By Elizabeth Prom-Wormley
Congratulations Team RIA (Research Inspiring Action) Class of 2020!
We have many people who contribute to our research team and make our group so very wonderful! To you, we want to send our best wishes today, graduation day here at VCU. Though we can’t be with you in person, we are sending you many hugs and warmest wishes as you celebrate your amazing accomplishments:
Emily Ramos, Bachelors of Science, Psychology. In the fall, Emily was featured on the National Institute for Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism’s Twitter page for her work with our group on the relationship between alcohol use and social connections in college students, Additionally, Emily was just awarded the Outstanding Senior Award in the Department of Psychology! Congratulations Emily! After graduation, Emily will be attending the University of Virginia to pursue her Masters in Public Health.
Ben Burkart, Masters in Public Health. In addition to earning a 4.0 GPA in the MPH program, Ben is a co-author on a on a systematic review manuscript with several Epidemiology PhD students which studied Co-Occurring Substance Use and the Effectiveness of Opiate Treatment Programs. Most recently, Ben completed a very interesting capstone project titled: “Mental Health Status and Cessation of E-cigarette Use in the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health Study” which assessed the prevalence of electronic cigarette abstinence and its association with self-reported mental health status. On Tuesday, Ben learned that this project was named runner-up in the MPH capstone poster competition. After graduation, Ben will be entering medical school at the Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine in Blacksburg, VA.
Chandni Patel, Masters in Public Health. Chandni is a recipient of an APHA travel scholarship which provided her the opportunity to attend the annual meeting of the American Public Health Association. She is also a co-author on a poster presentation focused on identifying areas and surfaces in hospitals that maybe unappreciated reservoirs for various bacteria to thrive in the hospital setting. This work was done during her practicum working in Hospital and Infectious Disease Epidemiology with Dr. Michelle Doll. Chandni completed her Capstone project, titled “Evaluating the Associations between Behavioral and Biological Factors with Cognitive Performance in Adults 65 and Older” which tested the degree to which cognitive performance was associated with physical activity as well as a measure of systemic inflammation in adults 65 and older. After graduation, Chandni plans on working in a variety of public health areas, including non-profit organizations as well as state and federal-level public health organizations.
Taylor Reid, Masters in Public Health. Taylor has been a recipient of an APHA travel scholarship to travel to the national meeting of the American Public Health Association and was nominated for a Phi Kappa Phi scholarship. Yesterday, she was awarded the Christopher “Kim” Buttery Award for excellence in chronic disease epidemiology and bridging research and public health practice. During her time in the MPH program, Taylor interned with Institute for Public Health Innovation, where she developed an implicit bias workshop and assisted with program evaluation of the workshop. Taylor completed her Capstone project, titled “Examining the associations between tobacco smoking cessation method type and days abstinent during tobacco cessation attempts” which tested the association between several conventional cigarette cessation approaches (including e-cigarettes) and length of smoking abstinence. This project was named Best MPH Capstone Poster. After graduation, Taylor will move to North Carolina and beginning public health opportunities in her new home.
Jerry van Harris, Masters of Social Work, Fordham University. Jerry is one of our undergraduate alumni and since his time with Team RIA, he has been pursuing his dreams of supporting individuals affected with substance use. After graduation, he will continue and grow in his role as a Substance Abuse Coordinator for the GR-ACY and IMPACT projects at VCU.
Chris Brown, Doctor of Medicine. During his time in Medical school, Chris became a father to a beautiful boy while participating in the International Inner City Rural Preceptorship (I2CRP) Program. As part of his time in this program, Chris studied the relationship between location of receiving medical care and engagement with a neighborhood care coordination (also referred to as community health workers or patient navigators) in his poster presentation, titled “Utilization of Care Coordination and Routine Location of Healthcare Services in the East End Community of Richmond, VA”. The team is working on developing these results into a publication and to share results with our East End community partners. After graduation, Chris will begin his Emergency Department residency at VCU. It is his hope to use the knowledge he has developed in his research project to support patients in the Emergency Room by connecting them with needed social support resources related to their health.
All poster presentations that these outstanding individuals have developed are available for download and review here on our blog, Just check out our “Download” section to the right.
Congratulations Team RIA Class of 2020. We are so proud of you!
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