The 44th Annual Kalamazoo Community Medical and Health Sciences Research Day will be held in April at the W.E. Upjohn M.D. Campus.
The event will take place on Thursday, April 2, from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and the theme for this year's Research Day is “Translating Discovery into Practice: From Lab to Clinic, From Classroom to Implementation.” Research Day will showcase breakthroughs in basic and translational sciences, clinical research, public health, medical ethics and law, social and behavioral sciences, scholarly activities, and education-related research.
The event will consist of a series of oral presentations and poster sessions featuring faculty from WMed and Western Michigan University, as well as resident physicians, postdoctoral fellows, research scientists, and students from the medical school. Lunch will be provided and Research Day will conclude with an awards ceremony in the William D. Johnston and Ronda E. Stryker Auditorium.
The keynote speaker for Research Day 2026 will be Jayme Locke, MD, MPH. Dr. Locke is a world-renowned abdominal transplant surgeon recognized for groundbreaking advancements in xenotransplantation and innovative approaches to the transplantation of incompatible organs.
Her work focuses on reducing health disparities in transplant outcomes, increasing access to living donation, and pioneering transplantation for HIV-infected patients. Notably, she played a central role in performing the first 10 gene-edited pig-to-human kidney xenotransplant at NYU Langone Health, with her patient becoming the longest-living recipient with a functioning kidney xenograft.
For more information about Research Day, please visit wmed.edu/researchday. Questions about this year’s activities can be submitted to the WMed Office of Research at researchday@wmed.edu.