Professional Notes: November 2024
11/20/2024
Professional Notes is a round-up of awards, presentations, papers, and other professional achievements of SLU faculty, staff members, and students.
Faculty and Staff
Qinglei Cao, Ph.D. (Computer Science) was part of a team that was honored with the , often regarded as the 'Nobel Prize' of high-performance computing. Cao won the award along with colleagues from King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, the NSF National Center for Atmospheric Research, the University of Notre Dame, and NVIDIA. The team developed an exascale climate emulator to address the growing computational and storage demands of high-resolution Earth System Models. Tested on several supercomputers, the emulator delivers groundbreaking improvements in spatial and temporal resolution compared to existing global models. By leveraging advanced numerical methods with the PaRSEC dynamic runtime system, the resulting pipeline, stochastically models spatio-temporal variations in climate data, boosts computational efficiency, greatly enhances the accuracy of climate emulators, and provides critical insights for understanding climate change and extreme weather patterns.
Karla D. Scott, Ph.D. (Communication) received the Feminist Teacher Mentor Award from the Organization for the Study of Communication, Language, and Gender at the 47th Conference held October 17-20 in Excelsior Springs, Missouri. During the conference, the OSCLG board also voted to change the name of the organization's annual thesis award to the Karla D. Scott Outstanding Thesis Award in honor of her six-year tenure as OSCLG vice president, president and past president 2018-2024.
Cara Wallace, Ph.D. (Nursing) was formally inducted as a 2024 Gerontological Society of America Fellow during GSA's 2024 Annual Scientific Meeting. Fellow status is peer recognition for outstanding contributions to the field of gerontology and represents the highest category of GSA membership. This distinction comes at varying points in a person鈥檚 career and is given for diverse activities that include research, teaching, administration, public service, practice, and notable participation in the Society.
Denise C么t茅-Arsenault, Ph.D. (Nursing), Kristin Keller, Ph.D. (Nursing), Michelle Papachrisanthou, D.N.P. (Nursing) and Austin DesJardin (Nursing Ph.D. student) were honored at the March of Dimes annual Heroes in Action Award banquet on Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024. Papachrisanthou was awarded the top honor in the Nursing Administration category, a recognition of her exemplary leadership in the nursing profession. C么t茅-Arsenault and Keller were both named finalists in the Education category, showcasing their leadership and contributions to nursing education. DesJardin, a doctoral student, was a finalist in the Emergency Care and Trauma Services category, highlighting his work in the field.
(Hospitalist) recently published an article titled 'Empathy in Healthcare: Harmonizing Curing and Caring in Healthcare' in the Journal of Hospital Medicine. This article highlights the evidence-based, vital role of empathy and offers practical tips for demonstrating empathy at the bedside to enhance patient satisfaction and experience.
Anthony Breitbach. Ph.D. (Interprofessional Education) co-authored two publications "Leveraging the strengths of a global network to adapt and sustain interprofessional education and collaborative practice during the COVID-19 pandemic" with colleagues from Interprofessional Research. Global in the , and "Interprofessional Readiness of Athletic Trainers and Collaborating Sports Medicine Health Professionals"" with Michael Nolan, Ph.D., and colleagues in . Breitbach served as Chair of Dr. Nolan's dissertation committee.
Jeffrey Jackson, Ph.D. (Career Services) and Emily (Yang) Li (Career Services) co-authored an article, "A Comparative Analysis of Employers' and International Students' Perceptions on the Use of Artificial Intelligence in Job Searches." The article appeared in .
Echu Liu, Ph.D. (Health Management and Policy) co-authored a study with students Alison Bach (Public Health & Social Justice student) and Lionel Gumireddy (Public Health & Social Justice student) and published the research article 'A Study of the Connection Between Health Insurance Literacy and Health Status: Evidence from the US Healthcare Reform Monitoring Survey' in the .
Michael Rozier, S.J., Ph.D. (Health Management and Policy) "How Do We Avoid the Misuse of Discernment in Decision-Making?" in Health Progress, the Journal of the Catholic Health Association of the United States (CHA).
Laurence Lemaire, Ph.D. (Biology) was the co-author of a paper published in . The paper is titled "Neural crest lineage in the protovertebrate model Ciona."
Eddie M. Clark, Ph.D. (Psychology) was the co-author of the following papers:
- The investment model of commitment: Examining asexual and aromantic populations using confirmatory and exploratory factor analysis. Psychology and Sexuality, 15 (1), 38-53.
- I hope my partner can make me change: Expected relational self-changes and relational outcomes. Journal of Social Psychology, 164(1), 136-148.
- Willingness to self-disclose in romantic relationships only marginally predicts COVID stress but there are indirect effects of self-esteem and relationship commitment. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, ArtID e12888.
Clark and Melanie Reyes (College of Arts and Sciences student) also published the association of self-esteem and sensation seeking with sociosexual orientation and sexual risk-taking. Sexuality & Culture, 28(4), 1643-1663.
Benjamin Looker, Ph.D. (American Studies) co-authored an analysis piece for , a progressive political reporting hub, about how Republicans used rhetoric about city neighborhoods during Ronald Reagan鈥檚 rise to the White House, and how Democrats could benefit from integrating neighborhoods into their rhetoric and policy agenda going forward.
Whitney Linsenmeyer, Ph.D. (Nutrition and Dietetics) was the co-author of an article published in . The article was headlined "Nutrition and Training Recommendations for Transgender and Gender-Diverse Athletes Involved in Strength Sports and Resistance Training: A Case Series of Nine Athletes Assigned Female at Birth."
Katie Sniffen, Ph.D. (Physical Therapy and Athletic Training), as part of the National Athletic Trainers' Association Athletic Training and Public Health Taskforce, collaborated with Taskforce members to disseminate their scholarship and educational resources. Sniffen co-authored a poster presentation titled "Certified Athletic Trainers Engage in Essential Public Health Services" at the American Public Health Association Annual Meeting and co-presented an on-demand lecture titled "Integrating Public Health Content in Athletic Training Curriculum" for the Virtual Athletic Training Educators' Conference.
Cheryl Rathert, Ph.D. (Health Management and Policy) Derick Simmons (Ph.D. student in Public Health & Social Justice) and Kimberly Enard, Ph.D. (Master of Health Administration Program) "Racial and ethnic differences in patient psychological safety: A qualitative patient narrative study" in the SSM-Qualitative Research in Health.
Keon L. Gilbert, DrPH (Behavioral Science and Health Equity) co-authored an article for the about menstrual health, safety and access titled "Toxic tampons and gender bias in health research."
Valerie Lovelock (School of Medicine Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion), a member of AHCAP (Association For Healthcare Administrative Professionals), and part of the planning and host committee for the annual conference earlier this year in St. Louis, penned an article for the AHCAP newsletter. The article was published in November 2024 issue. AHCAP is a not-for-profit healthcare association dedicated to executive assistants, administrative assistants, and other professionals who support our nation鈥檚 healthcare leaders."
Ricardo J. Wray, Ph.D. (Behavioral Science and Health Equity) contributed to the "An exploration of factors leading to readiness for organizational health literacy change in community-based health organizations" in the 'Health Services Management Research' journal.
Echu Liu, Ph.D. (Associate Professor of Health Management and Policy) contributed to the research "Affordability, negative experiences, perceived racism, and health care system distrust among black American women aged 45 and over" in the .
Anne K. Sebert Kuhlmann, Ph.D. (Behavioral Science and Health Equity) was a featured guest on the for the Institute for Research on Poverty at the University of Wisconsin - Madison. Dr. Kuhlmann discusses her research on the impacts of menstrual poverty, and what practice and policy options are available to alleviate the burden on menstruating people.
Saint Louis University Libraries, Wash U Libraries, and St. Louis City Libraries held a panel discussion on Saturday, Oct. 26, examining the rise in book bans and the implications for libraries, librarians, and intellectual freedom. Central to the discussion was Amanda Jones and her recently published book, 鈥淭hat Librarian,鈥� which maps the book banning crisis across the country, draws the battle lines in the war against equity and inclusion, and calls on book lovers everywhere to rise in defense of readers.
The panel included Jennifer Buehler, Ph.D., associate professor in SLU鈥檚 School of Education, and was moderated by Jennifer Nutefall, dean of Libraries and Museums at SLU.
Farzana Hoque, M.D. (Hospitalist) was invited as a Grand Rounds speaker at Albert Einstein College of Medicine. She delivered an insightful talk on "Mastering Emotional Intelligence: Elevating Physician Performance & Patient Care."
Anthony Breitbach. Ph.D. (Interprofessional Education) gave a keynote presentation "Updated Interprofessional Core Competencies: An Opportunity for Renewal and Growth" at the 15th Annual Midwest Interprofessional Practice, Education and Research Center (MIPERC) Conference on Sept. 13, 2024.
Breitbach also gave two presentations "Institutional Process for Developing a New Central IPE Framework" and "Utilizing The Anthropocene as a Framework for Teaching Global Interdependence in an Introductory Interprofessional Education Course" at the Association of Schools Advancing Health Professions (ASAHP) Annual Conference in Atlanta, Georgia on Oct. 8-9, 2024.
Jason T. Eberl, Ph.D. (Health Care Ethics) recently presented the following papers: 鈥淰accination Mandates and Religious-Based Conscientious Refusals鈥� at the NIH-Georgetown Joint Bioethics Colloquium; 鈥淐urrent Intra-Catholic Debate on Brain Death鈥� at the Catholic Healthcare Innovation in Ethics Forum (CHIEF); with Associate Professor of Internal Medicine and Health Care Ethics Dr. Kyle Karches 鈥淎nalyzing Intentionality in NRP-cDCD鈥� at CHIEF; and 鈥淐atholic Perspective on Defining the End of Life and a 鈥楪ood Death鈥欌�� for the Healthcare and Religion Lecture Series in the Center for Bioethics and Health Law at the University of Pittsburgh.
Students
SLU's Cybersecurity Capture the Flag (CTF) Team recently took part in the National Cyber League(NCL) Fall 2024 Season and has achieved 36th Overall place in the .
Every year, more than 10,000 students from more than 500 colleges and universities
and 100 high schools across the US participate in the NCL competitions. These rankings
represent the ability of students from these schools to perform real-world cybersecurity
tasks across all 50 U.S. states registered to play. The games were conducted in real
time for students across the country. Schools are ranked based on their top team performance,
their top student's individual performance, and the aggregate individual performance
of their students.
Team 1 included Syam Sai Siddabhattula, Saran Senthil Anand, Ragan Murali Pasupuleti, Prudhvi Dharmireddi, Hammaz Ahmed, Madhan Mohan Reddy Borra, and Eswar Prasad Reddy Venna. Team 2 included Gayathri Penumur, Chandana Mahesh, Naveen Kumar Narasimhan, Pradeep Ramesh, Akshay Kumar Sankalapuram, and Neha Manandhar.
Mallory Wietrzykowski (Philosophy and Bioethics Ph.D. student) was awarded the Dr. Shirley Bach Memorial Prize for her presentation "Have you Heard? Exploring the Influences of Gossip on Public Health Communications" at the 14th Annual Midwestern Medical Humanities Conference. This is an award for students making a difference in medical humanities in honor of the late Dr. Shirley Bach.
The Saint Louis University Minority Association of Pre-Health Students (MAPS) group participated in a hands-on suturing lab at Young Hall as part of the AIMS program. The suturing lab introduced students to the fundamental suturing concepts and techniques, focused on the hands-on practice for wound closure. Students learned to handle suturing instruments, select appropriate sutures for different wound types, and develop skills for proper knot-tying and tissue handling. The AIMS program is part of the Practical Anatomy and Surgical Education Department here at Saint Louis University.
Two honors students presented their research at the National Collegiate Honors Council Conference in Kansas City from October 30-November 2. Adi Chandu (senior Neuroscience major) won first prize in the Natural Sciences and Mathematics poster presentation category for his presentation "Exploring the Maze: How Cells Navigate Chemical Trails in 2D and 3D Environments."
Sachi Sharma (senior Public Health major) had two posters selected for presentation at the conference: "The Hunger Gap: Gender and Racial Disparities of Food Insecurity in St. Louis" and "The Role of Transcriptional Repressor ZBTB18 on CUX4 Expression in Facioscapulohumeral Muscular Dystrophy (FSHD)." Chandu and Sharma were two of only 213 student presenters at this national conference.