Burnett School of Medicine at TCU Students Present Research Projects
Anne Burnett Marion School of Medicine at Texas Christian University Students Presented Four-Year Scholarly, Pursuit & Thesis Research Projects During 2025 Esch Family SPT Research Summit.
FORT WORTH – The Class of 2025 presented wide-ranging medical research from autism to heart health during the annual Esch Family SPT Research Summit held at Anne Burnett Marion School of Medicine at Texas Christian University in late April.
This was the first time students exhibited their four-year Scholarly Pursuit & Thesis (SPT) research projects inside Arnold Hall at Burnett School of Medicine at TCU in Fort Worth’s Medical Innovation District.
Having the research summit at Arnold Hall “was amazing,” said Michael Bernas, MS, Associate Professor & Director of Scholarly Pursuit & Thesis (SPT) Course at Burnett School of Medicine. “It allowed all the faculty and staff that are on site to come visit.”
The graduating class of 2025 presented their research projects on large posters inside the Amon G. Carter Foundation Inspiration Commons learning studio.
Sana Chowdhry, ’25 M.D, was one of the students selected to present her SPT research project titled, “Attitudes Toward Cadaver Dissection.” Her research looked at new ways of cadaver training for medical students.
“There have been ethical concerns around where bodies are coming from,” Dr. Chowdhry said. “In terms of alternatives to cadaver dissection, there are different modalities that you can use now like the Microsoft HoloLens® and HoloAnatomy curriculum that we use here. The research question here is: ‘Is cadaver dissection still necessary?’ as studies have shown that new modalities are just as effective.”
Professor Bernas served as one of Dr. Chowdhry’s faculty mentors for her SPT research project. Her research question gave her an opportunity to learn about science alongside her medical training, he said.
“She struggled to learn all the challenges of doing research,” Bernas said. “She was very lucky to bring in another collaborator Dr. Eli Shupe who is an expert in philosophy and moral injuries to really help refine the research questions.”
When they arrive at Burnett School of Medicine at TCU as first-year medical students, they begin working on their four-year SPT research projects. While some projects change over time, students are encouraged to choose research topics they are passionate about regardless of which medical specialty they want to pursue. However, sometimes their passion in research and medical specialty line up.
Kevin Chao, ’25 M.D., is an Emergency Medicine resident at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. His SPT research project looked at the management of supra-ventricular tachycardia by Adenosine, which has serious side effects for patients that end up in the emergency room.
Dr. Chao looked at alternative drugs that could be less harmful to patients.
“We were looking at alternatives to see if we could dampen those side effects and make the patient experience a little more comfortable but still get that efficacy you need to treat that arrhythmia,” Dr. Chao said.
This type of hyper-focused research and understanding of science will benefit Dr. Chao as he begins residency, Professor Bernas said.
Here are the Scholarly Pursuit & Thesis (SPT) research projects featured at this year’s research summit:
Jonathan Balcazar, ’25 M.D.
SPT Mentor: Xiaosong Meng, M.D., Ph.D.
Research Project: MRI-Guided Transurethral Ultrasound Ablation (TULSA) of Localized Prostate Cancer: Single Institution Experience of Treatment Efficacy and Impact on Urinary and Sexual Function
Griffth Bryant, ’25 M.D.
SPT Mentor: Michael Bernas, MS; and Mary Beth Mercatoris
Research Project: Bridging Education and Examination: How Medical Curricula Impact Step 2 CK Performance
Kevin Chao, ’25 M.D.
SPT Mentor: Eric H. Chou, M.D.
Research Project: Management of Supraventricular Tachycardia by Adenosine Versus Diltiazem and Its Subsequent Atrial Fibrillation and Atrial Flutter Conversion Outcomes in the Emergency Department
Sana Chowdhry, ’25 M.D.
SPT Mentor: Michael Bernas, MS; and Eli Shupe, MA, Ph.D.
Research Project: Attitudes Towards Cadaver Dissection
Hanna Cristina Makk, ’25 M.D.
SPT Mentor: Stuart Pickell, M.D.
Research Project: Predicting Predicaments; What the experience of Pediatric Ethics departments can tell us about predicting ethics consults based on patient characteristics
Haley Schluterman, ’25 M.D.
SPT Mentor: Gregory Kearns, Ph.D., PharmD.
Research Project: Validation of the TASTY Scale, a Novel Tool to Assess Medication Palatability in Young Children