The 15th Annual National SOMA Research Symposium and Student Poster Competition were part of the annual AOA Research Conference and were supported by the AOA and SOMA—both of which, as previously stated, are committed to increasing student involvement in research. Moreover, both bodies recognize the important and critical role that research in clinical studies and basic science plays in bridging the gap between the laboratory and the bedside.
The theme of the 2011 research conference was “The Science Supporting the Impact of OMT [Osteopathic Manipulative Treatment] on the Human Condition: The Structure-Function Relationship and Mechanisms of Action for Self-Regulatory and Healing Processes.” Improving the scientific understanding of how OMT impacts health and disease exemplifies this concept. In particular, osteopathic medical students are uniquely trained to further research in osteopathic manipulative medicine and thus promote the progression of osteopathic principles and practice.
This year's SOMA abstracts were organized into the following 5 categories:
-
osteopathic manipulative medicine/osteopathic principles and practice (see page 35)
-
clinical studies (see page 37)
-
basic science (see page 41)
-
health policy (see page 49)
-
research (see page 50)
A total of 86 student abstracts were accepted and presented at OMED. On
October 31, 2011, judges met with student presenters and identified 3 first-place winners and 6 second-place winners, who were as follows:
-
1st Place
-
Allison L. Macke, OMS II, et al, for their work entitled, “Social, Societal, and Economic Burden of Mal de Debarquement Syndrome” (S12—see page 37)
-
Timothy Gauntner, OMS IV, et al, for their work entitled, “Evaluation of CCR1 Antagonists in Multiple Myeloma and Osteolytic Bone Disease” (S34—see page 48)
-
Youssef A. Kousa, OMS VI, and Brian C. Schutte, PhD, for their work entitled, “Intra-amniotic Gene Delivery of Irf6 to the Periderm Using an Adenoviral Vector” (S19—see page 38)
-
2nd Place
-
Bryden Considine, OMS II, et al, for their work entitled, “Role of Cathepsin Proteases and Niemann-Pick C1 Protein in Ebola Virus Infection” (S24—see page 45)
-
Tova Appleson, OMS III, and Robert V. Hill, PhD, for their work entitled, “Optimal Vascular Conduits for Multiple Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting” (S3—see page 41)
-
Christopher R. Engdahl, OMS I, et al, for their work entitled, “Increase in Paraoxonase I Activity After Hemodialysis Is Not Caused by Changes in High-Density Lipoprotein Subclasses” (C16)
1 -
Izabela B. Robel, OMS II, et al, for their work entitled, “Salivary C-Reactive Protein and Adiponectin in Metabolic Syndrome” (S18—see page 38)
-
Joseph J. Kosmach, OMS III, and Sean M. Lynch, PhD, for their work entitled, “Thiocyanate Prevents Myeloperoxidase-Mediated Loss of Paraoxonase Activity From Human High-Density Lipoprotein” (B17)
2 -
Semah B. Zavareh, OMS III, et al, for their work entitled, “Autoantibodies Are Abundant in Human Sera and Are Useful for Disease Diagnostics” (B13)
3
First-place winners received $500 each, and second-place winners were awarded $250 each.
Abstracts with numbers that do not begin with the letter designation “S” were submitted through the AOA Research Conference and were thus published in the August 2011 issue of the JAOA. The 35 student abstracts submitted and accepted through SOMA are published in this issue beginning on page 35.