Geisel School of Medicine Hosts Inaugural Health Sciences Case Competition
The Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth recently hosted its inaugural Health Sciences Case Competition, a 40-hour event held April 17–19 that brought together curiosity, collaboration, and real-world problem solving. Over the course of the weekend, 24 students across eight multidisciplinary teams representing MS, MPH, and MD degree programs tackled a timely public health challenge.
Teams were asked to quantify the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on hospital-associated MRSA infections in the United States dating back to 2015. They explored whether state-level COVID-19 restrictions influenced those trends and incorporated key MRSA risk factors into their analyses. Drawing on publicly available datasets from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Healthcare Safety Network and the Social, Behavioral, and Economic COVID Coordinating Center led by the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research, students applied a wide range of analytical approaches to better understand how policy and public health intersect during a global crisis.
Each team submitted a 15-minute recorded presentation along with an executive summary, quality assurance report, and programming code. Their work was reviewed by a panel of faculty and content experts spanning public health, data science, biomedical sciences, and microbiology, including John Brand, PhD; Brittny Calsbeek, PhD; Jennifer A. Emond, PhD, MS; Monica Espinoza, PhD; Kristine A. Giffin, PhD; Yifei Gao, QBS doctoral student; Roland Lamb, MPH; and Daniel Schultz, PhD, who evaluated both the strength of modeling strategies and the clarity of each team’s policy-relevant insights.
“I am so impressed by the quality and ingenuity of students in addressing this important problem at the intersection of many disciplines,” said Espinoza, Curriculum Director for the MS Health Sciences Programs.
Among strong submissions, first place was awarded to Team 6. Cassidy Flanagan (MPH, hybrid), Rebecca Monaco (MPH), Stephanie Itumba (MPH), and Chayce Reed (MS in Health Data Science, online) were recognized for their project, MRSA in the COVID-19 Era: Trends, Policies and Public Health Implications in the United States. Their analysis stood out for its use of an interrupted time series to compare observed MRSA infections during the pandemic to a counterfactual scenario based on historical trends. The team also thoughtfully integrated existing literature to support their conclusions.
Second place was shared by two teams, each offering a distinct and compelling perspective on the data. Team 1, composed of Isabella Solaroli (MD) and Mengying Xia (MS in Health Data Science), demonstrated particular strength in data preprocessing and model diagnostics. Their fixed-effects regression approach accounted for repeated measures across states and revealed that COVID-19 transmission control policies had a differential impact on MRSA infection patterns compared to other policy types. Team 8, including Sage Palmedo (MD), Terry Flood (MS in Implementation Science, online), Isabelle Kressy (MS in Health Data Science), and Sarah Christensen (MS in Health Data Science, online), delivered a comprehensive analysis of MRSA trends before, during, and after the pandemic. Their work highlighted the importance of state-level risk factors, offering a forward-looking framework for identifying regions at higher risk of MRSA infections.
Winning teams received e-gift cards, and all participants who completed the challenge were recognized in appreciation of their efforts.
The inaugural competition reflected Geisel’s commitment to hands-on, interdisciplinary learning, creating space for students to engage deeply with health challenges while learning from one another. As the Health Sciences Case Competition looks ahead to the future, it sets a promising foundation for continued innovation, collaboration, and impact in health sciences education.
Written By: Mia Soucy