Disser wins 2023 Kuckein Student Research Fellowship
The Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society has named Nathaniel Disser, MS4, as a 2023 recipient of the Carolyn L. Kuckein Student Research Fellowship.
“This award has been a culmination of the support from the Molecular and Translational Medicine Scholarly Concentration at McGovern and mentorship from Dr. Scott Rodeo at HSS,” Disser said. “As an aspiring clinician-scientist in orthopedics, it has been exciting to be immersed in environments where I can learn how to help patients restore function after injury and explore clinically relevant research questions to help address current gaps in their care. I am very grateful to receive this award as the next step in this journey.”
The Carolyn L. Kuckein Student Research Fellowship aims to develop the next generation of medical researchers. The award offers financial support for research focusing on clinical investigation, basic laboratory research, epidemiology, social science/health services research, leadership, or professionalism. The award carries a $6,000 prize, including $1,000 to cover travel expenses related to the presentation of Fellowship research results at a national meeting or conference.
Disser’s research will focus on orthopedic soft tissue injuries, such as injuries to tendons and ligaments, and specifically concerning the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). A common sports medicine injury, ACL reconstruction typically requires 6-12 months of intensive rehabilitation and presents a range of patient outcomes.
“Currently, there are no robust pre-operative biomarkers than can be used prognostically for post-operative patient outcomes,” Disser said in his proposal. “A group of laboratory biomarkers have become increasingly studies for their role in identifying systemic inflammation across a variety of diseases and include lymphocyte to monocyte ration (LMR), neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet to lymphocyte ratio (PLR), neutrophil to monocyte ration (NMR), and platelet to mean platelet volume ratio.”
Though these ratios have been recently studied in numerous types of cancer and inflammatory diseases, Disser notes that within orthopedics, only a handful of studies have explored this area. This study will investigate the association of these markers with functional recovery after ACL reconstruction, including strength, range of motion, and knee stability, as well as patient-reported outcomes.
“Results from this project will determine if newly identified markers of systemic inflammation have prognostic value for outcomes following ACL reconstruction with the hope of helping improve surgical management and rehabilitation in future patients sustaining ACL tears,” Disser said.
Eugene Boisaubin, MD, co-councilor of Delta Chapter of Alpha Omega Alpha and professor emeritus in the John P. McGovern Center for Humanities and Ethics, who has helped support student proposals for this award over many years and noted, “this is an extremely competitive national award and UTHealth Houston has been very fortunate to have several of our medical students in recent years become recipients.”