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.
Milan Toma
College of Osteopathic Medicine / Department of OMMMilan Toma, Ph.D., assistant professor of clinical sciences, published a research paper titled, 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 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.
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 , 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
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.
Becky Frieden
ITSBecky Frieden, M.B.A.,, senior director of enterprise applications and decision support systems, presented a session titled "How to Make Data Governance Relevant Across Your Campus" at the in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, held in early February 2024. Pennie Turgeon, M.B.A., vice president for information technology, chief information officer, and chief information security officer, participated in a keynote panel.
\n\nMelissa 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.
Yusui Chen
PhysicsYusui Chen, Ph.D., assistant professor of physics, published an article entitled in Physical Review A on February 2, 2024. The work, collaborating with researchers from Stony Brook University, studies a long-standing question in open quantum systems: how to preserve positivity in generic master equations.