The SOARinG (Student Opportunities for Academic Achievement Through Research Program in Greenville) program will match M1 students with full-time mentored research projects to take place in the summer between their M1 and M2 years (6-8 weeks).
The symposium is where this year over 90 rising M2 medical students at the UofSC School of Medicine Greenville will present their research efforts from the spring and summer.
A ten-week summer experience that will provide biomedical research opportunities under the guidance of expert faculty, professional development, workshop training and science/journal club meetings in aging research, as well as networking with other young scholars and researchers.
If you are a research mentor looking to recruit UofSC SOMG medical students to your research program, please complete this form and the Office of Medical Student Research will help you in this process.
Frequently asked questions for 2021 Student Summer Research
| Project Title | Mentor Name | Department | Research Keywords (hidden column) |
|---|---|---|---|
| CenteringPregnancy – Depression Diagnosis Among Prenatal Women | Amy Crockett | OBGYN | CenteringPregnancy, Group Prenatal Care, Depression |
| CenteringPregnancy - Prenatal Quality Care Measures | Amy Crockett | OBGYN | CenteringPregnancy, Group Prenatal Care, Depression, prenatal quality care, HIV, GBS, GDM, Tdap, Flu |
| Prenatal Quality Care Measures by Race | Amy Crockett | OBGYN | Prenatal Quality Care, HIV, GBS, GDM, Tdap, Flu, race/ethnicity, disparities |
| Mechanisms of SARS-CoV-1 Non-Structural Protein-1 (Nsp-1)-mediated Immune Regulation | Dr. Jennifer Grier | Biomedical Sciences | Immune evasion by severe acute respiratory syndrome-associated coronavirus (SARS-CoV) using non-structural protein 1 (nsp1) has been a topic of interest since the 2003 epidemic. It has been suggested that nsp1 is responsible for a delayed and disorganized activation of the immune system leading to worse clinical outcomes. Nsp1’s known functions include antagonizing antiviral pathways that would otherwise limit viral replication and blocking eukaryotic translation crucial for host defense. During viral infection, nsp1 localizes in cells to boundaryless aggregates of cell machinery called stress granules. Interestingly, in stress granules, nsp1 may interact with ADAR1, a regulator of retinoic acid inducible gene I (RIG-I)-like receptors (RLRs), which specialize in detecting viral infections. Our lab created mutated versions of nsp1 lacking one or both nsp1 functions or enhanced antiviral activity using site-directed mutagenesis and confirmed our mutants using sanger sequencing. Using fluorescent microscopy, we hope to visualize the effect of distinct nsp1 functions on ADAR cellular localization in human epithelial lung cells. We will assess potential downstream effects via qRT-PCR on RLR-inducible genes and inflammatory cytokines associated with the antiviral response. The results from this study will provide a better understanding of nsp1 function and hopefully provide therapeutic targets to support detection and clearance of SARS-CoV infection by the immune response. |
| The Impact of Posaconazole on Aspergillus Fumigatus Growth in Larval Zebrafish | Emily Rosowski, PhD | Clemson Research | Aspergillus Fumigatus, macrophages, Posaconazole, zebrafish |
| SpyGlass | Christine Schammel | Pathology | Comparing the efficacy of biliary brushings to that of SpyGlass-directed biopsies in the evaluation of biliary strictures. |
| Empathy Behind the Scenes: Training future healthcare providers to treat opioid use disorder with a focus on patient narrative through forum theatre | Margie Stevens | Addiction Research Center | Medical Education, Medical Students, Theatre Arts, Art Education, Audience Participation, Improvisation, Forum Theatre, Ethics, Simulation, Communication Skills |
| Retrospective review of ADH and ALH excision results after diagnosis by core needle biopsy | Wendy Cornett | Surgery | Atypical Hyperplasia, Atypical Ductal Hyperplasia, Atypical Lobular Hyperplasia, Breast Cancer |
| Elucidating the Hemocompatability of Nanoparticles | Jessica Larsen | Clemson Research | Nanoparticles, Hemocompatability, Blood, Polymersomes, nanomedicine, nanotechnology, drug delivery, hemolysis, coagulation, complement |
| Stress and Burnout in Greenville County EMS Paramedics and EMTs | Lauren Fowler | Neuroscience | EMS, Burnout, Stress, Exhaustion, empathy |
| Complications after reverse shoulder arthroplasty lessening over time: A Retrospective Review of Complications | Stephan Pill, MD | Orthopaedics | Reverse shoulder arthroplasty; complications |
| Robotic Resection of Mediastinal Parathyroid Masses | William Bolton | Surgery | Mediastinum, robot-assisted thoracoscopic surgery, mediastinal mass resection, parathyroidectomy, davinci robot |
| Investigation of the polyol pathway in Entamoeba histolytica | Cheryl Ingram-Smith | Clemson Research | Entamoeba histolytica, polyol pathway, aldose reductase, sorbitol dehydrogenase, fructokinase |
| The effects of prescribed psychotropic medications on patient baseline to end PHQ-9 and GAD-7 scores compared to the scores of patients that were not prescribed psychotropic medications within the Collaborative Care Model | Karen Lommel | Psychiatry | Collaborative Care |
| Waist-Height Ratio (WHR) may predict loss of nocturnal dip on Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitoring (ABPM) | Sudha Garimella | Pediatrics | Waist-Height Ratio |
| Autism Care Network | Karen Ratliffe-Schaub, MD | Pediatrics | Autism spectrum disorder |
| Provision of Blood Pressure Monitors to improve Hypertension Control and enhance patient self-management and empowerment | Meenu Jindal | Internal Medicine | Motivational interviewing |
| Pancreatic Registry | Christine Schammel, PhD | Pathology | Pancreatic fistula, pancreaticoduodenectomy, distal pancreatectomy, pancreatic leak, drain, drain amylase |
| Nutritional Optimization Prior to Bariatric Surgery | John Scott | Surgery | Nutrition |
| Nutritional Optimization Prior to Bariatric Surgery | John Scott | Surgery | Nutrition |
| Expression of members of the multi-protein SAGA chromatin modifying complex in blastocoel fluid-conditioned media from IVF-generated human embryos is associated with positive implantation status | Renee Chosed | Biomedical Sciences | SAGA |
| Institutional Review of Meningiomas | Christine Schammel | Pathology | Meningioma, Grade, Recurrence, outcomes, survival, incidental findings, gross total resection. |
| Creating A Medical School-Oriented Map of Immunologic Processes | Jennifer Grier, PhD | ITOR | Medical School, Immunology, Human Immune System |
| Food Insecurity Among Health Professions Students in the USC School System | Jennifer Trilk, PhD | Biomedical Sciences | medical students and food insecurity |
| Splenic Artery Embolization: A Non-Invasive Approach to Blunt Splenic Injury | Christine Schammel | Interventional Radiology | splenic artery embolization, abdominal trauma, trauma, blunt splenic injury (BSI), blunt splenic trauma, proximal embolization, distal embolization, combined embolization, non operative management (NOM) of splenic trauma |
| Carotid Artery Calcifications in Patients 30-60 years of age: important indicator for radiologists to report? | Christine Schammel | Pathology | Carotid Artery Plaque |
| Meningioma | Christine Schammel | Pathology | outcomes, recurrences, grading, predisposition, symptoms, survival, imaging, medications |
| Exploratory Data Analysis of the ITOR Biorepository | Jeffrey Edenfield, MD | Cancer Institute | Data Analysis, Retrospective, Oncology, Cancer, Biorepository |
| Young Infant Characteristics and Laboratory Findings Associated with the FilmArray Meningitis/Encephalitis Panel | Nicholas Potisek, MD | Pediatrics | bacterial Meningitis/Encephalitis |
| Error Occurrence in Death Certification: A Health System Based Review | Christine Schammel PhD | Pathology | Death certificate accuracy, cause-of-death, how to fill out a death certificate |
| Comparison of USP34 expression in preimplantation blastocoel fluid from IVF-generated embryos | Renee Chosed - PhD | Biomedical Sciences | blastocyst |
| Connect for Health Pediatric Weight Management Program Patient Experience with Care Survey | Kerry Sease, MD, MPH | Pediatrics | Childhood obesity, Connect for Health, pediatric weight management program, public health, patient experience |
| Telehealth: The New Approach to Routine Prenatal Care? | Kristine Martin | OBGYN | Telehealth, Prenatal healthcare, Social determinants of health, accessibility, health outcomes |
| An Investigation of Burnout in Greenville County EMTs and Paramedics | Lauren Fowler | Neuroscience | Emergency Medical Services, Paramedics, EMT, Fatigue, Burnout, Stress, MBI, Pupillometry, Shift Work |
| Community Health and Health Disparities in Pediatric Respiratory Virus Infections with SARS-CoV-2 and RSV in Upstate South Carolina | Brooks McPhail | Biomedical Sciences | Community Health and Health Disparities in Pediatric Respiratory Virus Infections with SARS-CoV-2 |
| Community Health and Health Disparities in Pediatric Respiratory Virus Infections with SARS-CoV-2 and RSV in Upstate South Carolina | Jennifer Grier | Biomedical Sciences | Pediatric |
| Racial Disparities and Outcomes of Patients Undergoing Ventral Hernia Repair | Alfredo Carbonell | Surgery | race, racial disparities, hernia surgery, ventral hernia, ventral hernia repair, health outcomes |
| Distinct subsets of SIDS infants as defined by inflammatory markers in the CSF; potential relationship to brainstem serotonergic abnormalities | Robin Haynes, PhD | Pathology Research - Boston Children's Hospital | SIDS, brainstem, sudden infant death syndrome, inflammation, neuropathology, cerebral spinal fluid, neopterin, microglia, CNS inflammation |
| Correlation of marshmallow esophagram with high resolution manometry and clinical outcomes | Dr. Shanu Kothari | Surgery | Minimally invasive surgery |
| Near Infrared Spectroscopy: Effects of Different Chemotherapy Regimens on Skeletal Muscle Mitochondrial Function in Breast Cancer Patients | Dr. Jennifer Trilk | Cancer Institute | Oncology |
| Feasibility and Limited Efficacy of a Tandem Cycling Community Exercise Program on Physiological Health, Functional Health, Therapeutic Relationships, and Quality of Life in Persons and Care Partners affected by Parkinson’s Disease | Jennifer Trilk | Human Performance Lab | Cycling, Parkinson's Disease, therapeutic relationship, exercise science |
| Improving Radiographic Data Capture for the Prisma Health Comprehensive COVID-19 Registry | Smitty Heavner | Internal Medicine | Quality Improvement, COVID-19 Registry, Radiology, Data Abstraction, REDCap |
| Models of Access to Care for Immigrant Children | Julie Linton | Pediatrics | Access to care |
| Fatigue Risk Management Strategies to Mitigate Elevated Levels of Fatigue in the Emergency Department | Lauren Fowler | Neuroscience | Fatigue, Emergency Department, Fatigue Risk Management, Strategies, Emergency Physicians |
| Protein Purification of PEX 13.1 and 13.2 YG Rich Region and PEX 13.1 SH3 region | Meredith Morris, PhD | Clemson Research | Project has been focused on developing a protocol for purification of these proteins to allow for immunoprecipitation assays with these proteins found in Trypanasoma brucei brucei. |
| UNDERSTANDING THE PERSPECTIVES AND NEEDS OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN AND LATINO CAREGIVERS OF PERSONS WITH ALZHIEMER’S DISEASE IN UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA – LatinX Perspectives Beliefs and Perceived Barriers Arm | Melissa Bailey, DO, MPH | Geriatric Medicine | Caregiving; Caregiver; Latino; Hispanic; Dementia; Alzheimer's Disease; Alzheimer's Disease and related disorders; Health Disparities; Health Communication; Qualitative research |
| Molecular Characterization of Cancer Patient Tissues and Mutational Analysis | Anna Blenda, PhD | Biomedical Sciences | glycan, neoplasm, tumor, mutation, breast cancer, lung cancer |
| Challenging Cases and Practical Approaches: Actinic Keratosis to Squamous Cell Carcinoma Progression | Todd Schlesinger | Dermatology - Clinical Research of the Carolinas | Actinic Keratosis |
| The effect of patient centered lifestyle interventions on health knowledge and self-empowerment in patients with obesity. | Meenu Jindal | Internal Medicine | empowerment, lifestyle medicine, exercise, education, health knowledge, obesity |
| Comparing Efficacies of Various Invasive and Non-invasive H. Pylori Detection Methods | Christine Schammel | Pathology | H. pylori, efficacy, diagnostic tests |
| Error Occurrence in Death Certification: A Health System Based Review and Educational Intervention Outcome Analysis | Christine Schammel, PhD | Pathology | death certificate accuracy, cause of death |
| Disparities in perinatal depression screening and referral | Erica Schenhals | OBGYN | depression, disparities, perinatal, screening |
| Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) Utilization for Needs Assessment and Clinical Service Improvement in a New Adolescent and Young Adult Program | Aniket Saha | Pediatrics | Psychosocial needs, health related quality of life (HRQOL), patient-reported outcome, adolescent and young adult (AYA), Oncology |
| The Role of IFI27 in the Antiviral Immune Response to SARS-CoV-2 | Jennifer Grier | Biomedical Sciences | IFI27 |
| Synthesis of Novel Diazcylobutenes to Combat Trichomonas Vaginalis | Dan Whitehead | Clemson Research | Organic Chemistry, Synthesis, Novel Molecule, Parasitic infection, Drug Development, |
| Toward Educating and Enabling Patients with Metastatic Breast Cancer in Shared-Decision-making Using mHealth Technology: Identifying Patient Therapeutic Goals and Preferences | Melanie Cozad, PhD | USC - Arnold School of Public Health | metastatic breast cancer, shared decision-making, mHealth, technology, mobile app, patient preferences, goals, education, therapy, communication, oncology, point of care, treatment, management |
| Impact analysis of Visual Literacy training on improved patient-centered outcomes in telehealth settings: reducing medical error by targeting skills of observation, communication, empathy, and ambiguity tolerance | Joy Shen-Wager | Family Medicine | Telehealth |
| Stroke prevention in atherosclerotic disease: A comparative study of transfemoral carotid artery stenting versus transcarotid artery revascularization | Bruce Gray | Surgery | Stent; Surgery; Vascular; Transfemoral; Carotid |
| COVID-19’s Impact on the Latinx Community in Upstate SC: A qualitative inquiry examining the community perceptions of disparities that transpired during the peak and aftermath of COVID-19 infections in the Upstate | Smitty Heavner-sullivan, RN | Internal Medicine | COVID-19 |
| Laparoscopic Appendectomy Resource Utilization | Shanu Kothari | Surgery | Surgical quality improvement, cost analysis |
| Stress and Fatigue among EMT Professionals | Lauren Fowler | Biomedical Sciences | Cortisol, Stress, Fatigue, EMT, Empathy |
| Case Study: false positive dotatate uptake in the small bowel mesentery | Christine Schammel | Pathology | Dotatate |
| Characterization of Hypothetical Protein EHI_056700 in E. Histolytica | Lesly Temesvari | Clemson Research | Kinase, virulence, human pathogen research, infectious disease |
| Does Stroke Severity Affect Sensory-Feedback Needed for Volitional Movements? | Michelle Woodbury | MUSC, Department of Health Sciences and Research | CVA, stroke, stroke recovery, rehabilitation, motor planning |
| The Effects of Illness Perception on Diabetes Control | Meenu Jindal | Internal Medicine | illness perception; illness beliefs; type 2 diabetes; diabetes control; uncontrolled diabetes; IPQ-R |
| Pancreas Registry | Christine Schammel- PhD | Pathology | Pancreatic Fistula |
| Screening and addressing the social determinants of health at the Internal Medicine Clinic | Meredith Eicken MD, MPH | Internal Medicine | Social Determinants of Health, SDoH, Primary Care, Internal Medicine, Public Health, SDoH Screening, Addressing SDoH |
| Trypanosoma brucei PEX 13s YG-rich and SH3 regions: expression and purification | Meredith Morris PhD | Clemson Research | Purification of PEX protein variants from Trypanosoma brucei parasites, to further study the structure and function of the proteins to understand their role in organism survival. |
| Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) Elastography versus Liver Biopsy | Christine Schammel | Pathology | Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), ultrasound, CT, MRI, imaging, elastography, biopsy, metabolic, hepatomegaly, steatosis, fibrosis, cirrhosis, diagnosis, prognosis, scoring, staging, risk, management, treatment |
| The Role of Medical Student Notes within the Emergency Department Team | Page Bridges, MD | Emergency Medicine | Emergency Medicine |
| Rates of Preventative Cancer Screenings in Patients with Opioid Use Disorder: Recommendations to Close Gaps in Care | Heather Delisi | North Shore Community Health Center Peabody | Opioid Use Disorder (OUD), Medication for Addiction Treatment (MAT), Community Health Center (CHC) |
| Synthesis of a novel siderophore antibiotic | Steven Fiester PhD | Biomedical Sciences | antibiotics, siderophore, organic chemistry |
| Patient Engagement in Fertility Research: Bench Research, Ethics, and Social Justice | Melanie Cozad | USC - Arnold School of Public Health | PPI, ethics, social justice, IVF, patient engagement |
| The role of pharmacogenomics in the medical management for Native Americans and Caucasian kidney transplant recipients | Mira Keddis MD | Nephrology | Nephrology |
| An Overview of Coronavirus and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus | Meenu Jindal | Internal Medicine | Diabetes |
| The correlation between abnormal uterine bleeding and female sexual dysfunction | Lisa Green, MD, MPH | OBGYN | sexual dysfunction, abnormal uterine bleeding, obgyn, AUB |
| Validation of a labor induction calculator | Lisa Green, MD, MPH | OBGYN | labor, induction, obgyn |
| Reducing miscarriage rates via molecular analysis of preimplantation blastocel fluid | Renee Chosed | Biomedical Sciences | In Vitro Fertilization, IVF, Miscarriage, Blastocel fluid, Implantation, |
| Computational Analysis of the Diagnosis and/ of Prognosis from the Perspective of the Ovarian Cancer Patient | Young Ji Lee, PhD, MS, RN | Univeristy of Pittsburgh School of Medicine Department of Biomedical Informatics | Python, ovarian cancer, cancer diagnosis, cancer prognosis, personalized medicine, online forum |
| Evaluation of gastrostomy tube placement, feeding strategies, and speech | Robert Ricca | Surgery | pediatric, surgery, gtube, speech therapy, reevaluation, complication, duration of gtube placement |
| Impact of initial hernia repair technique and mesh location on outcomes of Subsequent Abdominal Operations | Jeremy Warren, MD | Surgery | hernias, general surgery, mesh placement, subsequent abdominal operations |
| The Effect of Polymersomes on Blood Components | Jessica Larsen | Clemson Research | Blood Components, polymersomes, nanoparticles, drug delivery devices PEG-PLA, PEG-PLGA |
| The role of hippocampal seizures in SIDS | Robin Haynes PhD | Pathology Research - Boston Children's Hospital | Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, Hippocampus, Neuropathology, Sudden Unexpected Death in Childhood, SUDC, SIDS, brainstem, serotonin |
| Analysis of medical students after exposure to FAVOR recovery coaches in the emergency department. | Erik Fisher, MD | Emergency Medicine | FAVOR, Faces and voices of recovery, Substance use disorder, SUD, empathy, medical students, survey |
| the relationship between sagittal abdominal diameters and ambulatory blood pressures | Sudha Garimella | Pediatrics | Sagittal abdominal diameters |
| Project COPE | Ann Kennedy | USCSOMG | N/A |
| MFMU COVID-19 Registry | Allison Moore, RN, BSN, CCRC | OBGYN | COVID-19, pregnancy, GRAVID, NIH, MFMU |
| Polysubstance use and effects on mothers and infants | Mary Ellen Wright, PhD | Clemson Research | Polysubstance use, substance use disorder, SUD, neonatal abstinence syndrome, NAS |
| Pharmacogenetic evaluation for kidney disease and transplantation | Mira Keddis MD | Mayo Clinic AZ | Pharmacogenetics |
| Measuring muscle mitochondrial oxidative capacity with Near-infrared spectroscopy in person with cancer undergoing chemotherapy | Jennifer Trilk, Ph.D, FACSM, DipACLM | Cancer Institute | Chemotherapy, exercise, oxidative capacity, Near-infrared spectroscopy |
| Galectin-3 and its correlation with rs1870377 | Anna Blenda | Biomedical Sciences | galectins, cancer, VEGFR, VEGFR-2, KDR, galectin-3 |