The Research Scholar Program provides structured educational research opportunities for undergraduate students. Within each session, students apply for positions offered by health network departments. Each position involves a combination of research, as well as professional and clinical observations. The program offers educational experience for students and additionally provides valuable assistance to health network departments.
Go to Lehigh Valley Health Network's website for more information about the Research Scholar program.
2020
A Needs Assessment of Telemedicine Implementation in Skilled Nursing Facilities, Benjamin Antill; Robert Kruklitis MD; and Mindy Brosious BSN, RN (Poster)
Using NSQIP-Pediatrics to Target Quality Improvement Initiatives for Appendicitis, Erin Arevalo and Marybeth Browne MD (Poster)
NovosorbTM Biodegradable Temporizing Matrix (BTM) in the Complex Wound: A Retrospective Three-Year Review, Lydia Bothwell and Sigrid A. Blome-Eberwein MD (Poster)
COVID-19 Testing in Asymptomatic Patients Undergoing Elective Surgery, Joseph Budisak; Cathyann Feher RN,MSN; and Michael D. Pasquale MD, FACS, FCCM (Poster)
Drivers of Trust in Pediatric Health Care: Role of Family-Centered Care, Alyssa Carlier (Poster)
Developing A Questionnaire And Data Analysis Process: Identification Of Practice And Provider Stigma Score In Order To Improve And Measure Training Efforts, Jessica Deemer and Angela Colistra LPC, PhD, MS (Poster)
Virtual Health Care Career Exploration, Emily Deschler, Elizaveta Makarova, Abby Heilenman, Tipsuda Sopho, Emily Kidd, Nick Defulvio, Isaiah Martino, Sarah A. Jones Sapienza MD, and Martin A. Martino MD (Poster)
Correlation of Relative Value Unit Reimbursement in Trauma Surgery with Hospital Length of Stay, Collin Duff, Jade Vanderpool, and Joseph J. Stirparo MD (Poster)
GWEP Goals of Care, Audrey Dunstan and Nyann Biery MS (Poster)
Coordinating and Improving the Quality of Care in Patients with Gastro Esophageal Reflux Disease (GERD), Daniel Elmi, Scott Beman MD, and Jennifer Macfarlan MPH (Poster)
A Retrospective Review of Outcomes Associated With Treatment Modalities Utilized In The Management of Diffuse Large B Cell Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma, Benjamin Fry; Donna Colabroy RN, MSN, OCN, CCM; Melissa Kratz RN, MSN, AOCN; Dennis Sopka MD; and Savitri Skandan MD (Poster)
Covid-19 Video Visits Reduces Racial Barriers To Care: Sociodemographic Factors That Influence Access to Virtual Care, Naomi Ganpo-Nkwenkwa; Kyle Shaak BS; Beth Careyva M.D.; and Grant M. Greenberg M.D., M.H.S.A., M.A. (Poster)
Faculty Development in a Pandemic: Design and Delivery of Remote-Based Medical Education, Anne Glowacki and Kerri Green EdD, MS (Poster)
Comparing Bilirubin Measurements of Sternum and Lower Abdomen: A Pilot Study for Using Transcutaneous Bilirubin Measurements During Phototherapy, Willow Goff and Michael Schwartz MD (Poster)
Outcomes of Septal Myectomy on Patients with Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy, Caitlin Hoeing, Kaitlyn Kelly, Thomas Perillo, and James K. Wu MD (Poster)
Five-year Analysis on the Outcomes of Thoracic Aneurysm Surgery, Kaitlin Kelly, Thomas Perillo, Caitlin Hoeing, and James K. Wu MD (Poster)
Bridging the Gaps in Family Medicine: A Quality Improvement Project for Resident Behavioral Health Training, Lauren E. Kerr and Angela Colistra LPC, PhD, MS (Poster)
Pediatric Blunt Cerebrovascular Injury: A Review of Literature and Case Report, Dima Khalil, Natasha Kuklis, Sarah A. Jones Sapienza MD, and Shadi Shojaei MD (Poster)
Identifying Baseline Characteristics for Consideration of Prophylactic Feeding Tube Placement in Persons Undergoing Chemoradiotherapy for Head and Neck Cancer: A Retrospective Chart Review, Kenna Kita; Janine Gilboy RD, CSO, LDN; Erin Levine RD, CSO, LDN; Brian J. Patson MD; and Jennifer Brennan MS, RD, CSO (Poster)
Implementing a Student Information System and Creating a Data Collection System In a School Of Nursing, Hunter Krauss; Michele Siminitus MS; and Lynne Hausman MSN, RN, CNE (Poster)
Evaluation of Concurrent ESR and CRP Testing in Native Vertebral Osteomyelitis (NVO): Is More Really Better?, Noah Kriner and Amy Slenker MD (Poster)
Pediatric Blunt Cerebrovascular Injury: Identifying Common Symptomatologies to Improve Screening Guidelines A Literature Review and Case Study, Natasha Kuklis, Dima Khalil, and Sarah A. Jones Sapienza MD (Poster)
Strategies for Optimizing the Wellness of Physicians During the COVID-19 Pandemic: At Surge and Beyond, Hannah Langkamer-Smith and Joseph E. Patruno MD (Poster)
Characterization of Microbiology And Associated Antibiotic Usage In The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Bridget Lunney; Tibisay Villalobos MD, FAAP; and Kristin M. Held-Wheatley PharmD, BCOP (Poster)
Preconception Care: Identifying Indicators to Reduce Pre-term BirthsKama, Maria Macaluso; Ashwini Kamath Mulki; Melanie B. Johnson MPA; Elaine Banerjee MD, MPH; Beth Careyva M.D.; Katarzyna Jabbour PharmD, BCPS; Kyle Shaak BS; and Nicole M. Burgess BS (Poster)
Drivers of Trust in Pediatric Health Care: Role of Empathy and Communication, Allison McGlynn; J. Nathan Hagstrom MD, MHCM; and Helen Julia (Poster)
Improving Primary Care Pre-Visit Planning, Brandy Moser, Johnny Stoeckle MD, and Kyle Shaak MPH (Poster)
The impacts on visit types pre- and post- COVID-19, Jacob Nimeh; Kyle Shaak MPH; Beth Careyva M.D.; and Grant M. Greenberg M.D., M.H.S.A., M.A. (Poster)
The Correlation between Burnout and Engagement Metrics and Strategies for Improvement at LVHN, Leah Pasch and Joseph E. Patruno MD (Poster)
The Need for Neurosurgical Intervention in Trauma Patients with a Positive CT Scan and Glasgow Coma Scale of 13-15, Justin Pasquale, James Cipolla, Mark Cipolle MD, Puja Patel MD, and Jennifer Macfarlan (Poster)
Type A Aortic Dissection, 5-year Operative Outcome Study, Thomas Perillo, Kaitlin Kelly, Caitlin Hoeing, and James K. Wu MD (Poster)
Heterotopic Ossification or Dystrophic Calcinosis Cutis in Burn Scars?: A Case Series, Cassandra Pinataro and Sigrid A. Blome-Eberwein MD (Poster)
Writing A Research Protocol for A Prospective Clinical Trial In The Treatment Of Hypertrophic Scars, Christine Reichard and Sigrid A. Blome-Eberwein MD (Poster)
The Impact of Multiplex Respiratory Pathogen PCR Testing at A Large Academic Institution, Hailey Reiss; Jarrod W. Kile RPhD, BCPS; and Eric Young MD (Poster)
Identifying PCP Follow-Up and Readmission Rates of Internal Medicine-Muhlenberg Patients, Madison Smith and Victoria Chestnut DNP, MBA, RN, CCCTM (Poster)
Building a Book of Benefits: Producing a Community Resource Guide to Support Persons Experiencing Homelessness, Morgan Storino, Hoonani M. Cuadrado, and Bennie Eliason CHW (Poster)
Correlation of Relative Value Unit Reimbursement in Trauma Surgery with Academic Productivity, Jade Vanderpool, Collin Duff, and Joseph J. Stirparo MD (Poster)
Assessment of the Sexually Transmitted Infection Testing at LVHN in Symptomatic Patients Who Present to the Emergency Department or Ambulatory Setting, Sarah Vetesi, Marcelo Gareca MD, and Amy Slenker MD (Poster)
2019
Cardiogenic shock patients on VA-ECMO with/without unloading from Impella, Samrah Ansari, Caitlin Hoeing, Sophie Pickering, Alexandra Reph, and James K. Wu MD (Poster)
Identifying Cultural Practices in Childbirth & Integrating Traditional Beliefs with Western Biomedicine, Kate Appel and Amanda B. Flicker MD (Poster)
A Qualitative Study to Understand Resident and Student Perceptions of Factors Leading to a Meaningful Third-Year Clerkship Experience, Annalise Armstrong and Daniel Relles MD (Poster)
Retroactive Analysis of Advanced Spine Center Patient Care and Outcomes in Correlation with the 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire Scores, Gabrielle Barraco, Bridgit O'Brien, Kara Spanswick MHA, and Joann Gilmore RN (Poster)
Baseline Characteristics for Consideration of Prophylactic Feeding Tube Placement in Persons Undergoing Chemoradiotherapy for Head and Neck Cancer: A Retrospective Chart Review, Amy Beltz; Janine Gilboy RD, LDN; Erin Levine RD, CSO, LDN; Brian J. Patson MD; and Jennifer Brennan RD, CSO (Poster)
Opioid-free Appendectomy: Reducing Length of Stay While Controlling Pain in the Pediatric Patient, Lydia Bothwell, Travis Hoover, Daniel Relles MD, Sarah A. Jones Sapienza MD, and Marybeth Browne MD (Poster)
Developing a Standard Diet Questionnaire for Pediatric Headache Medicine to Detect Dietary Triggers in Children with Chronic Migraine, Gabriela Campusano and Zuhal Ergonul MD, PhD (Poster)
Geographic Exploration of Lehigh Valley Health - Diabetes, Allison Davis; Kyle Shaak BS; Michael Topmiller PhD; Autumn Kieber-Emmons MD, MPH; Melanie B. Johnson MPA; Beth Careyva M.D.; Elaine Banerjee MD, MPH; and Nicole M. Burgess BS (Poster)
Building a Center of Excellence for Robotic Surgery Through a Referral Provider Network (RPN), Sarah Douress; Taylor Wejkszner; Hope L. Johnson MSN, RN, CNOR; James Miller CRNA; and Martin A. Martino MD (Poster)
Prevention of Pediatric Obesity: Focus on the First Two Years, Lyndsay Gallagher; Kimberly C. Brown MD; Clare Lenhart PhD, MPH; and Colleen Dempsey-Rex RD, LDN (Poster)
Children's Cancer Center as a Clinical Microsystem: Patient Flow, Toni A. Hahn; Josephine P. Steidinger; Courtney E. Herr; and J. Nathan Hagstrom MD, MHCM (Poster)
Children’s Cancer Center as a Clinical Microsystem: Engagement, Courtney Herr; Toni A. Hahn; Josephine Steidinger; and J. Nathan Hagstrom MD, MHCM (Poster)
1st Place: Long-Term Survival Rate of Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement, Caitlin Hoeing ()
An Analysis of the Benefits and Barriers to the Full Implementation of a HIPAA Compliant Secure Messaging System Within Lehigh Valley Health Network, Matthew Johnson; Annamarie Deroberts MSHA, RN,; and George Mathew PMP (Poster)
Developing and Implementing Hospital Events: Evaluation of the George Washington Medical Exhibit, Ryan Johnson and Linda M. Schwartz MDE, AHIP, CM (Poster)
Valuing the Vulnerable: Prioritizing the Patient Perspective, Hannah Kaplan and Sweety Jain MD (Poster)
Global Health: Should it be an integral part of Medical Education?, Erin Kelly and Sweety Jain MD (Poster)
Physician Well Being and Patient Satisfaction: Analyzing the Relationship, Theresa A. Koch and Joseph E. Patruno MD (Poster)
Cardiogenic Shock: A Single-Center, Three-Year Exploratory Study, Sarina N. Krantzler and James A. Burke MD, PhD (Poster)
2nd Place: Assessment of the Characteristics of Multidrug Resistant Organisms at Lehigh Valley Health Network: Where Do They Come From and Where Do They Go?, Courtney Landis ()
Serving Our Community with Pride, Amanda Mchale and Judith Sabino MPH, CDP (Poster)
Investigation of Relationship Between Employee Engagement and Burnout Among Physicians at Lehigh Valley Health Network, Spencer Moros and Joseph E. Patruno MD (Poster)
3rd Place: Assessment of the Real-world Use of Procalcitonin at a Large Academic Institution, Olivia Morren ()
Best Practices for Parent Engagement in Youth Programs, Samantha Mullin and Margaret A. Hadinger Ed.D. (Poster)
Development of an E-learning Module on Evaluation Best Practices, Dinky Patel and Cheryl Arndt PhD (Poster)
Developing a Primary Care Practice Dashboard for Tracking Clinical Process Metrics, Millan Patel, Johnny J. Stoeckle MD, and Kyle Shaak BS (Poster)
Endocarditis of the Cardiac Valves in the Era of Opioid Crisis, Sophie Pickering, Alexandra Reph, Caitlin Hoeing, Samrah Ansari, and James K. Wu MD (Poster)
Does Fractional BlistergraftingImprove 2ndDegree Burn Wound Healing and Scar Outcome without a Significant Donor Site?, Cassandra Pinataro and Sigrid A. Blome-Eberwein MD (Poster)
A Mixed-Methods Exploration of Barriers To Mammography Completion, Hadar Re'em; Melanie B. Johnson MPA; Kyle Shaak BS; and Grant M. Greenberg M.D., M.H.S.A., M.A. (Poster)
Outcomes of Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator (ICD)/Pacing Lead Extraction Over 8 Years, Alexandra Reph, Sophie Pickering, Caitlin Hoeing, Samrah Ansari, and James K. Wu MD (Poster)
Recommendation of Effective Practices for Improving LVHN HCAHPS Scores: A Focus on Care Transition at LVH-S, Liam Romond; Annamarie Deroberts MSHA, RN,; and Paul J. Kelly LSSBB (Poster)
The Impact of Community Health Worker Home Visits on Geriatric Patients’ Nonmedical Needs in Primary Care, Marguerite Runyan, Brenda Frutos MPH, Nyann Biery MS, and Lynn M. Wilson DO (Poster)
Tuberculosis: A Retrospective Review of Cases Treated in Allentown from 2014-July 2019, Carly A. Shaffer and Marcelo Gareca MD (Poster)
Unused Opioids After Joint Replacement Surgeries: 72,146 Untaken Pills at Large in our Community, Tanner Shane; Joshua Rosentel BSn, RN; Sarah Schopf RN, MSN, MBA, CMSRN, CPHQ; and Matthew McCambridge MD, MS, FACP, FCCP (Poster)
The Impact of the Clinical Ladder on Nurse Retention Rates at Lehigh Valley Health Network, Kathryn Sparango and Gerald Mcglinn M.A., ACC (Poster)
Minimally Invasive Burn Reconstruction with Subcutaneous Scar Contracture Release, Sophia Starner and Sigrid A. Blome-Eberwein MD (Poster)
Children’s Cancer Center as a Clinical Microsystem: Assessment, Josephine Steidinger; Courtney Herr; Toni A. Hahn; and J. Nathan Hagstrom MD, MHCM (Poster)
Evaluation of the Implementation of Rapid Cerebral Spinal Fluid Diagnostic Test for Meningitis and Encephalitis at a Large Academic Institution, Max Stempel and Amy Slenker MD (Poster)
Use of Thrombolytic Therapy for Complicated Pleural Effusions, Lauren E. Sterner; Kelly M. Wanamaker MD; Katherine M. Penetar DNP, CRNP; and Sanjay M. Mehta MD (Poster)
A Retrospective Study of Outcomes Associated with Treatment Modalities Utilized in the Management of Stage II and Stage III Bladder Cancer at LVHN from 2014-2018, Olivia Toner, Dennis M. Sopka MD, and Savitri P. Skandan MD (Poster)
Determinants of Treatment For Obesity, Elton Veseli; Elaine Banerjee MD, MPH; and Kyle Shaak MPH (Poster)
Preparing for the Future of Medicine: Building for our Community, Olivia Waldron, Taylor Wejkszner, and Martin A. Martino MD (Poster)
Delineating Rehabilitation Barriers for Patients with COPD, Brooke Wehr; Robert Kruklitis MD; Lorraine Valeriano BSN, RN, CNRN; and Mindy Brosious BSN, RN (Poster)
Annual Wellness Visits and Dementia, Joanna Weyrich, Nyann Biery MS, and Lynn M. Wilson DO (Poster)
Curriculum Development in LVHN with School District Partnerships, Emily Zobian and Brian Leader MS, MBA (Poster)
2018
Prevention of Pediatric Obesity: A Focus on the First Two Years, Kate Arner, Kimberly C. Brown MD, Clare Lenhart PhD, and Colleen Dempsey-Rex RD (Poster)
The Future of Forensic Pathology at Health Network Laboratories, Maura Benner, Barbara Bollinger MD, Michael Johnson MD, Samuel Land MD, and Rameen Starling-Roney MD (Poster)
The LVHN Summer Work Experience: A Program for High School Youth, Paige Bernecker (Poster)
Behavioral Health and Family Medicine Integration, Laura Bernstein, Nyann Biery MS, and Brenda Frutos (Poster)
2nd Place: Integrated Care Coordination-Case Management Facilitated Multidisciplinary Rounding to Improve Discharge Process, Josh Blatt and Kay Werhun DNP, MBA, RN, NE- BC (Poster)
Comparison of Survival Indicators Between Myocardial Infarction Patients and Septic Patients Who Received Veno-Arterial Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation Treatment, Niharika Boinpally, Kennedy Gallagher, Michael Healy, and James K. Wu MD (Poster)
Retrospective Review of Ambulance Transport Data from Lehigh Valley Sites, Rachael E. Broder, Ryan M. Hay, and Daryl George (Poster)
Analysis of Bundled Payment Post-Acute Pathway for Lower Extremity Total Joint Replacement Surgery, Nick Brotzman (Poster)
Connections Clinic: A Formative Assessment of Mental Health Through ACE Scores and Prenatal Care, Kalina Buckenmyer (Poster)
Prediabetes: A Shared Prescription for Health for Primary Care Patients, Allison Davis; Beth Careyva M.D.; Melanie B. Johnson MPA; Kyle Shaak BS; Elaine Banerjee MD, MPH; and Nicole Burgess (Poster)
Impact of a Documented Penicillin Allergy on Pre-Operative Antibiotic Prophylaxis Selection at Lehigh Valley Health Network, Eryn Fitch and Amy Slenker MD (Poster)
Lactate Trends in Veno-Arterial Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation Patients Presenting with Sepsis, Kennedy Gallagher, Michael Healy, Niharika Boinpally, and James K. Wu MD (Poster)
1st Place: Development of a Feasibility Study of Tele-Education for Ensuring Correct Bronchodilator Use, Katie Gibbs and Robert Kruklitis MD (Poster)
Integrated Training for Improved Nursing Outcomes, Kori Hadinger (Poster)
A Retrospective Review of Outcomes in Patients with Limited Brain Metastases Treated with Gamma Knife Radiotherapy , John Hanna and Savitri Skandan MD (Poster)
Does Pre-Procedural pH Affect Outcomes in Veno-Arterial Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation Patients with Myocardial Infarction?, Michael Healy, Niharika Boinpally, Kennedy Gallagher, and James K. Wu MD (Poster)
Optimizing the Advanced Practice Clinician (APC) New Hire Onboarding Experience through Education, Hannah Hedstrom; Anum Durrani; and Michele Hartzell PA-C, MBA (Poster)