Showcase

The Latinx community experiences disparities accessing autism spectrum disorder (ASD) diagnostic and intervention services. Research suggests language proficiency and limited ASD knowledge contribute substantial amounts of caregiver stress when recei ... ving an ASD diagnosis and navigating post- diagnostic care. This project describes the experiences of Spanish-speaking Latinx caregivers in obtaining an ASD diagnosis for their child and whether demographic factors influenced responses on a caregiver- report survey. Participants were 12 Spanish-speaking Latinx mothers (M= 41 years, SD=4; M=17 years in US, SD=9; 67% limited or no English proficiency) of 13 children with ASD (M=12 years SD=4; 77% male; 33% mild, 58% moderate, 8% severe ASD impairment) who completed a survey on experiences obtaining an ASD diagnostic evaluation (86 items across 8 domains rated on 4-point Likert scale: “definitely disagree” to “definitely agree”) and demographic questionnaire. Results suggest that Spanish-speaking Latinx communities experience challenges in evidence-based information about ASD and access to post-diagnostic services. These findings highlight the need to develop “plain-language” resources on ASD, obtaining a diagnosis, and next steps information. Spanish-speaking families would also benefit from improved care navigation post-diagnosis. Read more

Bone formation and resorption are conducted, respectively, by bone cells called osteoblasts and osteoclasts. Failure in the functionality of these cells has the potential of causing two main diseases: osteoporosis and osteopetrosis. These diseases, h ... owever, are quite the opposite of each other, with osteoporosis being characterized by weak bone that lacks density, and osteopetrosis being characterized by thick, dense bone. Though some treatment strategies are available in order to combat these diseases (mainly osteoporosis), there is still much more to be learned about their mechanisms and what might affect the cells that control them. The drug 'Kinesore' was chosen to be explored, as studies have shown that it reorganizes the microtubule network of cells, affecting the relative location of different organelles, particularly lysosomes, that play a role in bone resorption. This information provided evidence that the drug would affect the functionality of bone cells. Osteoblasts, from the OB6 cell line, and osteoclasts, from the bone marrow of mice, were treated with three different doses of the drug and a vehicle control, along with conducting a cell proliferation study. After treatment, cell staining and gene expression analysis was performed in order to assess the drug's overall effect. Read more

Our group previously tested whether sub-occipital release (SOR), a muscle relaxation technique used to relieve skeletomuscular problems, affects “fight or flight” body processes like blood flow to the skin. We identified that cold stress decreased sk ... in blood flow and increased a measure of variability associated with the “fight or flight” response, but there was no difference between SOR and a control technique. We previously concluded that SOR is not able to modulate skin blood flow in either normal or cold stress conditions. Our previous analysis used Fast Fourier Transform and spectral power analysis to change the domain (x-axis) of the blood flow data from time to frequency. We binned the frequency data into standard ranges (high, low, and very low frequency) associated with different factors that explain the cause of the variability. However, a second binning system with slightly different ranges is also used for this type of analysis. In the current study, we tested the hypothesis that the two systems would have similar results. Both systems identified increases in low frequency spectral power during cold stress, indicating increased “fight or flight” activity. Neither system identified differences between SOR and control techniques. Thus, both systems are appropriate for this research. Read more

The Biospecimen Collection and Banking Core collects healthy and cancerous biospecimen and stores them for researchers to use today, or in the near future. The Biospecimen Collection and Banking Core is embedded within IU Simon Comprehensive Cancer C ... enter and focuses on bringing together patients diagnosed with cancer and healthy individuals with scientists looking for a cure. My day-to-day tasks include observing the process of specimen collection as well as scanning consents into the database. Read more

According to the National Library of Medicine, a staggering 100,000 to 200,000 ACL sprains and tears are reported annually in the United States. Our research is led by principal Investigator Stephen Schlecht, Ph.D. to study the anterior cruciate liga ... ment (ACL), including its development, function, and response to loading. The overarching goals of research in the Schlecht Lab are to develop new clinical diagnostics for ACL injury prevention in adolescent and young adult recreational and competitive athletes and to improve primary ACL reconstruction outcomes. We accomplish this with the use of animal models and their corresponding response to induced fatigue. First, we looked at molecular changes in collagen after fatiguing mice and rats while varying the duration of recovery time. An increase in unraveled collagen in the knee was observed. Moreover, our publication on this study demonstrated an increase in collagen unraveling negatively correlates with ACL strength. Currently, we are in the process of investing genomic expression of damaged knee tissue after induced fatigue. We hope to see the different expressions of genes responsible for strength and recovery that could serve as a marker for potential injury. Read more

Schizophrenia is a complex and challenging mental illness that significantly impacts an individual's social, vocational, and independent functioning. Schizophrenia is a multifactorial psychotic disorder with a wide range of treatment options, the eff ... icacy of which can vary case-by-case. The complexity of schizophrenia and the need for individualized treatment plans have made it a major research focus in the field of psychiatry, with researchers working to identify new treatment approaches and improve existing ones. Research studies on subjects with schizophrenia have investigated the efficacy of a combination of antipsychotic medication and psychotherapy compared to antipsychotic medication alone. The primary goal of this project is to conduct a thorough analysis aimed at determining which treatment option is the most effective based on both positive and negative symptoms. Read more

Patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) have high rates of pain and limited options for pain management, leaving chronic opioids as a primary pain treatment; however, opioids lead to higher fracture rates. The majority of patients with CKD have ch ... ronic pain which significantly reduces the quality of life. Due to poor kidney function, most pain management pain treatments are not possible for this population. CKD alone leads to ample amounts of bone loss and high fracture rates. Combining the adverse effects of CKD on bone with any treatment, like opioids, which further increases bone loss could eventually lead to devastating consequences. The mechanisms that cause opioids to impair bone are not fully understood, especially in CKD. Our goal was to study the effects of opioids on bone in CKD. Read more

I am working in Dr. Tom Hummer's Media and Brain Development Lab. As part of this work, we are using virtual reality to understand how children with ADHD understand other people's thoughts and feelings depending on the environment around them. I have ... been tasked with creating recruitment flyers, checking virtual reality builds weekly, and helping sort through data when needed. In addition, since the start of my internship, I have been working to study the Video Game Motivations and Desires Scale to quantify children's motivations to play video games. This survey contains 30 questions and 10 subscales, such as Customization and Social Interaction. The work on this scale inspired my research question that I wanted to investigate further for my LHSI project. I wanted to see if there was any relationship between how much children were motivated by Violent Reward in video games and their family living situation. To test this idea, I am examining whether responses on the Family Environment Scale (FES), which measures family dysfunction, are related to Violent Reward motivations. This information will help fill a gap in understanding what causes a child to play video games for violent reasons. Read more

Mice are common models in biomedical research. Researchers must be properly trained in technical skills before working with mice for the benefit of both animal welfare and successful research outcomes. Training takes a couple of sessions for each per ... son to be competent in all the basic skills. Currently there is no standard amount of rest required for the rodents between sessions, which leaves room for overuse of the animal. Our goal is to determine an appropriate timeline of recovery from the training courses so institutions can better care for the rodents in the training colony. Our research design recreates the mouse basic and advanced training courses, and the subsequent stress response was analyzed through fecal samples to measure corticosterone (the stress hormone in rodents). When the stress levels return to baseline it was assumed the animal was ready for their next training session. We also sent out a survey to institutions to better understand their training course standards to determine the relevance of our study. Read more

Breast cancer is the second most common cancer among women. Approximately 290,000 new cases were diagnosed in 2022 and about 43,000 women will die. The standard of care for determining treatment is evaluating the expression of ER (estrogen receptors) ... , PR (progesterone receptors), and Her2 in the initial biopsy. The majority of breast cancers are hormonally driven and are positive for ER and PR. About 25% of breast cancers are now classified as Her2 positive. The recent approval of new breast cancer drugs in 2022 has led to a reclassification of 0, +1, +2 (low) and 3 positive Her2 expression. Previously 60% of Her2 cases showed a low level of Her2 expression. In this study we evaluated approximately 750 breast cancers with Her2 expression over the last 20 years and divided them into low and positive Her2 expression. In this study, we saw 646 negatives, 58 lows, and 53 positives. There are two new treatments targeting people who have low Her2 expression which have a high risk of cancer returning. In early studies, treatment with either of these two drugs have shown that the chances of breast cancer returning is diminishing. Read more