Kiana Fall ’23 publishes first author paper in BIOS journal

Kiana Fall ’23 was published as the primary contributor in the peer-reviewed academic journal BIOS for her research on female rats conducted during her senior seminar at Ripon College.

“My research was influenced by existing literature that linked the hormones estrogen and progesterone, which fluctuate significantly throughout the female menstrual cycle, to heightened anxiety levels in women compared to men,” Fall said.

Fall collaborated with Associate Professor of Biology Robin Forbes-Lorman on the article titled “No effect on behavior in a pilot study investigating the role of progesterone in nicotine withdrawal in female rats.”

“Kiana was interested in nicotine withdrawal in females so she designed a study administering nicotine in rodents along with progesterone,” Forbes-Lorman said. “She did a great job developing new techniques for my lab, in addition to quickly learning existing protocols. I was impressed with her research skills and ability to communicate her work.”

The hypothesis was that rats treated with progesterone would exhibit less severe nicotine withdrawal symptoms than the control rats.

“We were unable to determine the role of progesterone in nicotine withdrawal as nicotine dependence was not established; however, this topic is relevant for future clinical use in treating nicotine withdrawal symptoms, particularly in females,” Fall said in the paper’s abstract.

Fall said submitting this research for publication was not her initial intention and would not have happened without Forbes-Lorman.

“Her expertise and previous research was incredibly helpful for designing the procedures, collecting the data and analyzing the results,” Fall said.

Forbes-Lorman said it’s a big deal for undergraduates to have first author publications in peer-reviewed journals.

“One of my favorite things about working at a small undergraduate school is providing undergraduates with the opportunity to design and carry out meaningful and publishable research,” Forbes-Lorman said. “All of our students get the opportunity to do this, but only some take the initiative to publish in a peer-reviewed journal. The students that do gain invaluable experience in science communication.”

At Ripon, Fall majored in biology. She is currently pursuing a doctorate in physical therapy at Concordia University in St. Paul, Minnesota, with an anticipated graduation in May 2026.

“While this publication will not impact my future career as a physical therapist, the experience I gained from the process will be beneficial to my current research toward the requirements of my program,” Fall said. “My current research is much more related to my future profession as it is related to physical therapists addressing the fear of reinjury in individuals undergoing rehabilitation after an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction.”