HCA Healthcare Graduate Medical Education 2026 Research Days

The 6th Annual Gulf Coast Division Research Symposium was hosted on April 8th, 2026, at HCA Houston Healthcare Kingwood and on WebEx. It combines GME programs from cities in the Gulf Coast Region of Texas: Kingwood, Houston, Clear Lake, and Corpus Christi. The symposium is specialty agnostic, providing an opportunity for residents and fellows to network with others in healthcare outside of their area of expertise.

We extend our sincere appreciation to our distinguished keynote speaker, Dr. O. Daniel Odutola, for his insightful and engaging presentation on the responsible use of AI in research. His expertise and perspective were a highlight of the symposium.

In 2026, we received 102 poster submissions and of those, 9 projects made it to the oral stage. The results of the 2026 symposium are below.

Poster Awards

• 1st Place: Madison Taylor, MD — Allergic Contact Dermatitis to Medihoney Gel after Mastectomy: Role of Alkyl Glucoside Sensitization in Chronic Wounds
• 2nd Place: Puneeth Shridhar, MBBS — Pre-existing Bifascicular Block with Wide QRS and/or Prolonged PR in Patients undergoing TAVR: Case Series and Review
• 3rd Place: Christine Castillo, DO — Bridging the Gap: A Review of Gender Disparity in General Surgery

Oral Presentation Awards

• 1st Place: Suhas Tatapudi, DO — After Hours, Faster Reperfusion: A Multidisciplinary Quality Improvement Initiative to Reduce STEMI Door-to-Balloon Time
• 2nd Place: Yves Najm Mrad, MD — Automated AI Echocardiography: Agreement with Experts and Workflow Impact Across EF, GLS, and Volumes
• 3rd Place: Christine Castillo, DO — Bridging the Gap: A Review of Gender Disparity in General Surgery

Research Residents and Faculty of the Year

Clear Lake

• Resident: Yves Najm Mrad, MD
• Faculty: Maher Dahdel, MD

Kingwood

• Resident: Supritha Chintamaneni, MD
• Faculty: Sivatej Sarva, MD, PhD

Corpus Christi

• Resident: Ali Asghar, DO
• Faculty: Abhay Vakil, MD