College of Education
Dr. Karyn Allee, assistant professor of elementary education, was honored with Mercer’s Edward L. Bouie Excellence in Research and Scholarship Award for her impactful contributions to the field of education through scholarly research.
Dr. Flavio Campos, assistant professor of computer science education, presented a paper titled “Information Technology and Vocational Education: Advances and Challenges in Curriculum Implementation” at the Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education 2025 conference. The paper was also published in the conference proceedings.
Dr. Angela Crevar, assistant professor of education leadership, presented a research study titled “Exiting Estacado: A Case Study of the Early College High School Model” and another one titled “Aiming for Alignment: Workforce Demand, Texas Community Colleges, and the High School Foundation Program” at the Association for Education Finance and Policy’s 50th Annual Conference.
Dr. Sybil Keesbury Martin, professor of teacher education, and Dr. Sheila Thompson, instructor of early learning and development, were co-recipients of Mercer’s William O. Lacefield Excellence in Service Award, which recognizes exceptional service to students, the profession and the community.
Dr. Susie Morrissey, associate professor of mathematics education, received Mercer’s Cathryn Futral Excellence in Teaching Award, which honors outstanding commitment to classroom instruction and innovative teaching practices.
Dr. Jaclyn K. Murray, assistant professor of science education, and postdoctoral research fellow Dr. Alexandra T. St. Louis presented their research titled “Representations in an Initial Model of Phenomenon [NARST]” at the National Science Teachers Association conference in Philadelphia held March 27-29. They also led workshops on “Providing Effective Feedback on Students’ Argumentation and Teaching Conservation of Matter: A System Modeling Approach,” demonstrating how their research translates into effective teaching practices.
Dr. Leah Panther, associate professor of literacy education; Dr. Katherine Perrotta, assistant professor of middle and secondary education; and DeKalb County teacher Sally Stanhope published an article titled “‘Best kind of research’: Youth Participatory Action Research for Culturally Sustaining Curricularizing” in the Journal of Curriculum and Pedagogy.
Dr. Katherine Perrotta, assistant professor of middle and secondary education, and Jennifer Baniewicz, AP U.S. history teacher at Amos Alonzo Stagg High School in Illinois, presented “Making History Personal: Building Historical Empathy Skills” at the National Council for History Education conference in St. Louis.
Dr. Elaine Thurmond, assistant professor and co-director of early learning and development at the Douglas County Regional Academic Center, was awarded a Women of Influence Award by the Douglas County Chamber of Commerce. The award recognizes deserving women or woman-led businesses and organizations and acknowledges and celebrates the remarkable contributions of women in the community.
College of Health Professions
Dr. Sisi Chen, assistant professor of kinesiology, co-authored an article titled “Acceptability and satisfaction of a healthy eating and stress management program targeting economically marginalized families: A mixed-methods approach” published in the Journal of Pediatric Psychology.
Dr. Rachel Johnson, assistant professor of athletic training, co-authored an article titled “Concussion characteristics in adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder seen in a specialty concussion clinic” published in the Journal of Attention Disorders, and she co-authored an article titled “Epidemiology and symptom resolution in pediatric patients seen in a multidisciplinary concussion clinic” published in the Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation.
Dr. Lisa Lundquist, dean, was inducted as a Distinguished Fellow of the National Academies of Practice, Pharmacy Academy on March 15.
Dr. Anne Mulholland, assistant professor of kinesiology, co-authored an article titled “Work rate adjustments needed to maintain heart rate and RPE during high-intensity interval training in the heat” published in Frontiers in Physiology. Dr. Mulholland also presented “Photoplethysmographic heart rate accuracy during exercise in temperate and hot environments” and received the first place award for her poster at the Southeastern American College of Sports Medicine Annual Meeting in Greenville, South Carolina, held Feb. 20-22.
Dr. Leslie Taylor, professor of physical therapy, was inducted as a Distinguished Fellow of the National Academies of Practice, Physical Therapy Academy on March 15.
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
Dr. Alexis Chauchois, assistant professor of French, co-authored a peer-reviewed manuscript titled “Écrire l’enfance: Scrabble, mode d’emploi” (Writing Childhood: Scrabble, User Manual), which explores the work of Michaël Ferrier and has been accepted for publication in French Forum. He also presented “Panorama de Lilia Hassaine, tragédie de l’injustice” (Panorama by Lilia Hassaine, a tragedy of injustice) at the 20th and 21st Century French and Francophone Studies International Colloquium at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro, on March 28. On March 21, Dr. Chauchois, assisted by adjunct professor JoungHwa Woo of Mount de Sales Academy and professor Nicolas David of Stratford Academy, organized the second edition of the Mercer French Bowl, which brought together at least 60 students from private and public institutions in Middle Georgia, including Mount de Sales Academy, Stratford Academy, Wesleyan College and Mercer University. The event was a giant game consisting of several challenges about the French language and francophone culture.
Dr. Heather Bowman Cutway, professor of biology, received a $20,000 grant from The Longleaf Alliance. The funds were used to plant more than 80,000 longleaf pine tree seedlings at the Mercer University field station in Crawford County. The planting is part of the ecological restoration of the sandhill habitat, which is home to gopher tortoises and rare salamanders. Additional funding for the restoration was provided through a partnership with Longleaf Distillery in Macon.
Dr. Wallace L. Daniel, University Distinguished Professor of History, presented “Gleb Yakunin and the Defense of Religious Liberty” over Zoom at the IX Father Gleb Yakunin Readings in Israel on March 2.
Dr. David A. Davis, professor of English, gave a talk titled “Power and Shame in Charles Chesnutt’s ‘Dave’s Neckliss’” at the Southeastern American Studies Association Conference held March 6-8 in New Orleans.
Dr. James Davis May, assistant professor of English and director of creative writing, had a poem titled “An Old Fear” published in the most recent issue of Alaska Quarterly Review.
Dr. Frank McNally, associate professor of physics, had a peer-reviewed paper titled “Observation of Cosmic-Ray Anisotropy in the Southern Hemisphere with 12 yr of Data Collected by the IceCube Neutrino Observatory” published in Astrophysical Journal. The article was co-authored by former undergraduate researchers Christina Cochling, Alexis Hardy, Emily Schmidt, Alexander Simmons and Andrew Thorpe. The research uses data collected by the IceCube Neutrino Observatory to look at cosmic rays, high-energy charged particles from space. The work was done as a member of the IceCube Collaboration, a collection of 450 people from 58 institutions in 14 countries, and is supported by the National Science Foundation.
Dr. Chinekwu Obidoa, associate professor of global health studies and Africana studies, completed a Visiting Scholar position at the Burnet Institute in Melbourne, Australia, where she collaborated with researchers working on adolescent sexual and reproductive health issues in Australia and the Pacific Region. She also supported the design of an intervention for multicultural communities in the state of Victoria, Australia. Dr. Obidoa also received training on project-related research methodology and delivered several invited presentations on her applied research work and an invited presentation titled “Mental Health of African Immigrant Youth in the U.S.” at the Ubuntu: African Research and Engagement Network Seminar, organized by the African Studies Group, School of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Melbourne, Australia, on March 27.
Dr. Creighton Rosental, professor of philosophy and managing director of the Association of Core Texts and Courses Liberal Arts Institute at Mercer University, organized and led the association’s annual Lectio on the Macon campus on Feb. 1. The Lectio is an intimate conference that spends a day presenting on and discussing a single book, in this case: Lucretius’ On the Nature of Things. The Lectio included Dr. Charlotte Thomas, professor of philosophy and director of the Great Books Program; David Swigart, adjunct faculty member; Dr. Kevin Honeycutt, associate professor and chair of philosophy; Dr. Marc Jolley, senior lecturer of philosophy; Patrick Jolley, adjunct faculty member; and several scholars from schools in the region.
Dr. John Thomas Scott, dean and professor of history, and Dr. Achim Kopp, associate dean and professor of foreign languages and literatures, were interviewed for the podcast series “How My Book Began” by Lehigh University Press. In the 19-minute conversation, they discuss their work with challenging archival material and their experience of working together over two decades on their 2023 volume The Journals of the Moravian Mission to Georgia, 1734-1737: From Herrnhut to Savannah.
Dr. Johnathan Yerby, associate professor in the department of computer science and CORE director, co-presented with undergraduate student Frida Danson a paper titled “Evolving Privacy Concerns: Social Media Usage and Awareness Among First-Year College Students” at the Southern Association for Information Systems conference at the University of Tampa. The paper examines shifting privacy perceptions and social media usage trends in the digital age and will be published in the AIS Proceedings. Dr. Yerby also led Mercer’s cybersecurity program in attaining the NSA’s Center of Academic Excellence Designation. This prestigious recognition, awarded by the National Security Agency, signifies that Mercer’s program meets rigorous academic and research standards in cybersecurity education, preparing students for critical roles in the field.
College of Pharmacy
Dr. Leisa Marshall, clinical professor of pharmacy practice, published an article titled “Atopic Dermatitis in Adults: Focus on Topical Therapy” in The Senior Care Pharmacist.
Dr. Susan W. Miller, clinical professor, co-authored an article titled “Development, implementation, and assessment of a web-based interprofessional curriculum on age-friendly care for health professions students” published in Education for Health. Dr. Miller also served as a reviewer in February for educational proposals for the American Society of Health-Systems Pharmacists Midyear 2025 Meeting that will take place in Las Vegas.
Dr. Nader Moniri, associate dean for research and professor of pharmaceutical sciences, and graduate student Mohsina Mukti presented “Free-Fatty Acid Receptors-1 and -4 Modulate Papillary Renal Cell Carcinoma Migration,” and Dr. Moniri and graduate student Farnoosh Moghaddam presented “Investigating free-fatty acid receptor-4 (FFA4) as a potential therapeutic target for Parkinson’s disease: FFA4 agonists enhance dopamine production and protect against 6-OHDA-induced cell death” at the Southeastern Clinical and Translational Science Alliance annual conference at Callaway Gardens in Pine Mountain.
Dr. C. Lea Bonner Winkles, clinical associate professor and associate dean for student affairs, and Dr. Candace Barnett, professor and executive associate dean, co-authored an article titled “An Examination of Mandatory Class Attendance and Academic Performance in a Doctor of Pharmacy Program” in the American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education.
College of Professional Advancement
Dr. Wesley Barker, associate professor of religious studies, published a book titled Desire Beyond Identity: Irigaray and the Ethics of Embodiment. Dr. Barker also presented a lecture titled “From Inheriting the Wind to Inhabiting Breath: Feminist Trajectories of Embodiment” at a Georgia State University Humanities Research Center event titled “The Scopes Trial at 100: Religion, Modernity and the Culture Wars.”
Dr. Arla Bernstein, associate professor of communication, participated in a full-day Crisis Communication Think Tank at the University of Georgia Terry College of Business in Atlanta on March 20. Topics included strategic communication, law and risk communication, public affairs and disaster management. Dr. Bernstein also had her presentation titled “Discovering One’s (Inter)Cultural Identity” accepted for the 25th International Conference on Diversity in Organizations, Communities and Nations to be held at the University of Nicosia, Nicosia, Cyprus. The presentation is based on a class project in COMM 370 Intercultural Communication in a Globalized Society.
Dr. Hani Q. Khoury, professor of mathematics, was selected by the program committee to chair the education subcommittee in the upcoming international conference “War, Mental Health, Education and Reconciliation,” on April 13-14 at The Carter Center. The conference is the fourth in a global Gaza Healthcare Initiative series. The previous three conferences were held in Jordan under the auspices of His Majesty King Abdullah, in Lebanon at the American University of Beirut and in Amsterdam at the KIT Royal Tropical Institute.
Dr. Hollis Phelps, associate professor of interdisciplinary studies in the department of liberal studies received a postgraduate certificate from the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom in Psychedelics: Mind, Medicine and Culture.
Dr. Stefanie Sevcik, assistant professor of writing and interdisciplinary studies, presented a paper titled “Challenging Sectarianism Through Literature: Lessons on Gender and Political Identity from the Lebanese Civil War (1975-1990)” at the Georgia Association of Historians conference held in Milledgeville Feb. 7-9.
Dr. Jacqueline S. Stephen, assistant professor, director of the office of distance learning and instructional designer, was selected to participate as a mentor in the Association for Talent Development Greater Atlanta Mentorship Program. The six-month mentorship program involves formal monthly mentor-mentee check-ins with an emphasis on sharing and talent development skills. The program will conclude with a capstone presentation.
Dr. Andrea Winkler, associate professor of history, presented a paper titled “Venerable Delusions: Irrational Political Beliefs as Identity Anchors in Medieval and Contemporary Contexts” at the Georgia Association of Historians conference held in Milledgeville Feb. 7-9.
School of Engineering
Dr. Anthony Choi, professor of electrical and computer engineering, student Ethan Choi and collaborators published their research findings titled “A hybrid recommendation system: Improving user experience and personalization with ensemble learning model and sentiment analysis” in the International Journal of Computing and Digital Systems. The research focused on using artificial intelligence and large language models to perform sentiment analysis to improve performance of recommender systems.
Dr. Kenneth Marek, senior lecturer in the mechanical engineering department, presented “Development of a software tool to improve educational outcomes in a time constant measurement experiment” at the 2025 American Society for Engineering Education, Southeastern Section Annual Conference held at Mississippi State University in Starkville, Mississippi, March 9-11.
Working under the guidance of Dr. Chandan K. Roy, assistant professor of mechanical engineering, students Hammad Quddus, Landon Yarbrough and Megan Batchelor presented “An independent study on designing and building an ASTM D5470 standard apparatus for testing thermal performance of various materials” at the 2025 American Society for Engineering Education, Southeastern Section Annual Conference held at Mississippi State University in Starkville, Mississippi, on March 9-11. At the same conference, Dr. Roy and Batchelor also presented “Development of a Heat Sink-Focused Heat Transfer Laboratory for Mechanical Engineering Education.”
Working under the guidance of Dr. Lianjun Wu, associate professor in the mechanical engineering department, students Melanie McElroy, Jordi Shephard, Michael Norenburg and Belle Lin won second place in the upper-division team division and were recognized for outstanding achievement in the student poster competition at the 2025 American Society for Engineering Education, Southeastern Section Annual Conference held at Mississippi State University in Starkville, Mississippi, on March 9-11. At the same conference, the same students, working under the guidance of Dr. Wu and associate professors Dr. Arash Afshar and Dr. Dorina Mihut, presented “Interdisciplinary Undergraduate Research in Prosthetic Hand Development: Bridging Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering.”
School of Law
Jill Kinsella, associate vice president for advancement, is serving on the conference faculty of the American Bar Association’s 2025 Law School Development Conference.
School of Medicine
Dr. Caroline Anglim, assistant professor in the department of bioethics and medical humanities, was invited to present at a convening on medical ethics education at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, March 6-8. She presented on the legacy of John Rawls on the field of medical ethics through the biomedical ethical principles. Dr. Anglim was also recently awarded a Faith and Health Pipeline grant from Interfaith America to pilot a spiritual needs assessment training and practice session for medical students during their clerkship year.
Dr. Jennifer Barkin, professor of community medicine and OBGYN, was invited by the New York Center for Child Development to lead a seminar focused on the effects of extreme weather on maternal mental health. The seminar series had a broad distribution and viewership and was open to the public. Additionally, Dr. Barkin’s work with the Barkin Index of Maternal Functioning and with South Georgia Healthy Start was the focus of an article titled “Pitt Alumna Helping New Mothers Thrive Using Evaluation Tool Bearing Her Name” authored by the University of Pittsburgh’s Innovation Institute. She was also quoted in an article on extreme weather and perinatal mental health titled “Scientists are just starting to understand the links between climate change and maternal mental health. India’s community health workers are already finding ways to tackle it,” published by the Fuller Project. Dr. Barkin has also been invited to participate in an expert panel titled “Navigating the Complexities of Maternal Mental Health Care in Today’s Evolving Landscape” at the American Psychiatric Association Annual Meeting this May in Los Angeles.
Dr. Elena Bozhikova, assistant professor, published an article titled “Variations in the Terminal Branches of the Brachial Plexus in the Axillary Fossa” in BioMed Research International.
Dr. Christy Bridges, professor and interim department chair, and visiting Ph.D. student Maria Galiciolli attended the annual Society of Toxicology meeting in Orlando, Florida, and presented “MRP3 and MRP3 mediate the export of mercury-glutathione complexes.” Co-authors include Ryan Brownlee, Class of 2024; medical student Purva Lotwala; and research associate Lucy Joshee. Dr. Bridges also co-authored with Galiciolli, Joshee, Claudia Oliveira, a faculty member at Faculdades Pequeno Príncipe, Curitiba, PR, Brazil, and professor Dr. Jennifer Barkin on a manuscript titled “Multidrug Resistance-Associated Proteins 3 and 5 Play a Role in the Hepatic Transport of Mercuric Conjugates of Glutathione” that was published in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences.
Dr. Keisha Callins, professor, was awarded a Climate and Health Equity fellowship. The goal of the fellowship is to empower physicians from populations that face greater burdens from climate effects and are underrepresented in medicine to become leaders in climate and health equity education, advocacy and policy solutions.
Dr. Donald Carter, assistant professor, published an article titled “The Need for Bioethics Departments in HBCU Medical Schools” in the bimonthly peer-reviewed academic journal of bioethics published by Wiley Blackwell. Dr. Carter was also invited to be interviewed by Daniel Smith, director of content and education with the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative, which is the program responsible for the most prevalent online training program in ethics and professionalism in research and human experimentation. Dr. Carter was also co-chair of the Race Affinity Group within the American Society for Bioethics and Humanities.
Dr. Brian H. Childs, professor and chair of the bioethics and medical humanities department on the Savannah campus and director of the Carlos and Marguerite Mason Center for Organ Donation, Education, Research and Policy, spent three days in Washington, D.C., working with transplant surgeons and their programs as well as several organ procurement organizations as they planned implementing normothermic regional perfusion in the recovery of hearts for transplantation and some of its ethical implications. Dr. Childs also provided a one-day consultation on the role and function of bioethics consultation with the graduate medical education program at Hamilton Medical Center in Dalton, and he participated in the Georgia Healthcare Ethics Consortium’s two-day national conference in Atlanta in March. He is chair of the advisory board of the consortium.
Dr. Ketsia Dimanche, assistant professor of medical education research; Dr. Edward C. Klatt, professor of pathology; and Dr. Marshall Angle, associate professor of medical education research, published a paper titled “Predictive Validity Evidence of Yes-No Angoff Standard Setting in a Pre-Clinical Medical School Curriculum.”
Dr. Tony Gryffin, associate professor of community medicine, is leading a project targeting the underlying causes of homelessness and potential solutions based on mindfulness and storytelling traditions. Part of this includes a weekly opportunity for tai chi, which started in March, to get to know the clients of the Daybreak Center for the Homeless and to introduce mindful practices for the health of mind and body. The project is being conducted in conjunction with former Master of Science in preclinical sciences student Cadence Houtsma. The goal is to develop and later test the effectiveness of mindfulness and motivational fiction for targeting a range of homeless situations in rural and urban areas.
Dr. Edward C. Klatt, professor in the Department of Biomedical Sciences, collaborating with medical student and summer scholar Avery Stokes; Carolyn Klatt, professor in the department of library and information science; sponsors Omar Cherkaoui, Zebulon Tolman and Eileen Lee; and University of Alabama-Birmingham assistant professor Dr. Brook Hubner published a research study titled “Exploring Students’ Use of Medical Education Resources for the USMLE Step 2 CK Exam Preparation” in Medical Science Educator, the official journal of the International Association of Medical Science Educators. Dr. Klatt also served as host and moderator for the sessions “Enhancing Health Care with Point-of-Care Interventions and Patient Engagement Strategies;” “Empowering Caregivers, Elevating Communities: The Health Equity Fellowship Journey;” “Enhancing High-Risk Maternity Care with Advanced Data Analytics;” “Virtual Patient Care: An AI-embedded Solution for Urban/Rural Health care;” and “Know Thy Patient: AI/ML-Driven Clustering of Diabetes/Hypertension Populations” at the Health Information and Management Systems Society 2025 Global Health Conference and Exhibition in Las Vegas, March 3-6. The organization informs health care policy decisions in multiple countries.
Dr. Michael Kramer, Rufus C. Harris Endowed Chair, professor of community medicine and director of the Center for Rural Health and Health Disparities, presented an invited keynote talk titled “Rural maternal health and the social production of environmental inequity” as part of an annual symposium titled “The Quiet Crisis: How Location Impacts Health Outcomes in Underserved Communities” at the University of Michigan School of Public Health in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Dr. Chefetz Menaker, associate professor of pharmacology in the department of biomedical sciences, published a paper titled “Conversion from Minimally Invasive Surgical Approaches to Open Surgery Among Patients with Endometrial Cancer in the SGO Clinical Outcomes Registry” in Annals of Surgical Oncology.
Dr. Youngmi Oh and Dr. Seongwon Lee, assistant professors in the Department of Biomedical Sciences, have received a Travel Grant of $90,000 from the National Research Foundation of Korea as co-investigators. The funding will support their collaborative research with Sejong University in Korea on the study of the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases.
School of Music
Amy Schwartz Moretti, director of the Robert McDuffie Center for Strings, professor and Caroline Paul King and Chair in Strings, appeared in the Seattle Chamber Music Society Winter Festival Concerts, Jan. 31-Feb. 2, and recorded the Enescu Octet for release later this year. Several of her performances are now appearing on Alaska Airlines free in-flight media through a partnership between the Seattle Chamber Music Society and Alaska Airlines, including live performances of Dvorak Piano Quintet, Dvorak Bagatelles, Schoenberg Verklärte Nacht and Enescu Octet. Moretti also appeared for the gala performance of Chamber Music Society of Palm Beach on Jan. 22. Moretti also took all the Center students to Carnegie Hall in New York for their joint concert with the Mercer Singers on Feb. 17, and she took a small group of students on a tour for concerts in Beaufort and Columbia, South Carolina, in early March.
Dr. Nathan Myrick, assistant professor, was elected to the executive committee of the Society for Christian Scholarship in Music as a member at large.
Staff and Administration
Sarai Mapp, associate director for housing and residence life, presented at the Southeastern Association of Housing Officers conference on the topic of navigating belonging in the current climate. Mapp has begun her journey as a doctoral student, and the presentation was revered by many in the region as dissertation research worthy.
Omar Romero-Cruz, housing and residence life area coordinator, was recently recognized by the State of Georgia Housing Officers and presented with the Service Award in the Southeastern Association of Housing Officers region, which contains more than 100 notable institutions.
