Speakers - AWC 2024

Biography

Krista Hammaker is a third-year medical student at Northeast Ohio Medical University’s M.D. program who has been involved in clinical research since 2008. At age 17 and under the mentorship of Dr. Rebecca Bascom, MD, MPH, she began drafting permanent impairment ratings for patients with occupational lung disease. She assisted with the creation of a tissue repository for research. Under the mentorship of Dr. David Campbell, MD, she completed a cohort study of medical versus surgical management of massive pulmonary embolism (PE), which led to a revision of Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center’s PE treatment protocol. She presented at the American Association of Ophthalmic Oncologists & Pathologists (AAOOP) conference at age 21. Before starting medical school, she studied naturopathic medicine at Bastyr University, where she learned about herbal medicine and supplement research, sourcing, and manufacturing. While studying naturopathic medicine, she worked with Dr. Laurie Mischley, ND, Ph.D. on a qualitative study of the effectiveness of cannabis in the palliation of Parkinson’s disease, with Dr. Leanna Standish, ND, Ph.D., on a retrospective matched con- trol review of breast cancer survival in women treated with integrative medicine. With Dr. Standish, KH helped achieve the first FDA approval for human research with ayahuasca—a Phase 1 safety and dose-finding study of ayahuasca tea in healthy adults (IND 131217). She has earned a Certificate in Clinical Research from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, and other notable research efforts include a study of long-term outcomes of neoadjuvant chemoradiation and esophagectomy, as well as employed research positions funded by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) and Sleep and Behavioral Neuroscience Center at the University of Pittsburgh.