Student Research Success
Every day, students within the College of Health Sciences work side by side with their faculty mentors and contribute to critical research in the health sciences.
They publish their research in peer-reviewed journals, present their research at local, national and international conferences, and receive awards and recognition for their research activities.
Recent Awards & Recognition

Rudi Marciniak
PhD Health Sciences student
First Place, Three Minute Thesis (3MT) Competition
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Graduate School, 2020

Anahita Qashqai
PhD Health Sciences student
First Place, Student Research Poster Award Competition
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, College of Engineering & Applied Science, 2020

Derek Zike
PhD Health Sciences student
Advanced Opportunity Program Fellowship
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 2020-21
Recent Publications
Kacey Yahnke
MS Communication Sciences and Disorders student
Pauloski, B. R., & Yahnke, K. M. (2021). Using Ultrasound to Document the Effects of Expiratory Muscle Strength Training (EMST) on the Geniohyoid Muscle. Dysphagia, 1-12.
Mohammed Alarifi
PhD Health Sciences student
Alarifi, M., Patrick, T., Jabour, A., Wu, M., & Luo, J. (2021). Understanding patient needs and gaps in radiology reports through online discussion forum analysis. Insights into imaging, 12(1), 1-9.
Alarifi, M., Patrick, T., Jabour, A., Wu, M., & Luo, J. (2021). Health Consumer Social Economic Factors and Health Conditions as Predictor for Health Literacy in Radiology Domain. Journal of Medical Imaging and Health Informatics, 11(11), 2716-2721.
Alarifi, M., Patrick, T., Jabour, A., Wu, M., & Luo, J. (2021). Designing a Consumer-Friendly Radiology Report using a Patient-Centered Approach. Journal of Digital Imaging, 34(3), 705-716.
Alarifi, M., Patrick, T., Jabour, A., Wu, M., & Luo, J. (2020). Full radiology report through patient web portal: a literature review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(10), 3673.
Sarah Duhr
MS Biomedical Sciences student
Skwor, T., Stringer, S., Haggerty, J., Johnson, J., Duhr, S., Johnson, M., Seckinger, M., & Stemme, M. (2020). Prevalence of Potentially Pathogenic Antibiotic-Resistant Aeromonas spp. in Treated Urban Wastewater Effluents versus Recipient Riverine Populations: a 3-Year Comparative Study. Applied and environmental microbiology, 86(3), e02053-19.
Mousa Javidialsaadi
PhD Kinesiology student
Javidialsaadi, M., & Wang, J. (2020). Lack of interlimb transfer following visuomotor adaptation in a person with congenital mirror movements despite the awareness of the visuomotor perturbation. Brain and cognition, 147, 105653. Advance online publication.
Tays, G., Bao, S., Javidialsaadi, M., & Wang, J. (2020). Consolidation of use-dependent motor memories induced by passive movement training. Neuroscience letters, 732, 135080.
Emily Keis
MS Communication Sciences & Disorders student
Lund, S. K., Keis, E., & SanFelippo, K. (2020). Comparing augmentative and alternative communication interventions on requesting skills for children with complex communication needs. EBP Briefs, 14(3), 1–8. NCS Pearson, Inc.
Rudi Marciniak
PhD Health Sciences student
Wahl, C. A., Marciniak, R. A., Tesch, C. S., Meyer, B. B., & Ebersole, K. T. (2020). Association Between Perceived Recovery and Heart Rate in a Submaximal and Maximal Task in Firefighters. American College of Sports Medicine Annual Meeting, San Francisco.
Marciniak, R. A., Wahl, C. A., Tesch, C. S., & Ebersole, K. T. (2020). Examination of Two Different Balance Tests in Active-Duty Firefighters. American College of Sports Medicine Annual Meeting, San Francisco.
Wahl, C., Marciniak, R., Meyer, B. B., & Ebersole, K. (2020). Influence of call volume on perceptions of stress and recovery in active-duty firefighters (in review). Association for Applied Sport Psychology Annual Conference, Orlando, FL.
Mellanie Nai
PhD Health Sciences student
Gnacinski, S. L., Nai, M. M., Brady, M., Meyer, B. B., Newman, N. (2020). An examination of athletic trainers’ occupational recovery experience during time after work.
Wahl, C. A., Gnacinski, S. L., Nai, M. M., Meyer, B. B. (2019). Psychological predictors of perceived stress and recovery in sport. Sport, Exercise, and Performance Psychology.
Kaitlin SanFelippo
MS Communication Sciences & Disorders student
Lund, S. K., Keis, E., & SanFelippo, K. (2020). Comparing augmentative and alternative communication interventions on requesting skills for children with complex communication needs. EBP Briefs, 14(3), 1–8. NCS Pearson, Inc.
Jennifer Thorpe
PhD Health Sciences student
Thorpe, J., Oblak, P., Earl-Boehm, J. E. (in press). Hip and Knee Joint Kinematics During Front and Lateral Single Leg Stepdowns. Athletic Training and Sports Health Care.
Ling Tong
PhD Health Sciences student
Hernandez, L., Tong, L., et al. (2020). Association Between Attending Endoscopists’experience And Complication Rates for All Endoscopic Procedures: A 10-Year Longitudinal Study. Gastrointestinal Endoscopy 91(6), AB525.
Hernandez, L., Tong, L., Luo, J. (2020). Predicting Gastrointestinal (Gi) Hemorrhage Using A Machine Learning Approach: Risk Factors and Predictive Analysis In Clinical Studies, Gastroenterology 158(6), S-16.
Hernandez, L., Tong, L., Cofino, J., Johannessen, J., Guda, N., Luo, J. (2020). Association Modeling Between Patients’ age and Complication Rate for Endoscopic Procedures, Gastroenterology 158(6), S-1242.
Tong, L., Luo, J., Cisler, R., Cantor, M. (2019). Machine learning-based modeling of big clinical trials data for adverse outcome prediction: A case study of death events. 2019 IEEE 43rd Annual Computer Software and Applications Conference (COMPSAC). Vol. 2, pp. 269-274.
Derek Zike
PhD Health Sciences student
Zike, D., Arvinen-Barrow, M. (2020). Leaving sport with a spinal cord injury. In M. Sachs, L. Tashman, & S. Razon (Eds.), Performance excellence: Stories to make your endeavors a success. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
Carly Wahl
PhD Health Sciences student
Wahl, C. A., Marciniak, R. A., Tesch, C. S., Meyer, B. B., & Ebersole, K. T. (2020). Association Between Perceived Recovery and Heart Rate in a Submaximal and Maximal Task in Firefighters. American College of Sports Medicine Annual Meeting, San Francisco.
Marciniak, R. A., Wahl, C. A., Tesch, C. S., & Ebersole, K. T. (2020). Examination of Two Different Balance Tests in Active-Duty Firefighters. American College of Sports Medicine Annual Meeting, San Francisco.
Wahl, C., Marciniak, R., Meyer, B. B., & Ebersole, K. (2020). Influence of call volume on perceptions of stress and recovery in active-duty firefighters (in review). Association for Applied Sport Psychology Annual Conference, Orlando, FL.