Texas Chiropractic College students give presentations at national conferences

Three Texas Chiropractic College students joined colleagues from around the country recently, representing the college and their research teams in two presentations at national conferences, according to a college news release.

Joseph Urrea, Gabrielle Williams and Kelley Humphries had posters accepted for the National Center for Human Performance Annual Meetings student research competition in Pasadena, with Urrea taking third place in that competition, according to the release.

In addition, Humphries performed a presentation at the annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students in San Jose, Calif., according to the release.

In August, Humphries also presented the findings of a spring 2012 research study, "Thoracolumbar spinal manipulation impact on exercise performance," at the ACA Sports Council Symposium in Arizona. She won first place and $3,000 for the college.

It was the first year the college has competed in these poster competitions, according to the release.

That was only the most recent good news for the college.

In addition, TCC won a $10,350 grant from the chiropractic insurer NCMIC in August to aid student research efforts. Faculty member John Ward and Jesse Coats will be using part of the award to fund six $1,100 student research development grants, according to the release.

"As a faculty member and researcher, it's very exciting to have our students actively engaged in the research process here at TCC," Ward said in the release. "I'm proud of the work Joseph, Gabby, Kelley and many of their classmates continue to further the chiropractic profession."

In Pasadena, Urrea's presentation was on the "relationship between orthopedic hip screening tests and peak force production in unilateral isometric and dynamic movements," according to the release. In the project, participants without physical symptoms were tested for hip function in four ways, then engaged in different exercises to see how well the test findings correlated with actual performance, according to the release.

Williams' presentation was on the "short-term impact of chiropractic spinal manipulation on cardiovascular physiology." The study measured the impact of spinal manipulation on blood pressure, EKGs, pulse oximetry and other cardiovascular attributes, according to the release.

The first part of this two-part study has received final approval for publication by the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics and should be published soon. The second part just received final approval for publication by Clinical Chiropractic.

At the earlier conference in San Jose, Humphries' presentation was on "systematic review of the use of complementary and alternative medicine by non-Hispanic blacks," according to the release.

That project is currently under review for publication consideration, the release states.