VCOM 2019 Annual Report

Auburn Via Research Day 2019

T he second annual Via Research Recognition Day at the Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine was held on April 4, 2019. More than 200 people attended the event, which featured two excellent keynote speakers. The research poster presentation and competition was even larger this year with 82 posters that were judged in various categories. Speaking first was Joe Nocera, PhD, an assistant professor and health science specialist for the Atlanta VA Medical Center Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Center. Nocera gave a presentation that highlighted how exercise improved central nervous system functioning and overall health outcomes and in geriatric populations. Dr. Nocera’s research interests include interactions between physical function and cognition with particular emphasis The second Research Day speaker was John Kylan Lynch, DO, MPH, an associate research physician and director of the Vascular Neurology Fellowship Program at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke/NIH. Lynch also serves as an adjunct professor in neurology at the F. Edward Hebert School of Medicine (SOM) at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS). Dr. Lynch serves on the Speakers Bureau at the NIH and has published more than 100 on the impact of dual tasking on locomotion and balance control.

papers and abstracts in prestigious medical journals. His research interests include stroke in women and children and MR imaging in stroke. Lynch gave an outstanding presentation that highlighted the critical importance of early intervention in stroke cases. At the award ceremony, VCOM- Auburn researcher Wei Liu, PhD, Associate Professor for Biomedical Affairs and Research, won the Researcher of the Year award. This was the first year that this award has been given, and Liu was certainly deserving of the honor. Earlier this year, Liu received a grant award on his National Institutes of Health (NIH) K23 submission (Mentored Patient-Oriented Research Career Development Award) titled: Real time biofeedback Tai Chi training for knee osteoarthritis: A feasibility study. The five-year, $825,000 grant has been funded through the NIH National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. This is the largest single research grant to date for VCOM-Auburn campus researchers, and the first NIH grant for the three-year-old campus.

Guest Speakers Keynote Lecture: Exercise for Improved Health Outcomes and Insight into Central Nervous System Functioning Joe Nocera, PhD Assistant Professor, Department of Neurology, School of Medicine, Emory University Health Science Specialist; Atlanta VA Medical Center Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Center (GRECC)

Keynote Lecture: Brain Imaging and Restoring

Blood Flow to the Brain John Kylan Lynch, DO, MPH Staff Clinician

Director, Vascular Neurology Fellowship Program, Section on Stroke Diagnostics and Therapeutics, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health

Guest speaker John Kylan Lynch, DO, MPH

Guest speaker Joe Nocera, PhD

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VIA RESEARCH RECOGNITION DAY