Jessica Rauh, MD, MS, applied for this award as a Pediatric Surgery Research Fellow at Atrium Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center. She has been an active member of the NEC Society’s Research Incubator program since 2023 and has participated in the NEC Society’s mentorship program, where she was mentored by Troy A. Markel, MD, FACS, FAAP, scientific advisor to the NEC Society and pediatric surgeon and Associate Vice Chair of Clinical Research at Riley Children’s Health.
Jessica’s 2024 Awarded Project explored the knowledge gap surrounding the mechanisms of intestinal barrier disruption—specifically, whether the lack of expression of a particular catalytic enzyme in the premature gut contributes to a defective mucous layer, impaired barrier function, and ultimately NEC pathogenesis.
