UNLV Health Sciences Research Symposium
February 27,2026
Engineering Building
Registration is free, and several prizes will be awarded for exciting work, so plan to submit an abstract by January 23,2026.
Symposium Contact
uhsrs-26@unlv.edu
welcome
We invite you to join us on February 27th 2026 for an exciting day of research across the health sciences. The mission of the UNLV Health Sciences Research Symposium is to advance discovery, innovation, and collaboration across the full spectrum of health-related disciplines. Through cross-disciplinary dialogue with researchers from other institutions, the symposium seeks to accelerate the development of knowledge, from the basic sciences to clinical applications. The Symposium brings together researchers, clinicians, educators, and students to share emerging evidence, exchange ideas, and foster opportunities to network and create new research directions.
Janet Dufek and Jenny Kent
Scientific Program Chair
Peter G. Kaufmann, PhD, FABMR
School of Integrated Health Sciences
Research Symposium Co-Chairs
Merrill R. Landers, PT, DPT, PhD, FAPTA
School of Integrated Health Sciences
Janet S. Dufek, PhD, FACSM
Jenny A. Kent, PhD, CSci
Organizing Committee
- Jaime Carbajal
- Janet Dufek
- Peter Kaufmann
- Jenny Kent
- Alexandria Meyer
- Ayan Sengupta
- Julia Freedman Silvernail
- Steven Slivka
- Chih-Huang Yu
- Staci Bueno
KEYNOTE SPEAKER
Jane M.
Simoni, PhD
Associate Director for Behavioral and Social Sciences Research and Director, Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research National Institutes of Health
Dr. Simoni has extensive experience in research focused on health disparities and resilience. Her intervention research has examined behavioral aspects of chronic illness, using mixed methods and clinical trials to evaluate strategies such as peer support, medical record alerts, provider training and counseling, and mobile health technologies to promote treatment engagement and improve health outcomes. Her work has used cutting-edge behavioral and social science methods and theory to help create and implement health promotion and disease prevention programs
