Sadie Thompson presenting her poster at the COEHP Honor’s Symposium

Author : Sadie Thompson | Major: Exercise Science | Semester: Spring 2025

My name is Sadie Thompson and I’m a senior exercise science major in the College of
Education and Health Professions. I conducted research under my advisor, Dr. Megan Rosa-
Caldwell in the Energy Availability and Muscle Metabolism Lab within the department of
Health, Human Performance, and Recreation. The goal of our lab is to investigate the underlying
and potentially long-term health complications of anorexia nervosa using rat models. During the
2025 Spring semester, my primary focus was wrapping up data collection for MRI brain scans,
and PCR testing and analyzing all the data. After everything was finalized, I focused on making
my poster, writing my thesis, and attending/presenting at various events. I will be graduating in
May and plan on gaining more patient care experience and job shadowing hours before applying
to PT or PA school.
My primary research topic for my project is investigating the neurophysiological effects
of anorexia nervosa (AN) on hypothalamic hormone synthesis and brain matter alterations in
various stages of weight recovery. AN has one of the highest mortality rates amongst all other
psychiatric disorders and causes many different health complications, some of which aren’t
directly perceivable and can be long-term. By studying the effects of AN on an individual, we
can contribute to the understanding of long-lasting physiological implications which in turn can
help progress the potential development of therapeutic interventions.
In the Spring of 2024, I was lucky enough to stumble upon Dr. Rosa-Caldwell’s lab early
in the semester by getting an email about professors who were looking for students to work in
their lab. When I saw that she researched AN, I knew I wanted to join her lab for my thesis
project because I had always been interested in learning more about AN and eating disorders in
general. Choosing my research topic was somewhat of a challenge because I had to come up
with something that hasn’t been researched before. I was passionate about women’s health and
very interested in endocrinology and neuroscience, so I knew I wanted to focus on something in
that realm. Eventually, with the help of Dr. RC and reading a bunch of previous literature, I was
able to narrow down my topic to focus on the comparison of hormone synthesis within the
hypothalamus and brain matter alterations throughout the stages of AN recovery. Throughout
preforming data collection/analysis and reading prior research, I’ve learned about the
disturbances AN can have on the production of key hormones and how it’s possible these
complications may persist after weight recovery. Our results showed a significant reduction in
gray matter during short-term recovery and white matter after long-term recovery. This is
suggestive of long-lasting alterations that could potentially occur within an individual with a
history of AN. However, further investigation is needed to determine the functionality of these
structures and processes.
Dr. Rosa-Caldwell has been a tremendous help in every aspect of this project. From
choosing a research topic to performing PCR testing, she has guided me along every step of the
way. She has taught me so much about the research world I never knew existed, and I’m so
grateful for her mentorship. My lab team has also helped me so much in navigating this new
environment. It has been so fun working alongside them and supporting each other’s projects.
I’m very thankful for the community I found while being involved in this lab.
This semester I attended multiple different conferences and symposiums such as the
Central States ACSM conference in Fayetteville and the APS National conference in Baltimore,
Maryland as well as university sponsored events. At Central States I competed in the
Outstanding Student Research Competition and won the award for undergraduate oral
presentation. I also presented at the HHPR symposium and won the award for outstanding
undergraduate oral presentation which was very exciting! While in Baltimore, I presented a
poster presentation and was able to network with many individuals in a similar field which was
an awesome opportunity. Overall, this semester was full of exciting opportunities that I’ll carry
with me into my future endeavors.
After I graduate in May, I plan on gaining more patient care hours and job shadowing
hours to prepare for graduate school. I plan on applying to either PT or PA school and getting
more hours will help with my decision on which to apply to. I’m very excited to enter this new
chapter and can’t wait to see what the future holds!