Winners in first UF Women’s Health Research Day explore lupus, panic disorder
Studies of panic disorder in Latina women and the causes of fatigue in female lupus patients took top honors at the first Women’s Health Research Day poster competition, held March 20 at the University of Florida Health Science Center.
Jessica De Leon, Ph.D., coordinator of research programs and services for the UF College of Pharmacy’s department of pharmacy health-care administration, won the awards for best overall faculty poster and best poster in the psychosocial health category for her research on the mental health-care needs of low-income Latina women with panic disorder. The women reported positive attitudes toward treatment but often didn’t obtain sufficient care, citing problems with provider networks or family life.
Rebecca Jump, a Ph.D. student in the UF College of Health Professions’ department of clinical and health psychology, won the awards for best overall graduate student poster and best poster in the health behavior category for her research on causes of fatigue in female patients with systemic lupus erythematosus, commonly known as lupus. She found one-third of the variation in reported fatigue levels could be due to pain, depression and perceived social support.
The all-day event featured a research poster competition with 34 entries in six categories, covering everything from genetics to health behavior, said Mary Ann Burg, Ph.D., director of the UF Women’s Health Research Center, which sponsored the event. Poster submissions came from faculty and graduate students in eight UF colleges.
Other award winners for best research posters in individual categories were Rodney K. Edwards, M.D., of the College of Medicine for reproductive health; Sheri L. Walters of the colleges of Health and Human Performance and Medicine for clinical health research; Juehua Gao of the College of Medicine for molecular, genetic and cellular research; and Rajeeb Das of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences for health policy research.
WOMAN’S HEALTH RESEARCH DAY
“Group” — Mary Ann Burg, Ph.D., director of the University of Florida Women’s Health Research Center (left), congratulates poster competition winners Juehua Gao, Rebecca Jump and Jessica De Leon, Ph.D. (left to right), at the center’s first research day, held March 20 at the UF Health Science Center. Gao’s work on detection of specific autoantibodies that may play a role in the autoimmune disease Sjogren’s syndrome won best poster in the molecular, genetic and cellular research category; Jump’s work on causes of fatigue in female lupus patients won best overall graduate student poster and best poster in the health behavior category; and De Leon’s work on the mental health-care needs of Latina women with panic disorder won best overall faculty poster and best poster in the psychosocial health category.
“Winner 2” — Mary Ann Burg, Ph.D., director of the University of Florida Women’s Health Research Center (right), congratulates UF College of Health Professions doctoral student Rebecca Jump on her poster competition awards at the center’s first research day, held March 20 at UF’s Health Science Center. Jump won the awards for best overall graduate student poster and best poster in the health behavior category for her research on the causes of fatigue in female lupus patients.
“Winner — Pharm” — Mary Ann Burg, Ph.D., director of the University of Florida Women’s Health Research Center (left), congratulates UF College of Pharmacy coordinator of research programs and services Jessica De Leon, Ph.D., on her poster competition awards at the center’s first research day, held March 20 at UF’s Health Science Center. De Leon won the awards for best overall faculty poster and best poster in the psychosocial health category for her research on the mental health-care needs of Latina women with panic disorder.