College of Education
Dr. Karyn Allee, associate professor of elementary education, and doctoral student Sawyer Henderson co-authored the paper “Reducing cognitive load using picture books: Scaffolding literary analysis with older readers” in the January/February 2026 issue of The Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy.
Dr. Katherine Perrotta, associate professor of middle grades and secondary education, and curriculum and instruction doctoral candidate Katlynn Cross-Harris presented “History in our Backyard: The Names of Places in Georgia Podcast” at the Library of Congress Teaching with Primary Sources poster session at the National Council for the Social Studies annual conference in Washington, D.C.
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
Dr. John Marson Dunaway, professor emeritus of French and interdisciplinary studies, was invited to speak to the Christian faculty group Faculty Commons at a monthly luncheon at Clemson University on Jan. 16. Dr. Dunaway’s topic was “How Can I Witness as a Professor?” He was also a keynote speaker, along with District Attorney Anita Howard, at the worship service at Steward Chapel AME on Martin Luther King Jr. Day to conclude the King Day march on Jan. 19.
Dr. James Davis May, associate professor of English and director of creative writing, published two poems in December: “My Patron Saint of Distance” appeared in Terrain, and “The Patron Saint of Suburban Foxes” was featured in The Sun.
Dr. Jennie Ren, assistant professor of computer science, launched the project-based course CSC 485: Mobile App Design and Development. The course guides students in using professional design tools to create high-fidelity prototypes and translate those designs into fully functional, downloadable mobile applications. Through hands-on design and development work, students gain practical, career-ready skills that extend beyond theory into real-world application.
Dr. John Stanga, associate professor of biology, co-authored “Recombination Suppression Drives Expansion of the Drosophila Dot Chromosome,” published in Molecular Biology and Evolution. A total of 119 Mercerians earned co-authorship for research contributions made as students in genetics classes from fall 2020 through spring 2023. They and an additional 97 faculty and 911 student co-authors are attributed as the Genomics Education Partnership, a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing science through undergraduate research. The complete author list can be found as an appendix in the supplementary material.
Dr. Bryan J. Whitfield, professor of religion, published four columns on 1 Corinthians with Working Preacher for Jan. 18 and 25 and Feb. 1 and 8.
College of Nursing
Dr. Daphnee Stewart, clinical assistant professor, and Dr. Tara Bertulfo, clinical associate professor, co-authored the article “Creating a disaster simulation utilizing role-play to address vulnerable population care,” published in Clinical Simulation in Nursing.
Dr. Linda A. Streit, professor of nursing, was selected for Chair Orientation for accreditation evaluations by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges. She completed her orientation in January. She has been serving as a team member for the organization’s regional evaluations.
College of Pharmacy
Dr. Raquibul Hasan, associate professor of pharmaceutical sciences, was awarded a $77,000 American Heart Association grant for the project “Novel Dual Targeting of ET-1 Overproduction and Receptor Overstimulation in Salt-Sensitive Hypertension.” Dr. Hasan is the project’s principal investigator, and Dr. Mohammad Uddin and Dr. Renee Hayslett, both associate professors of pharmaceutical sciences, are co-investigators. Dr. Hasan was also awarded a $70,676 American Heart Association grant for the project “Novel role of a gut microbiota-derived metabolite in angiotensin II-induced hypertension.” Dr. Hasan is the project’s principal investigator, and doctoral student Emmanuella Ezewudo is co-principal investigator. Additionally, Dr. Hasan presented “Novel targeting of the endothelin system for the treatment of cardiovascular, metabolic, and cognitive disorders” at the BCSIR Laboratories seminar held in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on Dec. 9, 2025. Dr. Hasan also served as a student/alumni advisor for the 2025 Mercer University SOM-COP Joint Research Conference, held on Oct. 31. Alumna Dr. Nazia Hoque and doctoral student Nimi Simon won first place for their oral presentations, and doctoral student Samira Sooreni and Ezewudo won third place for their poster presentations.
College of Professional Advancement
Dr. Brooke Bullard, assistant professor of biology, will serve as co-investigator on a recently funded grant from the Navicent Health Foundation. Dr. Jonathan Coffman, professor of microbiology and immunology, is the principal investigator on the project. The two-year award will investigate the “Inhibition of Cylindromatosis Lysine Deubiquitinase (CYLD) and Inhibitory-κB Kinase (IKK) α to Polarize Murine Macrophages to an Anti-tumorigenic State.”
School of Business
Dr. Szabolcs Blazsek, professor of economics, co-published the article “An empirical application of improved gradient scaling for score-driven volatility filters” with student Aspen J. Johnson and Adam Kobor of New York University in Applied Economics Letters.
Dr. Myriam Quispe-Agnoli, associate professor of economics; Dr. Briana Sell Stenard, associate professor of management and entrepreneurship; Dr. Vijaya Subrahmanyam, professor of finance; C. Ben Harnsberger, professor of finance; and Harold Tessendorf, visiting lecturer of management, published “Rehabilitating Cape Town’s Homeless Through Social Innovation-The Case of Streetscapes’ Urban Farms” in the book Global Entrepreneurship in Practice: A Case Study Collection in January.
Dr. Carol Springer Sargent, associate professor of accounting; Dr. Blake Bowler, assistant professor of accounting; and Dr. Asa Lambert, assistant professor of finance, published the article “Time Horizon: A New Focus for Enhancing Financial Stability” in the Journal of Behavioral Economics.
School of Engineering
Dr. Arash Afshar, associate professor of mechanical engineering; Dr. Dorina Mihut, professor of mechanical engineering; Dr. Stephen Hill, associate professor of mechanical engineering; and students Alexander Patrick, Zachary Rehg, Michael Norenberg, Caleb Luo-Gardner and Ronald White published the article “Mechanical and Tribological Performance of Molded and 3D-Printed Polymers under Environmental Degradation” in Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part L: Journal of Materials: Design and Applications.
Dr. Sarah Bauer, assistant professor of environmental and civil engineering, and research students Madalyn Nesheim, Leila Kelly and Sara Engels published the article “The Impact of HTL-Derived Biochar on Seedling Growth of Lettuce (Lactuca sativa)” in Agricultural Sciences.
Dr. Pam Estes Brewer, professor and chair of the department of human-centered information design, was chosen president-elect of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Professional Communication Society, which consists of 750 members within the 40,000 members of the Society. Dr. Brewer will serve a four-year term, one year as president-elect, two years as president and one year as immediate past president. Dr. Brewer has served for the past three years as vice president of membership.
Dr. Hunmin Kim, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, co-authored the article “Guided Sampling-Based Motion Planning Algorithm for Dynamic and Obstacle Cluttered Environments,” published in the AIAA Journal of Guidance, Control, and Dynamics. Dr. Kim, with Dr. Anthony Choi, professor of electrical and computer engineering, also co-authored the article “Insights From and Future Directions for a Nationwide Science and Engineering Education Collaboration in Stratospheric Ballooning,” published in Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences.
School of Law
Margie Alsbrook, assistant professor of law, was honored with the 2025 Judge Clyde Reese Board of Visitors Excellence in Scholarship Award in recognition of her outstanding academic work. As the founding editor-in-chief of the Journal of Food Law & Policy, Alsbook recently published an essay on the origins of the Journal for its 20th anniversary issue called “Reflections and Gratitude: The Journal of Food Law & Policy From a Twenty-Year Perspective.”
Savanna Nolan, associate law librarian for administration and public services, co-published the article “Effectiveness of Research Plans: A Case Study” with TJ Striepe in Legal Reference Services Quarterly in December 2025.
Monica Armstrong Roudil, associate professor of law, was honored with the 2025 Judge Clyde Reese Board of Visitors Excellence in Teaching Award in recognition of her lasting educational influence on members of the Class of 2020.
Marilyn Sutton, assistant dean of admissions and financial aid, was named to the Southern Association of Pre-Law Advisors board. The board provides resource materials to improve skills and knowledge of persons involved in advising pre-law students for the benefit of the students, the law schools and the legal profession, and it strives to improve the lines of communication between the Association’s members and individual law school officers, the Law School Admission Council and other law-related organizations.
Scott Titshaw, professor of law and associate dean for faculty research and development, spoke and co-wrote the practice advisory “Navigating New Naturalization Standards and Good Moral Character: Good Enough?” for the American Immigration Lawyers Association’s national web seminar.
Jeannie Zipperer, assistant dean of students, was elected to serve as the president-elect for the Georgia College Personnel Association Executive Board. In this leadership role, Zipperer will support the planning and execution of the board’s initiatives, collaborate with board members and committees and prepare to assume the presidency in the following term.
School of Medicine
Dr. Mohammed Abdelsaid, associate professor of pharmacology, was awarded the Bridge American Heart Association Institutional Research Enhancement Award for the project “The Long-term Impact of SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein on Brain Health after an Ischemic Insult,” which focuses on understanding how COVID-19 influences brain recovery following stroke. The one-year award will support the Abdelsaid lab in generating more preliminary data, expanding ongoing research efforts and strengthening future extramural grant applications.
Dr. Yahya Acar, assistant professor and director of medical simulation, won the International Meeting on Simulation in Healthcare 2026 SimVentors award for a Summer Scholars project in which he directed two medical students in designing and 3D printing low-cost medical simulators.
Dr. David Cory Adamson, professor of surgery, was elected to the Board of Governors of the American College of Surgeons.
Dr. Caroline Anglim, assistant professor of bioethics and professionalism, and Dr. Paul Lewis, professor and chair of religion in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, were awarded a $60,000 grant from Interfaith America for their Faith in Health Professions project, which will support undergraduate and medical student research and education.
Dr. Ilana Chefetz-Menaker, associate professor of pharmacology in the department of biomedical sciences, presented at the Reproductive Endocrinology Journal Club for Atrium Health (North Carolina) and Navicent Health. Her presentation focused on premature ovarian insufficiency, surgical menopause, and hormone replacement therapy in patients with BRCA mutations.
Dr. Raghavan Chinnadurai, associate professor in the department of biomedical sciences, co-authored the article “Extracellular vesicles from mesenchymal stromal cells primed with synthetic toll-like receptor 4 agonists treat hematopoietic acute radiation syndrome,” published in Stem Cells Translational Medicine.
Dr. Timothy Connelly, associate professor of medicine, was awarded the 2025 Georgia Hospital Association Physician Hero Award during the annual trustees meeting on Jan. 10. The award is presented to a physician who has tirelessly given time, talent and expertise to improve their organizations and the world around them.
Dr. Francis Kirera, associate professor of anatomy, co-authored the article “Elephant range and population, strontium isotopes, and genetics combine to give local-scale specificity to ivory hotspot tracking,” published in the Journal of Isotopes in Environmental and Health Studies. The study integrates strontium isotope geochemistry with genetic and population data in wildlife forensics to precisely identify the geographic origins of ivory recovered from poaching activities in East Africa.
Dr. Edward C. Klatt, professor in the department of biomedical sciences, served as a manuscript reviewer in January for the journal Archives of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine.
Dr. Anthony J. Kondracki, assistant professor of community medicine, presented the research poster “Risk Factors for Maternal Mortality from Cardiovascular Disease in the State of Georgia” at the 2025 American Public Health Association Annual Meeting and Expo in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 2, 2025. Dr. Kondracki was also named an editorial board member of the journal BMC Public Health.
Staff and Administration
Andrea Honaker, digital content specialist in the Office of Marketing Communications, earned her Master of Business Administration from Mercer in December and was inducted into the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi. In addition, in November, her article “Mercer tackles global water crisis by bringing clean water to communities in need” was recognized in the Council for Advancement and Support of Education’s 2025 Best of District III Awards in the research, medicine and science news writing category.
