College of Education
Dr. Robert J. Helfenbein, professor of curriculum studies, received the 2022 Critics’ Choice Book Award from the American Educational Studies Association for his book Critical Geographies of Education: Space, Place, and Curriculum Inquiry, published by Routledge.
Dr. Katherine Perrotta, assistant professor of middle grades and secondary education, and Dr. Tiffany McBean Rainey co-authored “Emphatically Our Battle: A Content Analysis of the African Free School of New York City Curriculum, 1787-1840” Sept. 1 in the Journal of Educational Foundations. Dr. Perrottaalso published the chapter “The Dissenter’s Hope: Promoting Historical Empathy in the Social Studies Curriculum by Examining the Centennial of the Ratification of the 19th Amendment” Aug. 26 in the National Women’s History Museum publication Determined to Rise: Women’s Historical Activism for Equal Rights, an Anthology.
College of Health Professions
Dr. David Taylor, clinical associate professor of physical therapy, co-authored “Early Intervention to Reduce Falls in Community-Active Seniors: A Pilot Study” in Human Factors in Aging and Special Needs, Applied Human Factors and Ergonomics Open Access, Vol. 38.
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
Dr. Sylvia Bridges, senior lecturer of chemistry, and Dr. Adam Kiefer, Distinguished University Professor of Chemistry, presented “Teaching in a Shared Curriculum: A Collaborative Process of Generating a Unified Organic Chemistry I Topics List” Aug. 2 at the Biennial Conference on Chemical Education at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana.
Dr. David A. Davis, professor of English, gave the talk “Sharecropping and Social Death” at the Southern Labor Studies Association conference in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
Dr. John Marson Dunaway, professor emeritus of French and interdisciplinary studies, authored “Michael Edwards: A Poet’s Vision of the Untimely Message of God” Sept. 23 in Religions. The guest-edited issue focuses on the theme “The Bible in Literature: New Approaches to Literary Engagement with the Bible.”
Dr. Sarah E. Gardner, Distinguished University Professor of History, published “Reading, Sociability, and Warfare” in The Literature of the American Civil War and Reconstruction, edited by Kathleen Diffley and Coleman Hutchison and published by Cambridge University Press.
Dr. Paul Lewis, professor of religion, published a series of three columns on “A Christian Case for Legalized Abortion” Sept. 12-14 for Good Faith Media.
Dr. Lydia Masanet, professor of foreign languages and literatures, was interviewed Sept. 11 for Fiesta de la Lectura. She also released the second edition of her book Enhebradas, published by Editorial Adarve.
Dr. James Stanescu, assistant professor of communication studies, published an article, “Beyond Biopolitics,” which was translated into Spanish for Revista Latinoamericana de Estudios Críticos Animales.
College of Nursing
Dr. Charlette DeLoach, lecturer of nursing, passed the Certification for Nurse Educators exam through the National League for Nursing Certification Division.
Caroline Moore, clinical instructor, co-authored “Interventions for Reducing Weight Bias in Healthcare Providers: An Interprofessional Systematic Review and Meta‐Analysis” Aug. 10 in Clinical Obesity. Dr. Justus Randolph, professor of nursing, served as co-author.
Dr. Linda A. Streit, professor of nursing, presented “A Collaborative Partnership to Transition New Graduate Nurses” July 21-25 at the 33rd International Nursing Research Congress in Edinburgh, Scotland.
College of Pharmacy
Dr. Jill Augustine, assistant professor, co-authored “Item Response Theory in High-Stakes Pharmacy Assessment” in Currents in Pharmacy Teaching and Learning, September 2022, 14(9):1206-1214, DOI: 10.1016/j.cptl.2022.07.023.
Dr. Ajay K. Banga, professor, co-authored, with graduate student Deepal Vora, “Formulation and Evaluation of the In Vitro Performance of Topical Dermatological Products Containing Diclofenac Sodium” in Pharmaceutics, September 2022, 14(9): 1892. DOI: 10.3390/pharmaceutics14091892.
Dr. Mahavir Bhupal Chougule, associate professor of pharmaceutical sciences, co-authored “Tuning Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticles in Novel Avenues of Cancer Therapy” Sept. 15 in Molecular Pharmaceutics.
Dr. Lorenzo Villa Zapata, assistant clinical professor, co-authored “Colchicine and Macrolides: a Cohort Study of the Risk of Adverse Outcomes Associated with Concomitant Exposure” in Rheumatology International, Sept. 14, 2022, DOI: 10.1007/s00296-022-05201-5.
College of Professional Advancement
Dr. Arla Bernstein, program coordinator and assistant professor of communication, co-authored “A Visual Ethnography of an Urban Neighborhood” Jan. 18 in Urban Geography. Dr. Carol Isaac, associate professor of research and director of doctoral studies in the College of Education, served as co-author.
Dr. Caroline M. Brackette, associate professor of counseling, received the Inclusive Wall of Honor Award from her alma mater, the University of Toledo. The honor is given to alumni who have made significant contributions to the community and have demonstrated good citizenship. A selection committee reviews all nominations and identifies awardees. Dr. Brackette was invited to serve as a panelist for a session on helping the community cope with and deter suicide. The event was held in Alpharetta and hosted by the North Fulton Mental Health Collaborative. She also presented a poster on providing mental health and wellness consultation to sports organizations at the American Psychological Association’s annual convention in Minneapolis.
Dr. David Lane, professor of counseling, received the 2022 Best Book Award in the category of children’s picture book in the Pinnacle Book Achievement Awards for My Dog Can’t Jump. The Pinnacle Book Achievement Award honors authors for outstanding achievement in writing and publication.
Dr. Jacqueline S. Stephen, assistant professor, director of the Office of Distance Learning and instructional designer, presented Aug. 5 at the 2022 Distance Teaching and Learning Conference. The conference was hosted by the University of Wisconsin–Madison and the University Professional and Continuing Education Association. Her research presentation was centered on the use of a high-impact practice first-year online seminar course to address factors associated with undergraduate student persistence in online courses and programs. Additionally, Dr. Stephen co-authored an article on the impact of self-efficacy on instructor readiness to teach in an online learning environment, which was featured as a “Top Pick” on Routledge Resources Online – Education.
Dr. Lynn Tankersley, professor of criminal justice, presented “Useful Treatment Court Practices for the Endemic Future” Sept. 13-16 at the annual meeting of the Southern Criminal Justice Association in Asheville, North Carolina.
School of Business
Jody Blanke, Ernest L. Baskin Jr. Distinguished Professor of Computer Science and Law, authored “The CCPA, ‘Inferences Drawn,’ and Federal Preemption” Sept. 15 in the Richmond Journal of Law and Technology.
School of Engineering
Dr. Philip B. Gallagher, assistant professor of technical communication, co-created a presentation, “Remote Think-Aloud Protocol: Qualitative User Experience Research on Instructional Genre Design,” for Virginia Tech’s Corridors: Blue Ridge Writing and Rhetoric Conference. The presentation provides attendees with information about the use of remote user experience research methods adopted in response to the increase in remote work. They demonstrate how remote think-aloud protocols were used in a student-led pilot study and show how the results supported the redesign of instructions.
Dr. Sinjae Hyun, professor and chair of biomedical engineering and director of graduate programs, and Dr. Scott Schultz, professor of industrial engineering and industrial management and senior associate dean, along with their students who participated in this summer’s Mercer On Mission program in South Korea, were featured on the October episode of “The Greatest Memories” podcast.
Dr. Alireza Sarvestani, assistant professor of mechanical engineering, co-authored “Self-Assembly and Growth of Intercellular Junctions in Response to Membrane Tension and Cytoskeletal Contraction” Sept. 16 in the Journal of Applied Mechanics. Dr. Sarvestani also co-authored “Vitrimer Composites: Understanding the Role of Filler in Vitrimer Applicability” Aug. 18 in ACS Applied Polymer Materials and “Recyclability of Vitrimer Materials: Impact of Catalyst and Processing Conditions” Aug. 9 in ACS Omega.
Dr. Alireza Shams, assistant professor of environmental and civil engineering, authored two conference papers published by the American Society of Civil Engineering: “A Methodology to Identify Cross-Functional Synergies of CIM Knowledge within a Transportation Agency” and “Over a Decade Effect of South Carolina Primary Belt Law on Safety Belt Usage.”
School of Law
Billie Jo Kaufman, law library director and professor of law, co-presented “Libraries in Georgia and Legal Deserts” to Mercer Law’s Rural Law Students Association. Ariel Newman, professional resource librarian, served as co-presenter. Kaufman also presented “Why We Continue to Say Yes” as part of the Federal Depository Library Program. Kaufman moderated “The Evolving Roles of Law Librarians as Education Specialists” at the China-American Forum on Law Libraries.
Latisha Nixon-Jones, assistant professor of law, participated in several panels and workshops during August’s Southeastern Association of Law Schools (SEALS) conference. She was selected as a New Scholar and presented her work-in-progress on FEMA’S Whole Community Approach to Vulnerable Populations. She also served as a co-moderator on a session, titled “Beating the Odds,” during the Aspiring Law Teachers Workshop. She served as the Mercer representative on the Steering Committee for the following year. Nixon-Jones was selected to attend the FEMA Higher Education Symposium and present on her work creating disaster legal clinics after named disasters. During the symposium, she was invited to meet with the higher education program manager to discuss ways to bridge emergency research and the practice of law.
Karen J. Sneddon, interim dean and professor of law, co-authored “The Power of a Good Story: How Narrative Techniques Can Make Transactional Documents More Persuasive” in 22 Nevada Law Journal 649.
School of Medicine
Dr. Jennifer L. Barkin, professor of community medicine and obstetrics and gynecology, represented the Medical Society Consortium on Climate and Health for Climate Advocacy Day on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. The Barkin Index of Maternal Functioning (BIMF) was licensed by QPS Austria, a global contract research organization based in Austria. QPS is the ninth commercial licensee of the BIMF. As a result, Dr. Barkin will address the Maternal Child Health Scholars program at the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Public Health in November. Dr. Barkin was also named to the Scientific Advisory Board of Joyuus LLC, a women-led business enterprise with a focus on improving maternal mental health through technology. She will serve as a consultant on a related Small Business Innovation Research grant.
Dr. Raghavan Chinnadurai, assistant professor of oncology, co-authored “Safety of Autologous Freshly Expanded Mesenchymal Stromal Cells for the Treatment of Graft-Versus-Host Disease” Sept. 14 in Frontiers in Immunology. Dr. Chinnaduraialso co-authored “A STAT5-Smad3 Dyad Regulates Adipogenic Plasticity of Visceral Adipose Mesenchymal Stromal Cells during Chronic Inflammation” Aug. 31 in NPJ Regenerative Medicine.
Dr. Edward C. Klatt, professor of biomedical sciences, was appointed reviewer for educational content at the Health Information and Management Systems Society 2023 Global Health Conference and Exhibition.
Dr. Anthony J. Kondracki, assistant professor of community medicine, co-authored “Interaction Effects of Maternal Sexually Transmitted Infections with Prenatal Care Utilization Status on Preterm Birth and Low Birthweight: U.S. National Data” Sept. 1 in the Journal of Clinical Medicine. Dr. Jennifer L. Barkin, professor of community medicine and obstetrics and gynecology, and Dr. Bonzo Reddick, professor and chair of community medicine, served as co-authors, along with several others.
Dr. Richard Parrish, professor of biomedical sciences and medical educator, published “Positive Patient Postoperative Outcomes with Pharmacotherapy: A Narrative Review Including Perioperative-Specialty Pharmacist Interviews” Sept. 24 in the Journal of Clinical Medicine.
