Karen Zanni, current student of The Bioethics Program wins NIH Summer Fellowship:

 

The NIH/National Institutes of Nursing Research (NINR) summer genetics institute (SGI) is a competitive intensive research fellowship designed to provide a foundation in genetics for use in research and clinical practice. The purpose of NINR SGI is to develop and expand the research capability among graduate students and faculty in schools of nursing, and to develop and expand the basis for clinical practice in genetics among advanced practice nurses. The program features both classroom and laboratory components and participants spend two months in residence at the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland. Graduates of the fellowship program receive twelve hours of Georgetown University doctoral college credit. SGI fellows are expected to write NIH-style research proposals that incorporate some aspect of genetics with nursing. 

 

Karen’s research will look at infant hearing loss and the connexin 26 gene in a diverse ethnic population. To further address epidemiology and natural history of connexin-related hearing loss, She will conduct a longitudinal study in an ethnically diverse cohort of infants and toddlers under 3 years of age.  Her study will compare infants with and without connexin-related hearing loss to examine differences in the prevalence of connexin and non-connexin-related hearing loss by ethnic origin, detection by newborn hearing screening, phenotype, neonatal risk factors, and family history.