As a part of Dr. Coven's research, I took a look into how public health factors could impact the patient experience as children go through treatments at Riley hospital within their oncology unit. Some of the public health factors being looked at incl ... include household material hardships (HMH) and childhood literacy. The purpose of the household material hardship (HMH) study is to gain more knowledge in the stresses and challenges that may impact the homelife of the caregiver to a child who has been recently diagnosed or is undergoing treatment for a brain or spinal cord tumor. The purpose of the childhood literacy project is to gain more knowledge in the family's access to books and literacy to develop a program to promote engagement in learning to read. These topics were studied through surveys by using professional interviewing methods both in person and over the phone. By the end of the study, we hope to have a better understanding of how public health factors can impact the patient experience so future support can be offered to the families at Riley. Read more

The purpose of the Validation Study is to ensure that mice in which we are knocking out or in genes in specific tissues, in fact have the reductions or increases in the genes in the proper tissues. When I genotype, or determine the DNA sequence of th ... e mice, and get a result of Cre+ (the specific gene we are looking for) to show, it usually means that the desired mutation is present in the mouse genome for the tissue of interest. If I get a positive result for the gene of interest as well as the Cre+ then we should have deletion or increase of expression of that gene in that specific tissue. To verify what we see in the genotyping, we are conducting the validation study to go more in depth by using qPCR (to observe gene expression) and histology or IHC (protein staining) to confirm that the gene mutations desired are actually present in the mice. This can be quantified, and the data will be placed in a graph format to show how each strain of mouse compares to the other. Read more

Adapted Physical Activity (APA) is meant for all populations with impairments. With a rising need for physical activity for all populations with disabilities, APA focuses on providing individualized exercise for all. With little information being ava ... ilable to the public about APA, our study focuses on developing a research- based brochure to inform the public about adapted movement. In addition to this, parents and other family members of individuals with disabilities can be better informed about the various ways their loved ones can get active. The brochure will include recourses for parents, the contacts of professionals, along with APA guided suggestions. Read more

I work with the IUPUI ECHO Center to organize educational events (ECHOS) on vital topics like HIV, cancer, hepatitis C, etc. ECHO is a platform that allows users to communicate with medical experts from various states who give both didactic content a ... nd real-world examples. Through this platform, one gets to develop a variety of skills, including the ability to provide constructive criticism and apply that feedback to make corrections. One also has a tremendous opportunity of acquiring some highly beneficial teamwork abilities, such as leadership, collaboration, and critical thinking, by interacting with healthcare professionals. Overall, the IUPUI ECHO center is a location where you may gain a lot of knowledge from experts and learn how to collaborate with others and politely take their advice. Through time, one learns how pleasurable it can be to work with others who have similar perspectives and more experience than you have, since you feel more at ease asking questions and getting the task done correctly. This internship with IUPUI ECHO center has far exceeded the expectations because not only do you learn a lot but also interact with new people on a daily basis, both of which you are eager to do. Read more

This past year I have had the opportunity to intern in the Office of Adolescent Medicine at IU Health. This experience has entailed a wide variety of workshops, meetings, projects, and research. Through the past 7 months, I have attended LGBTQ ECHO M ... eetings through the School of Public Health, the Indiana ACLU monthly Policy Meetings, and workshops held by the medical library at IU School of Medicine. During my time, I worked on creating a content guide for first time patients at Riley's Gender Health clinic, what to expect for their first in person and online appointments to help alleviate any anxiety new patients experience. I am also working with Dr. Richard Brandon-Friedman and his research team on their research regarding the mental well-being of gender expansive youth who are receiving gender affirming care. We are currently still conducting this research study and will conclude before the end of 2023. Read more

As the world came to a stop due to the Covid-19 pandemic, educational institutions grappled with teaching students via remote learning programs. This created hardships for students who could no longer get first-hand experience with models and other l ... earning materials. That is why our site began developing models that can be downloaded as 3D PDFs. These models consist of animal skulls and human anatomy depicting muscles, internal organs, and various other structures. The first is geared toward k-12 education and the latter is focused on medical/professional students along with graduate education. These 3D PDFs will serve as a resource to study for many students and allow them to better comprehend in-class models while being at home, in the library, or on the go! Read more

The Indiana Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute (CTSI) is one of 60 National Institute for Health (NIH) funded centers that works to aid in enhancing the field of medicine. One of their locations includes the Clinical Research Center at IU ... Health University Hospital. The CRC supplies high-quality clinical research services and utilities to Indiana's top research talent. Our facilities include a skilled nursing team, lab processing, and a clinical space and equipment for researchers to use. My role at the CRC includes being a Student Nurse in which I help the nurses with any tasks they need including sending labs, drawing blood, taking vitals, etc. Additionally, I work with administration to do audits of monthly reports, study correspondence, and learn about how billing works in our unit. My project summarizes the various diabetes studies that are conducted here with a special focus on a study that I worked on. The purpose of this study, titled, “Diabetes Related to Acute Pancreatitis and its Mechanisms (DREAM),” is to find out how many people with acute pancreatitis develop diabetes. I plan to utilize this experience and the knowledge I gained for years to come. Read more

Osteoclasts are the primary cells involved in the process of bone breakdown. Many bone diseases, including osteoporosis and periodontitis, involve increased osteoclast activity. Estrogen also plays a significant role in bone metabolism, and the absen ... ce of estrogen leads to increased osteoclast activity. The Pyk2 tyrosine kinase is a key protein involved in the regulation of osteoclast breakdown activity. Absence of Pyk2 decreases osteoclast activity. The objective of this study is to establish a potential relationship between Pyk2 and the estrogen receptor (ER) alpha (ERa) and/or beta (ERb) in osteoclasts. In addition, we examined Nedd4 protein, which targets proteins, including the estrogen receptors, for degradation. The overall hypothesis is that absence of Pyk2 may activate Nedd4 to degrade ERa, decreasing osteoclast activity. Bone marrow preparation was performed using both male and female wild type (WT) mice, as well as from mice that were missing the Pyk2 gene (Pyk2 KO). Bone marrow cells were then cultured with media to induce osteoclast formation. Mature osteoclasts were used for qPCR analysis to measure gene expression of the genes mentioned. The results suggest that in the absence of Pyk2, Nedd4 expression is upregulated, with no differences in ERa/ERb levels. Read more

The Well Child & Oral Health Clinic is held at IU Health Primary Care Central Indianapolis as an interprofessional environment where a team works to provide comprehensive wellness and oral health examinations for pediatric patients. The team is compr ... omprised of Family Medicine Residents, Dental and Dental Hygiene learners, and clinic staff. The age of patients ranges from 1-18 years old. Parents or caregivers of children attend the patient visit with the child. As a pediatric clinic, the residents and learners work in pairs to see each patient. The pairs allow each profession to learn more about others' roles and responsibilities, how to communicate with patients, and how to collaborate to create a “comprehensive” care plan. Oral health examinations are imperative to health and wellbeing of all individuals. Additionally, poor oral health has consequences that interact with chronic conditions. It is reported that patients with untreated oral health conditions tend to receive health care in emergency rooms where their dental concerns are often not treated. Innovations in Oral Health and Primary Care Integration (2021) reported that models of primary care and oral health integration provide an opportunity to meet patients' oral health needs across the socio-economic spectrum. Read more

As part of my role in the Healthy Sleep for Kids Laboratory, I have been studying the development, detection, and treatment of a variety of sleep disorders in infants, children, and adolescents from underserved populations. My internship has revolved ... around two projects: Sleep and Health in the Home (SHH) and Evidence-based Detection of Pediatric Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA). SHH aims to understand predictors of the disproportionate rates of high Body Mass Index (BMI) in Black and Latinx children by examining sleep and feeding patterns in infants. There is growing evidence that the risk of high BMI is associated with certain sleep and feeding patterns. In order to prevent unhealthy weight later in childhood, it is essential to identify these patterns. The OSA Project is focused on the impact of health communication in the detection of OSA in children. Through this project, we developed and refined an OSA infographic in English and Spanish with feedback from parents and medical providers. The infographic will be ultimately shown to parents to increase OSA detection and referrals. As many families participating in both studies speak Spanish at home, I have been able to apply my bilingual skills to the research. Read more