Kota Medical Student Komal Verma Saluja Wins ACP Researcher of the Year Award 2026

Kota: Dr. Komal Verma Saluja, a final-year MBBS student at Government Medical College Kota, received the ACP’s Research of the Year award from the Indian Chapter of the American College of Physicians on September 14.

​Dr. Komal was presented with the award in Indore on Saturday evening by Dr. Noel N. Diep,  ACP Global Ambassador and member of its Board of Regents in the US, along with Dr Mukta Panda, Dean of Medicine in Tennessee.

​Dr. Saluja is the youngest person and the first medical student to win this major award from the American College of Physicians (ACP).

​ACP is an international medical group that represents 163,000 physicians across 172 countries.

​Her research portfolio includes studies spanning cognitive decline in diabetes, liver disease, breast cancer screening and breast imaging.

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Dr. Komal Saluja secured 67th rank in NEET-UG 2020, and remained a university topper throughout her MBBS professional examinations.

Saluja was also the first medical student from Rajasthan to be selected for the Khorana Program of Scholars, a research scholarship programme supported by the Department of Biotechnology under the Indo-US Science and Technology Forum.

​According to the college, she also secured the highest marks in the Rajasthan University of Health Sciences MBBS professional examination in 2023.

In one of her studies published in Scientific Reports, titled “Integrated cortical-cognitive signatures identified by machine learning enable early detection of MCI in type 2 diabetes,” she and her co-authors used cortical thickness measurements from brain MRI scans and FreeSurfer software to identify imaging and cognitive signatures associated with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) in people with Type 2 diabetes.

She also developed a diagnostic approach using routine echocardiography as an opportunistic screening tool for metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD).

Her work was selected for an oral abstract presentation at the American College of Gastroenterology’s 2026 scientific meeting. She also received a USD 2,000 travel grant from the American College of Gastroenterology to attend the meeting in Nashville.

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Dr. Saluja expressed her gratitude and appreciation to her mentors. She also dedicated the award to GMCK faculty.

She said that her award would be an inspiration for future researchers.

​Additionally, she urged increased investment and attention toward new diagnostic and treatment research in India.

​She said that the research in India should focus more on developing diagnostic and therapeutic solutions rather than defining problems.

​Dr. Nilesh Jain, principal of GMCK, congratulated Dr. Komal. He added that Dr. Komal brought pride to the institution and that her achievement will set an example for the upcoming researchers in the country.

(Rh/ARC/MSM)