Health Sciences Symposium celebrates student research

The Interprofessional Education Health Sciences Symposium was recently held in the Oscar N. Harris Student Union, bringing together students from multiple disciplines to showcase research, highlight academic achievement and celebrate collaboration across healthcare programs.

The event was coordinated by Carmellia Webb, director of Interprofessional Education, with support from faculty, staff and students. Organizers extend appreciation to all who helped plan and execute the symposium and make it a meaningful experience for participants.

The symposium featured research presentations across multiple categories including education, biomedical and basic science, clinical case studies, clinical research, social and behavioral health and health economics and policy. Students worked in interprofessional teams to present projects addressing real world healthcare challenges and improving patient care outcomes.

The symposium highlighted the strength of interprofessional collaboration and the commitment of students and faculty to advancing healthcare through research, innovation, and service. All student work was impressive and demonstrated a high level of effort, creativity, and professionalism.

The winners of the symposium are listed below.

Education

First Place: Building Community Support: A Student-Led Initiative to Enhance Aging and Caregiver Support in a Rural Community

• Holly Roy*, Natalie Kingsbury^^, Veronica Butler*, Brianna Blumling^, Aryani Pallerla*, Sydney Chandler**, Theodore Hutt*, Mackenzie Pekich^, Alexander Rodger**, Ryan Kieffer*, Supriya Prabhakar*, Chloee Edge^, Carmellia Webb, MSW, MA, Christine Khandelwal, DO, MHPE, FAAFP, FAAHPM
  *DO students **PA students ^Nursing students ^^Social Work students

Second Place: Empowering Future DO's: Opioid Overdose Training for First-Year Medical Students

• Veronica Butler, OMSII1, Robert N. Agnello, DO, MHPE, FACOFP, FAAFP1, Jim Powers, DO, FACEP, FAAEM1, Heather Weber, DO, FACOP1

Third Place: Closing the Dementia Care Gap: Developing Project ECHO to Support Primary Care Providers in Rural Communities

• Veronica Butler, Holly Lipsky, Theo Hull, Gracie Barnes, Ashley Marie Erickson, Carmellia Webb, MSW, MA, Christine Khandelwal, DO, MHPE, FAAFP, FAAHPM

Biomedical and Basic Science

First Place: Evaluation of the Use of Dopamine on a Progressive Care Unit

• Zoe Malphurs, PharmD; Emily Johnson, PharmD, BCPS

Second Place: Vascular Variability of Accessory Spleens

• Tori Kowalkowski, Sheiva Beladi, Corey Shope, Reid Pierpan

Third Place: Cross Environmental Stress Adaptation: A Three Module Framework Linking Oxygen Delivery, Vascular Integrity, and Mechanotransduction Across Extreme Environments

• Ridhi Patel, MS1, MSc

Clinical Case Study

First Place: A Case of Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis and Current Available Treatments

• Ainsley Forest, Jacqueline Nguyen, Hakem Saeed, Katherine Whitman

Second Place: Pulmonary Adenocarcinoma Metastasis to a Transitional Meningioma

• Elena Vargas, Nicholas McMurry, Hanna Lee, Lillian Gordon

Third Place: Integrating Therapeutic Exercise and FES to Improve Balance in a Patient with Brown-Sequard Syndrome

• Elena Vargas, Nicholas McMurry, Hanna Lee, Lillian Gordon

Clinical Research

First Place: Evaluation of Characteristics Associated with Latent Autoimmune Diabetes in Older Adults and Opportunities for Early and Accurate Diagnosis

• Raegan Koenig

Second Place: Evaluation of N-acetylcysteine for the Management of Indications Not Related to Acetaminophen Overdose

• Chase Abernathy

Second Place: Genetic Architecture of Atrial Fibrillation From Common Variants to Rare Mutations and Clinical Applications

• Ariel Edington

Social and Behavioral Health

First Place: Impact of EHR Access Implementation on Student Pharmacist Interventions in a Free Clinic

• Kristen Blue, Alnisha Wheeler, Grace Tomazic

Second Place: Prevalence and Factors Associated with Depression Among Adults in Rural Ghana

• Jordan Fulk, Peter D. Ahiawodzi, PhD, MPH, CPH

Third Place: Correlation and Effectiveness of Stress Management on Reducing Burnout Among Nurses

• Jenna E. Massengill, Benjamin L. Ransom

Health Economics and Health Policy

First Place: Impact of Order Set Implementation on Albumin Ordering Practices

• Katlyn Womble, PharmD, MSPH, BCPS; Carrie N. Baker, PharmD, MBA, BCPS; Riley Bowers, PharmD, BCCP, BCPS, FNCAP

Second Place: Expanding Access to Rural Healthcare: Full Practice Authority for Advanced Practice Nurses in North Carolina

• Collin Ward

Third Place: Dignity at the Final Hour: A Student Initiative to Prevent Terminal Hospice Patients From Dying Alone in a Rural Community

• David Steele, Megan Ragusa, Isabelle Foley, Simone Khandpekar, Camila Kraszewski, Jordyn Brown, Hannah Smith, Oliver Wilkey, Ashlynn Shelton, Zoe Janicki, Chase Poli, Christine Khandelwal, DO, MHPE, FAAFP, FAAHPM