Western University of Health Sciences’ College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific held its 3rd annual Student Research Symposium Dec. 18, 2024 on the WesternU California campus.
Students showcased research projects that allowed them to explore their passions and investigate the questions that sparked their curiosity as future doctors.
The symposium featured six oral presentations and 61 posters. Second-year COMP student Joselyn Gonzalez presented “An exploration of how social determinants of health impact co-morbidities that exacerbates breast cancer risk.” She said she appreciated the opportunity to share her research and learn more about what her classmates worked on.
“Overall, it is just beautiful to see all the projects students can conduct while having a crazy, hectic schedule,” Gonzalez said. “It says a lot about their passion for their projects and their desire to understand more about the subject at hand.”
COMP students have built a direct line of mentorship and collaboration to help organize the symposium, starting with COMP alumnus Kevin Nguyen, DO ’24, for the inaugural event in 2022, then fourth-year COMP student Ira Glassman last year, and now third-year COMP student Abraham Chorbajian.
“We want students to get exposed to talking about their projects. You need to have experience going out and discussing your results with people,” Chorbajian said. “That feedback will help you become even better with the future projects you do. You need to make sure you’re getting your projects out there and taking feedback and growing from it and becoming an even better researcher.”
Chorbajian will pass the torch on to second-year COMP students Shaira Gail Santos and Jacqueline Anderson Enni, who will organize the symposium next year. Chorbajian said he is proud to contribute to this part of COMP’s history.
“These student research projects give students a voice and a student platform at the start of their medical career. I want to give back and highlight the work of other students,” Chorbajian said. “I hope this platform stays in perpetuity.”
For the first time, the COMP research symposium accepted submissions from pre-medical students who are not yet enrolled as WesternU students. This is helping the symposium grow and provides visibility beyond the campus, said COMP Professor and faculty organizer for the symposium Hendrik Szurmant, PhD.
“This is running relatively smoothly now. We ironed out the hiccups in the first year,” Szurmant said. “It seems like it’s a respected and stable event, so the goal now is to increase in scope and participation.”
Prospective student Rohan Iyer, MPH, gave an oral presentation on “PRRT and Chemotherapy in GEP-NETs: Assessment of Impact on Quality-of-Life.”
“WesternU has done an incredible job putting this event together,” Iyer said. “Everyone is incredibly knowledgeable and committed to sharing their knowledge in this open forum setting, and I’m walking away grateful for having been able to participate in this opportunity.”
Second-year COMP student Ankith Arun presented a poster on “Navigating the Future: Adolescent Mental Health Beyond the COVID-19 Pandemic.” He conducted research in neuroscience and psychiatry during his four years of undergraduate studies and wanted to continue on that track.
“When looking at medical schools, I was looking for other opportunities to expand on my research. Not just do what I had been doing, but to find faculty who are trying new things,” Arun said.
COMP Dean Lisa Warren, DO ’01, MBA, has mentored him and supported him by giving him flexibility in pursuing what he is passionate about, he said.
“I tell people interviewing at COMP, if you want to do research, you’ll find someone willing to support you,” Arun said. “I think it’s important to just be curious and to keep asking questions and not stick with the status quo. It’s fun to be able to go in and spend my time exploring and expanding what I know and don’t know.”
First-year COMP student Katherine Raber said she has loved dinosaurs since she was a child. Her poster, “A Musculoskeletal Lesion in a Femur of Apatosaurus,” allowed her to dive into research for the first time as a graduate student while working with COMP anatomy faculty.
“These are the most fun individuals on campus. This project happened to be available. It checked off all the boxes – working with dinosaurs, working with fun faculty and on a very easy project to get off the ground,” Raber said.
Raber said the symposium is fantastic and she wanted even more students to attend so they could appreciate the vast opportunities that are available to them.
“I’m excited professors and people on campus share their interests like this and really inspire students to pursue their interests, like paleontology,” Raber said. “I’m happy to have this chance, finally.”
Thank you to COMP and COMP-Northwest Dean Lisa Warren, DO ’01, MBA, and WesternU Senior Vice President for Research and Biotechnology Andrea Giuffrida, PhD, for sponsoring the symposium.
Congratulations to the symposium award winners:
First prize for talks ($250 each)
Zachary Hall. “Role of Exon 6 Deletion in Lipase Maturation Factor 1 Function.” Mentor: Dr. Miklos Peterfy.
Vyoma Sahani. “Enhancing Musculoskeletal MRI Research with DOSMA: A Novel Approach to Knee Bone & Tissue Analysis.” Mentor: Dr. Anthony Gatti at Stanford University.
Top three posters ($200 each)
Sachee Vora. “To Screen or not to Screen? Voices from Online Sexual Trauma Support Groups on why Providers should Screen for a History of Sexual Trauma.” Mentors: Drs. Anita Nelson and Yadi Fernandez-Sweeny.
Jammal Abu-khazneh. “Abilify Induced Parkinsonism.” Mentor: Dr. Fatema Najmi.
Sadia Khan. “Understanding Morphological Variation in the Fossa Ovalis.” Mentors: Drs. Ellen Fricano and Catherine Llera Martin.
Prospective student honorary first prize poster
Nooneh M. Khachatourian. “Tissue Clearing Approaches for Assessment of iPSC Derived Enteric Neuronal Precursor Engraftment in Tissue Engineered Small Intestine.” Mentor: Dr. Mark R. Frey at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.