Faculty & Staff Accomplishments
We are excited to share recent accomplishments from faculty and staff members at our campuses around the world.
Accomplishments are listed by date of achievement in reverse chronological order, with the most recent first.
Claude Gagna
CAS, Biological & Chemical SciencesClaude E. Gagna, Ph.D., professor of biological and chemical sciences, published an article on March 18, 2024, titled "Tinea Amianacea: Attack of the Living Dead, Revisited", in the SkinMed Journal. It discusses dermatophytes as a pathological condition affecting millions of people throughout the world. Tinea is the name of a group of diseases caused by a fungus.
Dongsei Kim
School of Architecture and DesignDongsei Kim, M.Des., assistant professor of architecture, delivered a presentation on his double-blind peer-reviewed research paper, "Whose Land Are You On? Accounting for Land Acknowledgments in NAAB Accredited Schools of Architecture in the United States," at the 112th annual conference of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) held in Vancouver, Canada, on March 15, 2024. In addition, his expertise in urbanism was recognized through an invitation to moderate a session titled "Urbanism: Urban Ecology & Community," which closely aligned with his research interests at the same conference.
Evan Shieh
ArchitectureEvan Shieh, M.AUD., assistant professor of architecture, was invited to serve on the distinguished jury panel of the 2024 "Urban Design Lab Competition Publication," alongside seven other panel members with urban expertise from universities around the world. Registration for the publication began on March 15, 2024, and the date set for jury consideration of submissions was July 20, 2024.
Felipe Henao
Student Engagement and DevelopmentFelipe Henao, Ed.D., dean of students, awarded the "NASPA Region II Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Award" at the National Conference hosted on March 12, 2024, in Seattle. The EDI award acknowledges an individual who consistently demonstrates diversity competency in the field of higher education. This person demonstrates a dedication to diversity, fostering an inclusive and equitable environment. The recipient also embodies a commitment to celebrating, appreciating, and accepting diverse backgrounds, values, and beliefs while also exercising their voice to stand against inequities and injustices. This is demonstrated through their diverse leadership and involvement.
Nicole Calma-Roddin
College of Arts and Sciences / Psychology & Counseling DepartmentNicole Calma-Roddin, Ph.D., assistant professor of psychology and counseling, presented at and served as a panelist for the Virtual Ongoing Interdisciplinary Collaborations on Educating with Song (VOICES) "Song Swap & Lesson Plan Jam" event on March 7, 2024. This event showcased songs and parodies related to teaching and learning STEM content and included a discussion of the creation and classroom implementation of such songs. "The Hypothesis Testing Song" parody, which she presented, was written in collaboration with psychology and counseling students Kaitlyn Broderick, Serra Issi, Serena Onbasi, Irham Saeed, and Deborah Benitez as part of a class research project.
Milan Toma
College of Osteopathic Medicine / Department of OMMMilan Toma, Ph.D., assistant professor of clinical sciences, published a research paper titled, "Cardiovascular Health Management in Diabetic Patients with Machine-Learning-Driven Predictions and Interventions," on March 4, 2024, in the Journal of Applied Sciences, exploring the intersection of machine learning and health informatics. The study reveals pivotal insights into algorithmic predictions of diabetes readmission.
Nicole Calma-Roddin
College of Arts and Sciences / Psychology & Counseling DepartmentNicole Calma-Roddin, Ph.D., assistant professor of psychology and counseling, presented a paper, "Effectiveness for learning and student enjoyment for a text-only narrative \ngame" at the annual meeting of the Eastern Psychological Association in Philadelphia, Pa., on March 1, 2024.
Claude Gagna
CAS, Biological & Chemical SciencesClaude E. Gagna, Ph.D., professor of biological and chemical sciences, published an abstract in the March 2024 issue of the Journal of Biological Chemistry, at the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 2024 DISCOVER BMB annual meeting in San Antonio, Texas, titled "Structural Spatial Transcriptomics: Novel Omics Technology". This method allows for the identification and quantification of different RNA structures, such as canonical A-RNA and non-canonical Z-RNA in individual cells. Structural Spatial Transcriptomics will allow researchers to identify spatial interactions, specific RNA biomarkers, and cancer transcriptomes in their natural tissue architecture, helping investigators to identify potential RNA structure-based drug targets.
Colleen Kirk
School of ManagementColleen P. Kirk, D.P.S., associate professor of marketing, published an overview of her recent research on declining social invitations in The Conversation, on February 21, 2024. This research, coauthored with Julian Givi at the University of West Virginia, was originally published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. Across a series of experiments, the authors found that the negative ramifications of declining a social invitation are usually less severe than people think.
Jamel Vanderburg
Humanities/Health ProfessionalsJamel Vanderburg, M.P.A., adjunct instructor of interdisciplinary studies, presented during the second day of the International Graduate Student Conference in Honolulu, Hawaii held from February 15 to 17, 2024. He discussed distorted disasters in communities of color, comparing Hurricane Katrina and the Maui wildfires. He advocated for the removal of personal politics to help people.