The 2025 APSA Mid-Atlantic Regional Conference (MARC) will bring together the regional community of future clinician-scientists of all kinds to build community and learn strategies for success in this career path.
Clinician-scientist trainees at all levels including physician- and veterinarian-scientist trainees as well as undergraduates.
Registration is free and open 2/28-5/21. The deadline to register is May, 21 2025 at Mid-Night Eastern Time.
Selected abstracts will be chosen for poster presentations. Posters will be 36” x 48”.
By registering and participating in the 2025 UPenn/APSA Mid-Atlantic Regional Physician-Scientist Conference, you agree to abide by this conference’s code of conduct.
Please see this document for a travel guide to the conference. It includes information about finding the conference venue, parking, hotels, reimbursements, meal options at the conference, and local restaurant recommendations: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1CwsRX_VoUXFZzCB9swvPdA_cdjR9JXDx_yzSy7QBPeI/edit?usp=sharing
The conference will take place at the Jordan Medical Education Center: 3400 Civic Center Blvd, Philadelphia, PA 19104.
Philadelphia is accessible by Amtrak, SEPTA, and NJ Transit
Jordan Medical Education Center is accessible by public transportation via the Penn Medicine SEPTA Station.
Please contact han-seul.ryu@pennmedicine.upenn.edu with any accommodation requests.
| Time | Session | Features & Speakers |
|---|---|---|
| 9:00-9:30am | Registration and Breakfast | Everyone |
| 9:30-9:45am | Welcoming Remarks | |
| 9:45-10:15am | APSA Presentation | |
| 10:30-11:00am | Keynote Speaker 1 | Drew Weissman, MD, PhD |
| 11:10am-12:10pm | Student research talks | |
| 12:30-2:15pm | Lunch and breakout sessions | Variety of panels featuring: MD-PhD and VMD-PhD program admissions, research-track residency admissions, diverse career pathways after training, publishing |
| 2:30-3:00pm | Keynote Speaker 2 | Susan Volk, VMD, PhD |
| 3:00-4:10pm | Poster Session | |
| 4:20-4:50pm | Keynote Speaker 3 | Pamela Moalli, MD, PhD |
| 4:50-5:00pm | Closing Remarks and Survey |
Roberts Family Professor in Vaccine Research, Penn Medicine
Keynote Speaker 1
Roberts Family Professor in Vaccine Research, Penn Medicine
Keynote Speaker 1
Dr. Drew Weissman is a Nobel laureate and Director of Vaccine Research in the Infectious Diseases Division at the Perelman School of Medicine as well as Director of the Institute for RNA Innovation at the University of Pennsylvania. His career has focused on RNA and innate immune system biology. Working with Dr. Katalin Karikó, his efforts on mRNA vaccinations paved the way for development of mRNA vaccines for COVID-19 and earned him the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. The Weissman Lab continues to investigate mRNA-based technologies as well as vaccination approaches for diseases where vaccine development has previously failed including genital herpes, HIV, HCV, malaria, and tuberculosis. Attendees will have the rare and valuable opportunity to learn firsthand about Dr. Weissman’s career journey which illustrates the value physician-scientists provide to biomedical research.
Corinne R. and Henry Bower Professor of Small Animal Surgery, Penn School of Veterinary Medicine
Keynote Speaker 2
Corinne R. and Henry Bower Professor of Small Animal Surgery, Penn School of Veterinary Medicine
Keynote Speaker 2
Dr. Susan Volk is the endowed Corinne R. and Henry Bower Professor of Surgery at the School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. In addition to practicing clinically as a small animal surgeon, she leads a lab focused on understanding cell and matrix interactions in a variety of oncologic, dermatologic, and orthopaedic contexts. Her lab developed a patented approach to alter tumor microenvironments to prevent metastases for which she won the Penn Center for Innovations’ 2019 Emerging Inventor of the Year Award and the Wound Healing Foundation’s Translational Regenerative Science Award in 2021. Dr. Volk is an exemplary veterinarian-scientist, and trainees will be fortunate to learn about her unique and fruitful career.
Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Keynote Speaker 3
Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Keynote Speaker 3
Dr. Pamela Moalli is the director of the Urogynecology and Pelvic Reconstructive Surgery Division at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Magee-Womens Hospital as well as the Vice Chair of Translational Research at the Magee-Womens Research Institute. She is also a bioengineering professor at the University of Pittsburgh and an adjunct bioengineering professor at Carnegie Mellon University. Her lab focuses on understanding pelvic floor disorders with experimentation and computational modeling as well as designing biomaterials for regeneration of pelvic floor tissues. Clinically, Dr. Moalli practices as surgical urogynecologist and is significantly involved in the training of residents and fellows. As a surgeon and engineer, her career highlights the ways physician-scientists can leverage their skillsets to advance patient care.
Lawrence "Skip" Brass, MD, PhD
Dr. Brass is director of the University of Pennsylvania’s Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP). He is an avid advocate for physician-scientist trainees, and a member of the national APSA board.
Margaret “Maggie” Tamburro
Maggie is a 6th year MD-PhD student interested in orthopaedics. She is thrilled to welcome the regional clinician-scientist community to Penn.
Han-Seul Ryu
Han-Seul is a fifth year MD-PhD student at UPenn and one of Penn’s institutional representatives for APSA. She has been studying the epigenetics of neurodegenerative diseases in the Cremins lab and is interested in neurology and internal medicine.
Aleksia Barka
Aleksia is a third year MD-PhD student at UPenn, studying DNA modifying enzymes and harnessing them for biotechnological applications in the Kohli lab. Clinically, she is interested in adult neurology.
Leonie Kurzlechner
Leonie is a 2nd year MD-PhD student at UPenn, interested in studying cardiac genetics and clinically, she is interested in pediatric cardiology.
Vasia Barka
Vasia is a third year MD-PhD student at UPenn, investigating how mechanical forces shape the epigenetic landscape of cardiomyocytes in the Jain lab. She is interested in cardiology.
Quinlen Marshall
Quinlen is a 2nd year MD-PhD student at UPenn who is interested in applications of immunology and biochemistry to therapy and technology development. He is clinically interested in pediatric hematology/oncology.
Isabella Panse
Isabella Panse is a 2nd year MD-PhD student at UPenn interested in genetics, metabolism, and gene therapy. Clinically, she is interested in pediatrics.
Seth Anderson
Seth is a first-year MD-PhD student at UPenn. His research interests include tumor immunology and the role of the microenvironment in shaping anti-tumor immune responses. Clinically, he is interested in hematology/oncology.
Rishi Shridharan
Rishi is a first year MD-PhD student at UPenn who is interested in the cellular and molecular bases of neurological illnesses. He is clinically interested in neurosurgery or pediatric neurology.
