Research and Development

The mission of IQuESt is mission is to improve health and well-being through innovations in health care delivery.

Learn more about IQuESt. 
 

The mission of CTRID is to foster collaborative research on inflammatory diseases at MEDVAMC aimed at improving the health and well-being of Veterans.

Learn more about CTRID. 
 

The mission of the South Central MIRECC is to promote equity in engagement, access, and quality of mental health care for Veterans facing barriers to care, especially rural Veterans.

Learn more about MIRECC.
 

• Salary of approximately $17/hour for a full-time summer experience 
• Research and career mentoring 
• Stipend for research supplies and books 
• Social activities and field trips in addition to research curriculum 

• Must be a U.S. citizen 
• Actively enrolled in a college, university, or community college 
• By summer, be a rising junior or senior 
• Interested in a career in science, medicine, or psychology, or a related field 
• We are especially interested in supporting the career development of individuals who have been historically underrepresented in science careers, such as those who are first-generation college students, those who grew up in rural or underserved areas, those from underrepresented racial or ethnic groups, LGBTQ+ individuals, individuals with disabilities, and Veterans. Individuals from these groups are strongly encouraged to apply.

• Applications are currently OPEN
• Virtual Q&A Session for Interested Applicants: Date To Be Announced

This session will allow students to learn more about our program, virtually “meet” mentors, and learn more about available opportunities in their labs. Email us to learn more! 

• Application Deadline: November 15, 2024
• Acceptance Emails: January 2025
• Student Acceptance Deadline: February 3, 2025
•  Houston VA Summer Undergraduate Research Program Length of Program: June 2, 2025 - August 8, 2025 (10 weeks)

• Resume
• Copy of current transcript (unofficial copy is acceptable) 
• Contact information for one professional reference (non-family member) 
• Completed prompts in application (below) about career goals and interests

Email Inquiries

VHAHOURSLsummerresearch@va.gov 

Program Directors

Natalie Hundt, PhD

Rolando Rumbaut, MD, PhD 

Recruitment Coordinator

Christopher Legier, MA

Amspoker, Amber Bush, PhD 

Research Interests: Community mental health care in rural settings; Evaluation of user data; quality improvement (QI) projects.

Balakrishnan, Maya, MD, MPH

Research Interests: Cultural adaptation of programs, weight loss, Mexican and Central American Patients with metabolic dysfunction; Liver disease.

Boykin, Derrecka, PhD

Research Interests: Mental health equity, Health care access, Rural Veterans, Women Veterans, Interpersonal Trauma exposure (e.g., MST).

Campbell, Rosalyn, PhD, LMSW

Research Interests: Mental health, illness, and wellness in marginalized and underserved populations; Reducing the stigma of mental illness; the use of qualitative methods in mental health research.

Corry, David, MD

Research Interests: Fungal upper and lower airway disease, fungal brain disease, cystic fibrosis.

Cruz, Miguel A., PhD

Research Interests: thrombosis, inflammation, von Willebrand Factor, vimentin platelet adhesion, extracellular hemoglobin and thrombosis.  

Cully, Jeffrey, PhD

Research Interests: Mental health; depression; anxiety; evidence-based psychotherapy; rural mental health. 

Dang, Bich Ngoc, MD

Research Interests: HIV prevention, community engagement, disparities. 

Dawson, Darius B., PhD

Research Interests: Health equity in mental health treatment; tobacco cessation; anxiety disorders in minoritized populations. 

Ecker, Anthony, PhD

Research Interests: Anxiety, PTSD, Substance Use Disorders, Telemental Health. 

Fletcher, Terri L., PhD

Research Interests: Anxiety disorders, implementation of effective mental health treatments, diagnostic accuracy. 

Giardina, Traber Lee, PhD, MSW

Research Interests: Disparities in diagnosis, social media, misdiagnosis, and health equity; Older adults, timely diagnosis of dementia. 

Godwin, Kyler M, PhD

Research Interests: Quality improvement, implementation science, health professions education. 

Haltom, Trenton M., PhD

Research Interests: Men’s Reproductive Health; Gender; Military and Veterans. 

Helmer, Drew A., MD, MS

Research Interests: Clinical Evaluation of Montelukast on Cognitive and Mood Dysfunction and Neuroinflammation in Veterans with Gulf War Illness (GWI), DoD/CDMRP. 

Hundt, Natalie E., PhD

Research Interests: PTSD, OCD, access to mental health care, implementation of evidence-based psychotherapies. 

Kamdar, Nipa P., PhD

Research Interests: Social determinants of health, Community Engaged Approaches. 

Kanzler, Kathryn E., PsyD

Research Interests: Health psychology; adapting evidence-based treatments; implementation science; integrated primary care; mindfulness-based interventions; military psychology. 

Kheradmand, Farrah, MD

Research Interests: Pathogenesis of COPD (human and animal models), vaping associated lung disease and injury, lung cancer basic research and clinical trials. 

Lam, Fong, MD

Research Interests: Platelet-leukocyte-endothelial interactions in inflammation and thrombosis. 

Pandit, Lavannya, MD

Research Interests: Pulmonary vascular disease and pulmonary fibrosis. 

Rodriguez-Barradas, Maria, MD

Research Interests: HIV infection, comorbidities and outcomes, pneumococcal vaccines, acute respiratory illness/pneumonia. 

Rumbaut, Rolando E., MD, PhD

Research Interests: Microvascular dysfunction in inflammation, thrombosis, sepsis. 

Salas, Ramiro, PhD

Research Interests: Opioid use disorders, mood disorders.

Sandulache, Vlad, MD, PhD

Research Interests: Developing metabolically based methods for overcoming resistance to conventional radiation and chemotherapy in solid tumors, building a combined pathomic-transcriptomic machine learning algorithm capable of predicting chemo-radiation response in head and neck cancer. 

Sansgiry, Shubhada, PhD

Research Interests: Statistics and methods, randomized trials, longitudinal data, VA databases, pharmacy and pharmaceuticals. 

Sheikh-Hamad, David, MD

Research Interests: Kidney disease.

Skelton, Felicia, MD

Research Interests: Spinal cord injury (SCI); complications of spinal cord injury such as UTI, neurogenic bladder, pressure sores; Telehealth for Rural Veterans with SCI. 

Thiagarajan, Perumal, MD

Research Interests: Causes and consequences of transbilayer movement of anionic phospholipids in hemostasis, mechanism of hypercoagulable state in Lupus anticoagulant/ antiphospholipid antibody syndrome.

Thomas, Sandhya, MD

Research Interests: Identifying novel mechanisms that contribute to the insulin resistance commonly found in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD).

Thomas, Ynhi Thai, MD, MPH

Research Interests: Early symptoms of post-traumatic stress post-injury, Suicide prevention, Sex and gender medicine, Health equity. 

Touchett, Hilary N., PhD, RN

Research Interests: Spinal Cord Injury, Mental Health, Telehealth, Virtual Reality. 

Trautner, Barbara, MD, PhD

Research Interests: Urinary tract infections, antibiotic stewardship, guidelines implementation. 

Vijayan, Vinod, PhD

Research Interests: To study the role of platelet phosphatases in thrombosis, sepsis and cancer metastasis. 

Villareal, Dennis, MD

Research Interests: Amelioration of frailty in sarcopenic obesity. 

Villareal, Reina, MD

Research Interests: Obesity and hypogonadism and the effect of weight loss on gonadal hormones, body composition and bone, effect of testosterone on bone quality in men with hypogonadism and type 2 diabetes. 

Yao, Qizhi Cathy, MD, PhD

Research Interests: Pancreatic cancer pathogenesis and immunotherapy, coagulopathy in pancreatic cancer, identifications of biomarkers for pancreatic cancer.

Yee, Andrew, PhD

Research Interests: von Willebrand factor, hemostasis, thrombosis, inflammation.

Click here to access the application for the Houston VA Summer Research Program

Questions? Please send email to VHAHOURSLsummerresearch@va.gov.