Page 12 - Christiana Care Focus November 2018

Research | DelawareINBRE CONTINUED
Dr. Siegel says Christiana Care clinicians are forming partnerships with researchers, community stakeholders and public policy makers as they take a comprehensive approach in reducing the impact of lung cancer.
“With the help of INBRE we are launch- ing new lines of research to reduce the devastating effects of lung cancer,” said Dr. Siegel. “That includes gene editing trials, lung cancer screening and work in smoking cessation.”
CInclusion of underrepresented populations
science on human health suggests that diversity in the scientific workforce translates into better questions being asked — questions that are relevant to the health of the populations we serve,” he said.
How have students used these opportunities?
Here are two examples:
Jordan Brockwell speaks of herself as a non-traditional college student, in that she was married with one child and had a second on the way when she began her studies at Wesley College, after serving in the Air Force. As a first-generation college student, she was looking for direction in how to navigate college and focus her aspirations. Delaware INBRE helped.
“During my 2017 internship, I was given the opportunity to work under the mentorship of Dr. Yukiko Washio in OB-GYN research at Christiana Care,” said Brockwell, who graduated from college in May. “I volunteered my time after the internship to continue this research, because INBRE taught me the importance of networking and creating your own personal brand. This networking turned my volunteer work into a full-time job with Christiana Care as a research assistant on a study under Penn Medicine.”
Working with pregnant women on the research project has further focused Brockwell’s interests, and when the project is complete, she plans to apply to the Midwifery Institute at Thomas Jefferson University to become a certified midwife. “INBRE opened my eyes to the various types of research and taught me that research is
not only for labs,” said Brockwell, who is grateful to INBRE for expanding her horizons.
Andre Jones says that, as an African-American raised in Philadelphia by a single mother, he was pleased to graduate from the Philadelphia school system and have this opportunity open
to him. He went to Wesley College and focused on biology and medicine. There he also met Malcolm D’Souza, Ph.D., a professor of chemistry and an associate dean of interdisciplinary/collaborative research, who helped Jones become a Delaware INBRE scholar
in 2015.
During the summer program, Dr. Hicks served as a mentor and helped Jones hone his professional interests. Together they worked on a project to evaluate U.S. News & World Report rankings as they apply to internal medicine.
Because of this challenging experience and the encouragement of Dr. Hicks, Jones’ interest in health research grew, and the following summer he became a health equities summer scholar in the Nemours Office of Health Equity and Inclusion, where he concentrated on health disparities in science-based research.
Jones is an administrative assistant with Christiana Care Hospitalist Partners. He is attending Wilmington University to pursue his master's degree in business administration. He hopes to advance his career at Christiana Care, working to reduce health disparities and improve patient care. 
Scott Siegel, Ph.D.
areer development has been a core component of Delaware INBRE. As the program has strengthened, Christiana Care leaders have increasingly sought to include underrepresented students as summer scholars
and to provide additional hands-on training.
As a certified medical laboratory scientist, Megan Durrant attributes much of her professional drive toward excellence to
the undergraduate research she pursued through the Delaware INBRE Summer Scholars Program at Christiana Care. The 10- week summer program gave the former Wesley College student an opportunity to be mentored by Timothy Manzone, M.D, J.D., CCD, section chief, Nuclear Medicine, and to conduct a retrospective assessment of hospital patients and their red blood cell volume, particularly peripheral hematocrit.
For Durrant, the program was a wonderful experience, focusing on her professional interests. “I was able to gain, not only educationally, but I was taught discipline, responsibility — and I have become a leader in my field,” said Durrant, a Bronx native, who is employed at New York-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center. “Every- thing I did during my time as an INBRE student has helped shape me. Not only did the program allow me to do meaningful research, but it helped me determine what I wanted to do with my career.”
Today, more than 50 percent of students selected are from under- represented populations, such as racial and ethnic minorities, students with disabilities, low-income students, first-generation college students and veterans. This is of consequence because the lack of opportunities for lab research beyond the classroom have been a barrier to underrepresented students, along with a lack of mentors, said Dr. Hicks. He says that the experience of being a men- tor is rewarding for many of the Christiana Care faculty.
“Personally, I benefited greatly from being a mentor, not solely from my having research questions advanced, but to have the opportunity to really engage with students and help them professionally,” said Dr. Hicks.
In his view, INBRE is essential in developing a diverse pipeline of researchers in the state. “All the data that exists on the impact of
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