Incoming graduate students tackle health challenges

Walter Dickey wants to keep building medical training tools

For Walter Dickey, medical simulation technology connects two personal ambitions: academic innovation and clinical practice.

“When you see illness up close, you start thinking about scalable solutions,” Dickey said.

One of his solutions? A custom-built model for surgery practice that uses 3D printing technology to replicate the flexibility of a human hand — something standard surgical models often lack. Dickey’s innovation, first used at Carilion Clinic’s Center for Simulation, Research, and Patient Safety, combines affordability with anatomical accuracy.

As a master's student in the program, he's continuing his work with Sarah Parker, chair of health systems and implementation science at the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine and a research associate professor at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC.

Dickey said his cohort represents a new model of health education. “We're collaborative rather than competitive,” he explained. “That's essential when you're trying to solve global health challenges. There’s definitely a shrinking gap between researchers and clinicians, and it’s great to be part of that. We need people who can speak both languages.”

Peyton Kim-LaTona wants to apply design principles to biology

Peyton Kim-LaTona has an artist’s mind, but that hasn’t stopped her from pursuing the sciences.

After a childhood spent visiting zoos and aquariums in her hometown of Los Angeles, Kim-LaTona's early curiosity about natural forms grew to encompass man-made forms of art. She decided to pursue an undergraduate degree in both architecture and biology, which led to a fascination with form at the cellular level when she started to do biology research. 

“Finding form and function together is so integral, not only in architecture and design, but also in cell biology, where parts come together and are vital to the whole,” said Kim-LaTona. “What drew me to this place was that I had non-traditional aspirations. Sometimes, in science, it can feel like there is only one way to do things, so it was important for me to find a program as multifaceted as I am. Here, I'm able to apply creative, design-forward thinking and scientific rigor to study structure-function relationships in cancer cell biology.”

Shaniece Fraser wants to understand how a decision becomes an addiction

“My life is pretty much shaped by my birthplace. I see it in everything I do,” said Shaniece Fraser, who moved from Jamaica to the United States when she was in high school. Her experiences with the two cultures have made Fraser curious, and she says the fact that “people here are so curious about so many different things” is part of what pulled her to apply.

Fraser’s main scientific curiosity — the interplay between motivation, decision-making, and neurochemistry — transcends disciplines. She wants to understand how our brains decide what actions to take, especially when those actions are detrimental to various facets of our health.

“How do people make that shift from, ‘I’m taking this drug to feel good’ to ‘I’m taking this drug because I’m addicted’? And how distinct are those two phases, really? That difference could be a really important point for treatment, so I want to know more about where the line is drawn.” Fraser said.

Eddie Rygalski wants to improve how scientists measure brain activity

Did you know? “Some axons are as long as your leg. The signal takes a long time to get there, but the brain has to put everything back together and represent a single moment in time,” said Edward "Eddie" Rygalski, who was introduced to the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute while studying neuroscience as a summer undergraduate research fellow. “And it does that in a fraction of a second.”

Understanding brain activity is what interests him most, but Rygalski says it was access to core facilities that brought him to the program.

“Getting to be surrounded with all of this cutting-edge technology is still exciting, if not more exciting, now that I’m more anchored in it,” Rygalski said.

His current focus is electroencephalography — a technique used to record brain activity and check for any abnormalities. While less expensive than fMRI, which can cost thousands per session, EEG presents its own challenges. Rygalski says he envisions developing software solutions that use convolutional neural networks to improve reliability and validity, making these measurements more precise.