat recap

May 29, 2026

Group of people standing outside, looking up

The 2026 Scientific Retreat—a collaborative retreat between McGovern Medical School Department of Pediatrics and Pediatric Research Center and UTHealth Houston School of Dentistry Center for Craniofacial Research—brought together more than 100 attendees for an engaging and inspiring program. We were honored to feature keynote presentations from Peter Hotez (external link), MD, PhD and Ryan Dhindsa (external link), MD, PhD from Baylor College of Medicine, and Mary Kay Koenig, MD; Dana DeMaster, PhD; and Kelly Vaughn, PhD, from the Department of Pediatrics, who shared valuable insights across a wide range of topics.

Collage of photos of people conversing during poster session

We congratulate the winners of our Poster Blitz session:

  • 1st Place: Caroline Crain, MS3 at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston (Mentors: Kristi Tebo, MD; William Chong, MD; and Jayhun Lee, PhD)
  • 2nd Place: Shannon Erhardt, Graduate Student at MD Anderson Cancer Center UTHealth Houston Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences (Mentor: Jun Wang, PhD)
  • 3rd Place (Tie): Fatemeh Ebrahimi, DS2 at UTHealth Houston School of Dentistry (Mentor: Walid Fakhouri, MSc, PhD)
  • 3rd Place (Tie): Ephraim Vazquez, Graduate Student at MD Anderson Cancer Center UTHealth Houston Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences (Mentors: Daniel Harrington, PhD; Simon Young, DDS, MD, PhD; and Mary C. (Cindy) Farach-Carson, PhD)

We also congratulate the winners of our Poster session:

  • Best Postdoc Poster: Ioannis Zoupas, PhD, Postdoctoral Research Fellow (Mentors: Drs. Brijesh Gill, MD, FACS; Scott Olson, PhD; Charles Cox, MD; and Damien LaPar, MD, MSc)
  • Best Research Staff Poster: Sheyla Garcia, Research Assistant 1 (Lab: Simon Young, DDS, MD, PhD)
  • Best Student Poster: Gemalene Sunga, Graduate Student at MD Anderson Cancer Center UTHealth Houston Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences (Mentor: Simon Young, DDS, MD, PhD)

Group of people standing on stage holding award certificates

Additionally, four presenters were selected for the Butler Research Award Talks. Julianna Quinn received the top price of $1,000, while Laura Farach, MD; Linqi Jin, PhD; and Karen Posey, PhD, were each awarded $300. All Butler Research Award recipients will be able to use their awards to support research expenses.

Thank you to everyone who attended and contributed to making this retreat a success. Next year’s retreat will be held on Friday, April 17, 2027, at the Cooley Center. Please save the date on your calendars, and we look forward to seeing you next year.

Related topics