There are few experiences more exciting than being submersed in a community with vibrant diversity. That’s why Samadhi Moreno ’14 took a leap, leaving her home in Puerto Rico to study at Syracuse University.
“I wanted to go somewhere the complete opposite of home,” says Moreno. “I needed to go somewhere else and meet different people.”
At SU, Moreno started off studying medicine. She was always interested in healthcare. “There are a lot of issues with access to care where I’m from. So I said, ‘OK, medicine it is.’” But after taking a few public health classes, she was exposed to something new. “I got into this whole other aspect of healthcare. It’s not necessarily being a doctor, but prevention, treatment, and community issues.” She switched from biology to public health in her second year.
Through the Falk College Office of Research Development, Moreno got involved with the Syracuse Lead Study led by Brooks Gump, Falk Family Endowed Professor and Graduate Director of Public Health. The study explores the relationship between blood toxicant levels and cardiovascular risk factors in children. Moreno had a lot of interaction with members of the Syracuse community. “You need to know how to be culturally competent when you are dealing with people who are different from you.”
As part of the Syracuse Lead Study, Moreno and other students developed a wide variety of research-related skills. Moreno recalls working in data collection, surveying, and participant recruitment. “Students engage with participants in a complex protocol involving a blood draw, numerous psychosocial assessments, and measures of cardiovascular functioning,” notes Gump. “In this context, a great deal of experience is gained with respect to interfacing with participants in a compassionate manner, collecting data in difficult situations, and then managing that data.”
For Moreno, the Lead Study gave her a foundation to land a managerial role as a research assistant in graduate school at Boston University, where she continued her studies in public health, focused on healthcare management and policy. “I was supervising someone who was doing more of the day-to-day work and I was overseeing all the processes and the workflows.”
Now Moreno works at Upstate University Hospital, where data collection and analysis, Moreno says, is “what I do every single day.”
“The process of data collection is the bedrock for research,” Gump says. “Our research relies on the dedication of undergraduates and graduates working to gain the best data possible. These skills are readily transferable to the many instances of data collection as we continue to move to greater digitization of medical records. The proper treatment and processing of data at the ‘front end’ is integral to the quality of research findings.”