Research Topic & IRB

Wow, I'm finally home in New Orleans for spring break (see PHAST) after a maddening late-night dash to get my background/introduction written and sent to Cheryl, my PI and MHIRT mentor.

Our main research project has been the role of optimism/pessimism on pregnancy outcomes, with cross-cultural implications across China, Ghana, and the United States. A few weeks ago, the outcome of postpartum depression was thrown into the mix, and since it didn't fall into the optimism protocol, we had to file a new one. This is great experience...drafting a real live protocol (i.e. attached to money) to be submitted for IRB approval. The goal is to get the IRB app in this week so that the months-long approval process can be settled before I start the research in Beijing.

I'm really happy with where we're going with the project...more on that later. (^O^)

China Pre-departure Seminar

That's right, BEIJING ROX! What you see is 4/5 of the fantabulous team of MHIRT students from University of Michigan going to Beijing University this summer. Yasmin (R) and I are working together on the pregnancy outcomes project at Peking University First Hospital, and Thomas, LaShawndra (the two in the middle), and Karen (not shown) are working on a self-regulation project on the main university campus.

Each country team (the others being Chile, Ghana, South Africa, and Jamaica) presents info and food about the country at pre-departure seminars before the trip. We were the second team to go, and I will say that we were SOLID. Thomas and Yasmin cooked the Chinese stir-fry, LaShawndra got all the food, Karen gave cooking tips, and I worked on the presentation (with everyone's contributions) and bingo game (that's the old JET coming out). Altogether, this is a great sign for our group!