Abstract Highlights – Innovation, Relevance, Challenges

With the deadline for abstract submissions to RSU Research Week 2023 fast approaching, we decided to take a look at the gems that have already been submitted and highlight some of the titles that we found particularly intriguing.

The backbone of Research Week is the medical conference Knowledge for Use in Practice. This conference will traverse the boundaries of current medical knowledge on a molecular level with topics such as “MiRNAs as potential biomarkers in myalgic encephalomyelitis / chronic fatigue syndrome” and “A novel approach to increase Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids for cardiometabolic disease management”.

• Innovative technologies in critical care will be covered in titles like “Prediction of sepsis using machine learning methods on MIMIC-III database” and “Blood purification using the AN69ST hemofilter as a treatment modality for critically ill septic patient”.
• The previous conference was dedicated to COVID-19 and there is a plethora of knowledge that was generated during the pandemic. This can be seen in topics like “Burnout and symptoms of depression during COVID-19 pandemic in Latvian medical residents” and “The role of matrix metalloproteinase 8 in the acute COVID-19”.
• Among some provocative titles we can highlight “Obstetrician / gynaecologists’ and midwives‘ view on Caesarean section by maternal request. Has anything changed over 17 Years?”.
• Exciting discussions of a rare-diseases can be expected and will include cases of Menetrier disease, sinonasal olfactory neuroblastoma, atypical Munchausen syndrome, and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis with primary Sjögren's syndrome, among others.

Authors participating in the public health conference Society. Health. Welfare will discuss important issues that modern health-care systems face, as well as tools to mitigate them with titles including “Process flows of an emergency department – How process modeling and simulation can help improve the efficiency and quality of patient care”, “Assessment of readiness of Latvian health care system for the implementation of value based health care approach”, and “Interaction between physical and psychoemotional load for operating unit health staff”.

• Research week is an international event, hence we will also hear about public health issues worldwide with topics like “Challenges in preventive health care for children up to age 1 in Bulgaria”, “Community pharmacy policy reform in Nova Scotia, Canada during COVID-19”, and “Older adults’ digital inclusion: new challenges for Lithuanian social policy”.

Let’s not forget that the social sciences are an integral part of Rīga Stradiņš University (RSU). The social science conference PLACES will offer its take on pressing topics in law, politics, economics, and beyond with exciting titles like “Legal aspects of informed consent and personal autonomy in clinical trials involving artificial intelligence”, “Latvian doctors and medical Students on assisted dying”, “Positive criminology: an innovative approach to crime prevention in Latvia”, and “Dynamics of populist parties in European Union countries from 2013 to 2022”.

Research week also hosts a dedicated conference for education technologies: University Teaching and Learning. This conference will include a fair share of intriguing titles such as “Is artificial intelligence, including Chat GPT and others, a professor's assistant or a threat in the process of legal education”, “Training of military medics at Rīga Medical Institute for the needs of the Soviet Army (1950–1990)”, and “Technical innovations for a successful simulated hospital”.

These are just some of the highlights that have already submitted to this year’s Research Week. All abstracts are valuable and important to us and to the world of science, so don’t be late to finish and submit your work by 20 January!