News Highlights - April 28, 2026

Kudos

Hill Selected as 2026 Seldin Scholar

Lindsay Hill, M.D., Ph.D., a Hematology and Oncology fellow in the Physician-Scientist Training Program, was selected as the 2026 Seldin Scholar following the Foster Fellows presentations during Internal Medicine Grand Rounds on April 24. Audience members chose Dr. Hill in recognition of her presentation, “In situ Production of Bispecific Antibodies Using Signal Peptide-Directed mRNA Lipid Nanoparticles,” a project mentored by Daniel J. Siegwart, Ph.D., a Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering.

Dr. Hill earned a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry from New York University and completed the joint M.D./Ph.D. program at the State University of New York Downstate Health Sciences University, where she received a doctorate in biomedical engineering. Her doctoral research focused on protein- and lipid-based self-assembling biomaterials for therapeutic, diagnostic, and theranostic applications in aging and oncology.

She completed her internal medicine residency training at UT Southwestern and is currently conducting postdoctoral research on nanoparticle delivery of nucleic acid-based therapeutics for hematologic and solid malignancies. Her clinical interests include lymphoma, HIV-associated malignancies, and biomedical engineering approaches to therapeutic development, including targeted, gene, and immunotherapies. ■

Dr. Siegwart holds the W. Ray Wallace Distinguished Chair in Molecular Oncology Research.

See the Complete List of Awardees

Parikh Highlights National Innovation Effort to Strengthen Living Kidney Donation

As President of the American Society of Nephrology (ASN), Samir M. Parikh, M.D., is underscoring the role of KidneyX in accelerating innovation to improve outcomes for people with kidney disease. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently announced the 2026 KidneyX EMPOWER Prize Challenge, a $4 million national competition focused on advancing living kidney donation and donor‑centered care.

Established by ASN and HHS, KidneyX serves as an accelerator for kidney care innovation, funding prize competitions and fostering collaboration across the kidney community. Through the EMPOWER Prize Challenge, KidneyX is targeting long‑standing barriers to living kidney donation, including financial, logistical, educational, and social challenges that have kept living donor rates largely unchanged for decades, despite nearly 100,000 Americans currently waiting for a kidney transplant.

“Innovation in kidney care must begin with the experiences of patients and living donors,” said Dr. Parikh, a Professor and Chief of the Division of Nephrology. “By fostering innovations that empower living donors and streamline the process, we are not only better supporting Americans who save the lives of others but also reducing the long‑term burden on the Medicare program, safeguarding both our nation’s kidney health and its fiscal future.”

The 2026 EMPOWER Prize Challenge will seek practical, scalable solutions that improve public awareness and mentorship, strengthen donor education and readiness, support long‑term donor health, and spread effective transplant center practices nationwide. In parallel, HHS will work with the nephrology community to improve data standards and health IT interoperability, supporting more coordinated, patient‑centered kidney care.

Since its launch in 2019, KidneyX has awarded more than $25 million to more than 70 prize recipients, catalyzing innovations across prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and transplantation. ■

Dr. Parikh holds the Robert Tucker Hayes Distinguished Chair in Nephrology, in Honor of Dr. Floyd C. Rector, Jr., and the Ruth W. and Milton P. Levy, Sr. Chair in Molecular Nephrology.

Taylor to Participate in National Healthcare Leadership Program

Trini Taylor, M.H.A., a senior division operations administrator with oversight of the Divisions of Allergy & Immunology, Cardiology, Infectious Diseases & Geographic Medicine, Vascular Medicine, and the Center for Hypothalamic Research, has been awarded a scholarship to participate in the 2026 American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE) Executive Program.

A highly selective, nationally recognized leadership experience, the ACHE Executive Program convenes accomplished healthcare leaders from across the nation for advanced executive education, one-on-one coaching, and peer engagement. The scholarship recognizes demonstrated leadership, commitment to healthcare excellence, and strong recommendations from organizational leaders.

Participation will further strengthen Ms. Taylor’s executive leadership skills, expand her national professional network, and support continued impact in healthcare operations and strategy. ■

Research Report

Najafov Receives Welch Foundation Grant to Advance Understanding of Necroptotic Cell Death

Ayaz Najafov, Ph.D., an Assistant Professor in the Division of Digestive and Liver Diseases, has received a Welch Foundation Research Grant to support his investigation into how cells rupture during necroptosis, a highly inflammatory form of programmed cell death. His research focuses on the structural role of the protein SIGLEC12 in driving plasma membrane rupture, which is the final, irreversible step that causes a cell to burst and release inflammatory signals. This work builds on a recent discovery from Dr. Najafov’s lab, reported in Nature, identifying SIGLEC12 as a key mediator of necroptosis in human cells. That study revealed that SIGLEC12 assembles into filament-like structures that physically disrupt the cell membrane, enabling the cell to rupture. This finding fills a critical gap in scientists’ understanding of how necroptosis is executed at the molecular level.

Necroptosis is linked to a range of serious conditions, including cancer, inflammatory bowel disease, liver injury, pancreatitis, neurodegenerative disorders, and severe infections. Unlike quieter forms of cell death, necroptosis strongly activates the immune system, making it especially relevant for cancer biology and immunotherapy. Dr. Najafov’s lab studies how this process influences tumor growth and anti-tumor immune responses, including how it might be leveraged to improve cancer treatments such as oncolytic virus therapies.

“Revealing the mechanisms of how SIGLEC12 filaments assemble will pave the way for developing drugs that inhibit necroptosis in a range of diseases where this cell death is implicated, including infections and sepsis, Crohn’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and pancreatic cancer,” Dr. Najafov said. ■

Learn More About the Najafov Lab

Education & Training

Aggarwal Selected as Chief Resident of Quality and Safety at Dallas VA

Sachin Aggarwal, M.D., a second-year Internal Medicine resident at UT Southwestern, has been selected to serve as Chief Resident of Quality and Safety at the Dallas Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center.

Dr. Aggarwal will complete the one-year, full-time appointment through the VA Chief Resident in Quality Improvement and Patient Safety (CRQS) program, a nationally recognized training initiative focused on improving care delivery and reducing preventable harm in health care settings. Chief residents in the program receive advanced training in quality improvement, patient safety, leadership, and continuous process improvement, while maintaining limited clinical responsibilities.

Originally from Houston, Dr. Aggarwal earned his bachelor’s degree from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, and completed medical school at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee.

His career interests include cardiovascular disease, health equity, and health care disparities, with a focus on applying systems-based approaches to improve outcomes for vulnerable patient populations.

The CRQS program supports physicians from multiple specialties and serves as a pathway to future leadership roles in quality, safety, and clinical administration within the VA and academic medical centers nationwide. ■

Trainee Earns National Recognition for Breakthrough in Aplastic Anemia Diagnostics

Jimmy Lee, M.D., a trainee in the UT-StARR (University of Texas - Stimulating Access to Research Residency) program, participated in a multi-institutional study that marks a major advance in diagnosing acquired aplastic anemia (AA). Published in Leukemia, the study validates the Predictive Aplastic Score System (PASS), a simplified, clinically grounded tool that distinguishes AA from inherited bone marrow failure syndromes (IBMFS) with near‑perfect accuracy. PASS delivers a solution to a long-standing clinical problem: AA and IBMFS often appear identical at first presentation but require fundamentally different treatments. Misclassification can delay lifesaving immunosuppressive therapy or expose patients with genetic syndromes to harmful transplant regimens.

The researchers showed that PASS breaks this diagnostic impasse by combining seven features that clinicians routinely assess early in the evaluation. Factors such as how suddenly blood counts decline, how severe those counts are, whether certain “red flag” physical findings or family history suggest an inherited condition, and whether acquired genetic changes typical of AA are present all contribute to a weighted score.

“What makes PASS especially impactful is its practicality,” said Taha Bat, M.D., an Assistant Professor in the Division of Hematology and Oncology, Director of the Bone Marrow Failure Program, and a study co-author. “It performs robustly even when advanced tests like telomere length analysis or somatic sequencing are unavailable, allowing clinicians to make confident early decisions that previously depended on long turnaround times.”

A publicly accessible web calculator now translates these findings into a bedside-ready tool, enabling rapid triage: high-confidence AA, likely IBMFS, or an intermediate zone where further testing guides next steps. For patients, this means faster, safer, and more accurate care.

“This publication is only one dimension of Dr. Lee’s rising national profile,” Dr. Bat said. “At a recent American Society of Hematology conference, he presented four abstracts and each of them were honored with an achievement award, which is testament to both the rigor and the relevance of his questions as a developing physician‑scientist.” ■

Fomunung Receives Scholarship to Attend National Conference

Edmond Fomunung, M.D., a clinical fellow in the Gastroenterology Fellowship program, has received a Gi Health Foundation (GiHF) scholarship to attend the sixth annual GI ReConnect Conference in Napa, California.

GI ReConnect is an accredited, multiday educational conference bringing together leading gastroenterologists from academic centers and community practices nationwide. The program focuses on current, evidence-based approaches to gastrointestinal and motility disorders, including inflammatory bowel disease, disorders of gut-brain interaction, the gut microbiome, eosinophilic esophagitis, and functional GI conditions. Sessions feature expert-led lectures, panel discussions, and practical guidance designed to inform clinical practice across the GI spectrum.

Originally from Cameroon, Dr. Fomunung earned his medical degree from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore and completed internal medicine residency training at Tulane University in New Orleans. ■