Anna Brake, a junior in Wichita State’s Honors Baccalaureate program, got involved in research her freshman year after reading about a project to develop a wearable fetal heart monitor. Now, she’s helping improve access to prenatal care in rural and underserved communities.

Wichita State University's research emphasis includes opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students, as well as faculty and staff, and extends across campus from aerospace to ancient civilizations and business administration to biochemistry. 

Anna Brake, junior in the Honors Baccalaureate program with a concentrations in public health sciences and biology.

Wichita, Kansas

Increasing Obstetrics Care Access in Rural and Underserved Areas: The Effect of Health Literacy

Dr. Nikki Keene Woods, professor and chair of Wichita State's Department of Public Health Sciences

During the fall of my freshman year, I read an article announcing that Dr. Keene Woods and her research partners had received funding from the National Institute of Health to develop a wearable fetal heart monitor. This research sounded so interesting to me, so I emailed Dr. Keene Woods, asking if I would be able to participate in the research. I ended up participating in the FYRE program; and through this program, I was able to begin my involvement in the wearable fetal heart monitor project that I am so thankful to still be working on today. I am very grateful that Dr. Keene Woods was so kind and included a freshman with no previous research experience in the project. I have so enjoyed learning more about the project and getting to assist with multiple aspects of the project.

We are working on creating a fetal heart monitor so that pregnant women can have their babies monitored by their health care provider remotely. This allows patients who have trouble getting to appointments or live in areas where they have to drive a long distance to see a provider to be able to have more consistent medical care.

I think it's fascinating that health care can be carried out in a remote setting, allowing people to have better access to health care. It is so cool that the remote health care methods that we saw gain popularity during COVID can help people in a more general way. Plus, being able to remotely monitor a fetus’ heart is such a cool concept.

I am so honored to be able to participate in Dr. Keene Woods’ research. She has become a mentor for me and has been incredibly encouraging to me throughout my college career. I began working on this research project two years ago during the spring of my freshman year. Dr. Keene Woods has encouraged me to participate in every research opportunity that this project has presented. I am so thankful to have presented at WSU's Kansas IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence (K-INBRE) for multiple years. I also was selected to present this research at the America Public Health Association’s yearly conference in fall 2024. Dr. Keene Woods is so talented and has helped me to grow in my abilities and do my best throughout college.

Through working with research, I have learned a great deal about perseverance. Sometimes, when one strategy doesn’t work, another will. I also enjoyed using different resources to learn the most that I could about my project. I think that research presents such a unique opportunity for students to network with professors and gain experience in new fields. I’m grateful that I have had a chance to learn about a new field through my work in research. I even had the chance to work on the engineering side of the project for a year, which exposed me to software that I had not yet utilized. I learned more about public health and engineering, and I even learned more about what midwifes do. I was challenged to be my best and learned so much along the way.

I would encourage every student at Wichita State who has an opportunity to do so to participate in research. It can create connections for students and open new opportunities, and it is a very nice on-campus job. There is so much in the world that we don’t understand or can learn more about, and research can open doors to so many amazing moments.

Wichita State University is Kansas' only urban public research university, enrolling more than 23,000 students between its main campus and WSU Tech, including students from every state in the U.S. and more than 100 countries. Wichita State and WSU Tech are recognized for being student centered and innovation driven.

Located in the largest city in the state with one of the highest concentrations in the United States of jobs involving science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), Wichita State University provides uniquely distinctive and innovative pathways of applied learning, applied research and career opportunities for all of our students. The National Science Foundation ranked WSU No. 1 in the nation for aerospace engineering R&D, No. 2 for industry-funded engineering R&D and No. 8 overall for engineering R&D.

The Innovation Campus, which is a physical extension of the Wichita State University main campus, is one of the nation’s largest and fastest-growing research/innovation parks, encompassing over 120 acres and is home to a number of global companies and organizations.

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