Symposium Showcases Internship Experiences, Research Projects, and Cancer Rehab
Julia Barbato 鈥�24, an Honors student who majors in Health and Exercise Science at 黑料专区, also on its women鈥檚 lacrosse team. Recently, she considered why she鈥檚 better at lacrosse than volleyball. The obvious answer — that she has played lacrosse, not volleyball, for most of her life — proved insufficient.
鈥淚 wanted to know what the specific reasons were,鈥� she said. 鈥淪o, I began researching the matter, not only as it pertained to me but also to other athletes.鈥�
Barbato would come to examine the structure of skeletal muscles, having concluded that such a study 鈥減rovides valuable data pertaining to athletic health and performance.鈥� On Dec. 2, she laid out what she鈥檚 learned so far in 鈥淩elationship Between Muscle Architecture and Performance Across Sports and Sexes,鈥� the title of an oral presentation she made at 黑料专区鈥檚 Undergraduate Research Symposium.
The symposium, organized by the Department of Health and Exercise Science (HES) and sponsored by the Milton Rose Research Fellows Program, was billed as the first effort at Pfeiffer to showcase the research of undergraduates across multiple disciplines. The Psychology, Biology, and Health and Exercise Science programs at Pfeiffer were represented at the symposium, with each of six students making an oral presentation and/or showcasing a science poster.
In addition, three Health and Exercise Science students 鈥� Makalla Burnette 鈥�23, Sierra Gordon 鈥�23, and Dashaniq Sidbury 鈥�23 鈥� talked about their experience as interns for entities that included Pfeiffer, Albemarle High School, and the Stanly County Family YMCA.
Annabelle Griffin 鈥�23 and Peyton Farley 鈥�23 presented their poster on cancer rehab programming, having worked with Dr. Tom Darling, a Professor of Health and Exercise Science at Pfeiffer. Josie Luther 鈥�24, who also worked with Darling, showcased a science poster introducing Pfeiffer CARES (Cancer Approaches, Research, Exercise, & Support), a proposed initiative aimed at providing comprehensive cancer rehabilitation programming in rural areas, where there are health disparities among underserved population groups.
The other students who made oral presentations at the symposium were Xander Boltinhouse 鈥�23 and Joshua Turner 鈥�24. Boltinhouse, a Milton Rose Scholar and Honors student, shared the design and development of a microfluidic device capable of detecting alcohol, , and cocaine on the breath. He worked with Dr. Mark McCallum, a Professor of Biology at Pfeiffer who also serves as its Director of Academic Initiatives.
Turner, also a Milton Rose Scholar and Honors student, shared insights on utilizing ultrasound assessments of muscle architecture as a treatment for aging or as part of rehabilitation following injury. He worked with Dr. Ryan Girts, an Assistant Professor of Health & Exercise and Science.
鈥淭his symposium was put together with the intention of showcasing the students and the progress they鈥檝e made this semester in their internships and research projects,鈥� said Dr. Samantha Canipe Pennington 鈥�11, the symposium organizer who serves as an Assistant Professor of Health and Natural Sciences at Pfeiffer. 鈥淚 have hopes for representation of additional disciplines next time.鈥�
The symposium also revealed how Pfeiffer鈥檚 student researchers could impact Stanly and surrounding counties. The work of Luther, who鈥檚 majoring in Psychology at Pfeiffer and pursuing the new Cancer Rehab Minor via HES, provided a good example: Her poster says that Pfeiffer faculty, staff, and administrators will be recruited for a spring 2023 pilot study in which they鈥檒l undergo what future research participants (i.e., cancer survivors and caregivers) would experience later on with CARES: fitness testing, exercise prescriptions, and guided exercise sessions.
鈥淭his pilot study will be a great way for us to assess the approaches we will be taking,鈥� Luther said. 鈥淚t will almost be like a trial run so we can try and perfect everything before we work with volunteers from the community. It will also allow students to have experience with working with others and any equipment we will be using.鈥�
Darling called the symposium 鈥渁n amazing success, thanks to Dr. Pennington, student scholars, and a good audience turnout.鈥�
Both Barabato and Luther echoed these sentiments, pointing out the benefits they gained from the process of preparing their symposium presentations.
Barbato said that she developed time management skills from having to complete her symposium research as part of a full schedule that included a heavy course load, athletics, and part-time work. 鈥淭his prepared me for the rigors of life, where I will need to time-manage past college in other research opportunities in my future,鈥� she said.
Luther, who had never created a science poster before, called her first experience with one 鈥済reat practice.鈥�
鈥淒r. Darling worked with me in creating an abstract and guiding me in the direction I needed to go,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 was taught things like what should stand out on my poster and how to review and revise to fix mistakes.
鈥淚 think this experience can be applied to many things. It allowed me to step out of my comfort zone and work on something that meant a lot to me. I learned to ask as many questions as needed because we all start somewhere and it鈥檚 okay to not know everything.鈥�