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.

Andrew Merelman, OMS II, presented at The Big Sick, a conference about critical care and emergency medicine. His talk was on an airway management procedure called ketamineonly breathing intubation, which involves the use of ketamine as a sole agent to facilitate intubation in an awake patient. "It went very well [and] was well-received. The conference was excellent, with many extremely knowledgeable speakers and informative lectures at in incredible venue."

Haseeb Rahat, OMS II

Jacob Stuppy, OMS III

Haseeb Rahat, OMS II, and Jacob Stuppy, OMS III, gave presentations at American Federation of Medical Research's Western Medical Research Conference. SD Rahat presented, "Metabolomic Characterization of Hepatic Steatosis in Polycystic Ovary Syndrome;" SD Stuppy presented, "Increased de Novo Lipogenesis in Hepatics Steatosis Regardless of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome Status." "We do biomedical research in the endocrinology lab at Childrens Hospital with our mentor Dr. Melanie Cree-Green," says SD Rahat.

Sarah Szybist, OMS III

Renato Rapada, DO '19

Anthony LaPorta, MD, FACS, Course Director for the Military Medicine Program

Sarah Szybist, OMS III, Renato Rapada, DO '19, and Anthony LaPorta, MD, FACS, Course Director for the Military Medicine Program, published research in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons. The research, "Effect of Immersion Trauma Training on Resiliency and Hardiness in Military Medical Personnel," describes a study of military medical students who took the Hardiness Resilience Gauge to assess changes in stress before and after trauma training.

W. Tyler Crawley, OMS III, and Cyprien Jungels, OMS III, presented research at the annual COSGP Winter Research Symposium. Their research, "α-Tocopheryl Succinate Sensitizes the Human Breast Cancer Cells to Doxorubicin and Reduces Doxorubicin Induced Cardiotoxicity," discusses the cardiotoxicity in breast cancer chemotherapy. SDs Crawley and Jungels were also chosen as the overall winners of the conference!

Jing Gao, MD, Associate Professor of Ultrasound

Rebecca Ryznar, PhD, Assistant Professor of Molecular Biology

Jing Gao, MD, Associate Professor of Ultrasound, and Rebecca Ryznar, PhD, Assistant Professor of Molecular Biology, were the recipients of the RVU Faculty Research Recognition Award, which was given by the IRB and Research Advisory Committee. The award was created to recognize faculty members who advance the University's mission of supporting research through education, student mentorship, and collaboration. "Drs. Gao and Ryznar have conducted more research that involved mentoring a multitude of students than any other faculty this year," said Laura Dement, MA ED, Compliance Specialist.

Elias Leavitt, OMS III, and William Suddarth, OMS II, competed at the International Trauma Life Support (ITLS) Research Forum. SD Leavitt received first place for "Hyper Realistic Immersion Training Directly Improves Resilience in Medical Personnel"; SD Suddarth received second place for "Vital Sign Monitoring and Demographic Comparison of Paramedics in W arm Zone Active Shooter Drills." (Read more on Page 18.)

Regan Stiegmann, DO '14

Cole Zanetti, DO

Regan Stiegmann, DO '14, and Cole Zanetti, DO, Co-Founders of the Digital Health Track, published a chapter on Digital Health in Medical Education in the book, Handbook of Research on Efficacy of Training Programs and Systems in Medical Education, published in December of 2019.

Lon Van Winkle, PhD

Rebecca Ryznar, PhD

Lon Van Winkle, PhD, Professor of Medical Humanities, and Rebecca Ryznar, PhD, Assistant Professor of Molecular Biology, published "One carbon metabolism regulates embryonic stem cell fate through epigenetic DNA and histone modifications: implications for transgenerational metabolic disorders in adults" in Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology. They found that 1-carbon metabolism challenges contribute to development of metabolic syndrome and related abnormalities in adults, resulting in altered epigenetic DNA and histone modifications in ES progenitor cells and the tissues and organs to which they develop.

Students Present, Compete at ROME Conference

RVU-CO students recently participated in the Regional Osteopathic Medical Education poster competition in Vail:

Arthur Armijo, OMS I: "Delta County, CO: Health Needs Assessment" - 3rd place

Kelsey Boghean, OMS III: "Case Study: Thigh Mass Persisting 50 Years in Rural Kenya"

Logan Leavitt, OMS III: "Treatment of a Femoral Bone Marrow Lesion with Intraosseous Bone Marrow Aspirate Concentrate"

W. Tyler Crawley, OMS III: "Diabetic Cardiomyopathy: Understanding the Independent Relationship Between Diabetes and Heart Failure" - 1st place

W. Tyler Crawley, OMS III and Cyprien Jungels, OMS III: "The Ushaped effect of uric acid: A review of how both high and low levels of uric acid can affect the human body"

Connor Roggy, OMS III, Alexandra Koontz, OMS III: "Occurrence of a unilateral sternohumeral muscular anomaly: A cadaveric case report" - 2nd place

Colby McWhorter, OMS III, Tyson Hamilton, OMS III, Gabriel Betancourt, OMS III: "Evaluating the Change in Medical Students’ Perceived Preparedness for Clinical Rotations"

Students also tested their ability to present concisely (on a topic that was both interesting to students and relevant to physicians) in a segment called Lightning Rounds, organized by Dr. David Ross. "[The presentations] were well-done and the response from the audience was very positive," he reported. The following students presented during Lightning Rounds:

Christine Wahlmeier, OMS II, Ashley Trumpie, OMS II, Madison Brown, OMS I: "The Psychiatric Advanced Directive in Colorado"

SD Boghean: "Trauma-Informed Care in Medicine"

Austen Anderson, OMS III: "Utilization of Traditional vs Contemporary Medicine in Global Indigenous Populations"

Benjamin Horn, OMS III: "Understanding the Role of Shame and Guilt in End-of-Life Decision Making"

Colby Pearson, OMS III, a nd Tesia Kolodziejczyk, OMS III: "Androgenetic Alopecia"

Corinna Ruf, OMS III: "Secondary Stroke Prevention" Hayden Collins, OMS III: "The Corona Virus Epidemic"

Research Tracks Stress levels of EMTs during Mass Casualty Drill

A collaboration between students, faculty, and the South Metro Fire Rescue (SMFR) in Colorado has resulted in research published in the Journal of Emergency Medical Services. The authors included Joshua Calvano, OMS III, Ryan Henschell, OMS III, Rebecca Ryznar, PhD, William Suddarth, OMS II, Alex Knippenberg, OMS II, Anthony LaPorta, MD, FACS, Ryan Shelton, MPS, NREMT-P and Andrew Glen, PhD. The research, "Training Effectiveness for Point of Injury Medical Care – Vital Sign Monitoring and Demographic Comparisons of Paramedics in Warm Zone Active Shooter Drills," was designed to assess changes in the physiological responses as paramedics underwent hyper-realistic training sessions in preparation for mass casualty scenarios. These scenarios—organized by SMFR—took place last fall in the Denver metro area, with the cooperation of RVU and several community organizations and law enforcement agencies.

During the scenarios, measurements of heart rate and arterial blood pressure were used to provide information about the stress response and adaptation to the training over time. The main aim of the study was to determine stress response and previous conditioning associated with mass-casualty training sessions and to look for possible correlations between demographic data of paramedics and their associated physiological response to the training.