Research Spotlight
Olivia Moffett is a second-year medical student at UAMS, pursuing a dual M.D./MPH degree. She is a student in the Honors in Research program working in Dr. Marie Burdine’s laboratory. She attended Baylor University, where she completed a major in Biochemistry and minor in Biology with Summa Cum Laude honors. Olivia has been doing research in the Burdine laboratory after participating in the Arkansas Children’s Hospital Summer Science program her junior year of undergraduate school. Olivia enjoys the hands-on aspect of bench research, as well as understanding the clinical correlations of her work.
Research Projects
Investigating the role of DNA-PKcs in the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition in a pancreatic cancer cell model with Dr. Marie Burdine, Dr. Lyle Burdine, and Dr. Ana Azevedo-Pouly.
Research Mentors: Dr. Marie Burdine, Dr. Lyle Burdine, and Dr. Zachary Waldrip
Publications: Waldrip, Z. J., Burdine, L., Harrison, D. K., Azevedo-Pouly, A. C., Storey, A. J., Moffett, O. G., Mackintosh, S. G., & Burdine, M. S. (2021). DNA-PKcs kinase activity stabilizes the transcription factor Egr1 in activated immune cells. The Journal of biological chemistry, 297(4), 101209. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbc.2021.101209
Future Career Plans
Olivia is still in preclinical curriculum, so she is not quite sure what area of medicine that she would like to go into. However, she has a particular interest in surgery and hopes to be able to practice medicine in other countries in her future career.
Fun Facts
In her spare time, Olivia enjoys camping, hiking, and mountain biking with friends and her dog, Oakley.
Recent Award
TRI and the UAMS Center for Implementation Research (CIR) have selected five UAMS-based and Arkansas Children’s Hospital clinical faculty as UAMS 2021 Implementation Science Scholars. Using the principles of implementation science, CIR faculty will guide the scholars through 10 didactic sessions per year and provide oversight and mentoring for their experiential implementation science projects. The two-year program will provide 20% salary support (up to salary cap).
Kyle J. Kalkwarf, M.D., Assistant Professor, Acute Care Surgery Division Department of Surgery, was one of the awardees for his project “Implementation of Combined Strategies to Reduce Opioid Consumption for Acute Pain in the Surgical ICU at UAMS”
Recent Grants
Dr. Lauren Appell (pediatric heme/onc fellow in Dr. Burdine’s lab) – ACRI Postdoctoral Fellowship – $15,000.
Dr. Marie Burdine awarded NIH COBRE Center for Translational Pediatric Research Project Leader Grant, $525,000.
Dr. Zachary Waldrip (post-doc in the Burdine Laboratory) received the TRI TL1 Health Sciences Innovation and Entrepreneurship Postdoctoral Fellowship. This award includes a $55,000/year stipend.