Annual Research Day on May 7 
Keynote Speech by Dr. Orphir from Cornell University

May 1, 2025

More than 80 research projects will be on display during the PCOM South Georgia annual Research Day on Wednesday, May 7. PCOM student physicians, residents from Georgia South and Archbold, and physicians from area healthcare systems will share their most recent scholarly work during poster sessions and brief podium talks.

A variety of topics will be discussed, including:

• “Mapping genetic risk factors for cardiac arrhythmias: A multi-population GWAS using All of Us research data” presented by Daniel Chanelo (DO ’28), PCOM South Georgia student physician.
• “Optimizing treatment for infantile hemangiomas: A case report on the use of timolol and timing of oral propranolol initiation” presented by Makayla Farr (DO ’26), PCOM South Georgia student physician in collaboration with Georgia South Family Medicine Residency.
• “Postpartum hemorrhage in the absence of traditional risk factors: A clinical perspective” presented by Lisandra Chinea Ramos (DO ’26), PCOM South Georgia student in collaboration with Georgia South Family Medicine Residency.
• “Pyogenic granuloma at the ileocecal junction: Unusual culprit of chronic anemia and intussusception” presented by Xavia Taylor, DO ’23, PCOM South Georgia alumna and PGY-2 Internal Medicine Resident with Archbold Medical Center.

The keynote speaker for Research Day will be Alexander Ophir, PhD, Professor of Psychology at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. He will present “Sources of reproductive decision-making and their practical applications using Krogh’s principle.” His speech will open the event at noon in the multipurpose room.

Dr. Ophir describes his work as focusing “on the interaction of social behavior and reproductive decision-making.” Using primarily rodents, Dr. Ophir and his team conduct laboratory and fieldwork research methods, neural manipulations, histology, and genomic/epigenetic methods to comprehend individual variation in genes, brain and behavior. They focus specifically on monogamy and social attachment; alternative reproductive tactics; parental care; early-life experience on development; socio-spatial cognition; mate choice; animal communication; reproductive decision-making; and the substrates governing the social brain.

Dr. Ophir joined Cornell’s Department of Psychology in 2013. He was previously a member of the Department of Zoology faculty at Oklahoma State University and the University of Florida. He earned a bachelor's degree in behavioral neuroendocrinology from the University of Texas and a doctoral degree in animal behavior at McMaster University. His work has been featured in many professional scientific journals and popular publications, such as National Geographic, Newsweek, the LA Times and the New York Times.

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