Musculoskeletal Research Committee

To connect students with the information and faculty needed to guide and maximize medical student's time to choose, start and complete research of the highest quality.

Ankur Khanna
Senior Advisor to the Chairman
akhann@lsuhsc.edu

Tara Korbal

Committee Chairman

tmakar@lsuhsc.edu

Robby Branstetter

Chair-Elect

rbran5@lsuhsc.edu

About the Committee

The Musculoskeletal Research Committee is a group of faculty and staff from the Orthopedic department, along with three students selected annually to represent the committee, with the purpose of connecting current LSUHSC medical students with faculty and potential research projects. The Musculoskeletal Research Committee holds 3 or more annual meetings for students ranging from how to start research with our custom research routing form, to IRB applications, to how to log and analyze data, to writing papers and presenting at research conferences. The committee prides itself on having a dedicated statistician, a biostatistician pioneering big data projects, and a professional writer to guide students along the way. The three students hold the positions of Chair-Election, Chair, and Senior Adviser to the Chair. The Chair-Elect is an incoming L2 whose main job is to connect students with research projects, facilitate communications between faculty and students and to help students one-on-one with individual project needs. The Chair of the committee is an L3 whose main role is to be the voice of the committee, holding educational meetings for students and increasing student interest in research. Lastly, the senior-adviser to the chair is an L4 whose role is to advise the chair and chair-elect on all topics as the most experience student member of the committee. Overall, the goal of the Musculoskeletal Research Committee is to increase research productivity among LSUHSC medical students.

Committee

Senior Advisor to the Chair: Ankur Khanna, L4: akhann@lsuhsc.edu (on research leave 2023-2024)

Chair: Tara Korbal, L3: tmakar@lsuhsc.edu

Chair-Elect: Robby Branstetter, L2: rbran5@lsuhsc.edu

Advisors

Vinod Dasa MD, Irvin Cahen Endowed Professor and Vice Chair Department of Orthopaedic Surgery: vdasa@lsuhsc.edu

Claudia Leonardi, PhD, Assistant Professor in Research, BCHS, PhD, Assistant Professor of Research: cleon1@lsuhsc.edu

Support

Research Coordinator: Ms. Elaine Hicks, MS/LIS, MPH, MCHES: ehick1@lsuhsc.edu

Administrative Assistant: Ms. Edwina Jackson: ejack9@lsuhsc.edu

MSK Committee 2023