Congratulations to Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine medical student Terrence Tsou for receiving the 2024 Association for Clinical and Translational Science Outstanding Trainee: Predoctoral Scholar Award. This award recognizes achievement in translational research at the predoctoral level with emphasis on transformational scientific potential.
Tsou is an M.D./M.P.H. candidate and NIH-TL1 Predoctoral Clinical Research Training Program scholar at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Bloomberg School of Public Health. With his mentor, Caitlin Hicks, a vascular surgeon in the Division of Vascular Surgery and Endovascular Therapy, he examined practice patterns around the use of peripheral vascular interventions by procedural site of service for peripheral artery disease. This topic has high potential for near-term impact on care, policy and practice. His findings can motivate changes in the following:
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- Practice patterns of vascular surgeons, cardiologists and interventional radiologists (who all perform these procedures)
- The care of their patients
- The Medicare reimbursement policy to hopefully disincentivize peripheral vascular interventions overuse
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Tsou’s current work in surgical outcomes research comes after extensive research experience spanning the translational science spectrum. He navigated the translation of preclinical to clinical research when investigating the genetics among patients with lung cancer and any family history of cancer using genomic sequencing and multigenerational family history pedigrees. Tsou later helped implement an electronic symptom management tool at six diverse medical centers to improve remote symptom monitoring of patients with cancer using patient-reported outcomes. Since beginning medical school, he has continued working on translational research to improve the patient experience and outcomes, and has received several awards and funding mechanisms recognizing his approach.
Stephen Sozio, program adviser and award nominator for Tsou and associate director of the Johns Hopkins TL1 Predoctoral Clinical Research Training Program, notes:
“Concisely summing up everything that makes Terrence special is difficult. I see Terrence’s experiences truly making him more focused and prepared for any successful pursuit in his career. Most importantly, I am excited how he has embraced his values of perseverance, commitment to excellence and honesty. This has helped his research projects, and his commitment to being a physician-scientist.”
