With just months to go until their graduation date, fourth-year Podiatry students Alexandra Heidtmann Nobre and Lahari Madulapally have published their research in the Foot & Ankle Online Journal, the official publication for the International Foot & Ankle Foundation for Research and Education. The articles — “Congenital amniotic band constriction of the proximal tibia: A Yucatan project case report” and “Distal lower extremity manifestations in spina bifida patients of the Yucatan Peninsula: A 24-year retrospective case series” — were co-authored by Barry assistant professors Luis Rodriguez Anaya, DPM, and Daniel Cawley, DC, MS.
Both publications stemmed from years of clinical research gathered through Barry University’s Yucatan Crippled Children’s Project, initiated in 1996 by Dr. Charles Southerland, former professor of Barry’s School of Podiatric Medicine. In the years since, the Yucatan Project has provided critical podiatric care to the medically underserved populations of the Yucatan Peninsula. Select third- and fourth-year podiatry students and clinical faculty typically embark on four mission trips to the region each year, enabling opportunities for crucial data gathering on long-term patient outcomes. Local partners, including the Red Cross hospital in the city of Merida and the Desarrollo Integral de la Familia (DIF) in Progreso, have also been essential to continued patient care and record keeping.
Since he began participating in the Yucatan missions in 2011, Dr. Rodriguez Anaya has recognized the wealth of research opportunities available through the project’s 25-year history. He credits student doctor Heidtmann Nobre with initiating these new studies, both of which shed light on clinical outcomes and persistent barriers to continued care in the Yucatan region. “She started the process of collecting and analyzing all the data,” he says. “After a couple of months into the work, student doctor Lahari Madulapally, who has research experience and was also interested in research, came on board and helped us analyze the data and statistical analysis. Dr. Cawley was involved during the whole process, and his anatomical knowledge was critical to our work,” says Rodriguez Anaya.
Congratulations to Alexandra Heidtmann Nobre, Lahari Madulapally, and faculty mentors Drs. Rodriguez Anaya and Cawley.