This project will include a brief overview of current postoperative pain management guidelines, the neurobiology of opioid pain relief, and the burden of opioid addiction faced by patients undergoing surgery. The bulk of the project consists of a thorough literature review of pain relief pathways in the brain and research exploring synergistic ways of relieving postoperative pain via neurobiology (such as complimentary receptor stimulation) that may decrease the narcotic requirement for adequate pain relief of postsurgical patients in the future. The literature review will then conclude in information synthesis and a scientific manuscript summarizing the current state of research on pain pathways. The findings are relevant to important topics in addressing the opioid epidemic.

Synergistic Pain Management for Postoperative Pain

This project involves a scientific viewpoint manuscript that examines the advantages, disadvantages, ethical considerations, and future directions for the use of artificial intelligence in surgery, with a particular focus on specific fields such as surgical oncology.

Ethical Considerations of Artificial Intelligence in General Surgery

This project reviews differences and disparities in access to care, type of breast reconstruction, and health outcomes among women who have survived breast cancer. Comparisons will be made based on the patients' racial and ethnic identities. This project offers an excellent opportunity to contribute to a growing body of knowledge on health disparities in order to address an important public health question.

Racial Disparities and Preferences in Breast Reconstruction

This project will review the changes in immune cell populations and cell signaling that occur during pregnancy. Pregnancy requires a delicate balance between turning down parts of the maternal immune system to allow fetal development while also ramping up other parts to protect mother and baby from infection and disease during pregnancy. This project will explore the immunologic pathways and how imbalances have been linked to negative health outcomes.