COSM 2012: TRIO Poster Winners Discuss their Projects

ENT Today: What advice do you have for others interested in submitting for next year’s poster competition?

My advice to future poster authors is to keep the audience and readers in mind when designing a poster. There are usually many posters to look at over the course of a short poster session, so displaying a concise, efficient poster allows observers to broadly understand your topic. More specific questions and information can be addressed during a meet-the-author/Q&A session.

Praveen Duggal, MD, is chief administrative resident at Emory University’s department of otolaryngology-head and neck surgery in Atlanta. He has served in that position for the past year, the fifth of his residency. Dr. Duggal’s poster, “Evaluating p16, p53, and EGFR Expression in Oropharyngeal Squamous Cell Carcinoma (OPSCC) and their Association with Mortality,” took second place in the Head & Neck category.

ENT Today: What is the research focus of your poster?

My poster focused on evaluating the expression of certain tumor suppressors, p16, p53, and EGFR in oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC). P16 and p53 are tumor suppressor proteins that help regulate the cell cycle. P16 has been highly associated with the human papilloma virus and its link to OPSCC. We wanted to focus on finding relationships to the expression of these tumor suppressors and oropharynx cancer. We also wanted to look at how the expression of these markers varied amongst our patient population in regards to patient demographics, characteristics and mortality.

ENT Today: What advice do you have for others interested in submitting for next year’s poster competition?

It’s a rewarding experience from beginning to end. Seeing a project through and then submitting and presenting the research is a valuable and rewarding experience for any young clinician or scientist. Being rewarded for your efforts is humbling and is icing on the proverbial cake.

Marsha S. Reuther, MD, is finishing her fourth year of residency at the University of California, San Diego. Her poster, “In Vivo Oxygen Tension in Human Septal Cartilage Increases with Age,” took first place in the Facial Plastic & Reconstructive category.

ENT Today: What is the research focus of your poster?

My poster research focused on tissue engineering of human nasal septal cartilage. Tissue-engineered septal cartilage is expected to provide a source of autologous cartilage for repair of nasal framework defects. The production of clinically useful neocartilage involves multiple steps that include manipulating the tissue culture environment. The partial pressure of oxygen (ppO2) is a property that has been shown to influence cartilage development. Specifically, studies suggest that low ppO2 augments in vitro growth of articular cartilage. While in vivo measurements of articular cartilage ppO2 have demonstrated hypoxic conditions, measurements have not been performed in septal cartilage. The objective of our study was to determine the ppO2 of septal cartilage in vivo.