A love for pickleball turned UCF medical student Isaac Soloveychik into a medical researcher who discovered that physical activity outdoors improves mental health more than exercising inside.
Soloveychik was one of 120 future physician Knights who presented their research at the 2025 FIRE (Focused Individualized Research Experience) conference. UCF is one of the few medical schools in the nation that requires all students to do a two-year scientific research project. The goal, says Deborah German, vice president for health affairs and dean, is to create doctors who have a 麻豆精品 S渟pirit of inquiry 麻豆精品 S� that is always looking to advance medical knowledge.
麻豆精品 S淩esearch is the currency of progress, 麻豆精品 S� she says.
The conference featured poster and oral presentations on a variety of topics, such as using AI to better diagnose and manage diseases, improving critical reasoning in medical students, and ways to improve care for patients with conditions including cancer, schizophrenia, type 2 diabetes, sleep apnea and high blood pressure. Because of the FIRE course and the college 麻豆精品 S檚 research focus, many UCF medical students present and publish their scientific discoveries before ever graduating from medical school.
Outdoor Exercise and Positive Mental Health
Soloveychik says he became interested in exercise and mental health when his parents moved to Village Walk in Lake Nona and his dad became 麻豆精品 S渙bsessed 麻豆精品 S� with pickleball. The two play often and he wondered, did group activities provide more mental health benefits than exercising alone because of the social connections involved? So he analyzed data from the Lake Nona Life Project 麻豆精品 S� an extensive health survey of people who live, work and engage in activities in Lake Nona. The scientific project, led by Eric Schrimshaw, chair of population health sciences at the College of Medicine, in collaboration with the Lake Nona Institute, is designed to identify community health needs and offer solutions to make Lake Nona healthier. Participants answer survey questions about their health, including how much and where they exercise, their social interactions, work habits and levels of depression and anxiety.
Soloveychik analyzed survey data from more than 350 participants and found that while group exercise was not associated with reduced depression as originally expected, outdoor activities 麻豆精品 S� whether done in groups or individually 麻豆精品 S� were positive for mental health.
麻豆精品 S淕etting outside, a change of scenery, being in the sun and listening to the birds provides mental health benefits, 麻豆精品 S� he says. Unsurprisingly, those who reported no exercise of any kind reported greater depression.
Starlla Dabady hopes to become an OB/GYN and her FIRE project focused on her passion for improving the health of mothers and babies. She studied a new program at Orlando Health that focused on improving outcomes for 25,000 patients at risk for serious pregnancy-related complications. Orlando Health provided telehealth, nurse navigators and a midwife mobile clinic that provided ultrasound and other services at the patient 麻豆精品 S檚 home. It gave mothers at-home blood pressure and blood sugar monitors to better manage their chronic health problems. Dabady spent the summer between her first and second year of medical school working with the program, where she saw its impact firsthand.
麻豆精品 S淩esearch is important because you want to prove that what you 麻豆精品 S檙e doing is having an impact, 麻豆精品 S� she says. 麻豆精品 S淩esearch helps us strengthen what we are doing and improve our services. When I was working with the program I could see how I helped one patient. With research, I could see the impact we had on so many. 麻豆精品 S�
Student, Researcher Connect Through Science
Aaron Geril came to UCF 麻豆精品 S檚 medical school with a dream to fight cancer, a disease that has affected members of his family. At a mentor fair designed to link students with potential FIRE advisors, he met Otto Phanstiel, a UCF medicinal chemist who has dedicated his career to finding a cure for pancreatic cancer, one of the deadliest forms of the disease. The two connected over science. Geril 麻豆精品 S檚 FIRE project focused on developing inhibitors to a protein that is a master regulator of cancer cell growth signaling pathways. The goal 麻豆精品 S� stop the signaling and stop cancer 麻豆精品 S檚 ability to grow and spread.
He says his research project gave him the opportunity to 麻豆精品 S済o behind the scenes and see how medical discoveries are actually made. 麻豆精品 S�
Lindsey Ammann worked with physicians at Nemours Children 麻豆精品 S檚 Health in Orlando and Delaware to study whether children who are treated with a high-flow nasal cannula for bronchiolitis have an increased risk for asthma later in childhood. The cannula is commonly used for severe bronchiolitis, especially when children require hospitalization. She studied 4,736 children who went to the hospital system 麻豆精品 S檚 emergency room with bronchiolitis between 2015 and 2023 and found those treated with the cannula had a 10% higher chance of getting asthma. She said she hopes the findings will lead to more research and systems for following children more closely after they have high-flow nasal cannulas.
How Research Experience Creates Better Doctors
Robert Hines, a College of Medicine Population Health Sciences professor and researcher, is co-director of the FIRE course. He says the two-year research experience helps medical students develop curiosity, critical thinking and resilience 麻豆精品 S� in addition to honing their scientific presentation skills.
麻豆精品 S淲ith the pace that medicine is advancing today, future physicians must be able to understand and evaluate medical research to practice evidence-based medicine, 麻豆精品 S� he says.
Lane Coffee, the FIRE course 麻豆精品 S檚 other co-director, is a nationally recognized leader in collaborative and team science, particularly with the National Institutes of Health. He came to the medical school to advance clinical and translational research and has now helped start the FIRE+ (Plus) program, that will encourage M.D. candidates to continue their research through all four years of training.
麻豆精品 S淩esearch is critically important to move science forward and to improve patient care, 麻豆精品 S� he says. 麻豆精品 S淢edical students who conduct research gain an appreciation for, and an understanding of, the importance of scientific discovery and the methodology and processes that encompass it. These skills will be vitally important as they begin to practice medicine and all along their careers. 麻豆精品 S�
Students and faculty members judged all of the research presentations. Here are their awardees:
Student Selected Best Poster Presentation
First 麻豆精品 S� Suvleen Singh
Second 麻豆精品 S� Manasa Satyajit
Third 麻豆精品 S� Matthew Vaccaro
Faculty Selected Best Poster Presentation
First 麻豆精品 S� Lindsey Ammann
Second 麻豆精品 S� Nicole Miralles Muia
Third 麻豆精品 S� Andrew Willmer
Student Selected Best Oral Presentation
First 麻豆精品 S� Kennie Brandt
Second 麻豆精品 S� Jeremy Sheiber
Third 麻豆精品 S� Pascal Escobar
Faculty Selected Best Oral Presentation
First 麻豆精品 S� Kennie Brandt
Second 麻豆精品 S� Jeremy Sheiber
Third 麻豆精品 S� Katrina Russell
