RAND REACH Scholars

Last fall I was awarded a pilot grant through RAND REACH, and we are currently in the data collection phase. The study investigates whole health practices provided by three complementary and integrative healthcare providers (acupuncturist, chiropractor, naturopathic doctor) within a federally funded community health clinic using a standardized checklist. We anticipate analysis will start in winter 2025-2026.

I have benefited from the Scholar program from learning from mentors and the vast number of experts within RAND, as well as the opportunity to be a PI on a pilot grant.

My pilot grant project is complete, and a manuscript has been submitted to the British Journal of Nutrition. The project has also been presented at ICIMH 2024, CCNM Research Day 2024 and AANP 2024 conferences. In addition, as part of the NEST project, several papers have been submitted for publication. One publication was accepted: Eedy V, Aucoin M. The role of olive oil and its constituents in mental health: a scoping review. British Journal of Nutrition. 2024:1-1. Lastly, as part of a collaboration that began at a RAND REACH Idea Incubator session, Jocelyn Faydenko and I completed a project that is in preparation for submission.

As part of the RAND REACH Scholar program, I have had the opportunity to meet many researchers at different institutions and establish new collaboration partnerships. These have greatly increased my network of collaborators and have had a dramatic positive effect on my research work and productivity.

Over the past year, I've been involved in several projects and publication efforts. At NUHS, we are currently recruiting and completing a project assessing joint crepitus as a potential biomechanical marker for joint degeneration via accelerometry and diagnostic ultrasound. I have been serving as the clinical research coordinator for this project. We are also close to submitting an article for publication summarizing the results of an educational project. I've helped with data analysis and manuscript writing for that project. I've also been working on an article for publication with Monique Aucoin and colleagues on the results of our EBP workshop that was presented at the AANP Convention in 2024. I also served as a research mentor to two high school students this summer for their STEM Professionals as Resource Knowledge (SPARK) Program. I'm collaborating on a project with Andrea Albertson, as well as some colleagues from Parker University, on two projects: one looking at whole health practices among CIH providers, and the other looking at EBP learning strategies among faculty and students at Parker. A publication from one of the pilot grants was published in January (CIH worker conditions, with Margaret Whitley and colleagues), and another publication came out in June for a project I was involved with as a master's student at UIC. I presented at UIC's Student Research Symposium in April and won the best master's presentation award! I also graduated with my master's degree in May!

The Scholars program has been a fantastic experience so far. I've learned so much and have enjoyed connecting and collaborating with colleagues from all over the country (and beyond)! I'm so grateful to be part of this program!

I have been working on a number of clinical trials out of NUNM, including Ashwagandha for sleep, weighted blankets for pain, and two supplement trials for small intestinal bacterial overgrowth. In addition, I’ve been leading the NEST Program, which is funded by a pilot grant from NEST. Outputs of the NEST program include 35 mentees actively involved in mentored research, 16 active systematic reviews (which all expect to be published), 50 additional participants in our trainings, online Moodle Course platform up and running >1 year, Systematic Review Methods training live every two weeks, a dozen neurotrauma lectures with world class experts across the country, and three additional papers are underway now on the NEST center itself.

The Scholars program has been extremely valuable to me. The pilot funding has directly allowed me to start a highly successful virtual systematic review training program. But most valuable has been the 1on1 mentorship from high-level investigators. The mentorship has been invaluable for my professional growth and development.