Research Office
Welcome to the Research Webpage of the College of Health Sciences!
Old Dominion University is rapidly developing into a major research university, with research funding growing from roughly $11 million in 1991 to $33 million in 2002. An example of ODU's success in the application of technology to health-related issues, the Virginia Modeling, Analysis and Simulation Center (VMASC) is developing a national center in Medical Modeling and Simulation and, as well, is involved in research to quantify prostate surgery success, among other projects.
The College of Health Sciences is strategically evolving as a major contributor to health research efforts at Old Dominion University. Our research efforts build upon the College's long standing teaching programs in Nursing, Community and Environmental Health, Dental Hygiene, Physical Therapy, and Medical and Radiation Technology. We are particularly proud of our relatively new doctoral programs in both Health Services Research and Physical Therapy which serve to both train new researchers as well as to build research in the College.
There is a new sense of excitement over Research in the College of Health Sciences, with the arrival this year of our new Dean, Andrew Balas, and the creation of a new position of Associate Dean for Research. Adding to this excitement, new faculty are joining the College and bringing with them new energy and enthusiasm for research.
Please allow us to introduce you to some of the research efforts found in the College of Health Sciences, all linked by a common focus upon improving the health of the community. We invite you to look over the following links to summaries of research activities in our Schools to learn more about our faculty research interests and to see our accomplishments to date. Come visit us again and see our progress!
School of Community and Environmental Health
- Community and Environmental Health faculty are involved in a variety of studies. Community and Environmental Health faculty have had extensive federal funding to conduct research in the area of medical informatics and use of information to improve patient care as well as in the areas of minority mental health and substance abuse. Other major research areas include: adjustment of women in battered women's shelters, 2) health effects of exposure to toxic substances in the environment, 3) development of screening/intervention approaches to help dental practitioners identify eating disorders, and 4) development of measures to study spirituality and spiritual change among individuals in substance abuse treatment.
Gene W. Hirschfeld School of Dental Hygiene
- Our Dental Hygiene program boasts the first and only Dental Hygiene Research Center in the country and faculty have recently published at least 5 major dental hygiene textbooks. The Research Center has been particularly successful in the development of collaborative clinical studies evaluating the effectiveness of different dental technologies. A major technological development was the design of the ODU 11/12 Explorer dental instrument, a popular dental probe representing a highly successful collaboration between Dental Hygiene faculty and industry.
School of Medical Laboratory and Radiation Technology
- Medical Laboratory and Radiation Technology faculty have extensive laboratory research capabilities and have been involved in a variety of research studies including: 1) Ergogenic effects of supplements on athletic performance in collaboration with faculty from Exercise Science, 2) Use of a glucosensor watch in exercising type two diabetics, 3) Ergonomic studies of cytotechnologists, 4) Asbestos and related disease in lung tissue, and 5) Endocervical adenocarcinoma in situ in the female genital system.
School of Nursing
- Our Nursing faculty boast a best-selling textbook on Pharmacology in Nursing practice and have been quite successful in acquiring federal grant funding. They are developing a Center for Nursing Research and Scholarship and currently have 3 HRSA-funded projects to develop their research emphasis upon establishing best practices for culturally competent patient care designed to maximize patient outcomes with diverse populations. In line with other simulation and modeling initiatives at ODU, our School of Nursing is also developing a 'virtual hospital', the Monarch Hospital for training purposes and are developing innovative techniques in the use of simulated patients to increase the ability of nurses to deliver high quality patient care.
School of Physical Therapy
- Our Physical Therapy faculty have been involved with a number of studies of sports injuries and collaborate extensively with other ODU faculty. In particular, Physical Therapy has a well-developed Motion Analysis Laboratory for the study of human motion and forces under normal and pathological conditions and our faculty collaborate on teaching and research projects with faculty in Exercise Science and Electrical and Computer Engineering. The Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) program also collaborates extensively with Eastern Virginia Medical School in exploring the use of 'standardized patients' for improving patient care. Faculty are also involved in several unique studies including: 1) an analysis of factors influencing the receipt of physical therapy services among stroke patients, and 2) factors contributing to choice of physical therapy as a specialty by minority individuals.
