General Surgery Resident Connie Shao, M.D., won second place in the UAB School of Public Health 2022 Research Poster Session for her poster, “Health literacy is associated with enhanced recovery adherence and post-operative outcomes.”

Shao presented her findings on the association of increased health literacy with greater adherence to individual components of enhanced recovery protocols among patients undergoing elective inpatient colorectal surgery. Increased adherence was also the only factor associated with shorter post-operative length of stay when accounting for patient- and procedure-level factors.

This year, the Office of Research invited all UAB School of Public Health undergraduate students, graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, staff, and faculty to present, attend, and take part in the annual Public Health Research Poster Session.

Shao is currently working on her Master’s of Public Health in Health Outcomes and was excited to place second among the other Masters level students.

Alumni, community, and university collaborators attended the poster session and learn about ongoing research at the School of Public Health, so presenters were met with a friendly audience ready to listen to their research.

Research presented at the session ranged from completed studies to early-stage concepts and pilot data. Through the session, the UAB School of Public health notes it hopes to stimulate networking among the SOPH community, celebrate the school’s commitment to scientific research and discovery, and express its appreciation to the university and community collaborators. 

The entire list of winners included, in order from first to third, included Robin Riddle, Ene "Mercy" Enogela, Aishwarya Kaushal in the doctoral category and Samuel Stowe, Connie Shao, and Nita Kanney in the masters category.