College of Continuing and Professional Studies
Dr. Kenyon Knapp, assistant dean for graduate programs and associate professor of counseling, completed a 12-hour certification training program in Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking (DMST) through the Atlanta-based group StreetGrace. StreetGrace has been commissioned by the Governor's Office on Children and Families to provide DMST training for all of the school systems in Georgia, and Dr. Knapp will begin to help with this training.
Dr. David Lane, professor of counseling in the Department of Counseling and Human Sciences, led a team of CCPS faculty and doctoral students to Newtown, Conn., to present a two-day workshop, Nov. 7-8, titled “Journey Toward Healing: A conference for chaplains, counselors, and clergy of all faiths on the one-year anniversary of the Sandy Hook tragedy.” Multiple presentations by the faculty and students included “The Healing Journey: One Year After,” “Trauma, Grief, Attachment, and Faith,” and “Assessment and Referral for Complicated Grief and PTSD.” The team included
Dr. Diane Clark, associate professor of counseling,
Dr. Donna Lane, adjunct professor of counseling, Megan Boyd, counselor education and supervision Ph.D. student, Giselle Cunningham, counselor education and supervision Ph.D. student, and Maurice Hill, counselor education and supervision Ph.D. student.
Dr. Suneetha B. Manyam, associate professor of counseling and human sciences, has been selected to serve as editorial board member for the peer-reviewed journal,
The Practitioner Scholar: Journal of Counseling and Professional Psychology. This scientific journal publishes manuscripts on clinical practice, current professional and scientific issues, new techniques and innovative approaches, training, education and research related to counseling, professional and applied psychology and related behavioral sciences.
Dr. Michael Roty, associate professor of mathematics, served as a Georgia Governors Honors Program judge on Oct. 28.
Dr. Karen Rowland, associate professor of counseling and associate coordinator for school counseling, attended the Georgia School Counselors Association annual conference held on Jekyll Island on Nov. 13-15. Dr. Rowland took 13 master's level school counseling students and one Ph.D. counselor education student as presenters at this conference. The theme for the conference was “Advocating for Student Success.” Dr. Rowland and her students' presentation topics were: “Advocating for Student Success in Mentoring: Mentoring Makes the Difference;” “Advocating for Student Success in Adolescents Substance Use and Abuse Prevention;” “Advocating for Student Success in through School-wide Violence Prevention Programs;” “Advocating for Student Success in Preparing All Students to be College Bound;” “Advocating for Students with Diagnosed Learning Differences in the College Search and Enrollment Process;” “Download Angry Birds: An Update on Small Group Counseling;” and “Advocating for LGBTQQIA Students: LGBT Redefined – Interventions and Implications of Counseling LGBTQQIA Students.” Additionally, Dr. Rowland and master's level school counseling student Whitney Adams published two book reviews: “What Am I Doing In A Step-Family” and “Just One Friend,” in the November edition of
GSCA School Counselor Journal.
Dr. Kevin Williams, assistant professor of healthcare leadership, was presented with the Trailblazer Award from Florida A&M University's Center for Disability Access and Resources (CeDAR) at its fourth annual CeDAR Honors on Oct. 25. The Trailblazer Award is the highest honor that CeDAR gives. Williams received the award for his advocacy for students with learning disabilities.
Dr. Zipangani M. Vokhiwa, associate professor of science, and
Dr. Ismail Gyagenda, from the Tift College of Education, participated in a four-week field research trip in Malawi, Africa, from June 1-June 30. As part of fulfilling the objectives of the project, the participants visited four teacher training colleges, one technical school, seven secondary schools and three primary schools. In addition, the team visited some media houses – The Malawi Broadcasting Corporation, Malawi News and Nation Newspaper – local markets, and national parks and wildlife reserves, including UNESCO's World Heritage Site, Lake Malawi National Park, during their field trip. The field trip allowed the participants to observe classroom teaching by Malawian teachers and experts and also collect data, artifacts and DVDs for use in their own curriculum and K-12 classes here in the U.S. While in Malawi, the team met Malawi's Minister for Education, Science and Technology, Eunice Kazembe, who commended the U.S. Department of Education for awarding a Fulbright Hays Grant to Mercer that enabled 12 participants to visit Malawi on a field research project. Dr. Vokhiwa, nine students and a fourth-year medical student who was supervised by
Dr. Richard Kauffman, worked at Chuluchosema Clinic in Zomba, Malawi. The students treated over 1,000 patients who came to the clinic to seek medical treatment. More than 245 patients received reading eyeglasses. The students also carried out water quality monitoring field activities in 12 villages from the catchment area where the patients came from to attend the clinic for treatment. Dr. Vokhiwa was also interviewed by Malawi News in Malawi to share his rationale for bringing four field teams from the U.S. to Malawi between 2010 and 2013
College of Health Professions
Dr. Jennifer Barkin, assistant professor of practice, co-authored “The role of maternal self-care in new motherhood” in
Midwifery 2013;29(9):1050-1055.
Dr. Joseph Donnelly, clinical associate professor, was elected as president-elect of the Physical Therapy Association of Georgia for 2014-2016.
Dr. Alyssa Fiss, assistant professor, co-authored “Development and validity of the early clinical assessment of balance for young children with cerebral palsy” in
Developmental Neurorehabilitation 2013; 1-9. doi: 10.3109/17518423.2013.827755.
College of Liberal Arts
Dr. Heather Bowman Cutway, associate professor of biology, presented “Invasive Species Removal and Plant Community Recovery at the Ocmulgee National Monument” at Georgia College and State University's Department of Biology Seminar Series. She also taught a session of the Master Naturalist program for Bibb County Cooperative Extension.
Dr. Wallace L. Daniel, Distinguished University Professor of History, gave the keynote address, titled “The Russian Orthodox Church and the Recovery of Memory in Post-Soviet Russia,” at a symposium on “Religion and Political Culture in Communist Countries: Past, Present and Future” at the Keston Center for Religion, Politics and Society, Baylor University, Nov. 14-15. At the same symposium, he also served as a panelist on the topic of “Religion and Political Culture in Communist Countries: The Future.” Dr. Daniel's article, “Aleksandr Men,' the Russian Orthodox Church, and the Connection between Religion and Culture,” has been accepted for publication in
Modern Greek Studies Yearbook, 2013-14.
Dr. David A. Davis, assistant professor of English, presented the paper “Down the River: The Mississippi Delta as Carceral Landscape” at the Southern Historical Association in St. Louis, Mo., Nov. 1-3.
Dr. John Marson Dunaway, professor of French and interdisciplinary studies, organized and hosted “Exile is My Country,” an international colloquium on the life and work of Vladimir Volkoff, Nov. 15-16. He gave the opening talk on “Volkoff the Exile.” Some sessions of the colloquium will be posted on Mercer's YouTube channel. He spoke at a book-signing reception on Oct. 27, hosted by Theatre Macon. The event was organized to promote his new translation of Vladimir Volkoff's novel, “The Pope's Guest” (Mercer University Press, 2013) and the colloquium. Dr. Dunaway also spoke on the same topic to the Emeritus Professors' Luncheon on Nov. 7. Dr. Dunaway is serving on the mayor's planning committee for the rededication of the newly-expanded Rosa Parks Square, which was held at 1:30 p.m. in the Macon City Auditorium on Dec. 1.
Dr. Jennifer Look, assistant professor of chemistry, presented a talk at the SERMACS2013 conference in Atlanta on Nov. 15. Four of her research students also presented their work at this conference. Dr. Look and
Dr. Garland Crawford, assistant professor of chemistry, brought eight students to the SERMACS 2013 conference to share their experiences organizing educational and fun science activities. Two students presented a poster on “The Science of Harry Potter,” and six students participated in the chemical demonstration exchange workshop. Dr. Look and three undergraduate co-authors published an article, titled “Research Misconduct – What It Is and How You Can Avoid It” in the November issue of the magazine
InChemistry.
Dr. Anya Silver, wrote a poem, titled “At the Station,” which was published in
Poet Lore (Fall/Winter 2013) 103. She also had three poems published in
New South: “Two girls,” “House Wren,” “Leavings” (Vol. 6: 2) 30-32. She also read the commissioned poem for the inauguration of the new president of Haverford College, Daren Weiss, in Haverford, Pa., on Oct. 26.
Dr. Steve Simmerman, assistant professor of art, presented a paper, titled “Pettibon & Powhida: Postmodern Parables Or Polemics?” at the South East College Art Conference in Greensboro, N.C., on Oct. 31.
Dr. Beth Stewart, professor, presented a paper, titled “Leonardo, Lucretius, and the Distant View,” at the Southeast College Art Conference in Greensboro, N.C., Oct. 30-Nov. 3. She also chaired a session, called “Anything Ancient,” at the same conference. Dr. Stewart presented “Familiar Faces: Ancient Roman Portraits” at the Holmes Symposium in Mercer's Tarver Library, Oct. 21-24. She also presented “Art and Architecture in Vladimir Volkoff's The Pope's Guest” at an international colloquium on the life and writings of Volkoff at Mercer, Nov. 15-16.
Dr. Carolyn Yackel, associate professor of mathematics, gave an invited colloquium talk in March at Southern Polytechnic State University. At the beginning of August, she attended the Mathematics of Various Entertaining Subjects (MOVES) conference to deliver an invited presentation at the Museum of Mathematics in New York City. Following the conference, her art was featured on the blog MathMunch. At the end of September, she delivered the closing lecture at the Shenandoah Undergraduate Mathematics and Statistics Conference.
Dr. Yosálida C. Rivero-Zaritzky, associate professor of Spanish, and student Cameron Smith, presented the paper, “Teoría y práctica en la obra de Belén Gache,” at the 85th Annual Convention of South Atlantic Modern Language Association (SAMLA), Nov. 8-10 in Atlanta.
College of Pharmacy
Dr. Ayyappa Chaturvedula, assistant professor, co-authored “Estimation of tenofovir's population pharmacokinetic parameters without reliable dosing histories and application to tracing dosing history using simulation strategies” in the
Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, 2013. doi: 10.1002/jcph.221.
Dr. Vanthida Huang, associate professor, was appointed as a 2013-2014 member of the Society of Infectious Disease Pharmacists.
Dr. W. Klugh Kennedy, clinical professor, co-authored “Clinically significant drug interactions with atypical antipsychotics” in the Nov. 6 edition of the online journal
CNS Drugs. doi:10.1007/s40263-013-0114-6. Dr. Kennedy was appointed as an invited reviewer for the journal
Pharmacotherapy and to the 2014 Annual Meeting Committee and Programming Committee for the American College of Clinical Pharmacy Central Nervous System Practice Section.
Dr. Annesha W. Lovett, assistant professor, co-authored “Best practices in tapering methods in patients undergoing opioid therapy” in
Advances in Pharmacology and Pharmacy 2013; 1(2): 42-57. Dr. Lovett was also appointed an invited reviewer for the Cost-Effectiveness Analysis Registry for the Institute for Clinical Research and Health Policy Studies at Tufts Medical Center. Lovett also co-authored “ Expanding the Pharmacist's Role in Public Health” in the
Universal Journal of Public Health 2013; 1(3):79-85. Dr. Lovett was also appointed as a textbook content reviewer for “Social and behavioral aspects of pharmaceutical care,” 2nd ed. Sudbury, Mass.: Jones and Bartlett Publisher; 2013.
Dr. Kendra R. Manigault, clinical assistant professor, was appointed reviewer for the American Pharmacists Association 2014 Contributed Papers Program.
Dr. Samuel K. Peasah, assistant professor, co-authored “Influenza cost and cost-effectiveness studies globally-a review” in
Vaccine 2013; 31(46):5339-48. Dr. Peasah was also appointed invited reviewer for
PLOSone.
Dr. Martin D'Souza, professor, and Archana Akalkotkar, graduate student, co-authored, “Nanotechnology in vaccine delivery.” 2nd ed. Giese, M. Switzerland: Springer International Publishing, 2013.
Dr. Maria M. Thurston, clinical assistant professor, was appointed as an invited reviewer for
BioMedicalCentral Pharmacology and Toxicology.
Georgia Baptist College of Nursing
Lanell Bellury, associate professor, presented “Clinician/Researcher Collaboration: Exploring Clinical Questions with a Novel Research Method” at the Oncology Nursing Society Research Conference in Dallas, Texas, on Nov. 8.
Grace G. Lewis, clinical associate professor, presented “Critical Thinking in Nursing” to educators at Gwinnett Medical Center.
Brenda Rowe, associate professor, presented, “The Board of Nursing's Role in Protecting the Public” at the Georgia Nurses Association Meeting in Augusta, Ga., on Oct. 24.
Linda A. Streit, dean and professor, presented “Georgia's Future of Nursing Campaign” at a panel presentation at the Georgia Nurses Association on Oct. 24.
McAfee School of Theology
Dr. Thomas B. Slater, professor of New Testament studies, was the scholar-in-residence at the inaugural “Putting the Neighbor back in the Hood” Conference at Arkansas Baptist College in Little Rock, Ark., Nov. 5-7. Dr. Slater gave three lectures on “the family” from historical, sociological and theological perspectives. The first lecture examined sociological and historical factors that have destroyed family life in America, while the second explored concepts of community and individual identity in the Bible. The final lecture looked at the New Testament understanding of Christian families.
School of Engineering
Dr. George Hayhoe, professor of technical communication, attended a meeting of the ISO Systems and Software Documentation Working Group, Nov. 3-5, in in Wiesbaden, Germany. On Nov. 6, he made a presentation and participated in a panel discussion on international standards for documentation at tcworld 2013, the fall conference of Tekom, the German technical communication society.
School of Medicine
Dr. Luke Kinsinger, PGY-4 resident in the Department of Surgical Education on the Savannah campus, presented a poster at Obesity Week, titled “Analysis of Current Venous Thrombosis Prophylaxis in Bariatric Surgery,” for the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery in Atlanta, on Nov. 13. Co-author
Dr. Oliver Whipple, associate professor and surgery clerkship director, also attended the conference.
Dr. Melissa A. Kling, director of laboratory animal resources, was honored with the President's Award at the annual meeting of the Association of Exotic Mammal Veterinarians (AEMV) held Sept. 15-19 in Indianapolis, Ind. This is the second time Dr. Kling has received this award, and she was honored for her years of hard work and dedication to the advancement of the association. She has served as the AEMV secretary since 2005 and the executive director since 2009.
Dr. Jennifer Li, assistant professor, and her colleagues published a review paper, titled “Potential epigenetic biomarkers for the diagnosis and prognosis of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomas,” in
Expert Review of Molecular Diagnostics, June 2013;13(5):431-43. doi: 10.1586/erm.13.38.
Dr. Elizabeth J. May, chief of the Gastroenterology Division, recently had an article published, titled “Profound Jaundice in a patient with acute Hepatitis C,” in
BMJ Case Reports, Sept. 12, 2013. pii:bcr2013200233. doi: 10.1136/bcr-2013-200233.
Dr. Melton Strozier, professor in psychiatry and behavioral sciences, attended the 53rd International Conference of the Association of State and Provincial Psychology Licensing Boards (ASPPB) as the alternate representative for Georgia, Oct. 16-20.
Dr. Wei-Hsiung Yang, assistant professor of physiology, and Chiung-Min Wang, lab member, published an article, titled “Acidic Residue Glu199 Increases SUMOylation Level of Nuclear Hormone Receptor NR5A1” in the
International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 2013, 14(11), 22331-22345.
Staff and Administration
Dr. Michelle Currie, director of Federal TRIO Programs, along with
Dr. Keith Moffett, adjunct faculty in the Stetson School of Business and Economics, presented at the Georgia Independent College Association (GICA) Student Retention Conference in October. Their presentation was titled “Retention Strategies for the First Year Minority Student at a Predominantly White institution (PWI).”
Mary Louise Hendley, English Language Institute (ELI) instructor and testing coordinator, was recognized by the Georgia branch of the Association for Teachers of Speakers of Other Languages (GATESOL). At the GATESOL annual conference in October, Hendley and former ELI Instructor and Mercer alumna Rachel Hollaway Stokes presented a video-based website they developed and maintain specifically for Arabic-speaking English learners which can be incorporated into oral communication and culture classes. Conference participants learned how to tailor relevant web video content into lessons that suit their students' needs and interests.
Stetson School of Business and Economics
Dr. Bob Perkins, associate professor of management, wrote a paper, titled “The High West Distillery,” which has been accepted for publication by the
Case Research Journal. Over the past three years, the journal has had less than a 16 percent acceptance rate.
Dr. Ania Rynarzewska, visiting assistant professor, presented “Russia's Middle Class Consumers and their Evaluations of the Foreign Services” at the Middle Class Phenomenon in Emerging Markets Conference in September in Atlanta. Dr. Rynarzewska also presented “'Plastic is Not OK,' a Fee for a Plastic Bag as a Strategic Tool for Green Consumer Identification” at the Society for Marketing Advances Conference in October in Hilton Head, S.C. Dr. Rynarzewska presented “Physical Activity, Athletic Apparel and Preference for Affective versus Cognitive Advertising” at the Society for Marketing Advances Conference. She presented “Why do Public Relations Professionals become Independent? An Evolution of Key Drivers” at the Academy of the Public Relations Society of America in October in Philadelphia, Pa.
Tift College of Education
Dr. Jeffrey Hall, assistant professor of education, and
Dr. William Lacefield, professor of mathematics education, presented “Educating Teacher Candidates about the Common Core” at the annual conference of the Georgia Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators, held in October at Rock Eagle Conference Center in Eatonton.
Dr. William Lacefield, professor of mathematics education, presented, “Professional Learning for Collaborative Mathematics Teachers” at the autumn conference of the British Society for Research into Learning Mathematics, held in November at the University of Edinburgh in Edinburgh, Scotland. Dr. Lacefield,
Dr. Jeffrey Hall, assistant professor of education,
Dr. Lucy Bush, assistant professor of education, and Felicia Fluker, graduate student, presented “From Abundant to McNugget to Vampire: Investigating Special Sets of Numbers” at the annual conference of the Georgia Council of Teachers of Mathematics, held in October at Rock Eagle Conference Center in Eatonton.
Dr. Justus J. Randolph, assistant professor, published “Factorial validity and reliability of the Sense of Community in Online Courses Scale” in the
Journal of Interactive Online Learning. 12(2), 54-69. He also published “A methodological review of the articles published in Georgia Educational Researcher from 2003-2010” in
Georgia Educational Researcher. 10(1), 1-18.
Dr. Joseph C. Richardson, adjunct professor and senior scientist/program manager for Mercer Engineering Research Center (MERC), conducted a poster session at the 2013 STEMtech Conference in Atlanta on Oct. 27. His presentation covered the results of a case study on the characteristics that are important to academia-industry partnerships in support of Science, Technology and Engineering (STEM) fields. The STEMtech Conference is an international convening focused on increasing student access, success, and completion in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Over 400 sessions emphasized improving STEM education, better aligning educational systems, addressing local workforce needs and exploring technology's role in teaching and learning processes. On Nov. 7, Dr. Richardson conducted a Soft Skills Seminar at the Houston County Career Academy as part of a joint venture between the Georgia Department of Labor and the Houston County Board of Education. The purpose of the seminar was to educate high school students and their parents on the soft skills industry leaders require in the workforce. Dr. Richardson discussed the importance of discipline and character, providing word associations, workplace examples and stories from his personal life, to help students internalize the vital role that character and discipline serve in the workplace.
Walter F. George School of Law
David Ritchie, professor of law and philosophy, was a distinguished visitor at the Macau University of Science and Technology in July and August. While he was in Asia, he taught a short course on Economic Constitutionalism in Asia at the Nankai University School of Law in Tianjin, China. Ritchie moderated the panel, “Trends in International Trade in the Southeastern United States,” at the Mercer Law Review Symposium, “Current Trends in International Trade and Their Impact on Multinational Business,” held on Oct. 11. From Nov. 6-10, Ritchie attended the annual Global Ethics Fellows conference at the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs in New York, where he gave an address, titled “The Rhetoric and Geography of Pluralism & Difference.” Ritchie also gave the Ninth Annual Philosophy in Society Lecture at Clayton State University on Nov. 18.
University Libraries
Jane Bridges, associate director at the Mercer University School of Medicine's Savannah campus Medical Library, will serve as program chair/chair elect for the Southern Chapter of the Medical Library Association for 2013-14 and 2014-15. The Southern Chapter is a professional organization of health sciences librarians from six southeastern states, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Bridges also authored a poster that was accepted at the Southern Chapter of the Medical Library Association's annual meeting in October. The poster was titled “Designing and Displaying Furniture to Deliver Solutions,” and was concerned with suiting the study needs of students in the library.
Carolann Curry, library instructor and reference and document delivery librarian at the School of Medicine's Medical Library, exhibited National Medical Library resources at the Georgia Council of Media Organizations (GaCOMO), Oct. 9-11, at the Macon Centerplex. In September, Curry received an Exhibiting Award from the National Network of Libraries of Medicine, which funded the exhibit registration fees for the GaCOMO conference. Curry attended the Southern Chapter of the Medical Library Association (SCMLA) Conference on Oct. 17-20 in Ridgeland, Miss. As chair of the SCMLA Research Committee, Curry, along with others on the research committee, judged research papers and posters that were submitted to the conference.
Anna Krampl, library assistant professor at the School of Medicine's Medical Library, served as principal investigator for a grant reaching out to the Georgia Rural Health Association (GRHA). She received a National Network of Libraries of Medicine exhibit award that will fund the exhibit registration fees for the annual GRHA conference in January 2014 to promote Mercer and National Library of Medicine resources to attendees.
Kim Meeks, library assistant professor and interim director of the School of Medicine's Medical Library, attended the Southern Chapter of the Medical Library Association (SCMLA) Conference Oct. 17-20 in Ridgeland, Miss. As chair of the SCMLA Membership Committee, Meeks coordinated local arrangements and hosted the new member/student reception at the conference.
Alisha Miles, library assistant professor and assistant director for public services at the School of Medicine's Medical Library, gave a presentation, titled “Diabetes in a Tech World,” at the Diabetes University, which was a community event hosted by the Southern Diabetes Foundation and Columbus Research Foundation, in Columbus, Ga., Oct. 19. Miles also co-authored two posters: “Emerging Technologies Help Bridge the Gap… Health Information + Community” and “Identifying barriers to break technological boundaries: A needs assessment of regional medical librarians.” Both posters were accepted and presented at the Southern Chapter/Medical Library Association (SC/MLA) Annual Meeting in Ridgeland, Miss., Oct. 17-20, and the Mid-Atlantic Chapter of the Medical Library Association (MAC/MLA) Annual Meeting in Pittsburgh, Penn., Oct. 13-15. Miles will serve the Medical Library Association Medical Informatics Section as chair for the 2013-14 year and immediate past chair/nominating committee chair for 2014-16. The Medical Informatics Section provides a forum for education and communication among medical librarians, health professionals and other information sciences professionals.
