Ten UM Scholars, all students at the University of Maryland, College Park, spent nine weeks this summer immersed in intensive projects with faculty researchers at the School of Nursing.
The 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris had already been in play for about a week when 10 young researchers took to a podium of their own, this one in an auditorium-style classroom at the University of Maryland School of Nursing (UMSON) in Baltimore.
These UM Scholars, all students at the University of Maryland, College Park (UMCP), had spent the previous nine weeks immersed in intensive projects with faculty researchers at UMSON, exploring topics such as pain, cancer-related fatigue, and shared decision-making in childbirth. On Aug. 1, during an end-of-program celebration, they took to the podium to present their findings to their fellow scholars, faculty mentors, and faculty and staff who had gathered to hear about the results.
The UM Scholars program, a competitive paid summer internship that connects students from UMCP with faculty throughout the University of Maryland, Baltimore to collaborate on research projects, is part of the University of Maryland Strategic Partnership: MPowering the State (MPower).
UMSON began participating in the program in 2016, when two UM Scholars spent the summer with Luana Colloca, MD, PhD, MS, professor, director of the Placebo Beyond Opinions Center, and an inaugural MPower Professor; and Lily Fountain, PhD, BSN ’91, RN, CNM, former assistant professor who has since retired. Both scholars entered UMSON as students that same fall.
Since then, UMSON has accepted an increasing number of scholars. This summer’s group of 10 is the largest since the program began, resulting in a total of 35 students completing the program, of whom 32 have enrolled at UMSON (or are expected to). Ten School of Nursing faculty members have been involved in mentoring the scholars over the years.
“This has definitely been eye-opening,” said Maria Rangwala, one of this year’s UM Scholars, following their presentations at the celebration; she is on track to matriculate to UMSON this fall. “I want to be a nurse because I want to make a simple change in a person’s day-to-day life. Through research, I can make a more long-term impact.”
Isabelle Watriss returned for a second summer as a UM Scholar this year. “I’m really interested in pursuing research long term,” she said. This year, she worked with Rachel Blankstein Breman, PhD ’18, MPH, RN, FAWHONN, assistant professor, on “A Measure for Shared Decision-Making in Maternity Care Through Communicating CHOICEs: CHildbirth Options, Information, and Person-Centered Explanation,” while last year, she worked with Ian Kleckner, PhD, MPH, associate professor and director of the SYNAPSE Center, on “Predictors of Cancer-Related Fatigue.”
The 10 UM Scholars this year presented the following posters:
MENTOR: BREMAN
- Lisa Djimou: “Describing Maternal Health Disparities: How Race, Education, and BMI Can Influence Shared Decision-Making”
- Watriss: “An Analysis of Demographic Impact on Shared Decision-Making During Childbirth”
MENTOR: COLLOCA
- Princess Atud: “Preliminary Analysis of Pain Perception and Virtual Reality-Induced Hypoalgesia Between TMD Patients with and without Comorbid Neuropathy Pain”
- Megha Chander: “Induced Pain relief Expectations Through Brain Activity Changes Detected via EEG and fMRI”
- Kayla Morris: “Racial Implicit Bias on Effect of Race/Ethnicity on Socially Induced Placebo Analgesic Effects”
MENTOR: AMBER KLECKNER, PHD, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR
- Rangwala: “Assessing Clinician Perspectives on the POSTHOC Survivorship Care Plan Smartphone App”
MENTOR: IAN KLECKNER
- Vanessa Ho: “Moving Beyond Accuracy: Measuring Both Sensitivity and Bias in Tactile Sensory Loss from Chemo-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy”
MENTOR: KIM MOONEY-DOYLE, PHD, RN, CPNP-AC, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR
- Nicolette Friedrich: “Parent and Siblings Experiences and Challenges with Family Communication in Serious Pediatric Illness”
- Khang Tran: “Lens of Love: Using Photovoice to Strengthen Families During Serious Illness”
MENTOR: BARBARA RESNICK, PHD ’96, RN, CRNP, FAAN, FAANP, PROFESSOR, ASSOCIATE DEAN FOR RESEARCH, AND SONYA ZIPORKIN GERSHOWITZ CHAIR IN GERONTOLOGY
- Sylvia Joledo: “Clinical Research: Anticoagulant Use in Senior Housing”