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.
John Handrakis
SHP/Physical TherapyJohn Handrakis, D.P.T., Ed.D., professor of physical therapy, was awarded $229,800 in funding over two years by the VA Rehabilitation Research and Development Service, Small Projects in Rehabilitation Research (SPiRE) Program, for his research project, "Development of a Novel Cooling Vest to Prevent Heat-Induced Thermoregulatory Dysfunction in Persons with Spinal Cord Injury,” on May 23, 2022. The study, which focuses on veterans with spinal cord injuries (SCI), aims to determine the safety and efficacy of a feedback-regulated novel cooling vest to maintain core body temperature (within 0.4°C) in participants with higher levels of SCI during two hours of controlled warm ambient temperature (35°C) exposure. Efficacy will be determined by: (1) change in core temperature; and (2) perception of heat and thermal comfort.
Qin Liu
Mechanical EngineeringQin Liu, Ph.D., teaching assistant professor of mechanical engineering, co-authored a peer-review article entitled "Numerical simulations of the nonsymmetric growth and remodeling of arteries under axial twisting," published in the Journal of Biomechanics on May 27, 2022. This article is the first to propose a theoretical model of artery growth and remodeling under twisting, which extends our understanding of artery remodeling under altered external load.
Donald Fizzinoglia
College of Arts and Sciences, Communication ArtsDon Fizzignolia, M.A., professor and chair of the Department of Communication Arts, had his peer-reviewed book, Crime in TV, the News, and Film, published by Rowman and Littlefield on May 20, 2022. The book provides a fresh look at the interplay between criminal events and the media outlets that cover them. The authors' diverse backgrounds—a criminologist researcher, a documentarian and media professor, a police officer, and a criminologist who is a former TV reporter—allow for a frank discussion.\nViewers of crime dramas and consumers of news will gain a new understanding of the way their programs are produced. Readers will become more aware of the biases that sometimes cloud perceptions of crime and criminals. Finally, experts and scholars will improve their discernment of media depictions. The book is useful in the classroom in fields of media, communications, criminology, sociology, and more.
Colleen Kirk
School of ManagementColleen P. Kirk, D.P.S., associate professor of marketing, had her guest column titled "Surviving The Emotional Roller Coaster Of Homebuying" published by local tech and business outlet, InnovateLI, on May 19, 2022. The column comments on the ways that homebuyers can limit feelings of psychological ownership and improve their homebuying experience.
Alessandro Melis
School of Architecture & Design / ArchitectureAlessandro Melis, Ph.D., IDC Foundation Endowed Chair and professor in the School of Architecture and Design, curated the artistic Cyberwall installation by Iris Ceramica Group that took center stage at the 2021 Italian Pavilion of the Venice Biennale. The exhibit was featured in an article, "iris ceramica group arises a cyberpunk wall blending technology with art," published in Designbloom on May 17, 2022. The article suggests the exhibit "could only be described as a symbol of sustainable and inclusive design," adding "the brand’s ceramic surfaces were used as a blank canvas for engaging graphic and drawing compositions, represented by the full potential of the Group’s groundbreaking technology. As art, nature and artifice merged, an unusual interpretation captivated the observer."
Jonathan Goldman
HumanitiesJonathan Goldman, Ph.D., professor of English, Department of Humanities, presented his paper titled "This Is My Body: Owning Oneself in Wilde and Joyce" at Caliban’s Mirror: The 2022 Wilde and Joyce Symposium, hosted at Trinity College, Dublin, on May 14, 2022.
Claude Gagna
College of Arts & SciencesClaude E. Gagna, Ph.D., professor of biological and chemical sciences, published a peer-reviewed abstract in The FASEB Journal entitled "Canonical, and Multi-Stranded, Alternative and Transitional Helical (C-MATH) Nucleic Acid Microarrays: Next Generation Double-, and Four-Stranded DNA and RNA Microarrays" on May 13, 2022. This publication discusses the development of novel, next generation DNA-based microarrays, i.e., canonical right-handed B-DNA, the alternative left-handed Z-DNA structure, and the four stranded G4-quadruplex DNA. The microarrays allow for enhanced drug discovery of DNA-based pharmaceuticals used to turn off pathological gene expression.
Claude Gagna
College of Arts & SciencesClaude E. Gagna, Ph.D., professor of biological and chemical sciences, published a peer-reviewed abstract in The FASEB Journal entitled "Immunofluorescent and Immunohistochemical (Colorimetric) Characterization of B-DNA, Z-DNA and G4-Quadruplex DNA in Human Tissues Demonstrating the Spatial Genomic Organization of Different DNA Structures: Genomesorganizomics" on May 13, 2022. This research demonstrates a novel "omics" method, which has shown, for the first time ever, the simultaneous presence of three totally different types of DNA structures in a human cell, namely, B-DNA (i.e., canonical double-stranded DNA), left-handed Z-DNA (i.e., alternative type of B-DNA) and Quadruplex DNA (i.e., four-stranded DNA molecule). All these structures play a role in normal and pathological cellular conditions.
Dong-Sei Kim
School of Architecture, Department of ArchitectureDongsei Kim, M.Des., assistant professor of architecture, had his research titled “533 Places: Tracing the Forgotten Places in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ)” published by The Blog of International Institute for Asian Studies (IIAS), based at Leiden University in the Netherlands, on May 4, 2022. IIAS connects knowledge and people, contributing to a more integrated understanding of Asia today by focusing on relevant themes and issues together with scholars and practitioners throughout the world.
\n\n\nRon Goldberg
Enrollment Management and Strategic CommunicationsRon Goldberg, web content editor in the Office of Enrollment Management of Strategic Communications, was the featured interviewee on Rated LGBT Radio's program "The History of the Legendary ACT UP Activism—Do We Need it Back?" on April 28, 2022. In the interview, Goldberg discusses the parallels between the current wave of anti-LGBTQ+ laws and rhetoric and earlier homophobia of the early AIDS epidemic and offers lessons for young activists based on his own experiences as a member of ACT UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power) in the early days of the AIDS epidemic.