Me in the HPER Building, where my research is taking place.
Author: Emerson Kaiser | Major: Public Health | Semester: Fall 2022
My name is Emerson Kaiser and I am in the College of Education and Health Professions Honors Program. My major is Public Health, and after graduating, I plan to apply to Physician Assistant school. My research mentor is Dr. Michelle Gray from the Department of Health, Human Performance, and Recreation. This semester, Fall 2022, I started my research on whether education level impacts cognition differently in middle-aged individuals versus older individuals.
Alzheimer’s Disease and other dementias are extremely detrimental to a person’s life and the lives of their loved ones. Higher education has been shown to delay the onset of dementia. Through my research, I wanted to see if there is a notable difference in the way higher education impacts the mind in middle age and older age. Discovering more about the factors that delay and prevent dementia is important for learning more about the disease to lead to a cure and/or effective treatments. I knew I wanted to do something related to aging and dementia for my honors research, because I am interested in working with Alzheimer’s patients in my future career as a Physician Assistant.
I found my mentor, Dr. Gray, through browsing the faculty profiles online. I saw that her research interests involve older adults and cognition throughout the lifespan, so I decided to reach out to learn more. Dr. Gray makes research exciting, and I truly look forward to going to our weekly research team meetings because I know I will not only learn something new, but I will have fun while doing so. I have appreciated that Dr. Gray gives me the guidance I need, while also challenging me to figure out some of the research process on my own. Dr. Page Dobbs is another member of my thesis committee. Dr. Dobbs gives valuable feedback and has been a great resource while navigating my honors research. The master’s and PhD students on our research team have also played a huge role in helping me be successful.
This semester, I focused on collecting data and beginning to analyze that data. My target population for my study is adults aged 45-75. I met some awesome participants with cool stories while collecting data for my research, which is the part of this process I have enjoyed most so far. The biggest challenge I faced this semester was the statistics side of research. I took a statistics course my freshman year, but applying those concepts in a real-life scenario proved to be a real challenge. One of the PhD students on our research team has been an incredible resource, and my understanding of statistics has improved significantly since the beginning of the semester. I have learned that problem-solving is a large part of undergraduate research, and you really do learn as you go, but the skills gained will undoubtedly translate to future plans and other aspects of life.
The Honors College Research Grant is to thank for allowing my research project to come to life. In the Spring semester of 2022, I will wrap up my data analysis, compile my results, and continue the writing portion of my thesis. My current plan is to present my findings at the College of Education and Health Professions Honors Research Symposium.