A new research immersion is putting student veterans at the center of research that could shape care for the broader veteran community.
Hunter Pyke ’27 spent four years as a U.S. Marine Corps anti-tank missileman before enrolling at Syracuse University. Matthew Soukup ’27 served 11 years in the Navy as an aviation electronics technician. Varun Gollapudi ’27 was a U.S. Army flight paramedic and now serves as a detachment sergeant for Forward Resuscitative Surgical Detachment in the Army Reserves. This summer, all three spent eight weeks in research settings studying issues related to the mental health and well-being of veterans just like them.
It’s the kind of opportunity that reflects why Syracuse University has become the best place for veteran and military-connected students—not just supporting them but putting them at the center of research that could shape care for the broader veteran community.
The three rising seniors made up the inaugural cohort of the Veteran and Military Learning Scholars Summer Program, which paired them with faculty mentors from Syracuse’s Center for Health Behavior Research and Innovation (CHB). Over 20-hour weeks, the students dug into cutting-edge research, mental health care, and community programming for veterans and military service members. They conducted a meta-analysis of student veteran mental health. They also helped with a study aimed at encouraging healthier alcohol-related behavior among veterans in VA integrated primary care settings. Their research also stretched into issues of post-traumatic stress disorder, chronic pain, moral injury and suicide prevention.