College of Health Professions
Dr. Cheryl Gaddis, assistant professor of practice, received a $10,000 contract from HODAC Alcohol Prevention Project Evaluation (2014-2015).
Dr. Ann Lucado, assistant professor, and Henry Heard, clinical assistant professor, co-authored “Lateral and medial elbow epicondylitis: differential diagnosis and treatment guidelines” in Western Schools Continuing Education. Brockton, MA: SC Publishing; 2015:1-42.
Dr. Mary Mathis, assistant professor of practice, received a $4,000 Mercer University Seed Grant for “Telehealth Study.”
Dr. Nannette Turner, associate professor, Dr. Huey Chen, professor, and Brittany Taylor, grant project coordinator, received a contract in the amount of $137,500 to be distributed over the next five years from Low Country Healthy Start Evaluation. Dr. Turner, Dr. Cheryl Gaddis, assistant professor, Suzie Lamarca, instructor and academic coordinator, and Taylor received a $3,000 contract from Healthcare Georgia Foundation White Paper.
College of Liberal Arts
Dr. Craig D. Byron, associate professor of biology, co-authored “Hallucal Metatarsal Cross-Sectional Geometry in a Simulated Fine Branch Niche” in the Journal of Morphology.
Dr. David A. Davis, associate professor of English, delivered the paper “Vardaman's Bananas” at the Modern Language Association convention in Vancouver, Canada, in January.
Dr. Kathryn Kloepper, assistant professor of chemistry, authored “Bringing in the Bard: Shakespearean plays as context for Instrumental Analysis projects,” published in the Journal of Chemical Education. 2015; 92(1): 79-85. The article was published online ahead of print in October.
Dr. Frank Macke, professor of communication studies, published a book, titled The Experience of Human Communication: Body, Flesh and Relationship. The book has been published in the Fairleigh Dickinson University Series in Communication Theory by Rowman & Littlefield. Advance reviews remark that the book “has the potential to radically alter communication as a concept and field of endeavor.” Dr. Macke was unanimously elected chair of the Philosophy of Communication Division of the National Communication Association. For the upcoming academic year, he will hold the office of vice-chair-elect, which is a service-oriented administrative post designated to be of assistance to the chair for the planning of the 2015 program. Then, in January through March of 2016, he will be tasked with planning the November 2016 program. Dr. Macke presented a paper, titled “The Experience of Human Communication as a Threshold of Relational Consciousness: Toward A Semiotic, Existential, and Psychoanalytic Phenomenology,” to the National Communication Association (Philosophy of Communication Division) in November in Chicago. Dr. Macke presented a paper, titled “A Semiotic Phenomenology of Common Sense: Lived-Experience and the Grounding of Communal Existence,” at the annual meeting of the Semiotic Society of America in October in Seattle.
Scot J. Mann, associate professor and theatre director, traveled to Chicago in January where he taught a theatrical firearms safety certification course through the Society of American Fight Directors, as well as the teachers firearms certification course. He served as master instructor for the Movement and Combat Educator's conference as part of the same workshop. He also adjudicated skills proficiency tests for the Society of American Fight Directors for the University of Central Florida, University of South Alabama and The Actor's Gymnasium in Chicago. Most recently, Mann choreographed violence for the world premier of Tuck Everlasting, the Musical at the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta.
Dr. Barry Stephenson, associate professor of biology, and Dr. Kevin Drace, associate professor of biology, co-authored “A new report of albinism in the Common Garter Snake (Thamnophis sirtalis), and a review of existing records: Is there a geographic bias in observations?” in Herpetological Review 45:569-577.
Marian Zielinski, professor of theatre, won first place for an art quilt, titled “The Curtain Rises,” in the Middle Georgia Art Association exhibit “Portals.” This work, the first completed during her fall sabbatical, was also selected to be included in a book, titled Incite 3, The Art of Storytelling: The Best in Mixed Media. Additionally, “The Curtain Rises” was juried into the Southeastern, all-arts exhibit “Artfields” in Lake City, South Carolina, April 24-May 2. Professor Zielinski also designed the artwork for the cover of Dr. Frank Macke's book, The Experience of Human Communication: Body, Flesh, and Relationship, published in December. Another of her art quilts, “Goodnight, Sweet Prince,” was published in the winter 2015 issue of Studio Art Quilt Associates Journal.
College of Pharmacy
Dr. Ashish A. Advani, clinical assistant professor, authored “If Pharmacists Chose Medicine Like They Chose a Toy” in the Pharmacy Times online.
Dr. Ajay Banga, professor, co-authored “Iontophoretic and Microneedle mediated transdermal delivery of glycopyrrolate” in Pharmaceutics, 6(4) (2014) 663-671.
Dr. John Bucheit, clinical assistant professor, was named an invited peer reviewer for the Journal of Pharmacy Practice. Dr. Bucheit was certified in medication therapy management and as a diabetes educator.
Dr. Melissa M. Chesson, clinical assistant professor, and Dr. Niamh Tunney, clinical assistant professor, were awarded a Mercer Interprofessional Education Development Grant for a study, titled “Gait Training and Medication Implications for Safe Ambulation: An Interprofessional Activity for Physical Therapy and Pharmacy Students,” in the amount of $2,595.
Dr. Jennifer Knaack, assistant professor, was awarded a $50,000 grant from Shire Human Genetics for “Risk-Based Approach to Drug-Drug Interaction Studies – Core Studies.” Dr. Knaack also received a $77,500 grant from Shire Human Genetics for “Risk-Based Approach to Drug-Drug Interaction Studies – Analytical Methods.” Dr. Knaack was elected chair-elect of the Georgia section of the American Chemical Society for 2015.
Dr. Annesha Lovett, assistant professor, and Dr. Pamela M. Moye, clinical assistant professor, were co-authors of “Use of Intravenous Acetaminophen to Reduce Opioid Use in Patients Under Bariatric Surgery at a Community Teaching Hospital” in the Journal of Pharmaceutics and Pharmacology, 2014;2(2):3.
Dr. Nader H. Moniri, associate professor, was appointed to the Editorial Advisory Board for Biochemical Pharmacology.
Dr. Lydia C. Newsom, clinical assistant professor, was board certified in pharmacotherapy (BCPS).
Dr. Sweta Patel, clinical assistant professor, co-authored “Evaluation of a Comprehensive Pharmacist-Managed Medication Reconciliation Process after Hospital Discharge at an Internal Medicine Clinic” in the Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology, 2014;2(8):482-488. Dr. Patel and Dr. Gina Ryan, clinical professor, were awarded an American College of Clinical Pharmacy Ambulatory Care PRN New Investigator seed grant for a study, titled “Closing communication gap about medication utilization: Evaluation of patient-specific behaviors for not bringing medication bottles to clinic,” in the amount of $2,000.
Dr. Angela O. Shogbon, clinical assistant professor, received the Georgia Society of Health-System Pharmacists (GSHP) Pharmacoeconomics Research Award. Dr. Shogbon was awarded a $3,500 grant from the Carnegie African Diaspora Fellowship Awarded for project on best blinical pharmacy practices at the University of Nigeria.
Dr. Chalet Tan, associate professor, was awarded a five-year R01 grant, in collaboration with investigators at Georgia State University and Emory University, from the National Institutes of Health/National Cancer Institute for a study, titled “Novel anthraquinones induce apoptosis by disruption MDM2/MDM4 interactions.” The total amount of the grant is $2,229,555, of which $209,389 will be received by Dr. Tan. Dr. Tan also co-authored “Combination of microRNA therapeutics with small-molecule anticancer drugs: mechanism of action and co-delivery nanocarriers” in Advanced Drug Delivery Reviews, 81, 184-97, 2015.
Dr. Maria M. Thurston, clinical assistant professor, was appointed vice-chair of the American College of Clinical Pharmacy Ambulatory Care PRN Membership Committee and named an invited peer reviewer for American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education. Dr. Thurston co-authored the “Impact of Health Literacy Level on Aspects of Medication Nonadherence Reported by Underserved Patients with Type 2 Diabetes” in Diabetes Technology & Therapeutics, 2014 Dec 22. [epub ahead of print], PMID: 25531555. She also authored “Clinical Considerations for Ambulatory Care Insulin Pharmacotherapy Part Two: Evidence-Based Approach” in Clinical Diabetes, 2015 Jan;33(1):20-27.
Eugene W. Stetson School of Business and Economics
Dr. Madeline Domino, associate professor of accounting, had her paper, “Pass the Plate Please: A study of the un-saintly embezzlement and misappropriation of church funds,” accepted for presentation at the American Accounting Associations Forensic Accounting Section Conference in Denver.
Stephanie Morris, accounting lecturer, and her Accounting Tax Service Learning class partnered with Navicent Health, United Way and CGR Credit Union to provide free tax prep for eligible Navicent employees this spring. The students will be certified through the IRS and will be the primary tax preparers. The program is part of the IRS Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program that provides free expert tax preparation to eligible taxpayers.
Dr. Geoffrey Ngene, assistant professor of finance, had his manuscript, “Determinants of Mortgage Default Rates: Pre-Crisis and Crisis-Period Dynamics and Stability,” published in the Journal of Housing Research. He also had two conference papers accepted for the South West Finance Association (SWFA) conference in Houston in March: “Sectoral Volatility Shift Modeling, Persistence of variance and Dynamic Information flows” and “Long Memory or Structural Breaks: Some Evidence for African Stock Markets.”
Penfield College
Dr. Thompson Biggers, associate professor in the Department of Liberal Studies, had his paper, titled “The Other in an Interracial Relationship,” selected for presentation at the Southern States Communication Association convention. The convention will be held in Tampa in April.
Dr. David Purnell, assistant professor of communication in the Department of Liberal Studies, published “Expanding Oldenburg: Homes as Third Places” in the Journal of Place Management and Design.
Dr. Karen Rowland, associate professor of counseling, and Terah Davis, a doctoral candidate in the Counselor Education and Supervision Program, published an article, titled “Counseling Immigrant Students in the Schools,” in the Georgia School Counselors Association (GSCA) journal in the November 2014 edition. Dr. Rowland also serves as the editor of this journal.
Dr. Kevin B. Williams, assistant professor of healthcare leadership, was invited, as one of the former presidents of the Graduate and Professional Scholars (GAPS) at the University of Georgia, to speak at organization's 30th anniversary celebration in December. He spoke about the history of GAPS and the organization's impact on diversity at the University of Georgia and in the surrounding Athens community. He also highlighted the role his GAPS administration played in the shaping of the mission, vision and objectives of the then-newly formed Office of Institutional Diversity at UGA. The keynote speaker was Dr. Maurice C. Daniels, dean and professor of the School of Social Work at UGA and founder and director of The Foot Soldier Project for Civil Rights Studies.
School of Medicine
Dr. Richard L. Elliott, professor and director of professionalism and medical ethics, presented on “Civil Rights and the Mentally Ill” for the American Association of Law Schools in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 3. He also authored “Ethics and involuntary treatment” in the Journal of the Medical Association of Georgia. 2014;103(3):16-17; and “Physician-assisted suicide” in the Journal of the Medical Association of Georgia. 2014;103(4):42-43.
Dr. David Gu, assistant professor of physiology in the Division of Basic Medical Sciences, recently published a peer-reviewed research article, titled “Protease-activated receptor-2 inhibits BK channel activity in bronchopulmonary sensory neurons,” in the journal Neuroscience Letters (589:13-18, 2015). Randal Moss II, master's program student, Carolyn Gilbert, research technician, and Dr. Sabry Gabriel, professor of family medicine, are also authors on the study.
Dr. Edward C. Lauterbach, professor emeritus of psychiatry and neurology, recently co-authored a book chapter, titled “Melatonin In Parkinson's Disease And Its Therapeutic Potential,” along with international collaborators in the book Melatonin and Melatonergic Drugs In Clinical Practice (Srinivasan V et al., Springer 2014). Dr. Samuel D. Shillcutt, professor of psychiatry, co-edited the book.
Dr. Steve Livingston, director of behavioral services, was elected chair of the Georgia Composite Licensure Board of Professional Counselors, Social Workers, and Marriage and Family Therapists for 2015-2016. Dr. Livingston was initially appointed to the Composite Board by Governor Nathan Deal in 2011. Dr. Livingston was also recently appointed to the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy's national Ethics Committee for a three-year term.
Dr. Mike U. Smith, director of AIDS education and research and professor of medical education, co-authored “Mendel in the Modern Classroom” in Science & Education, 22(8):151-172. He was also appointed associate editor for the Journal of Research in Science Teaching.
Dr. Jacob Warren, endowed chair and director of the Center for Rural Health and Health Disparities in the Department of Community Medicine, had his recently published book Rural Public Health named as a “Book of the Year” by the American Journal of Nursing.
Staff and Administration
Amanda Bentley, director of admissions for Regional Academic Center undergraduate programs, and Megan DeLong, director of enrollment management services, were selected to present at the national University Professional and Continuing Education Association conference in March in Washington D.C. UPCEA is the leading association for professional, continuing and online education, and the pioneer organization in the field. Bentley and DeLong will facilitate a session on building a formal retention plan for non-traditional students.
Bonnie Brucato, assistant director of career services, earned a certificate of advanced graduate study in conflict management in December from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania.
Tift College of Education
Dr. Anthony J. Harris, professor, published his fourth book, It's What's on the Inside, a children's book with an important message for both children and adults about race, skin color and prejudice. Harris' other books are Gifts of Moments: Being somebody to somebody; Ain't Gonna Let Nobody 'Turn Me Round; and Fruits of a Disgraced Legacy.
Dr. Jane Metty, assistant professor, was profiled on the new Tift College website in a segment, titled “Dr. Metty on STEM.” She was appointed STEM Advisor for the Woodrow Wilson Foundation Georgia Teaching Fellowship initiative. She became chair of the ad-hoc Tift College Interdisciplinary STEM Committee). The purpose of this committee is to advance STEM education in Georgia and establish collaborative partnerships. Dr. Metty also presented with Dr. Clemmie Whatley, associate professor, at the Atlanta STEM Conference in Athens about developing mathematical and scientific reasoning skills in teachers. Dr. Metty was awarded a Governor's Office of Student Achievement (GOSA) planning grant in the amount of $10,000. This is a one-year grant that will fund the foundational work necessary to establish three-grade-band specific Georgia Professional Standards Commission-approved STEM endorsements. She was awarded a GOSA Scale-Up grant in collaboration with Georgia Southern University in the amount of $200,000. This two-year grant will allow Mercer and Georgia Southern to work with a middle and high school from Fulton County and a middle and high school from Clayton County to advance STEM reasoning modalities within the context of classroom-based, student-centric research. The grant assists schools in establishing research courses already approved by the Georgia Department of Education and in providing professional development to the teachers involved in the grant. Dr. Metty was awarded a National Science Foundation InTeGrate grant in collaboration with Dr. Colleen Stapeton, associate professor of science in Penfield College, in the amount of $50,000 The three-year grant is designed to increase the ability of pre-service and in-service teachers to think from a “systems perspective” while improving their Earth science literacy. In addition, Dr. Metty and Dr. Stapleton will develop regionally specific virtual field trips that will become part of a larger national repository of teacher resources housed at Carleton State University.
Dr. Karen Weller Swanson, associate professor, was one of six middle grades national experts asked to design the upcoming MGLS:2017 with the U.S. Department of Education. The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) has begun work on a new national longitudinal study of middle grades students – the Middle Grades Longitudinal Study of 2016-17 (MGLS:2017). While NCES's studies have contributed immensely to our understanding of the factors that influence student success and failure in school, the middle grades (grades 6–8) are noticeably absent from the studies conducted by NCES to date. The MGLS:2017 intends to fill this critical gap.
Townsend School of Music
Monty Cole, associate professor, performed a recital at Concordia College, where he also led jazz clinics and was featured saxophone artist with the Concordia College Jazz Ensemble. He also delivered master classes to the students of both Concordia and North Dakota State University.
Dr. Douglas Hill, professor, performed on trumpet at the Riverside United Methodist Church in Macon on Jan. 11. A student brass quintet under the direction of Hill was selected to perform at the annual Georgia Music Educators Association In-Service Conference in Savannah on Jan. 30. Student members include Rolando Fernandez and Ashley Godbee on trumpets, Megan Cargin on horn, John Lincourt on trombone, and Ryan Lambright on tuba.
Richard Kosowski, director of graduate studies and associate professor, served as tenor soloist in mid-October in the North American premiere of Alan Craig's A Diminished Mass with the Gwinnett Choral Guild. At the beginning of November, he performed with Coro Vocati in two concerts in the Atlanta metropolitan area. Over Thanksgiving weekend, he sang with the Macon Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Dr. David Keith, dean of the School of Music. During the month of December, he was tenor soloist in Handel's Messiah at Kennesaw State University and at Mulberry Street United Methodist Church in Macon under the direction of Dr. Keith. His graduate student Jennifer Olenic was alto soloist for both performances. He was a featured soloist at St. Joseph Catholic Church for Christmas Eve midnight mass and also singing with his graduate student Beau Palmer. In January, Kosowski conducted four performances of Handel's Alcina with Mercer University Opera. As music director of the Mercer University Children's Choir, he led choirs in performance at the Georgia National Fair, welcomed Santa Claus to the Bass Pro Shops with caroling and a concert, participated in the tree lighting ceremony for the Children's Hospital of the Medical Center of Central Georgia/Navicent Health, performed at the Christmas in the Village celebration in Mercer Village, and performed for the residents of Blair House in Macon. The major event for the choir was the 10th Anniversary performance of Sing and Rejoice! For this performance, the choir combined with students from Townsend School of Music and the Robert McDuffie Center for Strings. A highlight of the performance was the premiere of Gloria for six-part treble voices, piano and french horn, written by Christopher Schmitz, associate professor of music theory.
Walter F. George School of Law
Zack Buck, assistant professor, delivered the presentation “Side Effects” for the Association of American Law Schools Section of Law, Medicine and Health Care Works-In-Progress for New Law School Teachers at the AALS Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 3.
Jim Fleissner, professor, served as the keynote speaker at the opening convocation of the 60th annual Barkley Forum for High Schools, a national debate and speech tournament hosted by Emory University on Jan. 23. Professor Fleissner made a presentation in Augusta at a symposium focusing on the life and career of Senator Walter F. George on Jan. 24. The presentation was titled “Senator Walter F. George, FDR, and the Purge Campaign of 1938.”
David Hricik, professor, had his article, titled “When Dreams Come True? Using Section 285 to Impose Fees Against a Losing Patentee's Lawyers,” published in the American Bar Association's Landslide magazine in January.
Linda Jellum, Ellison C. Palmer Professor of Tax Law, presented on a panel, titled “Not Your Parents Administrative Law Class,” at the annual meeting of the Association of American Law Schools. The presentation detailed her efforts to help her students understand the notice and comment process by requiring them to analyze a rule with an open comment period, to file a comment on the rule, and then to present their comment to the class. The assignment helps them better understand the hybrid rulemaking procedures as well as notice-and-comment rulemaking.
Scott Titshaw, associate professor, give the following talks: “Has the US Overtaken the EU in Recognizing Same-Sex Families for Immigration Purposes?” at the second annual consortium meeting of the European Union's Families and Societies Project, “Centro de Ciencias Humanas y Sociales of the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas,” in Madrid, Spain, in January; “A Snapshot of US Immigration Law: Overview and Reform” at the Migration Policy Centre in the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies and the Law Department of the European University Institute (EUI) in Fiesole, Italy, in December; and “Freedom of Movement: A Transatlantic Rainbow Comparison” at the International Conference on Rights on the Move: Rainbow Families in Europe at the University of Trento in Trento, Italy, in October. Professor Titshaw will speak on “Fam-migration Law for LGBT families in the US and the EU” at the Fulbright Seminar on the European Union and NATO in Brussels, Belgium, in February. He also authored the e-book chapter “A Transatlantic Rainbow Comparison: 'Federalism' and Family-Based Immigration for Rainbow Families in the U.S. and the E.U.” in RIGHTS ON THE MOVE – Rainbow Families in Europe (Università degli studi di Trento, 2014).
