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
College of Arts and SciencesClaude E. Gagna, Ph.D., professor of biological and chemical sciences, published a peer-reviewed journal article titled in Clinics in Dermatology. The article was published on March 27, 2024, and describes a novel assay and artificial intelligence-driven histopathologic approach identifying dermatophytes in human skin tissue sections (B-DNA dermatophyte assay) and demonstrates, for the first time, the presence of dermatophytes in tissue using immunohistochemistry to detect canonical right-handed double-stranded B-DNA. The assay resulted in superior identification, sensitivity, life cycle stages, and morphology compared to traditional stains.
Robert Alexander
College of Arts and SciencesRobert G. Alexander, Ph.D., assistant professor of psychology and counseling, was featured in a new article entitled
Claude Gagna
CAS, Biological & Chemical SciencesClaude E. Gagna, Ph.D., professor of biological and chemical sciences, published an article on March 18, 2024, titled , in the . 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.
Nicole Calma-Roddin
College of Arts and SciencesNicole 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) 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.
Nicole Calma-Roddin
College of Arts and SciencesNicole Calma-Roddin, Ph.D., assistant professor of psychology and counseling, presented a paper, at the annual meeting of the in Philadelphia, Pa., on March 1, 2024.
Claude Gagna
College of Arts and 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 . 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.
Jamel Vanderburg
College of Arts and SciencesJamel Vanderburg, M.P.A., adjunct instructor of interdisciplinary studies, presented during the second day of the 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.
Amanda Golden
College of Arts and SciencesAmanda Golden, Ph.D., associate professor of English in the Department of Humanities, delivered a discussion on February 15, 2024, titled "Writing about Archives" as part of the Modern Language Association's .
Nicole Calma-Roddin
College of Arts and SciencesNicole Calma-Roddin, Ph.D., assistant professor of psychology and counseling, presented on "Using Games and Songs in the Teaching of Psychology" and on "Opportunities to Promote Anti-Ableism Across the Psychology Curriculum" as part of the on-demand video symposium at annual conference on teaching, which took place online from February 12 to 16, 2024.
Melissa Huey
College of Arts and SciencesMelissa Huey, Ph.D., assistant professor of psychology, had her paper, 鈥溾�� published to the Journal of School and Educational Psychology, a peer-reviewed journal, on February 4, 2024. Results found that having cameras mandatory or encouraged in synchronous Zoom classes increased mindfulness and course comprehension. In addition, a calm relaxing virtual background was found to have the same effect. Surprisingly, the utilization of breakout rooms decreased course comprehension, likely because it does not mirror traditional in-person group work.