Media Coverage

Newsday Taps Nizich’s Expertise for Ransomware Story

Oct 15, 2022

Insight from cybersecurity expert Michael Nizich, Ph.D., director of the Entrepreneurship and Technology Innovation Center, was featured in a follow-up Newsday article regarding Suffolk County’s ransomware attack. Nizich, who was quoted in a related story a week earlier, notes that if hackers were in the county’s system months before the full-on attack, they likely gained critical intelligence on what to steal. 

“Basically, they’re kind of casing the neighborhood. They’re looking for the most valuable items, the richest data they can obtain, and that’s database files,” he said.

 

Medical Students Publish Cancer Treatment Commentary

Oct 14, 2022

As seen in Inside Precision Medicine, NYITCOM students working in the laboratory of cancer biologist Dong Zhang, Ph.D., associate professor of biomedical sciences, call for more effective, less toxic cancer treatments.

In Zhang’s laboratory, the researchers are investigating treatments to target alternative lengthening of telomere (ALT) cancers. While these cancers account for only an estimated 10 to 15 percent of cancer cases, they include some of the deadliest cancers, including glioblastoma, osteosarcoma, and pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors. While many cancer treatments work by targeting telomerase, an enzyme that allows for cancer cell reproduction, ALT cancers lack this enzyme and are, therefore, more challenging to treat. The only current treatment option is chemotherapy, which is known to injure healthy cells and cause unpleasant side effects.

Now, the researchers call for a targeted, less toxic form of therapy (ALT inhibitors) and discuss the biomarkers for diagnosing ALT-positive cancers in the clinic. Student authors include Manrose Singh, Danny MacKenzie, Sanket Desai, and Noelle Batista.

 

New York Tech Featured in International Enrollment Story

Oct 08, 2022

Newsday reported on international students’ return to Long Island colleges and universities post-pandemic. Referencing this semester and international student enrollment, “We’re back up to 540 just in new students that came in this year, which we are very happy about,” said Joseph Posillico, Ed.D., vice president of enrollment management. Karen Vahey, Ed.D, dean of admissions and financial aid, shared that foreign students are offered similar academic scholarships as U.S. residents and that they “play an important role in the learning and living environment” at New York Tech. Newsday also interviewed Abdulhadi Badran, a student from Saudi Arabia, who is studying biotechnology.  In speaking about studying in the U.S., he said, “Here you get the experience and knowledge much better than in Saudi Arabia. Plus the language: You need English everywhere, and the best way to learn it is to go here, or to Great Britain.”

 

Newsday Interviews Cybersecurity Expert

Oct 08, 2022

Newsday interviewed cybersecurity expert Michael Nizich, Ph.D., director of the Entrepreneurship and Technology Innovation Center (ETIC), regarding the steps that Suffolk County must take to recover from its recent ransomware attack. While the county announced that it has begun a “rolling restoration” of its computer operations, starting with the 911 emergency dispatch system, followed by its property title search capabilities, officials offered no official timeline as to when all systems will be back online. Nizich notes that this may be because the county must address other system vulnerabilities that were uncovered as a result of the attack. 

“The fact that it’s taking longer to get back up and running is indicative of another problem. They might do all that work and the same thing might happen,” said Nizich. "They could be vulnerable to a new group that knows the same vulnerabilities."

 

Oct 06, 2022

U.S. News and World Report featured comments from cybersecurity expert Michael Nizich, Ph.D., director of the Entrepreneurship and Technology Innovation Center (ETIC), in an article about protecting financial data on a lost or stolen smartphone. If the phone cannot be located through the “Find my Device” setting, Nizich advises changing the email password first, as access to an email account may allow criminals to easily reset passwords for other apps and services, locking the user out of their accounts.

 

Hometown News Outlets Highlight NYITCOM Students

Oct 04, 2022

Multiple local media outlets publicized New York Institute of Technology’s newest medical students, who received their first white coats at August ceremonies held by NYITCOM-Long Island and NYITCOM-Arkansas. Outlets included The Concord Monitor, Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Lancaster Online, and many others

 

Kirk Explains Consumer Narcissism on Marketing Podcast

Sep 29, 2022

In an interview with Quikly’s podcast, “Market with Me Quikly,” consumer behavior expert Colleen Kirk, D.P.S., associate professor of management and marketing studies, explains how understanding shoppers’ narcissistic personality traits can inform businesses’ marketing campaigns. As Kirk explains, consumer narcissism comes in two forms: narcissistic admiration and narcissistic rivalry. While narcissistic admiration is the tendency to believe that one is special (e.g., “This good luck could only happen to me because I am so great!”), narcissistic rivalry is the tendency to believe that others are inferior. 

“Narcissistic admiration is the ‘bright side’ of narcissism. It is positively correlated with self-esteem,” said Kirk. “These consumers are people who promote themselves and talk about how good they are. This bright side can be good for marketers because admirative consumers will say all kinds of positive things about a product or brand they feel is theirs.”

 

NYITCOM-Arkansas Researcher Shares Insight on New COVID-19 Variant

Sep 22, 2022

As seen in Fortune, Salon, and other news outlets, Raj Rajnarayanan, Ph.D., assistant dean of research and associate professor at NYITCOM-Arkansas, shared insight regarding the new omicron variant BA.2.75.2. While the existing omicron variant BA.2.75, dubbed “Centaurus,” was initially expected to be the main COVID-19 variant to wreak havoc in late 2022, Rajnarayanan, who created and maintains a number of COVID-19 data dashboards, explains that the new variant BA.2.75.2, an offspring of Centaurus, is now the one to watch. The spike protein on BA.2.75.2 binds to human cells tightly—better than any other variant so far—making it more difficult for antibodies to attack, Rajnarayanan says.

 

Sep 18, 2022

The nationally syndicated program Radio Health Journal featured an interview with the Center for Esports Medicine's Joanne Donoghue, Ph.D., associate professor and director of clinical research at NYITCOM, and Mark Gugliotti, Ph.D., associate professor of physical therapy, regarding esports injury prevention. The experts discussed physical and ergonomic strategies for competitive gamers to best prevent career-ending injuries, including how to avoid back and neck injuries due to poor posture, repetitive overuse strains, and developing the risk for deep vein thrombosis, which is known to be caused by long-term sedentary behavior. The segment also featured an interview with NYITCOM student Matthew Pinto, who competes as a member of New York Tech's esports team, the CyBears.

 

INSIDER Features Conditioning Tips from Exercise Science Expert

Sep 15, 2022

Insight and advice from Alex Rothstein, M.S., instructor and coordinator for the Exercise Science, B.S. program, is featured prominently in an INSIDER article about underrated ab exercises. Rather than advising readers to perform abdominal crunches, Rothstein recommends focusing on exercises that represent anti-extension (planks), anti-flexion (deadlift), and anti-rotation (Pallof press).

“A common belief in strength training is that performing a motion that uses the main muscle is the best way to train it,” he says. “But when training abs, the main function of the muscle is to prevent motion, [so] anti-movement exercises tend to provide the greatest benefit.”