A trio of nursing students at Meridian Community College recently partnered with Ivy League researchers and a fellow Mississippi native on an adolescent health study.
The three MCC students – Kaylee Pogue, Matelyn Herrington, and Brinley Dearman – joined researchers at Brown University for a one-day initiative held in Meridian. The study is led by Mississippi native Dr. Erica Walker, who founded the Community Noise Lab at Brown.
Titled “Mississippi and Alabama Adolescent Environmental Health Study: Greater Meridian,” the study’s portion at MCC included the trio of local students assisting with fieldwork like gathering blood samples, taking spirometry readings, collecting nail clippings, and measuring height, weight, and blood pressure of subjects.
The study focuses on youth ages 12 to 17 and looks at how environmental factors affect adolescent health. Participants who qualified completed a series of health screenings and were compensated for their time.
Over the next five years, researchers from Brown will continue to monitor their health and environmental exposure with future support from MCC.
Beforehand, MCC nursing students helped recruit participants through flyers, social media, and word of mouth. They also trained on equipment and protocols, observed a similar study in Mendenhall, and worked closely with instructors to prepare.
“We had to recruit participants, which also meant explaining every detail of the study and why we are doing it to those participants and their families,” said Herrington, a 22-year-old nursing student from Enterprise. “I had to do my own research into the project to put myself in their shoes to be able to better explain why this study is so important and why this is such a great thing to be part of.”
MCC nursing instructor Kristy Dickerson and chemistry instructor Dr. Angie Carraway assisted the students throughout their portion of the study.
