By Michelle Thompson
On Friday, May 3, students and faculty mentors from across CHHS shared their research at the 2019 Celebration of Scholarship, underscoring the importance of student-driven research at CHHS and at Mason. Attendees reviewed more than 35 poster presentations and were able to attend five oral presentations.
Research topics included substance abuse treatment, care for older adults, subsidized housing and health, food insecurity risk factors, factors associated with cyberbullying, traffic-related air pollution, and rehabilitation of spinal cord injury and Parkinson's disease patients.
“Student posters and oral presentations were very creative, engaging and informative. We are thankful to all the faculty, staff and students who helped make this event a huge success,” says Debora Goetz Goldberg, Associate Professor in the Department of Health Administration and Policy.
In her opening comments, V.P. for Research, Deb Crawford, applauded the multi-disciplinary nature of the students’ research and encouraged students to acknowledge the help and commitment of their mentors.
Oral presentation winners Kelly Kogan, Margaret Jones and Robyn Mehlenbeck won for their presentation entitled “Comparison of Food Screener vs. Joint Parent-Child Recalls to Assess Energy and Macronutrient Intakes among Latino Children who are Overweight/Obese.” The group’s mentor is Dr. Sina Gallo, assistant professor in the Department of Nutrition and Food Studies.
The poster presentations were judged on three categories: Best Visual Appearance, Scientific Merit, and Engagement/Audience Participation.
The poster presentation by Anna Scolese, Tiara C Willie, Claudia Diaz Olavarrieta entitled “Intimate Partner Violence Against Low-Income Women in Mexico City and Associations with Child School Attendance: A Latent Class Analysis Using Cross-Sectional Data” won in the category of Visual Appearance. Dr. Jhumka Gupta, associate professor in The Department of Global and Community Health mentored this group.
Kathryn Fay, Constance Owens, Joseph Phillips and Tarang Parekh won in the category of Scientific Merit for their poster presentation entitled “Use of E-Cigarettes by Women of Childbearing Age and Odds of Developing Asthma or COPD.” Dr. Panagiota (Yiota) Kitsantas, professor in the Department of Health Administration and Policy, mentored this group.
Sheryne Zeitoun and Rachel Morrison won for their poster presentation entitled “Participation Influence of livestock and wildlife on tick density in the Kenyan Savanna” in the category of Engagement and Audience Participation. Dr. Michael von Fricken mentored this group.