18th Annual Graduate School Research and Education Symposium
The Army-Baylor University Graduate Program in Health and Business Administration demonstrated exceptional leadership and scholarship during the 18th Annual Graduate School Research and Education Symposium (GSRES), hosted by the Medical Center of Excellence at UT Health San Antonio in June 2026. This year's symposium, held under the theme Advancing Operational Medicine by Transforming Tomorrow: Knowledge, Technology, and Society, brought together more than 250 faculty and students from across the Graduate School to showcase research, foster interdisciplinary collaboration and advance military medical education.
A notable distinction for the Army-Baylor Program was the leadership of Lt. Col. Allison Ferro, assistant professor at the Army-Baylor MHA/MBA Program, who served as the officer-in-charge for the symposium. Under her leadership, the Graduate School successfully executed its premier annual scholarly event, reinforcing the Army-Baylor Program's commitment to excellence in research and education.
Army-Baylor faculty and students made substantial contributions to the symposium, submitting 16 scholarly abstracts, including 12 student and four faculty submissions. Research topics addressed critical issues in military and federal healthcare, including operational medicine, healthcare leadership, behavioral health, clinical innovation, bioethics, patient safety, workforce readiness and health policy.
The program's scholarship was recognized across the Graduate School through five competitive symposium awards, including:
- Top Student Abstract Award – Maj. Jessica Nanzer, Collaborative Documentation in Behavioral Health.
- Student Innovation Award – Maj. Theresa Galan, Sodium Thiosulfate and Audiometric Ototoxicity Monitoring to Reduce the Risk and Impact of Cisplatin-Induced Hearing Loss in Children.
- Top Faculty Abstract Award – Maj. Joshua Fansler, Psychiatric Hospitalization & Military Retention: Evidence from Emergency Department Admission Decisions.
- Top Faculty Abstract Award – Lt. Col. Tiara Walz, Rethinking Casualty Evacuation: Applying a Bioethical Lens to Unmanned Casualty Evacuation in Large-Scale Combat Operations.
These accomplishments demonstrate the strength of the Army-Baylor Program's culture of scholarship and its commitment to integrating research throughout the curriculum. Faculty mentorship and student engagement in scholarly inquiry directly support program learning outcomes related to evidence-based decision-making, critical thinking, communication, leadership and healthcare innovation. Students disseminated research addressing operationally relevant challenges facing the Military Health System while learning from colleagues across multiple graduate healthcare disciplines. The Army-Baylor Program's outstanding representation at GSRES reflects the effectiveness of its competency-based curriculum in preparing graduates to conduct meaningful scholarship, translate evidence into practice and contribute to the advancement of military and federal healthcare.
