Professor offers research opportunities to medical students

By: Steve Sulak

Posted: 4/19/06

Syracuse University students looking for research experience might not have to look any farther than down the street.

State University of New York Upstate Medical Center has many research opportunities, which SU students use to their advantage. Wendy Kates, an associate professor of psychiatry with a doctorate in human development, is offering students these opportunities.

When she arrived at Upstate about four years ago, she brought with her previous research from Johns Hopkins University. She has been conducting research on Velocardiofacial Syndrome.

Velocardiofacial Syndrome is a disease that can result in abnormalities in the facial area and some heart problems. It is inherited and is caused by a depletion of genetic material on chromosome 22, according to rarediseases.org.

Kates is interested in finding out whether children suffering with this disease show emotional deterioration. Kates says she sees the children two times in five years, with three years in between, to evaluate them.

Kates uses MRIs to scan the brain and gauge development. She is only interested in specific regions of the brain. MRIs are taken in these regions, and she looks to see if there is any addition or depletion of brain cells, Kates said. These brain cells might lead to an emotional deterioration.

"The goal of the research is to understand neurological development in kids with genetic disorders," Kates said. "The clinical goal is to develop treatment early on."

But Kates can't do the research by herself. She employs students to help her, many of which come from SU. Right now she has five postgraduate students assisting her, with several SU students working part time, Kates said.

Christiana Awosan, a 2003 SU graduate with a degree in psychology, is a research support specialist for Kates. She has been working at Upstate for three years, and considers her work more of a job, Awosan said.

Awosan is looking to attend graduate school for clinical psychology and marriage and family therapy, she said.

Working at Upstate gives research experience that will be useful when applying to graduate school, Kates said. Doing research on this level also allows students to see if they want to pursue a field with such work.

"I didn't know if I liked research at first," Awosan said. "After this job, I know I do. It tests if you really want to do (a job with lots of research) along with giving you experience."

Gaining research experience is becoming increasingly important for those who want to attend graduate school, Kates said. This job gives experience, as well as being able to get a letter of recommendation.

Upstate has no official affiliation with SU, but it offers many of its services to SU students, Kates said. She works through the psychology department because her work deals with emotional and physiological aspects.

Because it is based in specific fields, the research is not for everyone. It is computer-based and is oriented more toward clinical psychology. It deals with neurological anatomy, psychiatry and brain relationships, Kates said.

Although Kates publicizes her work through the psychology department at SU, she said she wishes other departments knew more about it.

"The research applies to other fields as well," Kates said. "It especially applies to biology because it deals with many aspects of human anatomy."

Students in SU's psychology department know there is research being conducted at Upstate, as it is publicized through research nights and professors.

A few, such as Hillary Nicolella, a sophomore psychology major, don't know about the work being done.

She said she is considering graduate school, but doesn't know how much experience she needs, as it depends on which specialty of psychology she will choose.

"I wish they would have more info for psychology students to know," Nicolella said.

Colleen Eade, a junior biology major, is considering working at Upstate. Eade said she would like to gain more experience before attending graduate school and might want to work at Upstate after graduation.

"They do a good job offering research at Syracuse with the professors we have here, but I wouldn't mind if they talked about things going on in the area more," Eade said.

Kates' research, which is fully funded by the National Institute of Health, occasionally looks for new assistants and employees. Kates said she likes to have employees make a two-year commitment. Postgraduate students are paid a salary. For students who are still enrolled at SU, part-time positions are available. Kates likes to have a one-year commitment from SU students.

There are other opportunities at Upstate, but Kates' work has many direct links to fields studied at SU.