Researching Tomorrow’s Medical Solutions

• College of Medicine

Passion for medicine comes in multiple forms – patient care, research and education. And on March 19 and 20, first- and second-year M.D. students showed their enthusiasm for scientific discovery as they presented their FIRE (Focused Inquiry and Research Experience) results. All UCF College of Medicine students must complete the two-year research project, designed to develop their “spirit of inquiry.”

That spirit came in myriad topics – the incidence of anxiety and depression in rheumatoid arthritis patients; the personality characteristics of medical students who do international service projects; pregnancy outcomes for kidney transplant patients. Students choose their research in an area about which they are passionate and work with FIRE mentors – medical school and other UCF faculty and volunteer community physicians – to test their hypotheses. Some end up presenting their research at national meetings; others are published in scientific journals before ever graduating from medical school.

“This part of our curriculum showcases the future and the way that our students are thinking beyond the practice of medicine that is today and are creating the practice of medicine and answering the questions that are needed for tomorrow,” said Dr. Deborah German, vice president for medical affairs and dean of the medical school.

FIRE projects are generally individual endeavors, but this year, one mentor – Dr. Naren Ramakrishna, an M.D.-Ph.D. who serves as a professor of radiation oncology at the medical school – worked with nine students. Dr. Ramakrishna cares for patients at Orlando Health’s UF Health Cancer Center. His UCF students researched a variety of hypotheses on how various cancers metastasize to the brain. They reviewed the cases of 500 patients who suffered from breast and lung cancers and melanoma, had different types of tumors and had received different types and dosages of radiation.

Two second-year UCF medical students – Gurjaspreet Bhattal and Zoran Pavlovic – said their research experience showed them how cancer treatments can and must be individualized to take into account the patient’s unique health factors, including genetic makeup. “To have the opportunity to learn how to do this new research, and how to read an MRI and understand a brain scan at our age and then to be able to present it publicly is unbelievable,” Pavlovic said.

Dr. Diane Jacobs, FIRE module director, said research teaches students skills like critical thinking, statistical analysis and time management. While not all will continue researching as they begin practicing medicine, FIRE helps them understand the importance of scientific discovery in patient care, she said.

During the two-day FIRE conference, first-year students presented their research hypotheses while second-year students presented their findings. Students gave oral and poster presentations that were judged by faculty and fellow students. One of the judges was faculty member Dr. Mollie Jewett, an infectious disease specialist at the college’s Burnett School of Biomedical Science. She said having M.D. students conduct research is important because “it teaches the students that the field of medicine is not static. It is always changing and can always be improved. The new knowledge that is gained from hypothesis-driven research is critical for the continuous advancement of all aspects of medicine.”

2014-15 FIRE Research Conference Award Winners

Best Poster – Students’ Choice

• 3^rd Nomi Sherwin – “Cost analysis of Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy Plus Chemoradiation versus Concurrent Chemoradiation Alone in Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Head and Neck (SCCHN).” Mentor: Tomas Dvorak, M.D.
• 2^nd Gabriel Glaun – “Novel Radiographic Analysis of Guided Growth Procedure for Knee Flexion Contractures: A Retrospective Analysis of Anterior-Distal Hemiepiphysiodesis of the Femur via Utilization of Blumensaat’s Line. “ Mentor: Jonathan Phillips, M.D.
• 1^st Margaret Capobianco – “Defining the Health Care Experience of Adolescents and Young Adults: An Exploration into How Sexual Identify Influences Health Equity Today.” Mentor: Lori Boardman, M.D.

I-1 Oral Presentation – Students’ Choice

• 3^rd James L. Sanders III – “Vascular Growth Outcomes after Surgical and Transcatheter Intervention of Patients with Tetralogy of Fallot, Pulmonary Atresia and Major Aorto-Pulmonary Collateral Arteries.” Mentor: William M. DeCampli, M.D., Ph.D.
• 2^nd Heather Burke – “Understanding Potential Sources of Mistrust and the Impact of Mistrust on Pre-Clinical Medical Education.” Mentor: Jonathan Kibble, Ph.D.
• 1^st Elizabeth Wellings – “Development and validation of a survey instrument to assess the perception towards and efficacy of the mobile application PROMOBES as a real-time feedback tool for professionalism in the medical school curriculum.” Mentor: Juan Cendan, M.D.

I-2 Oral Presentation – Students’ Choice

• 3^rd Faith Villanueva – “Sexual Behavior Among HPV-Vaccinated Young Women: Does Administration Prior to Sexual Debut Matter?” Mentors: Lori Boardman, M.D., Jane Gibson, Ph.D.
• 2^nd Sami Saikaly – “Predicting Stomal Complications in Pediatric Malone Antegrade Continence Enema (MACE) Patients.” Mentor: Hubert Swana, M.D.
• 1^st Eva Reina – “The Impact of Residency Training on Intrauterine Device (IUD) Knowledge: A Survey of Senior Residents in Obstetrics & Gynecology and Primary Care Programs Throughout Florida.” Mentor: Lori Boardman, M.D.

Best Poster – Faculty Award

• 3^rd Xinwei Liu – “Current Trends in Stroke Epidemiology: Incidence of Ischemic versus Hemorrhagic Stroke in Hispanic Population.” Mentor: Ademola Adewale, M.D.
• 2^nd Madiha Yasin – “Correlation of Standard Pathologic Characteristics with Oncotype Dx 21-Gene Recurrence Score for Node-Negative and ER Positive Breast Cancer.” Mentor: Rebecca Moroose, M.D.
• 1^st Richa Vijayvargiya – “The Prevalence and Risk Factors Associated with Anal Human Papillomavirus Infection in a Cohort of Young, HIV-Negative Women.” Mentors: Lori Boardman, M.D., Jane Gibson, Ph.D.

I-1 Oral Presentation – Faculty Award

• 3^rd Elizabeth Wellings – “Development and validation of a survey instrument to assess the perception towards and efficacy of the mobile application PROMOBES as a real-time feedback tool for professionalism in the medical school curriculum.” Mentor: Juan Cendan, M.D.
• 2^nd Heather Burke – “Understanding Potential Sources of Mistrust and the Impact of Mistrust on Pre-Clinical Medical Education.” Mentor: Jonathan Kibble, Ph.D.
• 1^st James L. Sanders III – “Vascular Growth Outcomes after Surgical and Transcatheter Intervention of Patients with Tetralogy of Fallot, Pulmonary Atresia and Major Aorto-Pulmonary Collateral Arteries.” Mentor: William M. DeCampli, M.D., Ph.D.

I-2 Oral Presentation – Faculty Award

• 3^rd Ryan King – “Pregnancy Outcomes Related to Mycophenolate in Kidney Transplant Recipients.” Mentor: Vincent Armenti, M.D., Ph.D.
• 2^nd Sarah Hart – “HPV Vaccination: Impact on Cervical & Anal HPV Infection in Young Women.” Mentors: Lori Boardman. M.D., Jane Gibson, Ph.D.
• 1^st Sami Saikaly – “Predicting Stomal Complications in Pediatric Malone Antegrade Continence Enema (MACE) Patients.” Mentor: Hubert Swana, M.D.

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