Honoring DMU faculty for searching for answers

In addition to being a great day to ask questions, discover new knowledge and interact with highly engaged students, faculty and other scientists, the 10th annual DMU Research Symposium on Dec. 5, 2019, was an opportunity to honor DMU faculty for their work. The honors below pertain to research proposals submitted or awarded from Dec. 1, 2018, to Nov. 30, 2019.

The 2019 DMU Research Symposium drew more than 600 eager learners and scientists for its 10th anniversary.

Peopleโ€™s Choice Award, poster presentation: Martin Schmidt, Ph.D., professor of biochemistry and nutrition, โ€œEffects of Back-to-Back Testing on Student Well-Being and Exam Performance โ€“ Preliminary Dataโ€

Original presenter award for faculty member who presented or authored in ALL 10 years of DMU research symposiums: Martin Schmidt, Ph.D., 16 abstracts

10-year Mentor Award for faculty members with 10 years of consecutive student mentorship in the Mentored Student Research Program:

  • Shane McClinton, M.S.P.T., D.P.T., Ph.D., associate professor of physical therapy
  • Marie Nguyen, Ph.D., professor of microbiology and immunology
  • Vassilios Vardaxis, Ph.D., professor of physical therapy

First prime proposal submitted for a sponsored project as a principal investigator at DMU, federal:

  • Maria Barnes, Ph.D.,
    assistant professor of biochemistry and nutrition, โ€œMechanisms of
    postmenopausal hypertensionโ€; funding agency: National Institutes of Health,
    R01
  • Lauren Butaric, Ph.D.,
    assistant professor of anatomy, โ€œSINUSOiD: A new, user-friendly software
    program and database for positive identifications utilizing frontal sinus
    morphologyโ€; funding agency: National Institute of Justice
  • Yujiang Fang, Ph.D.,
    assistant professor of microbiology and immunology, โ€œPomegranate extract as a
    potential powerful radiosensitizer for prostate cancerโ€; funding agency: National
    Institutes of Health, R15
  • Megan Johnson, M.S.N.,
    practice manager, DMU Family Medicine Clinic, โ€œDMU Clinic Medication Management
    Accelerator Projectโ€; funding agency: Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services
  • Kristin Lowry, Ph.D.,
    associate professor of physical therapy, โ€œWalking a curve: age-related
    differences and adaptationsโ€; funding agency: National Institutes of Health, R15

First prime proposal submitted for a sponsored project as a principal investigator at DMU, non-federal external:

  • Rachel Dunn, Ph.D.,
    associate professor of anatomy, โ€œUnderstanding the evolution of fossil mammal aommunities
    in North America through screen washing for small mammalsโ€; funding agency: National
    Geographic
  • Tami Swenson, Ph.D.,
    assistant professor of public health, โ€œImproving access to community-based physical
    activity and nutrition programs for older Iowansโ€; funding agency: Iowa Cancer
    Consortium

First sponsored project award received as a principal investigator at DMU, federal: Megan Johnson, M.S.N., practice manager, DMU Family Medicine Clinic, โ€œDMU Clinic Medication Management Accelerator Projectโ€; funding agency: Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services

First sponsored project award received as a principal investigator at DMU, non-federal external:

  • Leslie Wimsatt, Ph.D., associate dean academic assessment quality and development,
    College of Osteopathic Medicine, โ€œExamining the efficacy
    of mobile device use in capturing and reporting entrustable professional activity
    dataโ€: funding agency: AACOM; subaward, $3,750
  • Shannon Petersen,
    P.T., DSCPT, professor of physical therapy, โ€œMusculoskeletal neck impairments
    in headaches attributed to rhinosinusitisโ€; funding agency: AAOMPT, Cardon
    Rehabilitation; $4,000
  • Pamela Duffy, P.T.,
    Ph.D., vice chair, department of public health, โ€œAn evaluation of the
    effectiveness of Count the Kick stillbirth prevention campaign in educating
    expectant mothers to monitor fetal movement in an effort to prevent stillbirthโ€;
    funding agency: Healthy Birth Day; $12,542

Funding exceeded $100,000 in one award

  • LiLian Yuan, Ph.D.,
    professor of physiology and pharmacology, โ€œIdentification of Novel
    Antidepressant Mechanism of Ketamine by Kinome Profilingโ€; funding agency:
    National Institutes of Health, R21; co-investigators, Vanja Duric, Ph.D., associate
    professor of physiology and pharmacology, and Eric Wauson, Ph.D., assistant professor
    of physiology and pharmacology; $431,619
Dr. Francesca Di Sole and Dr. Elitsa Ananieva were among the faculty honored at the 2019 DMU Research Symposium.
  • Elitsa Ananieva,
    Ph.D., assistant professor of biochemistry and nutrition, โ€œTargeting BCAT1 and
    branched-chain amino acid metabolism for the detection and prevention of SCLCโ€;
    funding agency: National Institutes of Health; subaward, $156,262
  • Paul Volker, M.D.,
    FAAFP, assistant professor of family and internal medicine, โ€œGeriatrics
    Workforce Enhancement Programโ€; funding agency: Health Resource Services Administration;
    subaward, $215,069
  • Rachel Reimer, M.S.,
    Ph.D., chair, department of public health, โ€œAn integrated epigenetic ELISA saliva
    kit for detecting and quantifying both tobacco and nicotine useโ€; funding agency:
    Smoke Free World; subaward, $499,560

Funding of $25,000-$100,000 in one award: Chunfe Jie, Ph.D., biostatistician, biochemistry and nutrition, โ€œA new lymphocyte holding potentially important clue into pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases; funding agency: W.M. Keck Foundation

Funding of $25,000 or less in one award

  • Leslie Wimsatt, Ph.D., associate dean academic assessment quality and development,
    College of Osteopathic Medicine, โ€œExamining the efficacy
    of mobile device use in capturing and reporting entrustable professional activity
    dataโ€: funding agency: AACOM
  • Francesca Di Sole,
    Ph.D., associate professor of physiology and pharmacology, and Elitsa Ananieva,
    Ph.D., assistant professor of biochemistry and nutrition, โ€œMedical studentsโ€™ involvement
    in the study of urinary exosomes as mediators of non-invasive lymphoma diagnostics;
    funding agency: Iowa Science Foundation
  • Pamela Duffy, P.T.,
    Ph.D., vice chair, department of public health, โ€œAn evaluation of the
    effectiveness of Count the Kick stillbirth prevention campaign in educating
    expectant mothers to monitor fetal movement in an effort to prevent stillbirthโ€;
    funding agency: Healthy Birth Day
  • Simon Geletta, Ph.D.,
    professor of public health, โ€œSocial Determinants of High Drug-Related Mortality
    in Des Moines County, Iowaโ€; funding agency: Rural PREP
  • Megan Johnson, M.S.N.,
    practice manager, DMU Family Medicine Clinic, โ€œDMU Clinic Medication Management
    Accelerator Projectโ€; funding agency: Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services
  • Vanessa Gray, M.H.A., CMP, CHCP, director of continuing medical education, โ€œAll of me: FY19 continuing medical education credits for workplaces respondโ€; funding agency: CDC; also, โ€œCO*RE pain management and opioids: balancing risks and benefitsโ€; funding agency: AOA
  • Shannon Petersen,
    P.T., DSCPT, professor of physical therapy, โ€œMusculoskeletal neck impairments
    in headaches attributed to rhinosinusitisโ€; funding agency: AAOMPT, Cardon
    Rehabilitation
    • Muhammad Spocter,
      Ph.D., associate professor of anatomy, โ€œMapping the brain of the African
      Painted Dog (Lycaon pictus): A collaborative research and graduate
      student training project in quantitative neuroscienceโ€; funding agency: The
      Carnegie-Witswatersrand University Alumni Diaspora Programme
  • Rich Salas, Ph.D.,
    chief diversity officer, โ€œSOME Innovation Awardโ€; funding agency: AACOM

Longest proposal title: Pamela Duffy, P.T., Ph.D., vice chair, department of public health, โ€œAn evaluation of the effectiveness of Count the Kick stillbirth prevention campaign in educating expectant mothers to monitor fetal movement in an effort to prevent stillbirthโ€; funding agency: Healthy Birth Day

Dr. Chunfa Jie accepts from research coordinator Lori Byrd the “Plays Well with Others” award – a full candy jar – for his many collaborations.

Shortest proposal title: Maria Barnes, Ph.D., assistant professor of biochemistry and nutrition, โ€œMechanisms of postmenopausal hypertensionโ€; funding agency: National Institutes of Health, R01

Most students trained award: Yujiang Fang, Ph.D., assistant professor of microbiology and immunology, 19 students trained

โ€œPlays well with othersโ€ award โ€“ most collaborations with other colleagues both internal and external to DMU: Chunfa Jie, Ph.D., biostatistician, biochemistry and nutrition, countless collaborations

Current grant holders, external awards:

  • Elitsa Ananieva, Ph.D.
  • Michael Carruthers, Ph.D.
  • Jason Cook, Ph.D.
  • Francesca Di Sole, Ph.D.
  • Pamela Duffy, P.T., Ph.D.
  • Heather Garvin, Ph.D.
  • Simon Geletta, Ph.D.
  • Vanessa Gray, M.H.A.
  • Steven Harder, D.O.
  • Chunfa Jie, Ph.D.
  • Megan Johnson, M.S.N.
  • Noah Marcus, Ph.D.
  • Julie Meachen, Ph.D.
  • Rachel Reimer, Ph.D.
  • Rich Salas, Ph.D.
  • Muhammad Spocter, Ph.D.
  • Paul Volker, M.D., FAAFP
  • Eric Wauson, Ph.D.
  • Leslie Wimsatt, Ph.D.
  • LiLian Yuan, Ph.D.

Current grant holders, internal awards:

  • Elitsa Ananieva, Ph.D.
  • Elizabeth Baker, Ph.D.
  • Maria Barnes, Ph.D.
  • Andrew Brittingham, Ph.D.
  • Lauren Butaric, Ph.D.
  • Sarah Clayton, Ph.D.
  • Francesca Di Sole, Ph.D.
  • Katherine Heineman, D.O.
  • Darren Liu, Ph.D.
  • Kristin Lowry, Ph.D.
  • Shane McClinton, M.S.P.T., D.P.T., Ph.D.
  • Kathy Mercuris, D.P.T., D.H.S.
  • Marie Nguyen, Ph.D.
  • Shannon Petersen, P.T., DSCPT
  • Julie Ronnebaum, Ph.D.
  • Tami Swenson, Ph.D.
  • Kim Tran, PhD, M.D.
  • Vassilios Vardaxis, Ph.D.
  • Wayne Wilson, Ph.D.
  • Tim Yoho, D.P.M., M.S., FACFAS

Submitted proposals, internal and external:

  • Elitsa Ananieva, Ph.D.
  • Elizabeth Baker, Ph.D.
  • Maria Barnes, Ph.D.
  • Lauren Butaric, Ph.D.
  • Daniel Christian, Ph.D.
  • Sarah Clayton, Ph.D.
  • Jun Dai, MD, Ph.D.
  • Francesca Di Sole, Ph.D.
  • Pamela Duffy, P.T., Ph.D.
  • Rachel Dunn, Ph.D.
  • Yujiang Fang, Ph.D.
  • Heather Garvin, Ph.D.
  • Simon Geletta, Ph.D.
  • Jeffrey Gray, Ph.D.
  • Vanessa Gray, M.H.A.
  • Chunfa Jie, Ph.D.
  • Megan Johnson, M.S.N.
  • Kristin Lowry, Ph.D.
  • Julie Meachen, Ph.D.
  • Marie Nguyen, Ph.D.
  • Shannon Petersen, P.T., DSCPT
  • Rachel Reimer, Ph.D.
  • Rich Salas, Ph.D.
  • Martin Schmidt, Ph.D.
  • Muhammad Spocter, Ph.D.
  • Tami Swenson, Ph.D.
  • Kim Tran, Ph.D., M.D.
  • Vassilios Vardaxis, Ph.D.
  • Paul Volker, M.D., FAAFP
  • Leslie Wimsatt, Ph.D.
  • Tim Yoho, D.P.M., M.S., FACFAS
  • LiLian Yuan, Ph.D.
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