Faculty Productivity in High Gear with Burst of Scholarly Research

Oct 4, 2022 By: ddefusco

Katz School faculty are advancing scholarly knowledge and transforming lives by taking an interdisciplinary approach to research and education, fostering the creativity, collaborative thinking and builder mindset required to take on today’s toughest problems. The following list of recent faculty research and activities exemplifies the Katz School’s determination to make the world smarter, safer and healthier. SPEECH-LANGUAGE PATHOLOGY Dr. Marissa Barrera, Assistant Dean of Health Sciences and Program Director In her lecture, “Redefining Speech-Language and Swallowing Therapy: Implementing Advanced Technologies to Support Patient Outcomes,” at the 2022 annual meeting of the Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers in National Harbor, MD, Dr. Barrera highlighted advanced technologies that help clinicians provide high-quality treatments for individuals with Multiple Sclerosis. Topics included the use of robotics, surface electromyography and ultrasound to provide better care for patients with speech and swallowing disorders. OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY DOCTORATE Dr. Mindy Garfinkel, Clinical Associate Professor and Assistant Program Director In the paper, "," published in The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy, Dr. Garfinkel and her co-author examined caregivers’ perspectives on the training they receive to support their child’s feeding delay or disorder and the possible impact on family mealtimes. Dr. Amiya Waldman-Levi, Clinical Associate Professor and Director of Scholarship and Research In the paper, “,” published in the September/October issue of American Journal of Occupational Therapy, Dr. Waldman-Levi and her co-authors suggest that pediatric practitioners who understand the development of playfulness and its relationship to cognitive functioning in children are equipped to recommend early interventions, especially when cognition and playfulness are at risk. PHYSICIAN ASSISTANT STUDIES Thomas Balga, Clinical Assistant Professor Balga contributed the chapter in the textbook, , published by Springer in February. It’s the first clinical medicine textbook designed with the unique physician assistant (PA) curriculum in mind, addressing current ARC-PA standards. Dwayne Williams, Clinical Preceptor and Director of Didactic Education In May, Williams released the fourth edition of his , which includes a comprehensive review of material for the physician assistant (PA) national certification exam and tools to help PA students understand commonly encountered diseases while on rotations during the clinical year. PHYSICS Dr. Sergey Buldyrev, Professor, and Dr. Gabriel Cwilich, Professor and Director of the Jay and Jeanie Schottenstein Honors Program In August, Dr. Buldryev and Dr. Cwilich published the paper, "," in Physical Review E. They studied how traffic jams on a few major roads can multiply, causing larger disruptions over a small region in a city. Dr. Ran Drori, Assistant Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry In the paper, “,” Dr. Drori explains how he and Katz School student Yitzhar Shalom have perfected a method of manipulating the fluids surrounding ice crystals in a temperature-controlled environment that prevented the crystals, which are to times smaller than the width of a human hair, from growing. MATHEMATICS Dr. Marian Gidea, Professor In his plenary lecture, “Energy Drift and Stochastic Process in the Three-body Problem,” at the International Conference on Mathematics and Computer Science in September in Braşov, Romania, Dr. Gidea discussed how massive bodies with eccentric orbits, such as the sun and Jupiter, can affect the trajectory of smaller asteroids by their gravitational pull. This research sheds light on why the orbits of some asteroids can be hard to predict. Dr. Wenxiong Chen, Professor In August, Dr. Chen lectured at the international conference, Nonlinear Analysis and Nonlinear Partial Differential Equations, in Xi’an, China. DIGITAL MARKETING AND MEDIA Thom Kennon, Adjunct Professor and Director of Consulting in the ÿ�մ�� Innovation Lab In the , published by Kendall Hunt in May, Kennon argues that a more transparently human standard for business behavior in the world is required and that the superficial insights informing marketing practices are no longer sufficient. DATA ANALYTICS AND VISUALIZATION Dr. David Sweet, Adjunct Professor In November, Manning will publish Dr. Sweet’s book, , which will provide a toolbox for optimizing machine learning systems, quantitative trading strategies, and more. CYBERSECURITY Tia Hopkins, Adjunct Professor and Field CTO and Chief Cyber Risk Strategist for eSentire In the article, “,” published this month in , Hopkins argues that discerning the potential of cybersecurity applicants, not just evaluating their current experience and position, can help close the skills gap in the field of cybersecurity. Sivan Tehila, Program Director and CEO of Onyxia In September, Tehila participated in , a conference that examined how digital technologies are affecting Israel’s hi-tech industry. The conference, sponsored by Calcalist, an Israeli daily business newspaper and website, focused on technologies, companies and projects created in Israel and the United States. BIOTECHNOLOGY Brian Malkin, Instructor and Partner in the law firm of McDermott, Will & Emery In a March blog post, “,” Malkin and his co-author discuss the goal of strengthening the security of the U.S. drug supply chain. When finalized, new licensing regulations will preempt state and local licensing standards, requirements and regulations that differ from federal requirements. Lorraine Marchand, Adjunct Professor and General Manager of Life Sciences at IBM Watson Health In MIT Sloan Management Review, Marchand was interviewed for the article, “,” about her recent book , published by Columbia University Press. In the book, Marchand argues that to foster innovation, companies must create a problem-solving culture that supports personal curiosity, passion and talent. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE Dr. Peter Nandori, Adjunct Professor of Artificial Intelligence and Assistant Professor of Mathematics at Stern College for Women Dr. Nandori has been awarded a three-year grant of $164,215 from the National Science Foundation for research into “Hyperbolic Dynamics in Physical Systems and Ergodic Theory.” Dr. Pablo Roldan, Program Director and Professor of Mathematics In January, Dr. Roldan published the paper “” in the Journal of Differential Equations.