Medical Student Summer Research Scholars (part 1)

Campbell Medicine Spotlight Medical Student Summer Research Scholars

The Medical Student Summer Research Scholars (MSSRS) Program is a summer research opportunity open to rising MS-II students only. The project period is 7 weeks during the summer, and students are expected to devote at least 6 full weeks to the project. Students attend weekly work-in-progress sessions and provide the opportunity for MSSRS participants to present their work to student peers. A final report is presented in the form of a poster or oral presentation at a local, regional, or national meeting. The Interprofessional Education Symposium held each spring at Campbell University is an opportunity to present, and all MSSRS participants are encouraged to present a poster at the event.

ROBYN NARON

Hometown: High Point, NC

Education: Bachelor of Science in Psychology, University of North Carolina; Masters in Public Heath, A.T. Still University

Hobbies: Spending time with my husband and two pups; hanging out with friends and family; listening to live music; watching College Basketball (Go Heels!); exploring new cities, reading, soccer, hiking, baking, working with children, and giving back to my community.

Project title and research role: Analysis of Pediatric Car Seat Restraint Use in Rural Emergency Department

I served as one of the primary investigators for this project by collecting and analyzing survey data in collaboration with Dr. Elizabeth Gignac, two Emergency Medicine Residents at UNC Southeastern Regional Medical Center, and two fellow CUSOM medical students.

UNC Southeastern is located in Robeson County, NC and is the home to one of CUSOM’s clinical sites and residency programs. Robeson County has one of the highest percentages of pediatric trauma by motor vehicle crash due to improper restraint use in the state. Our goal was to examine why this is happening in hopes to shape future community-based health interventions on this issue.

Why did you choose to participate in the summer scholars program and what are you learning? I am very interested in pediatric medicine and wanted to find a clinical research opportunity that combined my love for pediatrics while expanding my experiences in scholarly research. I love the idea of being able to make a difference at a community-level, so the project at UNC Southeastern appealed to me for so many reasons.

The Summer Scholars program is so much more than just involvement with a research project. Since I participated in a clinical project, I also had the opportunity to shadow within the Emergency Department and found this experience extremely valuable to my medical education. We also had small group meetings weekly with several CUSOM faculty members to advance our knowledge on the research process and challenge us to become confident student researchers.

Advice to MS-I’s and future medical students: Surround yourself with people who will lift you up and support you through this process. I would have felt so lost through my first-year of medical school without my friends, study buddies, family, and the encouraging staff at CUSOM. Having a strong support network can make all the difference during the particularly tough weeks. Also, please don’t be afraid to reach out to older students for encouragement – we have been in your shoes and can offer some very valuable advice!

JUSTIN BAIRD

Hometown: Raleigh, NC

Education: Bachelor of Science in Physiology and Neurobiology, NC State University; Master of Science in Medical Sciences, LECOM-Bradenton

Hobbies: Weight lifting, basketball, camping, night life, trying new restaurants, and traveling

Research project title and role: Deltoid Fiber Architecture. PI: Dr. Maxx Toler

My role, along with my partner Sarah Bogan, was to dissect a few cadavers and take measurements of the deltoid muscle. We also performed acid digestion of the muscles and measured the lengths of the individual muscle fibers. I also helped to create an oral presentation and write a paper with the summary of our findings.

Why did you choose to participate in the Summer Scholars Program and what did you learn? I applied to participate because I wanted to use my summer to learn more about the field of research. I thought it would be beneficial to put on my resume in the future when applying to residencies. It also gave me the opportunity to learn more about cadavers since we did not have an in-person anatomy lab during our first year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

I learned how to dissect cadavers in the anatomy lab – due to COVID-19, my class had not had that opportunity. I also was able to build a closer relationship with anatomy faculty members and some fellow classmates.

I also learned how to present research in a presentation and in a final research paper summarizing our findings. I learned a lot about other research projects from fellow medical students’ presentations and realized how many cool research projects are happening at CUSOM!

Advice to MS-I’s and future medical students: Spend the summer between your first and second year doing what makes you happy. You don’t necessarily have to have a research experience. If you want to have something that would be nice to have on your resume, then you should do that. However, it is most important to use this summer to help you recharge and get ready for the second year.

ERIC YU

Hometown: Sparta, New Jersey

Education: Bachelor of Science in Chemistry, University of Richmond; CERT Virginia Commonwealth University

Hobbies: Golfing, video games, and reading.

Research project title and role: Analysis of the presence of anti tNASP antibody in the serum of patient with 10 most common types of cancers. PI: Dr. Oleg Alekseev

I worked together with Madeline Walker analyzing patient serum for anti tNASP antibody, which has potential to be a cancer biomarker. A cancer biomarker can help with early diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of cancer.

Why did you choose to participate in the summer scholars program and what did you learn? I chose to participate in the summer scholars program because I love doing research. Before pursuing medicine, I worked as a chemistry graduate researcher at Virginia Commonwealth University pursuing lowering the cost of active pharmaceutical ingredients.

Over the summer, I really wanted to do some type of research, and the summer scholars program offered the opportunity to do that. Dr. Alekseev has been a great mentor and instructor, and I highly recommend the summer scholars program.

Advice to MS-I’s and future medical students: Find the plan that works the best for you and stick with it. Be efficient with your time, always make time for yourself, and always make time to help others.

LUIS ANTHONY ACEVEDO

Hometown: Gainesville, FL

Education: Bachelor of Science in Health Sciences, University of Florida

Hobbies: Competitive Powerlifting and coffee connoisseur. Research project title and role: Comparison of fasting glucose, fasting insulin, and their combination for assessing diabetes risk. PI: Dr. Nick Pennings

My role in the project was to do a deep dive of current research utilizing insulin to predict the progression to diabetes. Our analysis would provide more evidence to this body of research by analyzing the CARDIA cohort for the utility of fasting insulin as a predictive blood marker for progression to diabetes in a large population of people.

Why did you choose to participate in the summer scholars program and what did you learn? I have always had a great interest in metabolic health and the pathophysiology of insulin resistance. I was very excited to work with Dr. Pennings who shares this passion and has performed numerous studies looking at this very topic.

Advice to MS-I’s and future medical students: Year 1 is a busy year, but if something catches your interest try to reach out to the lecture professor to learn more about that idea. Our professors are real people with real interests, and they would love to spend the time sharing their passion with you.

JOSHUA JENKINS

Hometown: Bristow, VA

Education: B.S. in Biology with Minor in Biochemistry, Christopher Newport University

Hobbies: golf, disc golf, baseball, video games, and adventures with my wife.

Research project title and role: Performance Improvement – Trauma Guidelines and Algorithm Adherence at WakeMed Raleigh with Sarah McIntyre, Trauma Nurse Coordinator; Research Assistant

Why did you choose to participate in the Summer Scholars Program and what did you learn? I decided to participate in summer scholars because resurgent scholarship is the most important tool for the advancement of medicine. I want to be part of something that could improve the bigger picture of patient care.

From this experience, I learned a significant amount of the inner workings of a hospital setting, Guideline development and improvement of patient care in an acute clinical environment.

Advice to MS-I’s and future medical students: Medical school is just one piece of a long journey. Do not let it be the only thing that defines you. Doing things that make you happy makes all the work worth it.