{"id":1442,"date":"2015-02-04T17:11:59","date_gmt":"2015-02-04T21:11:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/ebuckhor\/?page_id=1442"},"modified":"2015-02-04T17:11:59","modified_gmt":"2015-02-04T21:11:59","slug":"leading-the-way","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/reporter-winter2015\/features\/leading-the-way\/","title":{"rendered":"Leading The Way"},"content":{"rendered":"

Alumnus oversees pipeline of five Trinity grads in research post<\/em>
\nby Maura King Scully<\/em><\/p>\n

\"mandm\"<\/a>
William Macaulay, M.D., \u201986, P’18 confers with Taylor Murtaugh \u201914.
Photo by Chris Herder<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Taylor Murtaugh \u201914 started this past summer as a research coordinator in the clinical research program of William Macaulay, M.D., \u201986, P\u201918, Nas S. Eftekhar Professor of Clinical Orthopedic Surgery and division chief of adult reconstruction at New York-Presbyterian Hospital, Columbia University.<\/p>\n

\u201cMostly, I look at outcomes based on patient surveys. We are currently comparing alignment and angle data in hip- and knee-replacement patients who had robotic versus non-robotic surgery,\u201d Murtaugh says. It\u2019s a process that involves \u201ccoordinating with patients, collecting data, and a lot of number crunching.\u201d<\/p>\n

Studies such as these inform the practice of what\u2019s known as evidence-based medicine\u2013using outcomes of well-designed research to guide health care decision making.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really like it,\u201d says Murtaugh, six weeks into the job. \u201cI\u2019m interested in going to medical school, and this job exposes you to so much. I feel like I\u2019ve learned a ton already. Dr. Macaulay is a great mentor.\u201d<\/p>\n

Murtaugh is actually the fifth consecutive Trinity graduate to hold this coveted position. It\u2019s no accident: it\u2019s a pipeline nurtured by Macaulay and Chemistry Professor and Department Chair Tim Curran, as well as a string of gifted recent graduates.<\/p>\n

In the Beginning<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"yoon\"<\/a>
Richard Yoon, M.D., \u201905, speaks to Trinity\u2019s Summer Science Research Program students during the summer of 2014.
Photo by John Atashian<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The story starts in 2005 with Richard Yoon, M.D., \u201905, who wanted to go to medical school but wasn\u2019t quite ready. Curran was his adviser. \u201cI encouraged him to go to the career center, find Trinity alumni in the sciences, and see if he could line up an opportunity to get some research experience,\u201d Curran explains.<\/p>\n

Yoon searched for graduates at academic medical centers in Boston and New York. \u201cI e-mailed five or six that afternoon,\u201d Yoon says. \u201cBill Macaulay got right back to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

The timing was fortuitous: Macaulay\u2019s current research coordinator was leaving for graduate school. After talking by phone, Macaulay invited Yoon down to New York for an interview.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a big job,\u201d Yoon remembers. \u201cDr. Macaulay needed someone to do data collection, data mining, and budgets, and to coordinate with the institutional review board, which oversees plans for research involving human subjects\u2013basically, manage the entire lab in addition to writing and publishing completed studies.\u201d As a soon-to-be new graduate, Yoon was eager but green. \u201cDr. Macaulay took a chance hiring me. He asked for a two-year commitment but wanted a trial period, saying, \u2018Let\u2019s see how you do in the first six months.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n

Macaulay, who also serves as director of the Center for Hip and Knee Replacement and director of the Fellowship Program in Hip and Knee Surgery at Columbia, in addition to chief of orthopedic surgery at New York-Presbyterian Lawrence Hospital, says he was impressed by Yoon\u2019s energy and enthusiasm. \u201cHis story reminded me of my story,\u201d he explains. \u201cAfter Trinity, I didn\u2019t feel quite ready for medical school either. I took two years off and did research at Rockefeller University.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yoon told him, \u201cIf you give me this opportunity, I will take advantage of it.\u201d And he did. He taught himself statistics, which included auditing a graduate-level course. \u201cDr. Macaulay\u2019s time was really limited,\u201d Yoon explains. \u201cI found there were several bumps on the road to publishing a paper, waiting for statistics being a major one. If I didn\u2019t figure out how to do something on my own, I\u2019d be waiting for a long time. And I wasn\u2019t going to wait around.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yoon\u2019s initiative paid off. He co-authored 15 papers while working with Macaulay. Now a resident in orthopedic surgery at the NYU Hospital for Joint Diseases, Yoon is still collaborating on research studies with his former mentor.<\/p>\n

Passing It On<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"morrison\"<\/a>
Todd A. Morrison, M.D., \u201907, orthopedic surgical resident, University Hospitals Case Medical Center
Photo courtesy of University Hospitals Case Medical Center<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When Yoon was accepted into medical school, Macaulay asked if he knew anyone at Trinity who would be interested in taking his place. Yoon called Curran, who referred Todd Morrison, M.D., \u201907. A biochemistry major, Morrison was part of Trinity Health Fellows, a rigorous program combining course work with 30-hour-per-week internships with physicians at area medical centers.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had interned with a clinical researcher at Connecticut Children\u2019s Medical Center and loved it,\u201d Morrison says. \u201cI knew that it was exactly what I wanted to do before I went to medical school.\u201d So when Yoon called, Morrison jumped at the chance.<\/p>\n

In his two years on the job, Morrison says, he learned much more than science. \u201cIt was a lot of creative problem solving and teamwork,\u201d he notes. He also found his specialty: he\u2019s now an orthopedic surgery resident at University Hospitals Case Medical Center in Cleveland, Ohio. \u201cI saw real patient outcomes in orthopedics\u2013the fact that you could provide relief from pain and restore quality of life. I wanted to see that impact in my own work.\u201d<\/p>\n

Morrison passed the baton to Jonathan Nyce \u201909, currently between his third and fourth year at Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston. Nyce won\u2019t be following the orthopedic route: his chosen specialty is pediatrics. However, he is currently taking a year to do a clinical research certificate program, which he credits to his time at Columbia. \u201cLike Dr. Macaulay, I want to be able to research questions and then translate those to my own practice,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

With Curran\u2019s help, Nyce recruited David \u201cDJ\u201d Patrick, Jr. \u201911, who has the distinction of being the first Trinity graduate to spend three years with Macaulay (something Murtaugh says she plans to do as well). This summer, Patrick joined the Air Force as a second lieutenant and has just started his first year of medical school at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland.<\/p>\n

Common Threads<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"macauley\"<\/a>Trinity College and a love of research are the common threads tying these graduates together. \u201cThe hallmark of the sciences at Trinity is that students have the opportunity to do research from early on,\u201d says Curran. \u201cIndependent research sets our students apart.\u201d<\/p>\n

And research is a game changer for medical school applicants. \u201cApplying to medical school is ultracompetitive,\u201d says Nyce. \u201cBeing able to talk with attending physicians about research you\u2019ve been involved in is hugely helpful.\u201d<\/p>\n

Macaulay touts research for its ability to teach\u2013himself, as well as aspiring doctors. \u201cIt\u2019s why I\u2019m at an academic medical center,\u201d he explains. In addition to practicing medicine, \u201cI\u2019m able to improve upon what we\u2019re offering patients while also teaching the next generation of clinicians.\u201d<\/p>\n

And the alumni research coordinators are grateful to Trinity, Curran, and Macaulay for the experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m thankful to them all: the Chemistry Department and Dr. Curran for getting me ready, and Dr. Macaulay for jump-starting my career,\u201d says Yoon. \u201cYears from now, when I\u2019m in their shoes, I hope I get the chance to give someone else a shot.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Alumnus oversees pipeline of five Trinity grads in research post by Maura King Scully Taylor Murtaugh \u201914 started this past<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":34,"featured_media":0,"parent":1464,"menu_order":2,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-full-width.php","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/reporter-winter2015\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1442"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/reporter-winter2015\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/reporter-winter2015\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/reporter-winter2015\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/34"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/reporter-winter2015\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1442"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/reporter-winter2015\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1442\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/reporter-winter2015\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1464"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/reporter-winter2015\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1442"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}