PNWU Presents Award-Winning Research in The City of Brotherly Love
A group of PNWU representatives recently attended the final Experimental Biology (EB) meeting, which was hosted in Philadelphia, PA. For more than twenty-five years, EB offered scientists from academic institutions, government agencies, nonprofit organizations and industry access to a wealth of lectures, research presentations and professional development opportunities centered around the latest research in anatomy, biochemistry and molecular biology, investigative pathology, pharmacology and physiology.
“I first attended EB as a graduate student,” said Dr. Julie Randolph-Habecker, professor and chief of pathology at PNWU, who attended the final gathering. “I have since attended as a post-doctoral fellow, principal investigator, and now as a professor.” Dr. Habecker led career development workshops before this year’s meeting and assisted with workshops at the meeting as part of the American Society for Investigative Pathology’s (ASIP’s) Career Development Committee.
PNWU Academic Scholars Alan Boyd and Angie Maxson, alongside Dr. Diana Rhodes, professor of anatomy, also represented our institution admirably, sharing the work they’ve done as scholars in the anatomy department.
“Attending EB was one of the highlights of working as an Academic Scholar,” said Boyd. “To be united and connect with people who are all passionate about a specific topic is an invigorating experience. I would recommend students consider attending a conference for something they are passionate about.”
“To be united and connect with people who are all passionate about a specific topic is an invigorating experience.”
Inspired by their mutual interest in research about learning anatomy, the three connected to develop a small team focused on a novel educational research study. With Dr. Rhodes guiding the academic scholars through each step of the project, Student Doctors Boyd and Maxson developed and gained IRB approval and funding for the novel research project titled, “Assessing Restudying Techniques in Health Science Students Learning Anatomy,” which they then conducted, analyzed and presented.
To successfully study learning in anatomy without disrupting the learning happening in the anatomy course, the team selected a topic that was new and likely unfamiliar to medical students: an anatomical lesson focused on the digestive tract of ruminants, which are animals with a four-chambered stomach.
“We are very grateful to the students who took some time out of their busy schedules to support our research endeavor,” said Boyd, adding that the collected data enabled them to present two separate abstracts at the conference – one for a poster and one for a platform talk.
“It was an unforgettable experience,” said Maxson, who also presented a poster titled “Assessing the Effect of Restudying Anatomy with Flashcards versus Handouts in Study Groups Equalized by Memory Test Scores.”
As a bonus to the EB experience, Boyd also had the pleasure of staying with Logan Noone, DO, PNWU Class of 2021, who was finishing his first year of psychiatry residency at Rowan University. “Logan is such a fun person to spend time with,” said Boyd, “and adds excellent perspective to life and medicine.”
Boyd added that he wishes he could have borrowed Dr. Noone’s knack for public speaking for his EB presentations. “It didn’t fully rub off just by staying with him,” he laughed. He admits, however, that an engaging dinner Dr. Noone and his wife at Ralph’s – the oldest Italian restaurant in America – helped to calm his nerves, or least distract him from them momentarily. The two would later celebrate Dr. Noone’s passing of COMLEX Level Three with a cheesesteak at Pat’s – another famous Philadelphia food landmark.
Dr. Amanda Smith, assistant professor of anatomy, was also a glowing PNWU representative at EB’s final gathering, where she presented novel research on cleft palate mechanics (“The Biomechanical Consequences of Alveolar Cleft Defect”).
“The work that I presented at EB was a pilot study,” said Dr. Smith, “and the results surprised us!”
By using patient CT data to conduct virtual finite element (FE) modeling experiments, Dr. Smith was able to study how specific cleft shapes and repair techniques affect functional mechanics. In the end, her work revealed that the presence of a cleft decreased strains in the bone rather than increasing them, as previously assumed. “We hope that this will help us develop novel scaffold repair techniques, ultimately improving patient outcomes,” she added.
In the end, Dr. Smith, Student Dr. Maxson and Student Dr. Boyd were all selected by the American Association of Anatomy to receive travel awards in recognition of their excellence in research.
While Dr. Habecker is sad to see the beloved annual meeting ending, she expressed optimism about the future collaborative opportunities available to the scientists who regularly attended EB.
“Scientific societies are looking at ways to use remote meeting and conference technology that we used during COVID to maintain some cross-discipline interaction,” she explained.
“I am extremely grateful for the opportunity that the scholar year provided me to conduct, structure, and present research with the guidance support, and mentorship of the whole department, but especially and specifically Dr. Rhodes,” said Student Dr. Boyd. “This experience helped me grow significantly and allowed me to identify with being a scientist and researcher in a way I never could have before. For me, it took shifting into a place of curiosity to see that’s what research is: Asking good questions and following through to try and answer them.”
“This experience helped me grow significantly and allowed me to identify with being a scientist and researcher in a way I never could have before. For me, it took shifting into a place of curiosity to see that’s what research is: Asking good questions and following through to try and answer them.”
Other highlights, from Student Doctor Boyd, shared in no particular order:
- Running up the Rocky Steps outside the Philadelphia Art Museum with Dr. Habecker
- Going to the Mütter Museum with Dr. Rhodes
- Watching Angie walk on stage to collect Dr. Smith’s travel award (who stepped out at the wrong moment)
- Getting a roasted pork sandwich with Broccoli Raab served “wet” (with extra gravy) from DiNic’s in Reading Terminal at Dr. DiMeo and Vicky Koch’s recommendation