MedStar NRH SCI Research Team Wins Three Top Awards at ASIA Annual Meeting 2026
Posted in News Story
Of three abstracts submitted to the American Spinal Injury Association’s 53rd Annual Scientific Meeting, all were nominated for awards, and two took home top honors.
Last week, members of the spinal cord injury research team at MedStar National Rehabilitation Hospital traveled to San Antonio, Texas, for the American Spinal Injury Association’s (ASIA) 53rd Annual Scientific Meeting, the premier gathering of clinicians, researchers, and allied health professionals dedicated to advancing spinal cord injury care. They brought home three top awards from a field of highly competitive submissions.
About ASIA
Founded in 1973, ASIA is the leading North American organization in spinal cord injury care, education, and research. The Annual Scientific Meeting held this year, April 24–26 at the Marriott Rivercenter in San Antonio, TX, is where the field’s most significant new findings are first presented, debated, and celebrated.
The awards
Mulcahey Award for Research in Outcomes Measurement
Dr. Ana Valeria Aguirre Guemez
First place — oral presentation
Dr. Ana Valeria Aguirre Guemez
Accelerating UTI Diagnosis and Treatment: Real-time Phenotypic AST based on Pooled Metabolic Activity in Spinal Cord Injury/Disease
Best Poster nomination
Christopher Riegner
Meet the researchers
Dr. Ana Valeria Aguirre Guemez, MD
Instructor of Rehabilitation Medicine, Georgetown University Medical Center· Research Fellow, MedStar National Rehabilitation Hospital
Dr. Aguirre Guemez is an Instructor of Rehabilitation Medicine at the Georgetown University School of Medicine. She completed her medical training at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) and her residency and fellowship in Neurological Rehabilitation at the Instituto Nacional de Rehabilitación (INR LGII) in Mexico City. She spent five years as an attending physician in the INR’s Spinal Cord Unit before joining MedStar NRH in 2021 as a Research Fellow. Her work focuses on outcomes measurement, UTI prevention and diagnosis, and strategies to improve quality of life for people with SCI/D.
Christopher Riegner, MPH
Clinical Research Coordinator, MedStar National Rehabilitation Hospital
Mr. Riegner is a clinical research coordinator with experience in neurological trauma research and mental illness studies. He coordinates recruitment and enrollment for several studies. He received his MPH from George Washington University with a focus on communication of healthcare research to the community.