University of Minnesota Duluth Medical School student and CTSI Advanced Pathways to Research Program (A-PReP) Scholar was recently awarded the Young Investigator Award at the International Congress on Integrative Medicine and Health in Baltimore, Maryland.
The national awards encourage and recognize innovative and impactful integrative medicine and health work being conducted by promising young investigators who have a desire to conduct further work in the field of integrative medicine and health.
With the direction of mentor Roni Evans, DC, PhD, Earl E. Bakken Center for Spiritual Healing, Conlon’s A-PReP project studies whether inclusion criteria of Mindful Movement can be modified to include individuals with disabilities.
“Our project focused on testing a mindfulness based intervention to see whether it would increase physical activity in older adults. Through the use of an accelerometer that measures ambulation in three directions and the force of the movement, and an algorithm, our research found that as long as the correct algorithms and cut points are used for the population, accelerometers can be used to measure physical activity in individuals who require the use of devices to assist with ambulation,” said Conlon.
Conlon received $500 at the conference as recognition that her research was well done and promising.
Building the pipeline
CTSI’s A-PReP program is one of seven career development programs offered by CTSI that provides training and education to advance researchers through the career development pipeline, from an undergraduate experience to an independent research career.
The A-PReP program provides doctoral-level and professional health sciences students who are interested in clinical or translational research training through a structured core curriculum, mentored research projects, weekly seminars, and a final presentation of research at CTSI’s annual Poster Session.
“The program is an entry point for the physician scientists of tomorrow. It prepares University of Minnesota Scholars systemwide to compete for national honors and recognition, and building a strong career trajectory” said Michelle Lamere, MPA, ACC, Assistant Director of CTSI’s Research Education, Training and Career Development programs.
“I am grateful for the research foundation provided by CTSI, and the award encourages me to pursue research in my future career,” said Conlon.