"It's an Outstanding Achievement," Mentor says
MAYWOOD, Ill. -- Angela Kelle hasn't finished medical school yet, but already has published seven studies in peer-reviewed medical journals.
Ms. Kelle is a fourth-year medical student at Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine and will graduate with Honors in Research. She lives in Forest Park.
"It is very, rare for a student to have published this many papers," said Kelle's mentor, Dr. Linda Brubaker, associate dean for clinical and translational research at Stritch. "It is an outstanding achievement."
Ms. Kelle is first author of two published studies and co-author of five published studies in such journals as Annals of Thoracic Surgery and Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery. She is first author of an eighth paper that has been accepted for publication.
Kelle's research focuses on surgical outcomes in pediatric heart patients. She was inspired by her cousin's daughter, who was born with a congenital defect called hypoplastic left heart syndrome.
While she was an undergraduate at Northwestern University, Kelle began doing medical research at Children's Memorial Hospital under the guidance of Dr. Carl Backer, division head of cardiovascular-thoracic surgery. Throughout medical school, she has continued doing research at Children's during breaks and summer vacations.
Kelle plans to become a pediatrician, and would like to continue to conduct research at an academic medical center. "Research is an excellent way to contribute to the field," she said. "I find it very rewarding."
Stritch faculty members encourage and mentor student researchers. Research opportunities include an eight-week summer program called Student Training in Approaches to Research (STAR). Mentors guide student research projects and help them prepare research proposals and applications.
Loyola University Health System (LUHS) is a member of Trinity Health. Based in the western suburbs of Chicago, LUHS is a quaternary care system with a 61-acre main medical center campus, the 36-acre Gottlieb Memorial Hospital campus and more than 30 primary and specialty care facilities in Cook, Will and DuPage counties. The medical center campus is conveniently located in Maywood, 13 miles west of the Chicago Loop and 8 miles east of Oak Brook, Ill. The heart of the medical center campus, Loyola University Hospital, is a 569-licensed-bed facility. It houses a Level 1 Trauma Center, a Burn Center and the Ronald McDonald® Children’s Hospital of Loyola University Medical Center. Also on campus are the Cardinal Bernardin Cancer Center, Loyola Outpatient Center, Center for Heart & Vascular Medicine and Loyola Oral Health Center as well as the LUC Stritch School of Medicine, the LUC Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing and the Loyola Center for Fitness. Loyola's Gottlieb campus in Melrose Park includes the 264-licensed-bed community hospital, the Professional Office Building housing 150 private practice clinics, the Adult Day Care, the Gottlieb Center for Fitness, Loyola Center for Metabolic Surgery and Bariatric Care and the Loyola Cancer Care & Research at the Marjorie G. Weinberg Cancer Center at Melrose Park.