Meet the 2025 Distinguished Research Trainee Award Recipients

Join us in congratulating the 2025 CHOP Distinguished Research Trainee Award recipients.

Editor's Note: Children's Hospital of Philadelphia Research Institute regularly celebrates trainees of all levels with a variety of programs dedicated to recognizing their accomplishments. The biennial Distinguished Research Trainee Awards provide institution-wide recognition for exceptional CHOP Research trainees, giving mentors the opportunity to spotlight the work of their up-and-coming investigators. This year, the Research Trainee Advisory Committee awarded four trainees for their efforts and achievements. Read on to learn about the awardees and their research.

Graduate Student Winner

Alexa Semon
Graduate Student, Immunology Graduate Group, University of Pennsylvania
Research Mentor: Joseph P. Zackular, PhD

Semon has discovered that early life asymptomatic Clostridium difficile carriage is not benign, as physicians have previously thought. C. difficile is a highly common bacteria that can cause diarrhea and colon inflammation in infants. Implications from her work on C. difficile in babies could completely change how physicians handle this pathogen in early life. Her research may explain numerous long-term health issues associated with neonatal development, such as risk for viral infection and type 2 inflammatory diseases such as allergies.

"Alexa's led two projects that she built from the ground up and reshaped the research in our lab, leading to multiple grants in the lab and industry funding," Dr. Zackular wrote in his nomination. "I would never have imagined a single trainee, never mind a graduate student, having such a major impact on my research program."

Postdoctoral Fellow Winner

Frederico Kiffer, PhD

Frederico Kiffer, PhD
Staff Scientist, Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine
Research Mentor: Amelia J. Eisch, PhD

Dr. Kiffer's work is helping NASA determine risk assessments for astronauts on future Mars missions by understanding the effects of cosmic radiation on brain function and behavior. He collaborated with Talmo Pereira, PhD, principal investigator and Salk Fellow from the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, who contributed a letter of recommendation along with Dr. Eisch.

His collaboration with Dr. Pereira's group allowed NASA to determine the impact of space flight in the International Space Station on animal behavior. Dr. Kiffer's work is opening broad avenues for study of the effects of low or zero gravity on physiological measures and laying a foundation for testing the effect of drugs, such as anti-osteoporosis or radioprotective compounds, on general behavior in these space flight environments.

His innovative methodologies, particularly in machine learning applications to behavioral analysis, are creating new standards for neuroscience research.

"Fred has demonstrated all the key attributes needed: scientific creativity, technical expertise, grant-writing success, leadership abilities, and strong mentoring skills," Dr. Eisch wrote in her nomination. "His unique combination of expertise in neuroscience, radiation biology, and machine learning makes him highly competitive for faculty positions."

Physician Fellow Winners

Vanessa Denny, MD, MS, FAAP

Vanessa Denny, MD, MS, FAAP
Graduate Medical Education Fellow, Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine
Research Mentor: Vinay Nadkarni, MD, MS

Dr. Denny's work focuses on improving pediatric septic shock outcomes in low-resourced countries using a novel, low-bandwidth tele-simulation platform that's contextualized to each clinical setting. With her project starting in Kumasi, Ghana, her work is being evaluated and incorporated into the World Health Organization's Basic Emergency and Critical Care pilot training courses in Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. She brings together the expertise of the Critical Care and Global Health Outreach Programs at CHOP; the Center for Simulation, Advanced Education and Innovation at CHOP; the Annenberg School of Education, Wharton School of Business, and PISCES Implementation Science and Global Education programs at the University of Pennsylvania; and non-governmental organizations including the American Heart Association, Laerdal Foundation, and Zoll Foundation.

"Dr. Denny is a whirlwind of positive energy and inspiration to all those who encounter her," Dr. Nadkarni wrote in his nomination. "Throughout CHOP fellowship clinical training, research, education, and advocacy mentorship, she exceeds expectations and excels. She represents the 'best of the best' at CHOP and Penn."

Arthur Lee, MD

Arthur Lee, MD
Graduate Medical Education Fellow, Department of Pediatrics
Research Mentor: Michelle Denburg, MD, MSCE

A limited number of longitudinal studies consider global metabolomic profiling, and there are even fewer in chronic kidney disease in children (CKiD). Global metabolomic profiling is a technique designed to analyze and quantify a broad spectrum of metabolites in a biological sample, offering a detailed overview of metabolic processes. Dr. Lee continued his research work in residency, building on his prior study to leverage the longitudinal clinical and metabolomics data in CKiD to examine metabolite associations with left ventricular hypertrophy and ventricular dysfunction. He presented his findings as a poster presentation at the 2022 Pediatric Academic Societies meeting.

In addition to measures of cardiovascular morbidity, Dr. Lee investigated metabolite associations with neurocognitive dysfunction in children with chronic kidney disease. Dr. Lee also examined plasma metabolome patterns in relation to changing kidney function and proteinuria in a CKiD cohort.

"Dr. Lee is a talented physician who has already demonstrated outstanding initiative and aptitude for clinical research at this early stage of his career," Dr. Denburg wrote in her nomination. "Dr. Lee is motivated, inquisitive, determined, conscientious, perspicacious, and enthusiastic. He is able to digest and distill large bodies of literature to identify and articulate well-founded research hypotheses and aims."

The awardees will be recognized at the annual CHOP Poster Day and Scientific Symposium reception May 8. The annual symposium will take place Tuesday May 6; Wednesday, May 7; and Thursday, May 8. The entire CHOP community is encouraged to join the three-day celebration of research at CHOP. Learn more about the events occurring at the symposium.