Research Expo Highlights Innovation Across CONHI

Friday, Apr 19, 2024 • Samuel Galindo : Connect

The UTA College of Nursing and Health Innovation (CONHI) held its first Research Expo, where several faculty members met on the sixth floor of the Central Library to discuss innovative research being done across the college.

More than 30 presentations and posters were shared across various research topics, including musculoskeletal disease, rural health, AI, cardiovascular research and much more.

In addition to providing faculty with the opportunity to showcase their latest work, the event was also designed to provide new team members with a chance to socialize with researchers from other CONHI departments.

“We have not met as a college in some time and over the past year we also welcomed a number of new faculty so [I] felt like the timing was right,” Paul Fadel, associate dean for research, said. “Also, our college centers are growing and [it’s] good for them to provide updates on progress and resources available through the centers.”

With the recent launch of President Cowley’s UTA 2030 strategic plan including an emphasis on research and innovation, Fadel believes research expos help contribute to that overall goal.

“The number of excellent oral and poster presentations speaks directly to how CONHI is contributing to the Universities’ focus on research and innovation,” Fadel added. “What was also apparent is the diversity of research in our college from basic science to clinical application focused on advancing the strategic research area of health and the human condition.”

Kristine Gigli, a UTA assistant professor in the Department of Graduate Nursing and one of the Expo’s presenters, shared her enthusiasm for the event.

“For the UTA research community, expos bring life to new ideas and support and strengthen future research efforts, raising the UTA research profile,” said Gigli.

Yue Liao, assistant professor in the UTA Department of Kinesiology and also one of the Expo's presenters, echoed this sentiment.

“Research expos…help tremendously with bringing researchers together, learning more about each other's work, and putting a face with the name that we might be seeing a lot virtually but not in-person,” Liao said. “Since many of us at CONHI collaborate with researchers across UTA, seeing how our CONHI colleagues are working with others at UTA [is] eye-opening and can lead to dialogue for new research collaboration that we might have not thought of before.”

Fadel indicated that the next research expo is slated for the Fall and will provide opportunities for different faculty members to share their research.

But Fadel’s commitment to showcasing UTA’s research doesn’t stop at internal events only. CONHI will be well-represented at UTA’s upcoming Research and Innovation Expo, as Presidential Distinguished Professor Florence Haseltine and Associate Chair of Graduate Programs in Exercise Science Matthew Brothers, will both be speaking.