WesternU Oregon students participate in 10th Annual WesternU Oregon Research Symposium

More than 45 students from Western University of Health Sciences’ College of Health Sciences-Northwest (CHS-Northwest) and College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific-Northwest (COMP-Northwest) participated in the 10th Annual Research Symposium on Nov. 15, 2024. This event was hosted by the WesternU Oregon Research Club in collaboration with the WesternU Department of Research and Biotechnology.

Megan MacDonald, PhD, from Oregon State University, and Nicholas Tedesco, DO, FAAOS, with Samaritan Medical Group, provided keynote presentations. Dr. MacDonald’s presentation, “The Holistic Impact of Physical Activity Behavior in Daily Living for Children for Disabilities,” examined the effects of adaptive physical therapy on children with disabilities. In Dr. Tedesco’s presentation, “Valuing Research: My Story,” he provided an overview of his experiences performing research and provided advice on how to pursue research after graduation.

While performing research, students work collaboratively with faculty and classmates to explore a variety of research topics. Third-year CHS-Northwest student Gabriella Carey-Zuniga presented “One-Leg Rise Test-Test-Re-Test Reliability” with third year CHS-Northwest students Edwin Parathara and Andrew Perez under the faculty mentorship of Anu Räisänen, PT, PhD. Carey-Zuniga said teamwork was vital to the success of her group’s research.

Three people standing indoors, smiling at the camera. They are dressed in professional attire. — Left to right: CHS-Northwest students Andrew Perez, Gabriela Carey-Zuniga, and Edwin Parathara (Emily Campbell, WesternU)

“Collaboration was very crucial. Dr. Räisänen and I had one mindset on things and then, bringing the guys in, we got a different perspective on systems and procedures that maybe I was blind to. Having that perspective, and recognizing that we’re all in this together, helped me to see that this is a big, crucial team effort,” said Carey-Zuniga. “All of us have opinions and ideas but those ideas meet on what we are trying to produce, which was quality data and good research.”

Two people stand in front of a scientific poster presentation, both smiling. The poster includes graphs and text about genetic and phenotypic covariation in primates. — COMP-Northwest students Patrick Forcier and Nicole Freund present their research on genetic and phenotypic covariation in Saguinus, Callithrix, and Macaca. (Emily Campbell, WesternU)

Second-year COMP-Northwest student Patrick Forcier said research teaches students how to search for reliable information. He presented the poster “Analyzing Genetic and Phenotypic Covariation in Saguinus, Callithrix, and Macaca” with second-year COMP-Northwest student Nicole Freund.

“Literature review is a significant part of any research project. It’s an opportunity to get used to using those sources to find answers to my particular questions,” said Forcier. “It’s figuring out what to trust or what not to trust and learning how to best use the tools at my disposal to find answers to my questions.”

At WesternU, students have the opportunity to work side-by-side with faculty to pursue their research interests. Students are encouraged to join current projects or present new ideas to their faculty while in school.

Two people stand in front of a scientific poster titled "The role of candidate immune genes in the anti-schistosome defense of an African snail. — COMP-Northwest students Daisy Ward and Angela Loczi-Storm stand together in front of Ward’s poster presentation. (Emily Campbell, WesternU)

“When I came to medical school I wanted to do bench research. I saw that Dr. Steinauer researched schistosomiasis, and I have always been really interested in parasites. So, I just emailed her. She was really welcoming and made it really easy to come work in her lab,” shared COMP-Northwest second-year student Daisy Ward. “Our whole career as physicians, we will be looking for peer-reviewed sources and we will be using the most researched treatments for our patients, so this experience let me see how that process works and how we develop best practices and standards of care.”

Ward was awarded first place in basic sciences for her poster presentation, “The Role of Candidate Immune Genes in the Anti-Schistosome Defense of an African Snail Vector of Schistosomiasis.”

Award winners

Oral Presentations:

1st place: COMP-Northwest students Nicolaus Salm, Trevor Eickman, Ellis Akana, and Sydney Kobak

2nd place: COMP-Northwest students Robert Nixon, Joseph Shin, and Alissa Reed

3rd place: COMP-Northwest student Jacquline Wen

Poster – Basic Sciences:

1st place: COMP-Northwest student Daisy Ward

2nd place: COMP-Northwest student Angela Loczi-Storm

Poster – Clinical:

1st place: COMP-Northwest student Apoorva Singh

2nd place: COMP-Northwest student Gabriel Blanchet

Poster – Surveys/Literature Reviews: