The iMIND Research Team, led by Sharon Fekrat, MD, FACS, FASRS and Dilraj Grewal, MD, FASRS was honored with the 2024 Michelle P. Winn Inclusive Excellence Award presented by the Duke University School of Medicine Office of Equity, Diversity & Inclusion. This award honors individuals who have made significant contributions to diversity and inclusion within the school of medicine community and recognizes a commitment to excellence, innovation, and leadership in creating a more diverse and inclusive environment.
iMIND is made up of a diverse and inclusive multidisciplinary team and their research involves using eye multimodal imaging in the detection and diagnosis of neurodegenerative disease, including studying gender and racial differences. They have worked to educate and engage the local community about clinical research in order to promote diversity in clinical trial cohorts. Their team has also produced several national surveys that examine gender, racial, and other potential biases experienced by premedical and medical students, as well as physician residents across the United States and have assessed diversity trends in ophthalmology residents over the last decade as well as analyzing endowed chair allocation across academic institutions to improve equity.
The award will be presented during the Equity Advancement Symposium on August 5, 2024.
iMIND Team:
Duke undergraduates: Sejal Patel, Disha Jotsinghani, Annabel Stickel, Alice Haystead, Sanjana Anand, Alexander Richardson, David Bearden, Raj Kundu
Duke MBS student: Lucas McNeill
Duke medical students: Suzanna Joseph, Ariana Allen, Jay Rathinavelu, Jamie Karl, Hemal Patel, Peter Weng, Josh Woo, Wufan Zhao, Alex Choi, Liz Fan, Camryn Thompson, Meredith Cox, Anita Kundu, Angela Hemesath, Praruj Pant, Lily Fahs, Lulu Wein, Claire Washabaugh, Nathan Luzum, Shweta Lodha, Grace Kim, Nicole Schindler
Duke ophthalmology residents: Hazem Mousa, MD, Naveen Karthik, MD Terry Lee, MD, Cason Robbins, MD, Emily Jung, MD Sri Meghana Konda, MD, Yuxi Zheng, MD, Richmond Woodward, MD, Aaron Lindeke-Meyers, MD, Richard Morgan, MD, PhD
Duke Faculty: Andy Liu, Kim Johnson, Burton Scott, Ricardo Henao, Sandra Stinnett, Dilraj Grewal, Sharon Fekrat