Keynote. Leadership and Research in Turbulent Times: Why They Matter for Democracy

Engaging in leadership and research can be complex work in the best of times—for graduate students and professors alike. During times of conflict, confusion, or disorder, the nature of our leadership or research contributions can be additionally shaped or tested in ways that require highly astute responses. Sound leadership and research are part of what underpins the fuller functioning of a democracy, whether manifest in a community, university, or workplace setting. Most students who graduate will be well positioned to take up careers where they provide leadership and create or use evidence in concert with others, over the coming decades. The presentation will examine these propositions and canvass several leadership principles that may be useful for students to apply when navigating turbulent times in work or other settings

Impacts of an Interdisciplinary Research Center on Participant Publication and Collaboration Activities

Interdisciplinary research centers are typically presented as a means for exploiting opportunities in science where the complexity of the research problem calls for sustained interaction among multiple disciplines. This study analyzed the effects of an interdisciplinary research center (NIMBioS) on the publication and collaboration behaviors of faculty affiliated with the center. The study also sought to determine what factors contributed to these effects for participants whose publication and collaboration behaviors were changed the most after affiliation. The study employed a mixed-method case study approach, using quantitative bibliometric data along with qualitative data collected from interviews. Publication data for each participant in the study was collected from Web of Science (WOS) and analyzed by year against several demographic control variables to understand what effect affiliation with NIMBioS had on publication behaviors of participants. In addition to bibliometrics, a selection of study participants who demonstrated the most change in publication and collaboration behaviors since their affiliation with NIMBioS were interviewed to determine (a) what benefits (if any) participants felt they achieved as a result of participating in their working group, and (b) what factors (if any) participants felt may have contributed to the impact of NIMBioS affiliation on their publication and collaboration behavior. Results of the study indicate that affiliation with a NIMBioS working group has a significant positive effect on participant collaboration activities (i.e. number of co-authors, number of international co-authors, number of cross-institutional co-authors), and a moderate effect on publication activities (i.e. publishing in new fields). Qualitative analysis of interdisciplinarity showed a shift in publication WOS subject categories (SCs) toward mathematical fields. Factors contributing to success cited by interviewees included organized leadership, a positive atmosphere, breaking into sub-groups, and the ability to collaborate with researchers with whom they would not have interacted outside of the group

Educating Registered Nurses (RNs) to Improve Knowledge, Comfortability & Ability of Communication in Advance Care Planning (ACP)

Purpose: The purpose of this project was to assess the knowledge, comfortability, and ability to communicate with confidence, along with the usage of communication tools, among Med/Surg RNs r/t to ACP before & after participation in an ACP educational webinar. Aims: To evaluate whether the knowledge, comfortability, ability to communicate, including usage of communication tools, and confidence among medical-surgical registered nurses related to ACP improves following participation in an ACP educational webinar. Research Questions/Hypotheses: RQ1: Will there be a significant difference before & after an ACP educational webinar r/t: knowledge, comfortability, ability to communicate with confidence, & the usage of ACP communication tools? RQ2: Is there a significant correlation between the demographics of registered nurses & their knowledge, comfortability, & ability to communicate with confidence, along with utilization of ACP communication tools? Significance: Findings of this project have improved nurse’s knowledge, comfortability, & ability to communicate with confidence and usage of communication tools of ACP. Methods: The online educational webinar was offered to RNs on a Med/Surg unit of an acute care facility. Participants included RNs 18 years of age & over with varying demographic characteristics, educational backgrounds, & years of experience. Participants completed a Pre-Educational Survey, online educational webinar/training, & Post-Educational Survey. Findings: Analyses includes descriptive statistics, correlations, & paired t-test to identify & compare pre & post educational surveys of an ACP educational webinar. Nurses’ ACP knowledge, comfortability, ability to communicate with confidence, along with the use of communication tools improved following their participation in an ACP educational webinar (increase in all variables (p=0.001)). Discussion: Findings from this project have & will improve nurse’s knowledge, comfortability, & ability to communicate with confidence & usage of communication tools of ACP.https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/gradposters2021_healthsciences/1002/thumbnail.jp

Preparing the “New” Biologist of the Future: Student Research at the Interface of Mathematics and Biology

We describe a unique Research Experience for Undergraduates and Research Experience for Veterinary students summer program at the National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis on the campus of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. The program focused on interdisciplinary research at the interface of biology and mathematics. Participants were selected to work on projects with a biology mentor and a mathematics mentor in an environment that promoted collaboration outside of the students' respective disciplines. There were four research projects with teams of four participants and two faculty mentors. The participants consisted of a mixture of 10 undergraduates in biology- and mathematics-related disciplines, four veterinary students, and two high-school teachers. The activities included lectures on both the biological and mathematical backgrounds of the projects, tutorials for software, and sessions on ethics, graduate school, and possible career paths for individuals interested in biology and mathematics. The program was designed to give students the ability to actively participate in the scientific research process by working on a project, writing up their results in a final report, and presenting their work orally. We report on the results of our evaluation surveys of the participants

Utilizing a Community-University Partnership to Meet Grandfamilies’ Needs: Development and Evaluation of a Grandchildren-mentoring Program

In response to the increasing rate of grandparent-headed homes and the needs of grandparents and grandchildren, we engaged in a community-university partnership to develop, implement, and evaluate a grandchildren-mentoring program. Prior to developing the grandchildren-mentoring program, a county needs assessment was conducted. The needs assessment revealed that grandparents wanted opportunities for mentorship of their grandchildren. As a result, we partnered with an undergraduate practicum course to create a new option of college students engaging with grandchildren. During our inaugural grandchildren-mentoring program, we conducted focus groups/interviews with grandparents (n = 5) and grandchildren (n = 7) at the end of the nine-month program. Data analysis of the focus group transcripts revealed that grandparents believed the two-hour weekly meetings (between the grandchildren and the student mentor) provided respite and grandparents would enjoy having a student again. Grandchildren commented they trusted their student mentors and did not like that they could not see them after the program ended. The grandchild-mentoring program was well received by grandparents and grandchildren and, although it was designed to support grandchildren, the program met a stated need of grandfamilies in our community. As a result, this program may be beneficial to both grandparents and grandchildren and other university-community partnerships should consider working with students to implement similar programming to support grandfamilies

Using molecular diet analysis to inform invasive species management: A case study of introduced rats consuming endemic New Zealand frogs

The decline of amphibians has been of international concern for more than two decades, and the global spread of introduced fauna is a major factor in this decline. Conservation management decisions to implement control of introduced fauna are often based on diet studies. One of the most common metrics to report in diet studies is Frequency of Occurrence (FO), but this can be difficult to interpret, as it does not include a temporal perspective. Here, we examine the potential for FO data derived from molecular diet analysis to inform invasive species management, using invasive ship rats (Rattus rattus) and endemic frogs (Leiopelma spp.) in New Zealand as a case study. Only two endemic frog species persist on the mainland. One of these, Leiopelma archeyi, is Critically Endangered (IUCN 2017) and ranked as the world\u27s most evolutionarily distinct and globally endangered amphibian (EDGE, 2018). Ship rat stomach contents were collected by kill-trapping and subjected to three methods of diet analysis (one morphological and two DNA-based). A new primer pair was developed targeting all anuran species that exhibits good coverage, high taxonomic resolution, and reasonable specificity. Incorporating a temporal parameter allowed us to calculate the minimum number of ingestion events per rat per night, providing a more intuitive metric than the more commonly reported FO. We are not aware of other DNA-based diet studies that have incorporated a temporal parameter into FO data. The usefulness of such a metric will depend on the study system, in particular the feeding ecology of the predator. Ship rats are consuming both species of native frogs present on mainland New Zealand, and this study provides the first detections of remains of these species in mammalian stomach contents

Identification of potential anticancer activities of novel ganoderma lucidum extracts using gene expression and pathway network analysis

Ganoderma lucidum (lingzhi) has been used for the general promotion of health in Asia for many centuries. The common method of consumption is to boil lingzhi in water and then drink the liquid. In this study, we examined the potential anticancer activities of G. lucidum submerged in two commonly consumed forms of alcohol in East Asia: malt whiskey and rice wine. The anticancer effect of G. lucidum, using whiskey and rice wine-based extraction methods, has not been previously reported. The growth inhibition of G. lucidum whiskey and rice wine extracts on the prostate cancer cell lines, PC3 and DU145, was determined. Using Affymetrix gene expression assays, several biologically active pathways associated with the anticancer activities of G. lucidum extracts were identified. Using gene expression analysis (real-time polymerase chain reaction [RT-PCR]) and protein analysis (Western blotting), we confirmed the expression of key genes and their associated proteins that were initially identified with Affymetrix gene expression analysis

Best practices for virtual participation in meetings : experiences from synthesis centers

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Proton Beam Therapy Versus Conformal Photon Radiation Therapy for Childhood Craniopharyngioma: Multi-institutional Analysis of Outcomes, Cyst Dynamics, and Toxicity

PurposeWe compared proton beam therapy (PBT) with intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) for pediatric craniopharyngioma in terms of disease control, cyst dynamics, and toxicity.Methods and MaterialsWe reviewed records from 52 children treated with PBT (n=21) or IMRT (n=31) at 2 institutions from 1996-2012. Endpoints were overall survival (OS), disease control, cyst dynamics, and toxicity.ResultsAt 59.6 months' median follow-up (PBT 33 mo vs IMRT 106 mo; P<.001), the 3-year outcomes were 96% for OS, 95% for nodular failure-free survival and 76% for cystic failure-free survival. Neither OS nor disease control differed between treatment groups (OS P=.742; nodular failure-free survival P=.546; cystic failure-free survival P=.994). During therapy, 40% of patients had cyst growth (20% requiring intervention); immediately after therapy, 17 patients (33%) had cyst growth (transient in 14), more commonly in the IMRT group (42% vs 19% PBT; P=.082); and 27% experienced late cyst growth (32% IMRT, 19% PBT; P=.353), with intervention required in 40%. Toxicity did not differ between groups. On multivariate analysis, cyst growth was related to visual and hypothalamic toxicity (P=.009 and .04, respectively). Patients given radiation as salvage therapy (for recurrence) rather than adjuvant therapy had higher rates of visual and endocrine (P=.017 and .024, respectively) dysfunction.ConclusionsSurvival and disease-control outcomes were equivalent for PBT and IMRT. Cyst growth is common, unpredictable, and should be followed during and after therapy, because it contributes to late toxicity. Delaying radiation therapy until recurrence may result in worse visual and endocrine function