TXST Health Scholar Showcase will feature health researchers

Texas State University will host the seventh annual Health Scholar Showcase on Friday, March 3, at the TXST Performing Arts Center. The showcase, which is the largest university- wide faculty research event at TXST, brings together faculty, staff, and community members to share examples of health research from every college and research center.

Hosted by the Translational Health Research Center, the showcase features current and upcoming health research, community partnerships, and funding opportunities. It also fosters dialogue and new connections among attendees.

Potential new Health+ Resilience Research Faculty Fellows will be identified from poster presentations. Some of those presentations will include:

• Providing continuity of care for chronic diseases after natural disasters: A resource allocation model for public health preparedness in Texas, by Eduardo Perez (2022-2023 THRC faculty fellow); College of Science & Engineering

• Learn, do, teach: Developing nursing students’ population health core competencies through interprofessional health education, by Stephanie Patel, Virginia Tufano, Monica Hughes; College of Health Professions

• Making the most of your time together: Examining the interactive effects of time spent with partner and self-expansion on relational boredom during COVID-19, by Rhonda Balzarini, Taylor Himes, Daisi Brand, Christina Leckfor, Giulia Zoppolat, Megan Tracy, Richard Slatcher; College of Liberal Arts

• A snapshot in time: TXST undergraduate student veterans well-being via photo taking, by Kelly Clary, Katherine Selber, Rachel Ortiz, Bryan West; College of Applied Arts

• Future doctors at the present crossroad: Nudging college major choices toward health sciences, by Muxin Zhai, Li Feng (2022-23 THRC faculty fellow), Xiaoyang Ye; Mc-Coy College of Business

• Intergenerational befriending: An antidote to the social isolation of older adults, by Keya Sen, Nida Laheji, Zo Ramamonjiarivelo, Randall Osborne, Oren Renick; College of Health Professions This year’s keynote speaker is Jennifer Sharpe Potter, vice president for research and professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at UT Health San Antonio. A national expert in substance-use disorders with particular emphasis on increasing access to evidence- based treatment for such disorders, Potter’s research is supported by National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding.

In response to TXST’s evolution to a research-intensive university, Potter’s keynote address will focus on developing a multidisciplinary, highly collaborative research enterprise. Potter will also discuss ways researchers can engage with the community to conduct impactful, funded research.

“We look forward to another year of bringing faculty researchers and community guests together for an afternoon of research dialogue and discovery across discipline boundaries,” said Melinda Villagran, executive director of the Translational Health Research Center.

Students are invited to engage with Health Scholar Showcase by attending the Student Health Scholar Showcase Speaker Series on March 2. Generación STEM is joining with the Translational Health Research Center to host BioMedSA president Heather Hanson for an engaging discussion about current health and biomedical job trends and employers in Central Texas.

All students with an interest in health-related careers are invited to this lunch and learn.

Vice President for Research and Behavioral Sciences at UT Health San Antonio