BOSTON — The Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) are pleased to announce the recipients of the prestigious PAS Meeting Travel Grant Awards, recognizing 46 outstanding trainees and early career professionals for their contributions to pediatric research. Each recipient will receive complimentary registration to the PAS 2026 Meeting in Boston, Massachusetts, along with a travel stipend to support their attendance.
These awards are designed to promote emerging talent and recognize excellence in pediatric research. Recipients were selected based on the strength and quality of their submitted abstracts, with the requirement that the presenting author be a trainee. This initiative underscores PAS’s ongoing commitment to supporting the next generation of pediatric leaders.
PAS extends its sincere gratitude to Abbott for supporting the 36 PAS 2026 Trainee Travel Grant Awards and to the Academic Pediatric Association (APA) for supporting the 10 PAS 2026 Early Career Travel Awards for Junior Faculty.
For additional information or inquiries, please contact the PAS team at info@pasmeeting.org.
The PAS 2026 Meeting Trainee Travel Grant Recipients are:
Sophia Allen, MPH
PhD Student
The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy & Clinical Practice
Patricio Astudillo, MD MSc PhD(c)
Associated Instructor
Pontificia Universidad Catolica
Rina Bao, PhD
Instructor
Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School
Jonathan A. Berken, MD, PhD
Clinical and Research Fellow
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
Kulsajan S. Bhatia, MD
Neonatal Perinatal Fellow
University of Alabama School of Medicine
Anushka Bhowal, MD
Pediatric Hospital Medicine - Clinical Fellow
University of Texas Southwestern Medical School
Helena Brenes-Chacon, MD
Postdoctoral Research Associate
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
Caroline J. Burke, MD
Boston Children’s Hospital
Lucy C. Campbell, BS
Medical student
Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine
Jocelyn E. Chau, BS
Medical student
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania
Srikanth R. Damera, MD, PhD
Children's National Health System
Aimilia Eirini Papathanasiou, MD, PhD
Pediatric Resident
Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center
Salika Gadiwala, MBBS, MPH
Pediatric Cardiology Fellow
University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences College of Medicine
Sarah Householder, MD
Resident
Yale-New Haven Children's Hospital
Ruth Kahsay, MD
Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago
Adedapo Kiladejo, MD, MPH
Neonatology Fellow
St. Christopher's Hospital for Children
Ioanna Kotsopoulou, MD
Clinical Fellow
Boston Children's Hospital
Grace H. Kromm, PhD
MD Candidate
Harvard Medical School
Allison C. Lure, MD
Boston Children's Hospital
Sarah McHugh, MD
Fellow
Seattle Children's Hospital
Cimran Nakum, BS
Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center
Ashley C. Nmoh, BA
Medical Student (MS3)
Duke University School of Medicine
Shankar Prasad Yadav, MD
Fellow Pediatric Nephrology
Cohen Children's Medical Center, Northwell Health
Ashleigh Pyke, BS
University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine
Victoria D. Rapos, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow
University of British Columbia Faculty of Medicine
Alexandrine Ratnani, MD
Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine Fellow
Emma Ridener
Medical Student
University of Kentucky College of Medicine
Rubi Romero Garcia, MD
Neonatal Perinatal Fellow
University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine
Philippa Rees, BSc(Hons) MPhil MBBCh MRCPCH
NIHR Doctoral Fellow
UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health
Sheryar Siddiqui, DO, MPH
CHOC Children's Hospital of Orange County
Rayan Terkawi, MBBS
Pediatric Resident
Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago
Yutaro Tomobe, MD
Researcher
Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University
Mollie Wasserman, MD (not pictured)
Boston Children's Hospital
Toshifumi Yodoshi, MD, PhD
Advanced Nutrition/ Pediatric GI clinical fellow
Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center
Aoun Zaib Khan, MD
Pediatric Resident
MetroHealth Medical Center/Case Western Reserve University
Melissa S. Zhou, MD
Pediatric Nephrology Fellow
Stanford University School of Medicine
APA Early Career Travel Award for Junior Faculty Awardees
Mojan Azarmi, MD
Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Stanford
Michelle Du, BS
Medical Student
University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine
Nicolas P. Goldstein Novick, MD, PhD
Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine Fellow
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
Elizabeth C. Kuhn, MD
Assistant Professor
Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
Rong Qiu, MD, PhD
Post-Doctoral Fellow
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
Christina Rojas, MD
Assistant Professor, PEM Attending
Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago
Ryohei Shibata, MD, PhD
Research Fellow
Harvard Medical School
Kathleen D. Snow, MD, MPH
Instructor in Pediatrics
Boston Children's Hospital
Kristi K. Westphaln, PhD, RN, CPNP-PC
Assistant Professor
University of California, Los Angeles, School of Nursing
Lyubina Yankova, MD
Assistant Professor of Pediatric Hospital Medicine
Yale School of Medicine
About the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) Meeting
The PAS Meeting connects thousands of leading pediatric researchers, clinicians, and medical educators worldwide, united by a common mission: connecting the global academic pediatric community to advance scientific discovery and promote innovation in child and adolescent health. This international gathering offers a global audience opportunities to share research, explore new ideas, build career pathways, and collaborate on future projects. Presentations cover topics relevant to generalists as well as specialty and sub-specialty areas.