New Resident Research and Career Building Elective

The Research and Career Building Elective is a new program initiated last year to provide funding for protected, non-clinical time for residents to participate in mentored research projects. Due to the pandemic, senior residents Dr. Benji Perin and Dr. Daniel Leifer, the initial residents who were going to participate in the elective over the last academic year, were unfortunately unable to participate.

This year's recipients of the Research and Career Building Elective are first-year residents Drs. Rachael Ward and Jason Ya.

Dr. Rachael Ward

Dr. Ward’s research project investigates the utility of adjuvant biologic treatment in hidradenitis suppurativa patients undergoing deroofing and local excision procedures. Her faculty mentor is assistant professor Dr. Katie DeNiro.

Dr. Jason Ya

Dr. Ya’s research project investigates whether we can predict if a lesion is skin cancer based only on the perilesional skin using an “actinic damage” model. His faculty mentor is Dr. Roxana Daneshjou, a clinical scholar and board certified dermatologist from Stanford University.