Awards, research and announcements from The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center – May 2026

 

Kartik Venkatesh, MD, PhD, associate professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, has been selected as a 2026 Emerging Leaders in Health and Medicine Scholar by the National Academy of Medicine. The program recognizes early- and mid-career professionals who demonstrate leadership and exceptional professional achievement in biomedical science, population health, healthcare and related fields. He also has been appointed to the Digital Strategies Task Force of the American Gynecological and Obstetrical Society, the premier organization for academic leaders in women's health.

 

Qing Lin, MD, PhD, associate professor of Surgery in the Division of Cardiac Surgery at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, has been awarded a nearly $1.2 million, four-year National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences. The award will support his research on understanding why skin scarring occurs after trauma or surgery, which is a common problem for patients that can lead to long-term functional and cosmetic complications. The goal is to identify new strategies that promote healing and reduce excessive scarring.

 

Surgeons at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center performed the first-in-human implant of a device for neuroma pain as part of a prospective pilot study. Renerva PNM-CAP is an investigational nerve capping device designed to prevent disorganized nerve growth (neuroma) and associated pain when functional recovery of a severed nerve is not possible or needed. Neuromas are a primary source of chronic, debilitating pain in amputees and other patients with nerve injuries, leading to a reduced quality of life and often a reliance on opioids. The procedure was performed by Amy Moore, MD, chair of Ohio State’s Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, interim dean of the College of Medicine and the Robert L. Ruberg, MD Alumni Endowed Chair.

 

Two palliative care researchers at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center are recipients of the 2025 Research Scholar Award from the Advancing the Science of Palliative Care Research Across the Lifespan Consortium. The program is designed to support early-career investigators in building a research career in palliative care. Amy Ogilvie, PhD, an assistant professor of neurology at The Ohio State University College of Medicine, and Julia Agne, MD, palliative care physician and co-director of the Thoracic Onco-Palliative Clinic at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute, will receive $150,000 per year for two years. Ogilvie's research will focus on "Assessing experiences of pre-death grief in care partners of people living with young-onset dementia.” Agne's project is “SymptomPal: Developing a large language model to improve patient-to-clinician communication of symptom concerns during cancer care."

 

Mahmood Khan, PhD, director of the Division of Basic and Translational Sciences in the Department of Emergency Medicine at The Ohio State University College of Medicine, and his team published a translational study in Theranostics. Researchers tested a new way to help the heart repair itself using stem cell-based cardiac patches. The patches were made from a soft, flexible material and loaded with heart muscle cells grown from human stem cells. 

 

The patch was designed to sit on the outside of the heart and help damaged areas heal. In the large animal study, researchers attached the patch to an injured area of the heart a week after a heart attack. Over the next four weeks, the heart cells in the patch survived, stayed in place and connected with the surrounding heart tissue. Khan is also a researcher with Ohio State’s Dorothy M. Davis Heart and Lung Research Institute. 

 

Pamela Garlinghouse, DNP, a nurse in the surgical, trauma and burn Intensive Care Unit at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, is one of 18 nurses nationwide to receive the Circle of Excellence award this year from the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses. The institution noted that her most important work is a nurse-led, volume-based feeding protocol for severely burned patients. The initiative directly contributed to improved patient outcomes and hospital cost savings.

 

The American Thoracic Society (ATS) Membership Committee has named Avraham Cooper, MD, as an ATS fellow. Cooper is the program director of the Pulmonary and Critical Care fellowship at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. The designation recognizes members for their accomplishments, dedication and contributions to the society as well as to the fields of pulmonary, critical care and sleep medicine. 

 

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Media Contact: Amy Colgan, Media Relations, Amy.Colgan@osumc.edu