Four medical students explore vascular health outcomes research at Yale

Scott Grubman studied biology at Dartmouth College before pursuing a career in medicine. After three years of medical school, Grubman participated in a yearlong training program focused on peripheral vascular disease. He found teaching, mentorship, and support at Yale’s Vascular Medicine OutcomeS (VAMOS) lab.

“My mentors at Yale include Drs. Carlos Mena-Hurtado and Kim Smolderen, who run VAMOS and taught me to think critically when it comes to both clinical work and creating and reviewing research,” said Grubman.

Last year, he co-authored a study and a report from the New England Society for Vascular Surgery, both published in the Journal of Vascular Surgery: “The Degree of Inferior Vena Cava Filter Tilt Associated with Challenging Retrieval,” and “Placement and retrieval of bilateral iliac vein filters in patients with mega cava.”

“I've gone from having next to no experience to leading my own project, coding in multiple languages, and exploring exciting new methods I can use to answer questions I run into in clinical settings,” he added.

An avid skier, rock climber, and sailor, Grubman is training to become an advanced climber and hopes to sail to Bermuda — for a second time. He also prepares homemade pasta.

Jonathan Kluger graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 2017 with a degree in Bioengineering. His fascination with the heart and brain began during his clinical rotation when he was assigned to the stroke unit.

“I loved working with interdisciplinary teams, learning about different methods of improving brain perfusion, their complications, and how they can impact recovery time. In particular, I enjoyed listening to a neurologist and cardiologist weigh the risks and benefits of performing a thrombectomy vs. percutaneous coronary intervention with dual anti-platelet therapy in a complicated stroke patient,” said Kluger.

The guidance Kluger received from VAMOS improved his ability to think about prior studies more critically, analyze data, and present his findings. Kluger hopes to complete his residency in emergency medicine with a focus on stroke management.

“I would like to collaborate with cardiologists and neurologists to learn how we can optimize care for stroke patients in the emergency department. In the long-term, this might be through a critical care fellowship or academic collaboration with physician-scientists in those specialties and biomedical engineers interested in medical device design,” he added.

Aside from work, Kluger can usually be found on the soccer field, playing guitar, or crushing his opponents in Super Smash Bros Melee.

Carmen Pajarillo, MPH, earned a Master of Public Health degree in biostatistics/epidemiology from the Boston University School of Public Health. She enjoys cardiovascular medicine because of its emphasis on clinical research. “Cardiovascular medical research is ambitious, innovative, well-structured, and has huge implications for underserved and underrepresented populations. I am also drawn to cardiovascular medicine because of its pace and intensity,” she said.

Pajarillo recalled an experience she had with a STEMI patient while prerounding. “After asking several different times and ways about chest pain, he casually mentioned to me that he had chest pain...that started several hours ago. What was a relatively peaceful morning turned into a flurry of EKGs and rushing him back to the cardiac catherization lab, where it was revealed that he had a left ventricular pseudoaneurysm. It was a privilege to be part of this patient's care team and solidified my passion for cardiovascular medicine,” said Pajarillo.

Her mentors Drs. Mena-Hurtado and Kim Smolderen have helped to further develop her research skills. “I have greatly refined my approach to clinical data, namely data cleaning as well as implementing different statistical methodologies with an emphasis on missing data. Moreover, I truly appreciate this research lab's holistic approach to cardiovascular medicine - many of the projects focus on ethnic and racial underrepresentation as well as ethnic, racial, and socioeconomic disparities unfortunately found in cardiovascular medicine. Through their mentorship, I know that every day I am one step closer to becoming the physician-researcher I strive to be,” she added.

Pajarillo’s goal is to complete internal medicine residency and cardiology fellowship training. “I hope to further refine my research skills and receive training to independently run my own clinical outcomes research lab. As a long-term career goal, I hope to become an academic medicine cardiologist who focuses on health outcomes research as well as providing mentorship to underrepresented medical students,” she said.

Outside of her clinical and research work, Pajarillo serves as a mentor for future generations of medical students and physicians, many who come from disadvantaged backgrounds. She also has a strong appreciation for film. “Films are a wonderful medium for art - you can see other people's lives and understand their experiences while contemplating broader themes and appreciating a director's artistic abilities of the director,” she added.

Christopher Schenck studied Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology. As a 4th-year medical student at the Yale School of Medicine, Schenck developed a commitment to improve the lives of people living with cardiovascular disease.

Schenck will graduate in May 2023 and enroll in an internal medicine residency program. Afterwards, he hopes to pursue a career in academic cardiology and cardiovascular outcomes research.

“It has been an incredible privilege to work with Dr. Carlos Mena, Dr. Kim Smolderen, and the VAMOS group on research in vascular medicine with the goal of ultimately improving the lives of our patients living with cardiovascular disease,” he said. “I am very grateful for the time they have taken to mentor me, and it has shaped my goals for my future career profoundly.”

Schenck also rescues cats in his spare time and enjoys cooking and reading.

The VAMOS Research Open House will be held virtually and in-person at the Yale Medical Library, SHML Conference Room, 112A, on Tuesday, February 14 at noon. Visit the VAMOS website to learn about research internships, T32 postdoctoral fellowships, and mentorship opportunities in vascular medicine outcomes research.