Carle Illinois College of Medicine’s new director of student research believes that the most powerful medical research discoveries and healthcare innovations start at the same place: at the bedside. Suguna Pappu, MD, PhD, Carle Neuroscience Institute, is leveraging her clinical expertise as a neurosurgeon and her research background to mentor physician-innovators seeking to impact patient care and advance the practice of medicine.
Dr. Pappu first came to Carle Illinois College of Medicine (CI MED) in 2021 as a clinical associate
professor, while also serving as a board-certified neurosurgeon at Carle Health. Her background and impressive credentials prepared her to contribute clinically and through research at the world’s first engineering-based college of medicine. She earned her doctorate in operations research from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, post-doctoral work in computer vision and medical image analysis, and an MD degree from Yale before completing her medical residency in neurosurgery.
“To make real headway in healthcare and medicine, you have to have a foot in both the clinic and in research,” said Dr. Pappu, who maintains an active neurosurgical practice at Carle specializing in spine, trauma and hydrocephalus.
At CI MED, Dr. Pappu has taken the lead on several research projects that leverage data analysis and engineering principles to solve real-world challenges in neuroscience and surgical practice. She’s worked with engineering students to design ergonomic devices to adapt surgery tools to fit smaller hands better, opening doors for more underrepresented women to practice in neurosurgery.
She’s also working on two new projects at CI MED that bridge the clinical and engineering research environments. One project seeks to engage the power of the 7T MRI scanner at Carle Foundation Hospital to map out the network of arteries and veins that supply blood and nutrients to the brain, and then use this high-resolution imaging to predict which aneurysms will rupture. A second project involving Dr. Pappu and other members of CI MED’s strong collaborative community uses the power of artificial intelligence to quantitatively identify early signs of dementia.
Apryl Martin, MD, Pediatric Anesthesiology at Carle Foundation Hospital, and clinical assistant professor of anesthiology at Carle Illinois College of Medicine, said, “Dr. Pappu is an exceptional surgeon, educator, and physician-scientist who is a valuable asset to the Carle Illinois College of Medicine. She has served in various roles to help students reach their full potential. Dr. Pappu encourages students to explore new possibilities and utilize technology and innovation to tackle challenges that directly impact patients and healthcare delivery.”
Supporting students as they explore their varied individual interests is key, says Dr. Pappu, to sparking medical research and innovations that improve healthcare. She is working to expand CI MED’s research enterprise, connecting physician-innovators with experts who can help them tackle important unknowns in medicine. “I’ve been putting together a research pod based in the university to help the students find a clinical collaborator in the hospital. The bridge between them (clinical and campus researchers) is the medical students,” she explained. “We’re also working a little bit backward, so if a student wants to go into orthopedic surgery or pediatrics, we help identify which labs the student can work with,” she said.
Dr. Pappu is encouraged by an increasing number of CI MED students, including more women, interested in neurosurgery – a competitive and demanding specialty in which women make up only about 8.4% of practitioners in the U.S. Dr. Pappu says though the field doesn’t suit everyone, neurosurgery and neuroscience research offer rich opportunities for groundbreaking advances.
“Neuroscience intersects with everything, and neurosurgery is a field that’s very open to innovation and technology, partly because the big problems are so rare that each time that you look, you see something new. Currently, the neural systems are the least understood, so that’s where there’s the most opportunity and the most excitement and scope in the field,” she said.
For Dr. Pappu, the opportunity to help advance CI MED’s research efforts is the culmination of her career experiences. “This was kind of my destiny, and to be in on the early time on this concept seemed like a perfect fit for me,” she said.
- Submitted by Carle Illinois College of Medicine
Categories: Culture of Quality, Community
Tags: Carle Foundation Hospital, Carle Illinois College of Medicine, Carle Neuroscience Institute, engineering, neurology