Pre-health and Medical Students, Check Out These Bass Connections Projects

January 25, 2018

Bass Connections and Medicine

Looking for an interdisciplinary research experience related to medicine and healthcare? For students planning to enter a health profession, we’ve compiled a list of 2018-2019 Bass Connections projects that may be of particular interest, organized by Bass Connections theme. Learn more by reviewing the full project descriptions, and apply before the priority deadline on Friday, February 16 at 5:00 p.m.  

Brain & Society

Emotional Connection: Developing a Mobile Intervention for Social and Emotional Dysfunction

Social isolation and lack of intimate relationships have been tied to severe adverse consequences, including poor health outcomes and premature mortality. The epidemic of social isolation may be a strong driving factor behind the increasing rates of mental health problems in the U.S. Given the severity of this public health crisis, there is a pressing need for new interventions that target and treat problems with social functioning. One potential target is emotion perception deficits. This project will test the effects of a mindfulness-based intervention on the ability to perceive other people’s emotions in order to study whether teaching people to using mindfulness can improve their social skills.

Evaluating Interventions Aimed at Improving Neurosurgical Patient Outcomes in Uganda

Since 2007, Duke Global Neurosurgery and Neuroscience has been partnering to strengthen Uganda’s health system in order to improve neurosurgical care. The long-term vision includes having 20 Uganda-trained neurosurgeons equitably spread across the country, increasing the number of facilities capable of providing neurosurgical operations, improving the infrastructure for neurosurgical care delivery and developing a Uganda Neuroscience Institute. Within this larger framework, this project will evaluate which interventions actually improve neurosurgical patient outcomes and are efficient and cost effective. (Includes a Summer 2018 component)

Exercise Therapy and Brain Health: Implications for Alzheimer’s Disease and Aging

Physical activity and exercise have emerged as important factors associated with lower risks of cognitive decline in normal aging and neurodegenerative disease. This project will explore the molecular and cellular effects of exercise on brain neuroanatomy and function using a mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease. Team members will also observe how exercise therapy is conceptualized and implemented in a clinical setting and learn how inherent characteristics (nature) and acquired life experience (nurture) contribute to health and disease.

Expressive Writing for Resilience in Adult Pediatric Oncology Survivors and Their Caregivers

Despite successful treatment of childhood cancer, the emotional effects are lasting. Studies have shown that adult survivors of pediatric cancer are more likely to experience physical and psychological late effects of their illness. Parents and caregivers also report significant emotional distress. Expressive writing is prompt-guided intervention designed to promote healing from trauma and emotional upheavals. This project aims to determine whether a pilot expressive writing intervention raises resilience scores for adult survivors of childhood cancer and their caregivers.

Oculomotor Response as an Objective Assessment for Mild TBI in the Pediatric Population

In children, brain injury is both common and complex. Sports-related concussions in children and adolescents account for 30-60% of all pediatric concussions. Though mild traumatic brain injury is an important public health issue for both the general pediatric population and youth athletes, challenges exist in obtaining objective diagnoses of mTBI. This project will assess youth athletes with an oculomotor assessment routine that can aid in objectively diagnosing concussions and quantifying the pathophysiology of cumulative subconcussive insults to the pediatric brain. (Includes a Summer 2018 component)

Patients’ Journey to Medication Adherence

In the U.S., about half of the 3.2 billion prescriptions dispensed annually are not taken as instructed, leading to 125,000 preventable deaths and wasted medical expenditure amounting to $290 billion a year. Medication nonadherence is a significant issue worldwide and across all socioeconomic groups, yet existing intervention programs have been only moderately effective. The issue requires further research to understand and target the motivators and barriers leading to patients’ decisions and actions. This project aims to provide richer insights into patient psychology and cognition in order to help bridge the gaps in clinical research for more optimal medication adherence. (Includes a Summer 2018 component)

Privacy, Consumer EEG Devices and the Brain

Consumer electroencephalogram devices are marketed and sold to consumers for tracking and improving their brain activity through neurofeedback. These devices raise concerns about data gathering and sharing practices because of their unprecedented ability to gather real-time brain activity in everyday contexts such as education, employment, gaming and fitness. This project will explore the privacy implications of such use of brain data, along with consumer attitudes, behavior and judgments about brain data and analytics. (Includes a Summer 2018 component)

Transforming Alzheimer’s Disease Care through Integrating Caregivers

Alzheimer’s disease is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States and the only one of the top ten diseases without treatment to prevent, cure or slow its progression. As the disease progresses, the loss of critical skills makes navigating day-to-day living impossible without help from others. Family caregivers or “informal caregivers” provide the majority of long-term care for adults with the disease, which can take a heavy toll on caregivers’ health, well-being, employment and finances. This project will explore strategies to improve integration of caregivers in clinical care decision-making, with a particular emphasis on enhancing their role in data collection on Alzheimer’s treatment experiences and outcomes.

Using Machine Learning to Generate Clinical Prediction Rules for Clinical Outcomes in Schizophrenia

The worldwide economic burden associated with caring for patients with schizophrenia has doubled in the last 10 years. Patients with schizophrenia are high utilizers of emergency department (ED) services because of relapse, which may be caused by psychoactive substance use, not taking medications as prescribed and/or lack of efficacy of interventions. These patients frequently need inpatient care, but insufficient resources lead to a situation in which patients are often kept in the ED. This project aims to foster effective allocation of resources by assessing relapse risk and applying community supports and priority inpatient beds according to risk. (Includes a Summer 2018 component)

Using Neuroscience to Optimize Digital Health Interventions across Adulthood

Most people know that being more physically active is good for them, but many still don’t do it. While clinical trials have demonstrated the efficacy of exercise programs for enhancing cognition and well-being in older age, a persistent challenge is how to motivate aging adults to engage in physical activity in their daily lives. The goal of this project is to combine approaches from neuroscience, psychology and global health to identify ways to individually motivate adults to become more physically active in daily life. (Includes a Summer 2018 component)

Information, Society & Culture

Big Data for Reproductive Health

One-third of women who begin using a modern method of contraception in low-income countries discontinue within the first year, and half within the first two years, putting them at risk for unintended pregnancies as well as maternal morbidity and mortality. The current method of measuring contraceptive discontinuation does not show the granular details often needed to develop programs to effect change. This project aims to curate available data into an online, user-friendly tool, apply advanced data analysis techniques and develop methods for collecting big data to provide dynamic information to family planning researchers and advocates. (Includes a Summer 2018 component through a related Data+ project)

Enabling Precision Health and Medicine

The sequencing of the human genome heralded a new era in biomedical research. A key result has been the development of genomics-based tools to diagnose, predict disease onset or recurrence, tailor treatment options and assess treatment response. These advancements developed concurrently with electronic medical records, digital technologies and the shift toward patient-centered care. As a result of new tools to characterize biospecimens and collect personal data, researchers face an influx of heterogeneous datasets. This project will focus on the challenges in developing applications to support healthy living (precision health) and improve patient care (precision medicine).

Global Health

Cultural and Practical Barriers to Epilepsy Care in Uganda

While epilepsy affects over 50 million people globally, three of every four people in low-resource countries do not get care for this treatable condition. In Uganda, stigma is pervasive: one in five people believes epilepsy is contagious, and there are strong beliefs in supernatural or witchcraft-based causes, treatments and even inoculation. Over the past two years, this team has worked to identify, predict and address barriers to epilepsy care through surveys and interviews among all epilepsy stakeholder groups, including patients and families, traditional healers, pastoral healers, neurologists and psychiatrists. The 2018-19 team will design a culturally relevant intervention program with the goal of impacting the epilepsy treatment gap in Uganda. (Includes a Summer 2018 component)

Developing a Mobile Phone-based Community Health Program for Hypertension Control in Nepal

Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death and disability in many low- and middle-income countries. With a nearly 100% mobile phone ownership rate in the country, Nepal’s Ministry of Health has prioritized mHealth interventions. This project will collaborate with Nepal’s female community health volunteer program and Medic Mobile to develop design insights and feature-phone-based programs, creating a foundation for interventions on hypertension prevention and control. (Includes a Summer 2018 component)

Documenting Durham’s Health History: Understanding the Roots of Health Disparities

North Carolina’s “City of Medicine” is also a city of racial and class health disparities. We know remarkably little about the specific ways by which structural forces, policy decisions and specific group actions have shaped the landscape of health in contemporary Durham. This project will create a documentary history of health in Durham through an historical research and engagement strategy that moves beyond the academy to engage with public health departments, community leaders, researchers and health professionals.

Global Alliance on Disability and Health Innovation (GANDHI): What Makes Innovation Stick?

Although 15% of the world’s population has some form of disability, the system of public health and health services is not adequately organized to promote independence. Even the most developed nations have medically underserved regions where disability is compounded by inequities in social determinants of health. In 2016, GANDHI launched to examine the system supporting transitions in health and healthcare for people who experience an acute illness or injury and are newly living with disability. In 2018-19, this project will help implement, spread or scale up innovation at Duke and in Durham County for underserved and underrepresented populations experiencing transitions in health or healthcare with the goal of building capacity for social intrapreneurship: people who will work as a member within their organization to develop and promote solutions to social and system challenges. (Includes a Summer 2018 component through a related Data+ project)

How Do People Affect Zoonotic Disease Dynamics in Madagascar?

Research has documented conflicting associations between land use change and infectious disease risk, with some studies finding that deforestation increases disease risk for humans, while other studies find the opposite pattern. It is critically important to make sense of these conflicting patterns. This project will investigate how human land-use decisions affect the small mammal community and disease transmission around the Marojejy National Park, where human subsistence activities and population growth are encroaching on the protected rainforest in the area. (Includes a Summer 2018 component)

Low-cost Laparoscopic Surgery with Tele-mentoring for Low-income Countries

In the 1980s, the field of surgery advanced with the development of laparoscopy, a technology that allowed surgeons to make two to four small incisions and operate with an intra-abdominal camera and instruments. The benefits of laparoscopic surgery compared to open surgery are extensive; however, laparoscopic surgery is expensive and demands a great amount of infrastructure to maintain the equipment. These costs are prohibitive to low- and middle-income countries, and therefore most surgeries in these countries are performed with the traditional, open approach. This project’s goal is to develop a low-cost, reusable laparoscope with a design that will allow images to be transferred over the internet, enabling surgeons in high- and low-income countries to interact in real-time during surgical cases, thus allowing for “tele-mentoring.”

Pocket Colposcope: Analysis of Bridging Elements of Referral Services to Primary/Community Care

Cervical cancer is highly preventable through the screening, diagnosis and treatment of cervical precursor lesions. Colposcopy with biopsy is the gold standard for diagnosis; however, colposcopes are expensive, and require referral to specialized facilities with a trained colposcopist. To address this limitation, Duke researchers developed the Pocket Colposcope, which is significantly less expensive and lighter than commercial colposcopes. This project seeks to understand the best practices for creating a training program for community-level providers and to develop a training manual based on feedback from community health providers working with La Liga Contra el Cancer in Peru. The team’s goal is to demonstrate that the Pocket Colposcope is an economically viable solution in the community health setting.

Refining Surveillance for Zoonotic Respiratory Viruses in Sarawak, Malaysia

Zoonotic diseases, caused by pathogens transmitted from animals to humans, account for three out of five new human illnesses. Southeast Asia has been identified as a hotspot for infectious diseases due to the tropical climate and anthropogenic factors that have led to increased contact between humans, wildlife and the ecosystem. The multidisciplinary One Health approach is gaining traction as the way forward in solving the problem of emerging diseases plaguing human, animal and environmental health. This project aims to refine surveillance efforts for emerging respiratory viruses in Malaysia and leverage a One Health approach to understand the etiology of respiratory viruses. (Includes a Summer 2018 component)

Vaccine Misinformation and Its Link to Vaccine Hesitancy and Uptake in Durham

Vaccinations administered during pregnancy and the first year of a child’s life are crucial for preventing a myriad of potentially deadly and debilitating infections. Despite overwhelming evidence on the benefits of vaccinations, pregnant women and parents of young children often refuse to accept, or choose to space out, vaccinations for themselves or their children. This phenomenon is blamed for several vaccine-preventable outbreaks in the U.S. In order to design effective behavior change interventions, we need to understand the role of misinformation. This project will study vaccine misinformation and its impact on vaccine hesitancy and uptake in Durham. (Includes a Summer 2018 component through a related Data+ project)

Education & Human Development

Exercise and Mental Health

Exercise is associated with mental and cognitive health benefits including reduced stress reactivity, depression, anxiety, dementia and ADHD symptoms, as well as improvements in body image, self-esteem and learning. However, exercise is not beneficial to everyone at all times. Research is needed to determine moderators of the relationship of exercise on positive mental health as well as the appropriate exercise prescription or dose needed for risk reduction or a therapeutic effect. This project will examine the relationship between exercise and various mental health issues that impact children, adolescents and young adults and study exercise programs that may enhance the impact of exercise on positive mental health.

Mindfulness in Human Development

The presence of yoga and meditation in educational settings has steadily increased, making its way from the periphery (after-school programs, yoga clubs) to a central part of school culture and curriculum through innovative programs. Despite the interest in yoga and mindfulness in K-12 settings, this developing research area faces many methodological and theoretical challenges, including small study sizes, lack of control groups, and hesitancy of parents and administrators to buy into particular programs and practices. This multiyear project is analyzing the effects of a regular yoga and meditation practice on students’ mindfulness, self-esteem, physical health, academic performance and body image. The 2018-19 team will analyze the effectiveness of implemented programs and host an Embodied Learning Summit. (Includes a Summer 2018 component)

Virtual Avatar Coaches: Improving Mental Health Treatment for College Students with Accessible Peer Support

Every year, approximately 25% of American adults are living with a diagnosable mental illness. College students are a particularly high-risk group; students face a multitude of stressors that can exacerbate underlying predispositions to mental illness. There are significant barriers to the delivery and effectiveness of mental health services for college students, including feelings of personal shame and ambiguity about the need for treatment as well as skepticism about treatment effectiveness. The use of trained teams of virtual peer health coaches (“avatars”) has the potential to address these barriers. This project will develop and pilot an innovative way to improve the mental health of college students, through the use of peer health coaches who will deliver support via virtual avatars. (Includes a Summer 2018 component)

Energy & Environment

ACRE-Duke Partnership to Improve Sanitation Access in Lowndes County, Alabama

Stories of failing and inadequate water infrastructure in urban areas of the U.S. have caught the attention of the media and the public. Less attention has been paid to the ways in which the absence or poor quality of existing infrastructure can undermine health and economic opportunities in rural America. Lowndes County is illustrative of a host of social and environmental inequalities facing rural communities of color in the American South, including endemic poverty, lack of economic opportunity, hazardous health conditions and inadequate infrastructure. This project aims to understand the reasons for the lack of proper sanitation in Lowndes County, improve sanitation access in the county and explore racial and economic justice in rural America.

DECIPHER: Case Studies in Drinking Water Quality

The technologies, processes and products we develop have impacts on our environment and health. Some impacts are intended; others are not. Policies adopted to regulate the risks of such developments may themselves pose unintended consequences. These complexities pose challenges for private innovation and public oversight, and present opportunities to improve understanding and decision-making. The goal of Decisions on Complex Interdisciplinary Problems of Health and Environmental Risk (DECIPHER) is to improve understanding of risks through the design, research and generation of a comprehensive profile motivated by a specific risk and then to expand the scope to include contexts, decisions and outcomes. This project will focus on decision scenarios related to drinking water quality.

Environmental Epidemiology in Latin America: Impacts of Artisanal Gold Mining in the Peruvian Amazon

Artisanal and small-scale gold mining is the largest source of global mercury pollution and the leading cause of deforestation in the Peruvian Amazon. This type of mining emits large amounts of mercury directly into atmospheric, terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems and impacts human and wildlife health. The primary research goal for this project is to understand and communicate how mercury enters upstream communities and wildlife, and whether deforestation is altering this movement of mercury. (Includes a Summer 2018 component)

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