College of Education
Dr. Karyn Allee, associate professor of elementary education, and University of Memphis Ph.D. candidate Taylor Mule, had their paper, “Balancing development and rigor: Beliefs about priorities and threats in early childhood education among future professionals,” accepted for publication in Early Childhood Education Journal. Additionally, Dr. Allee, with colleagues Nance Wilson from SUNY Cortland and Brittany Adams from the University of Alabama, presented the conference session “A new model for reading instruction: Making the climb to accomplish reading tasks” at the Children’s Literature and Reading and Organization of Teacher Educators in Literacy special-interest groups of the International Literacy Association virtual conference on Oct. 3.
Dr. Robert Helfenbein, professor of curriculum studies, and Dr. Katherine Perrotta, associate professor, published the chapter “Curriculum Theorizing, Thirdspace, and the Critical Turn of Teacher Residency Programs” in Critical Approaches for Teacher Residencies: Dreaming New Ways Forward in School, University, and Community Entanglements by Thomas Albright and Stephanie Behm-Cross, Eds.
Dr. Katherine Perrotta, associate professor, and curriculum and instruction doctoral students Katlynn Cross-Harris and Brittny Johnson presented the podcast “History in Our Backyard: The Names of Places in Georgia” at the Georgia Council for the Social Studies conference.
Dr. Susie Morrissey, associate professor of mathematics education and Scarborough Endowed Chair, presented “Elementary Preservice Teachers’ Use of Concrete-Representational-Abstract in Mathematics Lesson Plans” at the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics annual meeting in Atlanta in October.
College of Health Professions
Dr. Zackary Cicone, assistant professor of kinesiology, presented “Changes in body water distribution across the menstrual cycle” and “Changes in maximal force production across the menstrual cycle” at the National Strength and Conditioning Association 2025 National Conference in Kansas City, Missouri, on July 16-19.
Dr. Angela Crevar, assistant professor of educational leadership, with Dr. Jacob Kirksey, Dr. Jennifer Freeman and Braden Reed of Texas Tech University, presented their work on career clusters and immediate workforce entry in two papers at the Society for Research on Educational Effectiveness annual conference in Chicago. Dr. Crevar will also present her work, “From High School to High Wages: The Role of Career Clusters for Students,” at the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management annual conference in Seattle.
Jennifer de la Cruz, clinical associate professor of physician assistant studies, presented “Dementia, Delirium and Fall Prevention” at the Injury Prevention Research Center at Emory University in Atlanta on Sept. 5.
Dr. Mary W. Mathis, professor of public health practice, co-authored “Utilizing the Human Animal Bond to Promote Preventive Care Engagement in Underserved Communities: A Descriptive Study of Two U.S. One Health Clinics,” published in the Journal of Primary Care & Community Health.
Dr. Anne Mulholland, assistant professor of kinesiology, co-authored “Physiological responses to heat stress in groundskeepers: An observational field study,” published in Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism. She also co-authored “Influence of skin pigmentation on the accuracy and data quality of photoplethysmographic heart rate measurement during exercise,” published in the European Journal of Applied Physiology.
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
Libertad Aranza, senior lecturer of Spanish, and Dr. Katherine Roseau, associate professor of French, with students Jaiden Aliff and Grace Kouassi, presented “World Languages and Cultures Students Do Oral History with Multilingual Migrants” at the Oral History Association annual meeting in Atlanta on Oct. 18.
Dr. Wallace L. Daniel, Distinguished University Professor of History, published “The Illusions They Carried: Nuclear War, Henry Dakin, and Bridging the Gap to Peace in the Cold War” in The Soviet and Post-Soviet Review in October.
Dr. Gordon Johnston, professor of English, was interviewed about his short story collection Seven Islands of the Ocmulgee on Georgia Public Radio’s “Georgia Today” during the “All Things Considered” broadcast on July 15. Dr. Johnston also gave a reading and book talk about Seven Islands of the Ocmulgee and his latest book of poems, Where Here Is Hard to Say, at the University of Georgia’s Griffin Authors Series on Sept. 26.
Dr. Anastasia Kerr-German, assistant professor of psychology, was featured in the GBP News article “‘Frustrated, worried, disappointed’: Georgia doctors deal with fallout of Tylenol and autism claims.” She was also the invited keynote speaker for WestNIRS 2025 in London, Ontario, Oct. 20-24, presenting the keynote “The toddler data desert in developmental cognitive neuroscience: Where have we been, and where we are going?” At the same conference, Dr. Kerr-German and students Riddhi Maheshwari and Emily Lundstrum co-hosted the 3 1/2-hour training workshop, “From lab to mobility with community data collection: Multimodal methods in developmental cognitive neuroscience with typical, risk, and pathology populations,” to teach more than 80 scientists how to use fNIRS and showcase research at Mercer.
Dr. James Davis May, associate professor of English and director of creative writing, was a featured poet at the West End Poetry Festival in Carrboro, North Carolina, where he read new work and gave a craft talk titled “The Art of Futility.” His poem “Contact Details” was published in the autumn issue of The Southern Review.
Dr. Phoebe Moon, assistant professor of political science, will start her three-year term as a member of the American Political Science Association’s Committee on the Status of Women in the Profession. The committee works to advance research on women in political science as well as on issues of particular concern to women and works to ensure fair and equal treatment of women throughout the profession. Dr. Moon also published the article “How exposure to different media framing influences support for gender equality: The case of the gender gap and employment during the Covid-19 pandemic in South Korea” in Hyundae Jungchi Yeongu.
Dr. Tyler B. Parker, assistant professor of political science, delivered the presentation “Securing Status: Explaining Qatari and Emirati Support for U.S. Policies in the Middle East” at the fall 2025 meeting of the Southeast Regional Middle East and Islamic Studies Society in Valle Crucis, North Carolina, Oct. 10-12.
Dr. Jacqueline Pinkowitz, assistant professor of media studies, presented her work, “Silences, Absences, Ghosts: Reworking the Native American Gothic in Reservation Dogs,” at the Literature/Film Association conference in Savannah in September.
College of Nursing
Dr. Seongkum Heo, professor and Piedmont Healthcare Endowed Chair, co-published the article “Multidimensional determinants of functional status in patients with heart failure” in Heart International; “Perspectives on advance care planning and related end-of-life care in people with heart failure: A Q methodology study” in the Journal of Health Psychology; “Beliefs and attitudes of family caregivers of people with dementia toward advance care planning: A Q methodology study” in Dementia; and “A mediating effect of psychological distress in the relationship between performance status and health-related quality of life of patients with female cancer” in Healthcare.
Dr. Sonique Sailsman, assistant professor, was a guest on the Lippincott Spark Nursing Education podcast, where she explored implicit bias in nursing education, its effect on patient care and how to create inclusive, bias-aware learning environments.
College of Pharmacy
Dr. Ajay K. Banga, professor and chair of pharmaceutical sciences, and graduate student Meheli Ghosh, co-authored the article “Vacuum compression-molded polyvinyl alcohol microneedles for sustained three-day transdermal delivery of palonosetron hydrochloride,” that was published in Drug Delivery and Translational Research on Sept. 23.
Dr. Lori Dupree, clinical associate professor, co-authored “The Case for Specifications Grading,” published in the American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education.
Dr. Nicole Metzger, clinical professor, was inducted as a Fellow of the American College of Clinical Pharmacy in Minneapolis on Oct. 18.
Dr. Kenric Ware, clinical associate professor, was awarded funding as a co-investigator on a five-year National Institutes Health R01 project in collaboration with Duke University. The research project, “Pharmacists for Prevention (P4P): Harnessing the Role of Pharmacists in Ending the HIV Epidemic Through Collaboration with Pharmacy Schools,” focuses on integrating a pharmacist-focused curriculum, including HIV epidemiology, prevention and implementation science.
College of Professional Advancement
Dr. Hani Q. Khoury, professor of mathematics, had his paper, “Beyond Numbers: Reframing Mathematics Education for Identity, Justice, and Agency,” accepted for presentation at the International Conference on Trends & Innovations in Management, Engineering, Science & Humanities to be held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, in December.
Dr. Feng Liu, professor of informatics, had her chapter “Building a Responsible Metaverse” accepted for publication in Metaverse, MetaIntelligence and Infinite Worlds with AI by the publisher of InTechOpen. Her work represents an important contribution to the growing field of responsible and ethical development in immersive and AI-driven technologies, examining the design principles and social responsibilities essential to creating safe, inclusive and human-centered metaverse environments throughout software design and development.
Dr. Hollis Phelps, associate professor of interdisciplinary studies, published the article “Constructing Mystical Experiences: A Critique of the Mystical Paradigm in Psychedelic Research” in the Journal for Cultural and Religious Theory.
Dr. Kristin Robertson, assistant professor of writing and literature, read poetry from her new collection, “Chance of Lightning,” at the Decatur Book Festival on Oct. 4.
Dr. Jacqueline S. Stephen, assistant professor and director of instructional and learning design, completed a six-month mentorship role as part of the Association for Talent Development Atlanta chapter’s mentorship program. Students Chantia Daniels and Charlotte Whitehead, from the human resources administration and talent development undergraduate program, were also selected as mentees for this year’s cohort and paired with learning and development leaders from the metro Atlanta area. The program culminated in a mentor-mentee presentation held on Oct. 22 in Atlanta, where the students shared their experiences and accomplishments from the program. In her role as a mentor, Dr. Stephen worked with a learning and development professional from the nonprofit sector, exchanging ideas and exploring how instructional design principles apply across corporate training and higher education.
Working under the mentorship of Dr. Sabrina L. Walthall, professor in the department of science, and Dr. Donald Ekong and Dr. Stephen Hill, associate professors in the School of Engineering, student Shane R. Tharani presented “Beyond the Classroom: Global Citizenship in Practice Through STEM Service-Learning in Cape Town, South Africa” at the 2025 Southern Conference Undergraduate Research Forum at Wofford College in Spartanburg, South Carolina, on Oct. 24-25. The presentation explored how immersive service-learning experiences abroad can cultivate equity-minded and socially responsible STEM leaders who are prepared to address complex global challenges. This work contributes to ongoing research utilizing the AAC&U Global Learning VALUE Rubric as an analytical framework for assessing student reflections across six dimensions: global self-awareness, perspective taking, cultural diversity, personal and social responsibility, understanding global systems and the application of knowledge to contemporary contexts.
Dr. Samantha Waters, assistant professor of biology, had her manuscript, “Distinct droplet activation behavior of submicron- and supermicron-sized bacterial cells,” accepted for publication in the peer-reviewed journal Microbiology. The study investigated the cloud condensation phenotypes of bacteria isolated from rainwater; data revealed a size differential with submicron bacteria forming water droplets at lower supersaturation conditions than supermicron bacteria. The results have implications for regional weather and warm cloud formation.
School of Business
Dr. Berkley Baker, adjunct professor, published the book Customer Adoption Reimagined: Strategies to Win Early Adopters and Drive Market Success. The book introduces Baker’s CFOSS® framework, which helps innovators and organizations accelerate adoption by aligning with customers across five dimensions: core, financial, operational, strategic and social. Drawing on his research and experience as a professor and consultant, Dr. Baker explores how leaders can overcome the “adoption stalemate” and translate innovation into measurable traction. Dr. Baker integrates many of these concepts into his course on social entrepreneurship and innovation.
Dr. Micah Frankel, professor of accounting, had his paper, “Navigating the Marriage Tax Penalty: Insights from High and Low-Income Taxpayers,” accepted for publication in the Global Journal of Accounting and Finance.
Dr. Briana Stenard, associate professor of management and entrepreneurship, with Dr. Faye Sisk, professor of management, and Dr. Linda Brennan, adjunct professor, presented “Generative Artificial Intelligence in a Strategic Management Capstone Course Simulation: A Student’s Perspective” at the Strategic Management Society Annual Conference in San Francisco in October. The presentation was during the session “Teaching Strategy and Sustainability with New Approaches Including AI.”
Dr. Ronald Tsang, assistant professor of accounting, presented his research paper, “A Comparative Analysis of Information Content in Risk Factors and Management’s Discussion and Analysis: Evidence from the Mandatory Cybersecurity Disclosures,” at the 2025 Symposium hosted by the University of Waterloo’s Center for Information Integrity and Information Systems Assurance in September as part of the Center’s 14th biennial symposium. Dr. Tsang’s paper introduces an innovative disclosure metric designed to capture information at the topical level, enabling advanced textual analysis and improved prediction of company performance. The symposium, renowned for its emphasis on sustainability and fostering collaboration between academics and industry practitioners, serves as a prominent platform for advancing discourse in information systems and assurance research.
School of Engineering
Dr. Arash Afshar, associate professor of mechanical engineering, had his article “Computational Optimization of Modified Honeycomb Structures for Enhanced Auxetic and Energy Absorbing Performance” accepted for publication in the Journal of Intelligent Material Systems and Structures, published by SAGE Publishing.
Dr. Adaline Buerck, assistant professor of environmental and civil engineering and director of the Day Groundwater Center, and Dr. Natalia Cardelino, associate professor of environmental and civil engineering, were awarded a $10,000 grant for their proposal, “Dominican Republic Community Water Access,” from Water Charities Fundraising, an annual charity benefit at the Water Environment Federation conference in Chicago on Sept. 28.
Dr. Donald Ekong, associate professor of computer engineering, has been recommended for placement on the Fulbright Specialist roster for a three-year term. The Fulbright Specialist Program promotes linkages between U.S. scholars and professionals and their counterparts at host institutions overseas. The program awards grants to U.S. faculty and professionals in select disciplines to engage in short-term collaborative projects at eligible institutions in more than 140 countries. As a result of his placement on the Fulbright Specialist roster, Dr. Ekong will be considered for project requests that require his expertise.
Dr. Philip B. Gallagher, assistant professor of human-centered information design and technology, and public health communication student Anisa Khan presented the research “Bridging The Gap: Testing Localized Physical Therapy Instructions Designed for Vietnamese Orthopedic Patients” at the Rhetoric of Health and Medicine Symposium in Minneapolis. The student-led presentation shared the results of a usability and localization study of physical therapy instructions designed for patients receiving orthopedic care during the Mercer On Mission Vietnam program.
Dr. Chandan Roy, assistant professor of mechanical engineering, with students Landon Yarbrough, Hammad Quddus and Megan Batchelor, published the article “Thermal Performance of Silicone and Non-Silicone Thermal Pads as Thermal Interface Materials” in the Journal of Experimental and Theoretical Analysis.
School of Law
Ishaq Kundawala, professor of law and Southeastern Bankruptcy Law Institute and W. Homer Drake Jr. Endowed Chair in Bankruptcy Law, was interviewed by WMAZ-TV for a segment that aired on Oct. 15 explaining general bankruptcy law issues related to a local politician’s prior bankruptcy filings. He also delivered a one-hour continuing legal education presentation on the ethics of advertising in bankruptcy practice at the Middle District of Georgia Bankruptcy Law Institute’s annual seminar on Sept. 26 in Macon, where he brought several Mercer Law students. The students engaged directly with members of the bankruptcy bench and bar, gaining valuable insight into professional practice and networking within the bankruptcy community.
School of Medicine
Dr. Caroline Anglim, assistant professor of bioethics and professionalism, presented at the 27th Annual Conference of the American Society of Bioethics and Humanities in Portland, Oregon, in October. Her sessions were titled “Promoting Moral Agency and a Growth Mindset for the Moral Self in Undergraduate Medical Education” and “Assessing Spiritual Needs in Medicine: Evaluation of a Pilot Training and Simulation.”
Dr. Brian H. Childs, professor and chair of the bioethics and medical humanities department on the Savannah campus, with medical students Jace DeGarmo and Alexandra Perry, had their commentary accepted by the American Journal of Bioethics. The commentary addresses the recent widely discussed case at Emory University Medical Center involving Adriana Smith, who was pregnant and declared deceased by neurological criteria. DeGarmo and Perry were the lead authors, and the commentary was based on their Summer Scholar research as part of the four-year certificate program in bioethics and medical humanities. Dr. Childs also hosted a meeting in Washington, D.C., for organ transplant ethicists, surgeons and Organ Procurement Organization leadership on the ethics of abdominal and thoracic regional perfusion. The meeting resulted in an agreement to come to a consensus document, and additional meetings of a panel will be planned with the sponsorship of the Pellegrino Center at Georgetown University.
Dr. Bonny L. Dickinson, senior associate dean for faculty affairs, director of medical education research and professor in the department of biomedical sciences; Dr. Kimberly McElveen, associate dean for faculty affairs; and Carolyn Klatt, professor in the department of library and information science, co-authored the paper “‘You’re Going to Have This Feeling and It’s Going to be a Good Feeling’: Why Clinical Affiliate Faculty Pursue Promotion and What They Gain,” published in October in the medical education journal Teaching and Learning in Medicine. Dr. Dickinson also participated in an Academic Medicine “AM Rounds” podcast, “The Lure of Lore: How Medical Students Learn to Navigate Interprofessional Interactions,” in September.
Dr. David Hollar, associate professor in the department of community medicine, had his research paper “Spatiotemporal Patterns of Infant Mortality Risk Factors in Georgia” accepted for publication in the peer-reviewed journal Research Methods in Medicine & Health Sciences, published by Sage. Dr. Hollar, with third-year medical student Haley Thompson as first author, co-published “Effects of Allostatic Load and Cardiovascular Risk Factors on Sleep Disturbances” in the peer-reviewed International Journal of Environmental Health Research, published by Taylor & Francis.
Dr. Yesh Rao Karkal, professor in the department of biomedical sciences, co-authored the article “Assessment of Clinical Pharmacology and Competence during Clinical Clerkships,” published in the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology. He also reviewed the article “Re-evaluating Authenticity in a Pharmacology Assessment: Lessons from Timed Remote Open-Book Examinations in the Digital Era” for the same journal.
Summer Scholar mentors Carolyn A. Klatt, professor in the department of library and information science, and Kim Meeks, from library and information science; Dr. Edward C. Klatt, professor in the department of biomedical sciences; and student Tyler Grace Hattaway, presented the session “Student Engagement and Performance with Formative Assessments in Preclinical Medical Education” at the International Association of Medical Science Educators 2025 virtual forum on Oct. 22.
Dr. Edward C. Klatt, professor in the department of biomedical sciences, served as a manuscript reviewer in October for the journals Archives of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine and BioMedCentral Medical Education. He also served as a reviewer of session content for the Health Information and Management Systems Society 2026 Global Health Conference & Exhibition.
Dr. Kimberly Klaus, assistant professor of community medicine in Columbus, presented the talk “Exploring AI as a Formative Feedback and Assessment Tool in Bad News Delivery Standardized Patient Encounters” at the International Association of Medical Science Educators virtual forum on Oct. 23. The research for the presentation was completed along with Dr. David Bury, associate professor and director of medical practice in Columbus.
Dr. Jong-Hyuk Lee, assistant professor of genetics, with Dr. Wei-Hsiung Yang, professor in the department of biomedical sciences, co-authored the article “Evolutionary Insights into Cancer Resistance: Characterizing Elephantine MDM2’s Role in p53 Regulation,” which was published in The FASEB Journal. Medical students Himani K. Patel, Trey A. Doss, Emilye C. Eischeid, Paul Lee, MacLaren A. Durkee, Avery M. Duncan, Darshti Patel and Anmol P. Patel also co-authored the research.
Dr. Kimberly McElveen, associate dean for faculty affairs, published “Implementing a Residents as Teachers Program for Interns in Residencies in Community Hospitals” in The American Surgeon.
Dr. Chefetz Menaker, associate professor of pharmacology in the department of biomedical sciences, mentored OBGYN resident Dr. J. Alexander Dyas from Navicent Health on a project with a focus on the cardiotoxicity of PARP inhibitors. Dr. Dyas worked on the collaborative project with Dr. Mohammed Abdelsaid, associate professor of biomedical sciences, in the laboratory of Dr. Chefetz, and he was awarded the first-place Georgia OBGYN Society Resident Research Project Award.
School of Music
Dr. Nathan Myrick, assistant professor of sacred music and director of undergraduate studies, with Bo kyung Blenda Im of Yale University, edited a special issue of the Yale Journal of Music and Religion titled “The Power of Timbre in Religion.” In addition to co-authoring the introductory article, Dr. Myrick co-authored “From the Heaviest, Dirtiest Depths to the Washy Ambient Clouds: Guitar Timbre in/as Schismogenesis in North American Christianity” with Joshua Busman of the University of North Carolina-Pembroke.
Staff and Administration
Olivia Bushey, research services librarian at Tarver Library, presented “Sensory Toy for Fidgety Librarians: Mindful Practices Today Build Better Futures” at the Georgia Library Conference 2025 on Oct. 9 in Columbus.
Megan Vaughn, research services librarian at Tarver Library, participated in the panel discussion “Successful Career Transitions for Librarians: Navigating the Shift Between Public, Academic, and Special Library Roles” at the Georgia Libraries Conference in Columbus on Oct. 9. The panel focused on sharing experiences from four librarians from different library sectors and career transitions from one library setting to another. Vaughn recently joined the Research Services team at Tarver Library after a career in public libraries.
