Research and Grants

An important resource for students, faculty and staff, the Office of Research provides support and guidance for research activities, such as statistical consulting, an intramural grant program, and a searchable database of extramural grant opportunities. Only the first five authors are pictured.

Niaz Ahankoob, OMS IV, published research entitled "Servant leadership: an endangered species?" in the journal Patient Safety in Surgery. The editorial describes different types of leadership, exploring the potential benefit and impact that servant leadership would have on health care, patient safety, and medical student education.

Taline Aydinian, OMS IV, was published in the International Journal of Psychiatry Research for her research entitled, "The Immediate Mental Health Effects of the 2020 Artsakh War on Armenians: A Cross-Sectional Study," which concluded that there was an association between direct exposure to war in Artsakh and increased depression, anxiety, and PTSD severity, suggesting an immediate need for mental health resources.

Amanda Brooks, PhD, Director of Research and Scholarly Activity, was published in Bioengineering for her research entitled, "Anti-Coagulant and Antimicrobial Recombinant Heparin-Binding Major Ampullate Spidroin 2 (maSp2) Silk Protein," which was featured on the cover of the journal. In this article, Dr. Brooks reports a modification of the spider silk protein that allows it to grab the naturally produced, anti-clotting molecule, heparin, from the blood while at the same time preventing bacterial adhesion.

Jacob Hanson, OMS I, published a paper entitled, "Networked Inertial Navigation with Constraints Generated by Neural Networks," in The Institute of Navigation. This paper deals with one key challenge encountered in the networked inertial navigation problem: unknown or poorly known constraints within the networked inertial system from training data sets.

Elizabeth Kuge, OMS IV, was published in the American Journal of Emergency Medicine for her research entitled, "Real-world utilization of Dalbavancin at a rural community emergency department," which details the use of DALVANCE(R), a prescription medicine, for the treatment of acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections (ABSSI).

In partnership with Baylor College of Medicine, Shannon McKim, OMS III, is conducting an environmental parasite research study on a parasite found on the playgrounds of the Paiute Tribe reservation lands.

Kalon Morgan, OMS III, has been published in several journals:

• The Journal of Endourology for research entitled, "Retrograde Cystonephroscopy for Complex Renal Calculi Using a Novel Dual Action Aspiration, Irrigation, Cystoscope: Initial Case Series," as well as "Multidisciplinary Approach and Outcomes of Pretreatment Small (cT1a) Renal Mass Biopsy: Single Center Experience."

• The American Urologic Association for an article titled, "Technology in Urology."

Regan Stiegmann, DO '14, Co-Director of the Digital Health Track, published a review, entitled "Supplemental Creatine, Not Dietary Creatine, Appears to Improve Exercise Performance in Individuals Following Omnivorous or Meat-Free diets: A Narrative Review," in the International Journal of Disease Reversal and Prevention. Research findings indicated that the discrepant creatine contents of omnivorous and meat-free diets are not associated with differences in lean body mass and exercise performance.

Lon Van Winkle, PhD, Professor of Medical Humanities, has been published in Cells for his research entitled, "Amino acid transport and metabolism regulate early embryo development: Special differences, clinical significance, and evolutionary implications," and in Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology for "Interkingdom comparison of threonine metabolism for stem cell maintenance in plants and animals."

Jacquelyn Waller, PharmD, BCPS, Associate Professor of Pharmacology, published a study in De Gruyter entitled, "Parental leave in medical school: supporting students as parents." The study aims to identify the presence and nature of maternal/paternal leave policies and procedures within UME.

Kaitlyn Zitek, OMS III, has published a case report entitled, "COVID-19 infection and simultaneous worsening of pre-existing neurologic conditions: A Case Report Series” in South Dakota Medicine. Her research recommends that all patients with exacerbated neurological conditions be tested for COVID even if they are asymptomatic.

Justin Bradshaw, OMS II; Lawsen Parker, OMS II; Westin Wong, OMS II; and, Steven Gawrys, OMS II, published a paper entitled, "Cost of medical student virtual conference registration in ophthalmology and urology during the COVID-19 pandemic" in the Journal of Osteopathic Medicine. Their research showed that ophthalmology and urology as specialties, although research intensive, have conferences fees more similar to non-research-intensive specialties. They concluded that, despite being lower, free conference registration would help reduce the financial burden on all medical students, and invited the SF Match system to provide more transparent metrics to differentiate research experiences amongst applicants.

Dr. Amanda Brooks and Brianna Landis, OMS II, published a paper in Journal of Neuro-Ophthalmology titled, "COVID-19, Eye Pain, Headache, and Beyond." This literature review aims to describe presentations of eye pain and headache in relation to COVID-19, with an emphasis on how these disorders help us to understand the pathophysiology of COVID-19.

The culmination of one-and-a-half years of work, a team of RVU students and faculty—Luke Proctor, DO '21; Whitney Ward, OMS III; Conner Roggy, OMS IV; Alexandra Koontz, OMS IV; Katie Clark, OMS III; Alyssa (Palmer) Quinn, OMS II; Dr. Amanda Brooks; James Small, MD, PhD, Director of Clinical Career Advising; Francina Towne, PhD, Program Director of MSBS Program; Benjamin Brooks, PhD, Associate Professor of Biomedical Sciences—published research in Antibiotics entitled, "Potential Therapeutic Targets for Combination Antibody Therapy against Pseudomonas aeruginosa Infections," which investigates the role of polyclonal antibodies against antibioticresistant Pseudomonal infections.

Dr. Lon Van Winkle; Brian Schwartz, PhD, MLIS, Director of the Frank Ritchel Ames Memorial Library; Alexis Horst, Writing Center Instructor; Jensen Fisher, MLIS, Assistant Professor of Medical Humanities; Nicole Michels, PhD, Chair of the Dept. of Medical Humanities; and Brad Thornock, PhD, Associate Professor of Medical Humanities, have been published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health for research on the "Impact of a Pandemic and Remote Learning on Team Development and Elements of Compassion in Prospective Medical Students Taking a Medical Humanities Course." The research expands upon previous research showing that when teams of students reflect on readings about communication, unconscious bias, and service-learning, their critical reflection, implicit bias mitigation, empathy, and compassionate behavior all increase. Compared to previous years, this new research shows the pandemic and remote learning had minimal effects on the benefits of Medical Humanities at RVU.

Kevin Seely, OMS II; Amanda Morgan, OMS II; Lauren Hagenstein, OMS II; Garrett Florey, OMS III; and Dr. Small, published a paper entitled, "Bacterial Involvement in Progression and Metastasis of Colorectal Neoplasia" in the College of Osteopathic Medicine. Increasing evidence suggests that bacterial infection not only promotes carcinogenesis in primary colorectal cancer, but also affects metastatic progression and organ selectivity through modification of the microenvironment at primary and secondary tumor sites. The metastatic cascade is the process by which neoplastic tumors potentiate cancerous spread to distant organs, and evidence suggests that this process is provoked in the setting of bacterial infection. Biofilm formation, paired-migration, and quorum-sensing are processes by which bacteria self-signal, recruit, and effectively establish a pre-metastatic niche at distant sites, rendering a suitable environment for tumor cell survival and proliferation.

Jordan Higgs, OMS II; SD Seely; and, Andrew Nigh, MD, Assistant Professor of Specialty Medicine, published research entitled, “Utilizing the "teach-back" method to improve surgical informed consent and shared decisionmaking: a review” in Patient Safety in Surgery. This review examines the current standards and ethics of preoperative informed consent and provides a concise, actionable definition of teach-back.

Rachel Linger, PhD, Associate Professor of Pharmacology, Anton Pham, IV, and Qing Zhong, MD, PhD, Associate Professor of Pharmacology, have been published in Side Effects of Drugs Annual for research entitled, "Positive inotropic drugs and drugs used in dysrhythmias," which summarizes important side effects associated with positive inotropic drugs and antiarrhythmics.

Rebecca Ryznar, PhD, Associate Professor of Molecular Biology; Lacie Phibbs, OMS III; and Dr. Van Winkle, have been published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health for their research titled "Epigenetic Modifications at the Center of the Barker Hypothesis and Their Transgenerational Implications," which looks into how embryo/fetal nutrition and the environment in the reproductive tract influence the subsequent risk of developing adult diseases and disorders, as formulated in the Baker hypothesis.

Drs. Ryznar and Van Winkle also served as guest editors of Frontiers of Cell and Developmental Biology for their editorial, "From Single Stem Cells to Organoids, Organ Repair and Public Health," and Cells' special issue "Epigenetic Regulation of Development, Cellular Differentiation, and Disease Progression/Protection in Adults." For the latter, they mentored SD Phibbs and Erin Onat, OMS II, as assistant guest editors.

Blake McKinley, OMS IV; Bryan Daines, OMS IV; Mitchell Allen, OMS III; Kayd Pulsipher, OMS IV; Dr. Isain Zapata; and Benjamin Wilde, DO, FAACP, Chair of the Department of Clinical Sciences for MCOM, published research, titled, "Effects of Medical School on Mental Health and Sleep Habits," in medRxiv. The research discusses the effects that competitiveness and increased demands of medical education can have on students, leading to higher rates of burnout and mental illness than other students.

Presentations

Mikenzie Sturdevant, OMS IV; Daniel Daskalakis, OMS IV; and Isain Zapata, PhD, Assistant Professor of Research and Statistics, presented at Orthopedics Today with their presentation entitled, “From front to back: a comparison of an anterior deltopectoral versus posterior approach for a total shoulder arthroplasty through shoulder index scores and radiographic data.”

Cole Zanetti, DO, MPH, Co-Director of the Digital Health Track, presented at Digital Health Measurement Collaborative Community Conference with his presentation entitled, "Remote monitoring of blood pressure in patients’ post-discharge."

Dana Hoffman, OMS III, Jamie Truax, OMS III, and K. Dean Gubler, DO, Professor of Surgery and Military Medicine, presented "Hyper-realistic simulations: the hidden gem of medical training for ski and snowboard injuries," at the Western Trauma Conference. Due to the nature of the sports, skiers and snowboarders are at inherent risk of injury. First responder management of these athletes is challenged by the hostile mountain environment. A descriptive analysis was performed on scenario-specific, hyper-realistic immersion training for medical providers of point of injury emergent care for US ski and snowboard teams.

The following students in the Military Medicine Track were invited to present research at the Association of Military Osteopathic Physicians & Surgeons' (AMOPS) Annual Meeting in early March:

• Brennan Bohman, OMS III, "Hiding From the Enemy - Assessment of Polychromatic Light Visualization from a distance."

• Reese Cooper, OMS III, "Massive Pancreatic Pseudocyst and Metabolic Catastrophe."

• Michael Higham, OMS II, "Adverse Effects of Blood Products and Blood-Related Treatments: Review of the Recent Literature."

• Colin McCloskey, OMS III, "Perforated Appendicitis in Amyand’s Hernia Requiring Appendectomy and Ileocolectomy not Demonstrated on Preoperative Computed Tomography."

• Anna Megenhardt, OMS I, "Reliability of Lung POCUS Images Interpreted by First Responders for Patients Presenting with COVID-19 Respiratory Symptoms."

• Zachary Miller, OMS II, "Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest (OHCA) survival rates with mechanical CPR device vs. a person."

• Katie Offner, OMS II, "IL8 is associated with an increase in PTSD and life trauma in first responders."

• Telyn Peterson's, OMS IV, research "Suture Skill Acquisition: Do Skins Affect Efficacy," was presented by Sean Lynch, OMS III.

• Kevin Puri, OMS II, "Clostridium septicum sepsis with Intra-abdominal Gas Gangrene in the setting of GI Malignancy."

• Jamie Truax, OMS III, "Hyper-realistic simulations, the hidden gem of medical training for ski and snowboard injuries."

• Cheyenne Wong, OMS II, "Factor Analysis of the Biochemical Profile of Stress and Recovery from Stress in First Responders."