10th
Annual Research Day showcases
OU-HCOM students
Sept.
21,
2011
By Charlie Martinez
Potential
treatments for diabetes, the impact
of yo-yo dieting on obesity and
the effect of telephone-administered
therapy on
depression in people with HIV/AIDS
are among
the
almost 60 research topics that will
be on display at the Ohio University Heritage
College of Osteopathic Medicine’s (OU-HCOM) 10th
annual
Research Day.
Campus and community members are
invited to attend the event held
11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Friday, Sept. 23, in the atrium of
the Academic & Research Center.
Medical students and faculty will
present 59 posters about research initiatives
conducted from OU-HCOM’s Appalachian Rural Health
Institute Diabetes/Endocrine Center, Ohio
Musculoskeletal and Neurological Institute, Tropical
Disease Institute, the college’s many departments,
and the
university’s Edison Biotechnology Institute.
“Research Day represents the fruition
of many hours of work for students and faculty who
present posters,”
said Jessica
Wingett,
CPS/CAP,
manager of
OU-HCOM’s Office of Research and
Grants.
For example, she noted, students from the college’s
Research and Scholarly Advancement Fellowship
program―who spend more than 40 hours a week for 10
weeks during the summer on research―are required to
present their research at the event.
Other topics in this year’s event
include:
·
results from the ongoing INSPIRE
clinical trial examining a potential new treatment
for Type 2 diabetes;
·
an examination of protocols for
glucose control in rural community hospitals;
·
the effects of osteopathic
manipulative therapy to treat lower back pain;
·
studies into the neurological
disorder Mal de debarquement syndrome and a look at
the disease’s economic costs;
·
the use of transgenic mice in
research of the human growth hormone;
·
long-term Chagas Diesese control
interventions;
·
understanding the effects of certain
receptors on ovarian cancer; and
·
the generation of a new open-access
3D interactive human anatomy website for education
in health sciences.
For both faculty and students, the
research often is the result of federal and other
types of grant funding, Wingett said. For example,
OU-HCOM researchers Joseph Bianco and Timothy
Heckman will present results of research into
reducing depression symptoms in HIV-infected older
adults, research that was funded by the National
Institute of Mental Health and the National
Institute of Nursing Research.
See a complete list of abstracts
(PDF)
Wingett added that this year’s event
includes many medical students who began or
conducted research prior to enrolling at OU-HCOM,
illustrating the growing numbers of the college’s
students who actively engaged in research prior to
medical school.
Twenty three medical students will be
competing in a research competition
in which
they will be judged by a panel of
OU-HCOM faculty on their professionalism, clarity of
presentation, ability to answer questions, and
poster
readability and
visual impact. Projects will be judged in two
categories of research―clinical research and basic
science. The event will take place Thursday, Sept.
22. Thursday’s judging session is not open to the
public.
At noon on Friday, Jack Blazyk,
Ph.D., associate dean of research, will give a short
keynote address and announce the competition
winners. Winners for each of the two categories will
receive $200
Research Day is an event that
provides students with the experience to conduct
faculty sponsored mentored research and the present
it to a public venue. Not only does Research Day
give students the hands on opportunity to present
research for critique, but many students can go on
to nationally known conventions and conferences to
present their work, Wingett said.
