Research at NYITCOM

An Environment of Discovery

Our research and development efforts at NYITCOM are on an impressive trajectory, as we continue to:

  • Recruit top-level, research-intensive faculty from around the globe.
  • Solidify our infrastructure with new state-of-the-art technology and research equipment.
  • Receive grants from such prestigious funding agencies as:
    • National Institutes of Health
    • National Science Foundation
    • Michael J. Fox Foundation
    • American Heart Association
    • American Diabetes Association

NYITCOM student and faculty researchers present their important findings at major national and international conferences and in peer-reviewed scientific and medical journals.

Student Research Opportunities

Our students are actively involved in the college’s leading-edge research through fellowships, summer research programs, and the faculty-student mentoring program. In addition, through the Advanced Research Core, undergraduate students participate in NYITCOM research projects.

NYITCOM Student Research Policies And Procedures

  • NYITCOM medical students may only start research/scholarly activity after successfully completing their first year, first term of classes, without being in academic difficulty.
  • For students doing research/scholarly activity with an NYITCOM faculty member, they must complete and submit a Student Worker Form to the Office of Research. This requirement applies no matter how small the student activity/contribution is. All research/scholarly activities are included, e.g., laboratory research, clinical research, educational research, public health or public policy research, literature review, IRB submission, data analysis, etc.
  • Student Worker Forms can be obtained by contacting Ramona Buschel-Tracy (rbuschel@nyit.edu). The required information includes:
    • Faculty mentor
    • Project period
    • Project location
    • Project title/description
    • Required training
  • Prior to starting any research/scholarly activity, students must complete the required training for their research/scholarly activity, as determined by their research mentor and sponsoring institution.
  • For students doing research at an external site, requests by the external site for a letter of good standing or other information for an NYITCOM student from NYITCOM must go through the NYITCOM administrative vetting process.
  • NYITCOM Summer Research Training Certificate program
    • Students who go through the NYITCOM summer research training certificate will be offered research rotations at external sites as opportunities become available.
    • For the sake of streamlining, all certificate students will take the online HIPAA training course at the beginning of their research certificate and will be provided with a list of other health clearance items that may be requested by hospital rotation sites.
    • Both students from Long Island and Jonesboro may take the summer research certificate course, but we will only match the Long Island students to New York sites. Jonesboro will do its own matching and will contact us if a student wants to work with a New York site.

Current Research

Research activities at NYITCOM encompass a range of areas—from basic biology, clinical medicine, and patient outcomes to health policy, global health, and medical education. Find out more about ongoing NYITCOM research in:

Recent Publications

DiFrancisco-Donoghue, Joanne, Hallie Zwibel, and William G. Werner. “Sitting for Success: A Randomized Controlled Study on the Impact of Chair Design on Muscle Stiffness and Performance in Video Gamers,” Journal of Electronic Gaming and Esports 3, 1 (2025), jege.2024-0018, accessed Jun 11, 2025

DiFrancisco-Donoghue, J., Jung, M.-K., Balentine, M. J., & Zwibel, H. (2025). “Where Muscle Matters: How Regional Differences, Pain, and Gender Define Gamer Health,” International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 22(5), 687.

Chong, L.; Husain, G.; Nasef, D.; Vathappallil, P.; Matalia, M.; Toma, M. “Machine Learning Strategies for Improved Cardiovascular Disease Detection,” Medical Research Archives 2025, 13(1), pp. 1-13.

Toma, M.; Mayer, J.; Bekbolatova, M.; Devine, T.; Ryo, P. “Impact of Convulsive Maternal Seizures on Fetus Dynamics,” International Journal for Numerical Methods in Biomedical Engineering 2024, 41(1). 

International Advisory Committee on AI in Medical Education. Nino, McCoy, Masters et al. “Artificial Intelligence in Medical Education: The 2025 IACAI Vision and Integration Frameworks.” January 1 2025. 

Recent Research Grants Funded

Bernadette Riley, DO – AACOM Food As Medicine Grant ($7,500) entitled: “An Interdisciplinary approach to Food as Medicine and obesity medicine training in CME: A Culinary Medicine Hands-On Workshop: Integrating Nutrition Education Across the Medical Education Continuum”. Grant period – 1/1/25-6/30/25

Jayme Mancini, DO, PhD – AOA ($100,000) entitled: “Fluid dynamics of concussion in mixed martial arts in a pilot randomized controlled trial of OMM”. Grant period – 9/1/24-2/28/26

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