WashU Medicine faculty and fellows recognized at Confluence awards
Brown and Morgan among several WashU Medicine faculty and fellows recognized at the Confluence Award Research Showcase
Postdoctoral research fellow Victoria Brown, PhD, (left) and Kerri Morgan, PhD, (right), an associate professor of occupational therapy, are among several WashU Medicine faculty and fellows recognized at the Confluence Award Research Showcase.
WashU Medicine was well represented at the annual Confluence Award Research Showcase that took place at the Clark-Fox Forum on April 15, 2026.
The event recognizes WashU faculty members and learners as well as their community partners who work together toward novel approaches and impactful research that aim to benefit the St. Louis region.
This year, six WashU Medicine faculty members and fellows were recognized, including:
Victoria Brown, PhD, a postdoctoral research fellow in the Public Health Sciences Division of the Department of Surgery, received the Provost Impact Award for Early Career Community-Engaged Research. She received the award for her work titled “REBIRTH: Revitalizing Birth in Rural Communities of Southeast Missouri.” Community partners included Bootheel Perinatal Network, Building Blocks, Missouri Bootheel Regional Consortium, MPower – Mississippi County Health Department, ParentLink and It Takes a Village.
Brown’s work explores how rural southeastern Missouri has quietly transformed into one of the largest maternity care “deserts” in the Mid-South. Her project develops community-supported solutions to the rural maternity crisis by engaging the families and communities most affected by the loss of local maternity care. By interviewing local families, clinicians, and maternal and community health advocates from across the region, the study explores new models of maternity care that could emerge to fill in the gaps left by maternity unit closures.
Kerri Morgan, PhD, an associate professor in the Program in Occupational Therapy, was one of five recipients of the Provost Impact Award. Her research was titled “Wheelchair user physical activity training intervention to enhance cardiometabolic health (WATCH): A community-based randomized control trial.” She worked with community partner Annie Morrow, chief program officer of Paraquad, a center in St. Louis designed to empower people with disabilities.
The project examines the impact of tailored, intensity-controlled physical activity training on cardiometabolic health in wheelchair users, who face elevated risks for obesity and related conditions. In a community-based randomized trial, she assessed cardiorespiratory fitness, vascular function, body composition and physical activity. Preliminary results show improved intensity across sessions and sustained physical activity after completion of the interventions. The project is a collaboration with a community partner and a community advisory board. Findings from the trial will inform physical activity guidelines and support community-based health promotion for wheelchair users.
Several other WashU Medicine faculty members and fellows received Special Recognition for Collaborative Research:
- Devin Banks, PhD, an assistant professor of psychiatry, conducted a research project that found a drop-in center improves mental health and social service access among the unhoused.
- Robert Fitzgerald, PhD, an associate professor of psychiatry, helped develop a monitoring program to understand the prevalence and trends of St. Louisans living with autism spectrum disorder and other developmental disabilities.
- Hannah Szlyk, PhD, an assistant professor of psychiatry, helped test a substance use app called mHealth, seeking to improve engagement and promote more equitable treatment outcomes across racial groups.
- Aishwarya Vijay, MD, a third-year clinical fellow/cardiologist fellow, co-designed the “Home-Based Engagement and Remote Treatment for Hypertension” to help curb rising maternal mortality rates through telehealth, home visits, blood pressure support and care navigation.
