Dr. Alyssa Fiss, associate professor of physical therapy, co-authored “Early intervention (0-3) services for young children with cerebral palsy” in Cerebral Palsy, 2nd Ed. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Springer, Cham; 2018:1-18. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-50592-3_153-1.
Dr. Ann Lucado, associate professor of physical therapy, received the 2018 Outstanding Service Award from the American Society of Hand Therapists.
Dr. Jimmie H. Smith Jr., assistant professor of practice and liaison for the Academic Health Department, presented at the 2018 National Association of County and City Health Officials Annual Conference in New Orleans, Louisiana, focusing on “Unleashing the Power of Local Public Health.” His podium presentation, titled “A Liaison-Based Academic Health Department in Georgia: A Partnership for Improving Community Health,” addressed the efforts of Mercer, the Department of Public Health and the Georgia Department of Public Health’s North Central Health District to enhance local public health efforts to assess community needs, better prepare public health undergraduate and graduate students to meet those needs and increase community-based research focused on current issues.
Dr. Deborah Wendland, associate professor of physical therapy, Ann Lucado, associate professor of physical therapy, Dr. Tony Stillman, associate professor of clinical psychology, and Dr. Gina Ryan, clinical professor of pharmacy practice in the College of Pharmacy, were awarded $15,000 by the Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of Georgia for a study, titled “A multi-faceted approach to diabetes control, prevention, and management/education with Good Sam and TEAM Diabetes.”
Dr. Jonathan Addleton, adjunct professor of international and global studies, published an op-ed on Sept. 6. in Global Atlanta titled “Cashmere From Mongolia: One Way to Smooth Out Washington’s Partisan Divide?” Written prior to the Mongolian Prime Minister’s recent visit to Washington, D.C., Addleton’s article noted bipartisan support for a pending bill that would expand access for cashmere and other animal fiber products from Mongolia to the United States. Earlier this summer, Dr. Addleton was also quoted in a Hollywood Reporter article titled “How ‘Black Panther’ is Teaching College Students About Foreign Policy,” citing his Introduction to International Relations class at Mercer as an example.
Dr. David A. Davis, associate professor of English and associate director of the Spencer B. King Jr. Center for Southern Studies, published a review of The Short Story in Midcentury America by Sam Reese in the Flannery O’Connor Review.
Dr. Curtis Herink, professor of mathematics, presented a poster, titled “Sequences with the Zeckendorf Property,” at MathFest 2018, the annual summer meeting of the Mathematical Association of America, Aug. 1-4 in Denver, Colorado.
Dr. Gordon Johnston, professor of English, presented to the Philanthropic Education Organization on Sept. 5 on “Boy in the River: From the Field to the Page,” about the book “Ocmulgee National Monument: A Brief Guide with Field Notes (Mercer Press, 2018)” that he co-authored with historian Dr. Matt Jennings. Dr. Johnston judged a fiction, poetry and creative nonfiction writing competition for the Macon Writers Club in July. On Sept. 6, Dr. Johnston presented “Notes from the Field: Sapelo and the Chattahoochee,” a keynote talk at the first class session of the Bibb County Extension Service’s Master Naturalist Program, held at the extension service offices in Macon. On Sept. 18, Dr. Johnston hosted a poetry writing workshop with Lindsey Alexander, author of the poetry collection “Rodeo in Reverse,” which won the New Southern Voices Poetry Prize for 2018. Johnston also co-sponsored with the Spencer B. King Center for Southern Studies a poetry reading by Alexander.
Dr. Clara Mengolini, assistant professor of Spanish, authored “Performance y clasismo en los cuentos de Silvina Ocampo,” which was accepted for publication in Hispania.
Dr. Fletcher Winston, professor of sociology, presented a poster, titled “A Multipronged Approach to Maximize the Potential of Collaborative Learning and Minimize Student Discontent,” at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association. He was also the presider at the “Environmental Movements” paper session.
Tara F. Bertulfo, clinical assistant professor, was credentialed in August as a Certified Nurse Educator (CNE) by the National League for Nursing.
Laura Darden, clinical assistant professor, graduated in May with her LLM and an advanced law certification in health law with a concentration in healthcare compliance from Loyola University Chicago. Darden also published “Hospital Acquired Infections Reporting Requirements and False Claims Act Liability: Improving Reporting Standards to Better Serve all Parties” in June in the Journal of Health Care Finance. She delivered a webinar, titled “Gaming the System: The Relationship Between Underreporting Infection Rates and FCA Liability,” in August for the Health Care Compliance Association.
Nicole P. Lipscomb-King, instructional designer, and Laura Darden, clinical assistant professor, presented “Using VoiceThread: Promoting Engagement and Communication in the Online Classroom” at the 51st Annual Education Technology ASCUE 2018 Conference June 10-14 in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. ASCUE (Association Supporting Computer Users in Education) is an international community of individuals committed to the innovation, implementation and furtherance of technology trends, equipment and practices within higher education. This podium presentation was also presented at the Penfield 2018 Summer Boot Camp in July on Mercer’s Macon campus.
Dr. Humberto Reinoso, assistant professor and graduate clinical coordinator, Dr. Jennifer Bartlett, assistant professor, and Dr. Stephanie Bennett, clinical instructor, published “Teaching differential diagnosis to nurse practitioner students” in the Journal of Nurse Practitioners.
Dr. Clint Canal, assistant professor, was named chairperson for the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (April 2019). He also served as peer-review managing editor for Heliyon (Elsevier; June 2018-July 2018), and he was named a reviewer for Frontiers in Neurology (June 2018).
Dr. Bobby Jacob, clinical associate professor, and Dr. Sam Peasah, assistant professor, co-authored “An Elective Course for Student Pharmacists on Pharmaceutical Industry Practice,” which was accepted for publication in the American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education (2018).
Dr. Annie Hayoung Lee, community pharmacy resident, and Dr. Candace Barnett, professor, co-authored “Countering Drug Seeking Behavior in Georgia Pharmacies” in Georgia Pharmacy, the journal of the Georgia Pharmacy Association, June/July 2018, 17-19.
Dr. Katelynn Mayberry, clinical assistant professor, was named a reviewer for Pharmacy – A Journal of Pharmacy Education and Practice, an international scientific open-access journal published online by MDPI quarterly (Basel, Switzerland).
Dr. Nader Moniri, professor, co-authored the conference proceeding “The Institute for Advanced Medical Research at Mercer University: Translational and Clinical Research Opportunities for Students” in the American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education, 82(5) (2018). Dr. Moniri was also named a reviewer for EBioMedicine.
Dr. Kevin Murnane, assistant professor, authored “Effects of the second generation ‘bath salt’ cathinone alpha-pyrrolidinopropiophenone (α-PPP) on behavior and neurochemistry in male mice,” which was accepted for publication in Psychopharmacology. Dr. Murnane also authored the book chapter, “The psychedelic renaissance: what role does preclinical research have to play?,” which was accepted for publication in the series Progress in Brain Research. He was named a reviewer for Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology. Dr. Murnane (principal investigator), and Dr. Martin D’Souza (co-investigator), professor, received a grant, titled “A Nanotechnology Approach to Higher Brain Penetrance and Sustained Brain Delivery of Intranasal Oxytocin,” funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
Dr. Maria Thurston, clinical associate professor, co-authored “Lonhala Magnair®: The First and Only FDA Approved Nebulized Long-Acting Muscarinic Receptor Antagonist for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease” in the Georgia Society of Health System Pharmacists Monthly Newsletter.
Dr. Ken Taylor, chief aeromechanical engineering, Dr. Joe Keene, assistant professor of chemistry in the College of Liberal Arts, and Dr. Kevin Bucholtz, associate professor of chemistry and director of undergraduate research in the College of Liberal Arts, are conducting corrosion prevention research for U.S. Air Force ground support vehicles. Dr. Taylor, Dr. Keene and Dr. Bucholtz are providing lead investigative roles, supported by recent graduate Katie Debary and current student Sawyer Gipson. The Air Force relies on countless vehicles and trailers housing equipment such as power generators, air conditioning and test equipment to support and maintain the aircraft while on the ground between flights in order to ensure mission readiness. These support equipment vehicles remain on or near the flight line when not in use, and are constantly exposed to high heat, high humidity, high dust and high salt environments. These conditions are ripe for initiating corrosion and left unmaintained the carts will deteriorate rapidly. Dr. Bucholtz spent a week in Okinawa in July inspecting firsthand the corroded conditions of the support equipment at Kadena Air Force Base. Likewise, Dr. Keene investigated the support equipment at Andersen Air Force Base in Guam. These bases are key components of the Pacific Air Forces (PACAF) Major Command (MAJCOM) and represent some of the harshest corrosion conditions. This boots-on-the-ground experience provided significant insight into the actual state of the equipment, the designs and the current maintenance practices and restrictions. The MERC team, led by Dr. Taylor, is examining the fundamental basis of the corrosive processes in play, bench-marking other preventative programs outside of the Air Force (such as Department of Transportation practices in various states), and examining more modern developments in chemical coatings, removers and converters. New technologies such as portable X-ray fluorescence spectrometers that measure chemical composition, are being evaluated as inspection tools. The objective is to present recommendations for updating the current Corrosion Prevention and Control Program (CPCP) plans as well as the maintenance and inspection Technical Orders (TOs).
Dr. Richard Martin, professor of criminal justice and homeland security, co-authored an article, titled “Police chiefs’ perspectives regarding obesity among law enforcement officers,” which was accepted for publication in September in the Law Enforcement Executive Forum. Dr. Martin also conducted the following peer reviews for academic journals: on Sept. 9, he reviewed “The Concealed Evidence – Case Report for the Journal of Forensic Science and Addiction Research (JFSAR) and “Coronary Arterial Blast After Blunt Politrauma: Case Report” for JFSAR; on July 11, he reviewed “Percutaneous Anthropometry of Hand Dimensions for Stature Reconstruction Among Nigerians” for JFSAR; on July 25, he reviewed “The effects of whole body vibration treatments on lower body muscular activity in well-trained athletes from different sports branches” for the Journal of Education and Training Studies; in July, he reviewed “An analysis of reported dangerous incidents, exposures, and near misses amongst Army soldiers” for the International Journal of Environmental and Public Health. Dr. Martin also published the following reviews for the Forensic Research and Criminology International Journal: “Advocate’s Ethics in International Arbitrazh” on Aug. 9; “Interdisciplinary systemic jurisdictional argumentation: A new way to fundamentally and efficiently …” on July 3; “Supercritical water oxidation of toxic waste generated in veterinary practices” on May 30; and “Utopia: critical zone observatory as a scientific tool in Colombia to reduce social violence and investigate environmental crimes,” on May 10. Dr. Martin was recently appointed to the International Association of Police Chiefs (IACP) Policy Review Board Subcommittee on Police Grooming and Appearance for the purpose to develop recommendations for agency policy based on his recent research on police obesity.
Dr. David Purnell, professor of liberal studies, served as author or co-author on three articles accepted for publication. “When friends are separated by miles: Using technology as a bridge over troubled times” was accepted in the International Review of Qualitative Research for summer 2019. “Finding Our Fathers” was accepted in Qualitative Inquiry for winter 2018. “#Me(n)Too: Storying a Male on Male Sexual Assault” was accepted in the Journal of Loss and Trauma: International Perspectives on Stress and Coping for winter 2018. Dr. Purnell will present at the National Communication Association (NCA) in Salt Lake City, Utah, on “#Me(n)Too: sexual Assault is not Gender Specific,” and at the European Congress of Qualitative Inquiry (ECQI) in Edinburgh, Scotland, on “Trump’s New Tower: The White House as a Potemkin Village” and on “On (Un)Writing Father: Letting Go of a Failed Father/Son Relationship.” He will also present at the International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry (ICQI) in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, on “I Should Have Been Wearing the Pink Triangle” and “Reflections on a Failed Presentation,” at the Western Communication Association (WCA) in Seattle, Washington, on “White Jesus: A Critique on Whiteness and the Church,” and at Critical Autoethnography (CAE) in Melbourne, Australia, on “Talking Taboo: Using Humor to Approach Difficult Conversations.” He is also the co-convener of the CAE conference.
Dr. Charles Roberts, associate professor of mathematics, will make a presentation at the annual meeting of the Michigan Association of Two-Year Colleges on Oct. 13. The title of his presentation is “Developing Students’ Essential Learning and Study Skills for Academic Success Within STEM (science, technology, education and mathematics) Disciplines.” The conference will be held at Kalamazoo Valley Community College. Dr. Roberts was also selected to serve a two-year term on the Association of Public Land Grant Universities’ (APLU) Network of STEM Education Centers (NSEC). The NSEC is dedicated to the advancement of education in STEM fields of study.
Jody Blanke, Distinguished Professor of Computer Science and Law, had his essay, “Carpenter v. United States Begs for Action,” accepted for publication by the University of Illinois Law Review online.
Dr. Susan P. Gilbert, dean, represented Mercer on Aug. 27 at the Georgia Chamber of Commerce Inventure Prize planning meeting. The Georgia Inventure Prize is an entrepreneurship competition for undergraduate students and recent alumni of the state’s colleges and universities. Dr. Gilbert also gave an interview to the Associated Press on Aug. 17 about the Macon budget shortfall and office closings. Dr. Gilbert and Dr. Kenneth Tah, assistant professor of finance, joined four undergraduate finance students Sept. 23-24 at the Wholesale and Specialty Insurance Association meeting at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis. This year, the school has its first cohort of risk management and insurance industry students.
Dr. Geoffrey Ngene, assistant professor of finance, co-published an article, titled “Volatility and shock interactions and risk management implications: Evidence from the U.S. and frontier markets,” with Jordin Post, former undergraduate business student, and Ann Mungaigot. The article was accepted for publication in the Emerging Markets Review, a Q1-rated journal.
Dr. Antonio Saravia, associate professor of economics and director of the BB&T Center for Undergraduate Research in Public Policy and Capitalism, presented “The Case for Open Borders” at the panel discussion on current issues in U.S. immigration policy organized by the Office of Campus Life. Dr. Saravia was also featured on WGXA-TV speaking about U.S. immigration policy and on WMAZ speaking about the effects of increasing tariffs on the national and local economies.
Dr. Behnam Kamali, Sam Nunn Eminent Scholar of Telecommunications and professor of electrical and computer engineering, wrote two long-version research reports submitted to NASA Glenn Research Center in August 2011 and August 2013, which were recently published as books by NASA. The titles of the books are Application of Multihop Relay for Performance Enhancement of AeroMACS Networks and IEEE 802.16j-Relay Fortified AeroMACS Networks: Benefits and Challenges.
Dr. Richard Mines, professor of environmental and civil engineering, published an article, titled “Mercer University’s New Civil Engineering Program,” in the August issue of Building Your Future in Engineering Magazine.
Dr. David Ritchie, director of international initiatives and professor of law and philosophy, was a visiting scholar at Universidade Estacio da Sa in Rio de Janeiro Brazil in September. While he was in residence in Rio, Dr. Ritchie participated in a symposium on “Comparative Perspectives on Judicial Deference” and spoke during three sessions of Estacio’s annual conference on international education. He also met with students and faculty in his “Law in America” class, offered as a part of a continuing collaboration between Mercer and Estacio. Finally, Dr. Ritchie was recently appointed as a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Human Rights Law and Practice in India.
Scott Titshaw, associate dean for academic affairs and associate professor of law, authored and published a law review article, titled “Throwing the Baby Out with the Patriarchy,” that is expected to publish this year in Berkeley Journal of Gender, Law and Justice. He also published a book chapter, “Family Matters: Modernise, don’t abandon, ius sanguinis,” in Debating Transformations of National Citizenship (Springer 2018). Titshaw published “Acquired and Derivative Citizenship, American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) Practice Advisory” with Elina Magaly Santana and Lourdes Santos Tancinco. He will present “Federalism and Inherited Citizenship” at the International Conference on Law, Gender and Sexuality in October in London at the British Institute of International and Comparative Law held by Coventry University, Brunel University, and Brill Nijhoff Publishers. He also presented in September at “Crisis on the Border: Current Issues in U.S. Immigration Policy” as a panelist for the event hosted by Mercer’s Office of Campus Life. He also participated in a presentation and panel discussion in April on “Throwing the Baby Out with the Patriarchy” at the 2018 Symposium of the Berkeley Journal of Gender, Law and Justice.
Dr. Hamza Awad, assistant professor of community medicine, co-authored a paper, titled “Increase in white blood cell counts is associated with the development of atrial fibrillation in patients with an acute coronary syndrome,” published in the International Journal of Cardiology.
Carolann Curry, library assistant professor, and Anna Krampl, library assistant professor, presented a two-part continuing education webinar for the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy. The session was titled “Evaluating Scholarly Quality in Open Access Publishing” and was delivered on Sept. 11 and Sept. 13. Curry was also interviewed for Student Doctor Network, for which she discussed librarian roles at medical schools. The interview was published online on July 4.
Dr. Edward C. Klatt, professor of biomedical sciences, published an article, titled “The human interface of biomedical informatics,” in the September 2018 issue of the Journal of Pathology Informatics.
Kim Meredith, career counselor, co-authored with Lanie Damon, a Georgia Tech career development adviser, an article, titled “Peer Consultation: A Best Practice for Career Development Professionals,” which was recently published by the National Career Development Association in its web magazine, Career Convergence.
Laura Botts, assistant dean for archives and digital initiatives, attended the annual meeting of the Association of Librarians and Archivists at Baptist Institutions (ALABI) in Fort Worth, Texas, June 14-16, where she served on the Ethics Statement Committee. She also attended the annual meetings of the Society of American Archivists and the Academy of Certified Archivists Aug. 13-18 in Washington, D.C.
Daniel Williams, assistant professor, attended the annual meeting of the Association of Librarians and Archivists at Baptist Institutions (ALABI) held June 14-16 at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, where he was elected secretary of the organization.
