NSU-COM Student Trio Launches AP Research Project

From left: student researchers Kelli Burton, Marlow Hernandez, and Shawna De Graff.

First-year osteopathic medical students Marlow Hernandez, Shawna De Graff, and Kelli Burton are heading a multidisciplinary research study entitled The AP Project that will examine social perceptions in Broward County adolescents. The project is designed as a continuity-based survey trial with three areas of study that may yield data that can be used to formulate socially relevant programs aimed at improving the long-term health of adolescents.

In addition to an experimental manipulation, the project will use a series of questionnaires in order to understand which factors are contributing to the specific perceptions and influences under study. The study is projected to have over 350 participants from the sixth, seventh, and eighth grades.

AP Project collaborators (from left): Dr. Jon Dodds, Dr. Gabriel P. Suciu, Alina M. Perez, Dr. Steven J. Blinder, Shawna L. De Graff, Kelli A. Burton, Eva-Lynn Morrison, Marlow B. Hernandez, Laurie Parker, and Karen Martin.

The AP Project researchers are working closely with faculty members from the college’s Master of Public Health (M.P.H.) Program as well as those from the middle school division of NSU’s University School in order to ensure the study’s validity. Participating M.P.H. faculty members are Alina M. Perez, J.D, Gabriel P. Suciu, Ph.D., and Jon Dodds, Ph.D, while University School contributors are Steven J. Blinder, Ed.D., Eva-Lynn Morrison, and Laurie Parker.

If the AP Project remains on schedule, preliminary results will be presented during HPD Research Day, which will take place April 25 at the Signature Grand in Davie. Final results and analysis will take place during the summer, and the study’s findings will be published in the fall.