SPH Epidemiology Student Wins Dean's Award at BU Science and Engineering Day
Krista Huybrechts, a doctoral candidate in epidemiology, has been honored with the School of Public Health Dean’s Award for research she is conducting on the safety of psychotropic medications used in older residents living in nursing homes.
The award was presented at the 2010 BU Science and Engineering Day. Huybrechts was one of a dozen BU graduate students to win an award at the March 30 university-wide event. BUSPH Dean Robert Meenan presented Huybrechts with the award and a prize of $500 at an April 21 luncheon.
“It is very encouraging and rewarding to have your work be recognized,” Huybrechts said.
For her study, Huybrechts examined the effect of antipsychotic medication use on mortality in older nursing home residents, using different approaches to account for variables that might distort the association estimated in non-randomized studies. Excess use of such drugs in nursing homes has been a concern for decades, said her thesis advisor, Kenneth Rothman.
“Krista’s thesis addresses important substantive and methodologic issues,” said Rothman, a professor of epidemiology who has been working with Huybrechts since 2007. “With an aging population and a growing segment institutionalized in nursing homes, the use of psychotropic drugs in such settings is an important public health concern.”
The annual science and engineering symposium is designed to highlight graduate students’ scientific research on both the Charles River and Medical Center campuses.
Submitted by Elana Zak