Students participating in the 2025 Shapiro Summer Research Program presented their work at the Annual Medical Student Research Forum on November 24, 2025. Students and their impressive presentations include:
Alyssa Solberg, mentored by Kara Hoppe, DO, PhD: Trends in Hypertensive Disorders of Pregnancy Highlight Persistent Racial and Rural-Urban Disparities: A Statewide Analysis
Bronwynn Ziemann, mentored by Bala Bhagavath, MD: Prevalence and Risk Factors for Cesarean Scar Defects
Brenen Skalitzky, mentored by Laura Cooney, MD: The Impact of Cesarean Scar Defects and Surgical Repair on Complications of Subsequent Pregnancies
Rachel Bayer, mentored by Manish Patankar, PhD: Exploring Oxidative Phosphorylation Inhibition and Mitochondrial Dynamics in Endometriosis Cell Lines
Anna Heintz, mentored by Bala Bhagavath, MD: Optimizing β-hCG Cutoffs to Predict Non-Viable Pregnancies in ART and Spontaneous Conceptions
Morgan Homme, mentored by Katie O’Brien, MD: Incidence of New Eating Disorders in Adolescents and Young Adults Using Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 (GLP-1) Agonists
Elizabeth Tressler, mentored by Aleks Stanic-Kostic, MD, PhD: Longitudinal serum biomarkers through 10-days postpartum in patients with and without hypertensive disorders of pregnancy
Congratulations to everyone on their presentations and for completing the program!
**by Ob-Gyn Communications Intern Melis Baskaya
Katie O’Brien, MD, assistant professor in the Division of Academic Specialists in Ob-Gyn, spoke to state media outlets about her work with adolescents. O’Brien, who is one of two specialty-trained pediatric adolescent gynecologists in Wisconsin, uses social media as a way to connect with patients:
"We know that they're getting their medical information mostly from interactions with their peers and from social media. So I usually start off my conversation whenever we're talking about a procedure or something that people are worried about, and I ask them what they've seen on TikTok so that we have a jumping off point.”
Read more about O’Brien’s work in stories from outlets across the state:
UW Health pediatric gynecologist connects with patients through social media - Channel 3000
UW Health doctor helps young patients address concerns by using a popular social media app - WKOW 27
UW Health gynecologist uses social media to help patients feel more comfortable - WIFR News
**by Ob-Gyn Communications Intern Melis Baskaya
For many young people, the idea of starting to get a period is at least a little bit stressful.
Katie O’Brien, MD, assistant professor in the Division of Academic Specialists in Ob-Gyn, helps kids and families in her pediatric and adolescent gynecology clinic feel more prepared for periods. She joined this episode of the Women’s Healthcast to talk about what periods are, how to choose the right period products for you, when to get help for heavy or painful periods, and more.
Listen to Preparing for Your First Period now!
Did you know the Women’s Healthcast is available on all your favorite podcast platforms? Whether you like to listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Podbean, or anywhere else, you can find us! (Just search Women’s Healthcast, and while you’re at it, may as well subscribe!)
