Expert Directory
antisynthetase syndrome,Dermatomyositis,Inclusion Body Myositis,Myositis,necrotizing myopathy,Polymyositis
Andrew Mammen, MD, PhD works at the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases as Muscle Disease Unit Leader in the Laboratory of Muscle Stem Cells and Gene Regulation. Prior to his appointment at NIH, he was Associate Professor of Neurology and Medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He co-founded the Johns Hopkins Myositis Center in 2007, where he continues to see myositis patients as an adjunct faculty member. Dr. Mammen and his colleagues at Hopkins discovered a novel form of autoimmune myopathy associated with statin use and autoantibodies recognizing HMG-CoA reductase, the pharmacologic target of statins. In addition to clinical studies involving myositis patients, his current laboratory research interests include defining pathogenic mechanisms in the various forms of autoimmune myopathy and understanding the role of myositis autoantigens in muscle regeneration.
executive health,Sport,Sports Medicine,sports medicine doctors,Sports Performance
Damion A. Martins, MD, is board-certified in sports medicine and internal medicine, and currently holds positions as the Medical Director of Sports Medicine, Director of the Executive Health and Program Director of the Sports Medicine Fellowship at Atlantic Health System. Dr. Martins is an accomplished national leader in Sports Medicine with a proven track record in hospital administration. He not only treats thousands of professional and collegiate athletes, but develops the programs that enhance their performance. Dr Martins successfully oversaw a complex Orthopedic service line, consisting of 200+ physicians, covering five hospitals where he doubled both volume and revenue while increasing access and patient satisfaction. He was instrumental in developing Atlantic Health System’s Sports Cardiology and Sports Performance programs as well as the first Accountable Care Organization (ACO) designated Sports Medicine Center of Excellence. These programs have earned national quality recognition as Top 50 Orthopedic programs by U.S. News & World Report, 5 Star by Healthgrades and top 5% nationally for overall Orthopedic services. As a recognized leader in the area of sports performance and exercise testing, Dr. Martins lectures extensively in the field of sports medicine. He is consistently recognized as a “Top Doctor” by Castle Connolly and is renowned for his research in hydration, musculoskeletal injuries and concussions. He is currently involved in a number of active research studies. His expertise has lent itself to the development of cardiovascular training programs widely used in the fitness industry and corporate wellness. He has authored over fifty publications including book chapters on the pre-participation exam and medical conditions that limit sports participation. Dr. Martins is the director of internal medicine and team physician for the National Football League’s (NFL) New York Jets where he has served as a medical consultant since 2002, and member of the NFL Team Physician Society. As a former National Hockey League (NHL) Team Physician and member of the NHL Advisory Committee, he was instrumental in the development of the current National Hockey League’s pre-participation guidelines. His extensive experience on both the professional and collegiate levels also includes administrative medical director for Major League Soccer (MLS) and medical coverage for the U.S. Open Golf Championship, U.S. Open Tennis Championships, New York Islanders, New York Dragons, Hofstra University, and the College of St. Elizabeth. He is currently a medical advisor for New Jersey Interscholastic Athletic Association and Parisi Speed School. Dr. Martins has dual academic appointments at Mount Sinai School of Medicine as assistant clinical professor in the departments of both medicine and orthopedics. He developed and is currently the program director of the American College of Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) accredited Sports Medicine Fellowship at Atlantic Health. Dr. Martins graduated from Georgetown University School of Medicine, where he also obtained his Master’s degree in Exercise Physiology and Biophysics. He completed residency training in internal medicine at Georgetown University Medical Center. He completed his fellowship in sports medicine at the University of Maryland, where he served as fellow team physician for the NFL’s Baltimore Ravens and University of Maryland’s Terrapins.
Conservation,Endangered Species,Wolves
My research is centered on understanding and explaining how people make conservation-related judgments and decisions, and the intersection of such judgments with conservation policy. I am particularly interested in how people make decisions related to the conservation of wildlife, and the origins of resource-related conflicts, especially those that involve wildlife. Much of my recent work is focused on understanding judgments and behaviors concerning large carnivores. Natural resources-related values, attitudes, behaviors Natural resources conflicts Wildlife management and policy Human-wildlife conflict
book arts,gender history,Middle Ages,NUNS,Women's History
Yvonne Seale is a historian of women and the social history of religion in the European Middle Ages. Her current research focuses on the involvement of women with the Premonstratensian religious order in twelfth- and thirteenth-century northern France. It explores the ways in which, amidst the religious reform movement which shook Europe during the High Middle Ages, women’s financial contributions, familial links, and spiritual vocations were fundamental to the cohesion of this new religious organization. She is presently at work on an edition of a thirteenth-century manuscript, the cartulary of Prémontré. In August 2016, Yvonne joined the faculty of SUNY Geneseo in beautiful upstate New York, where she is an assistant professor of medieval history. She is a member of the interdisciplinary faculty cluster in Digital and Computational Analytics, which allows her to pursue her interest in digital humanities research and pedagogy. She serves as a Book Reviews Editor for the History of Women Religious of Britain and Ireland Network, and is a member of the Executive Board of the New York State Association of European Historians. Yvonne received a B.A. in History/Archaeology from Trinity College Dublin and an M.Litt. in Mediaeval History from the University of St Andrews, Scotland. She earned her PhD in history from the University of Iowa.
Alain Dagher, MD, PhD
Doctor and neuroscientist
The Neuro - Montreal Neurological Institute and HospitalAppetite,Brain Imaging,music and the mind,Obesity,Parkinson's Disease
Dr. Alain Dagher is a neurologist specializing in movement disorders and functional brain imaging. His research aims at understanding the function of the basal ganglia, with a particular emphasis on appetitive behaviours. This involves studying how we learn about rewards and punishments, and become motivated to engage in reward-seeking behaviour. The two main techniques used are positron emission tomography (PET) targeting the dopamine system, and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The research focusses on Parkinson's Disease, stress, drug addiction (notably cigarette smoking), pathological gambling, and obesity. Dr. Dagher is funded by CIHR, FRSQ, NIDA, the Parkinson Society of Canada, the Institute for Research on Pathological Gambling and Related Disorders, and Unilever PLC.
Lesley Fellows, MD, D. Phil.
Doctor and cognitive neuroscientist
The Neuro - Montreal Neurological Institute and HospitalAIDS,Cognition,Cognition Dysfunction,Decision Making,Neuroscience
Dr. Lesley Fellows is a neurologist specializing in disorders of cognition. She has a particular interest in the functions of the brain's frontal lobes. Her research program focuses on the brain basis of decision making in humans, using the tools of cognitive neuroscience. She studies how focal brain damage or neurochemical dysfunction affects all aspects of decision making, how options are generated and organized, how they are valued and compared, and how choices are made. She is also interested in more general questions about the roles of the frontal lobes in the regulation of emotion, the expression of personality traits, and the representation of past and future information. This work has relevance for understanding impaired executive function following frontal lobe injury from aneurysm rupture, stroke, or tumor growth, as well as in degenerative conditions such as Parkinson’s Disease and some forms of dementia. It also provides insights into how the component processes that underlie decision making are carried out in the intact brain.
Memory,Memory & Cognitive Processes,memory accuracy,Memory and Cognition,memory bias,Neuroscience
Wayne Sossin is interested in the biochemical changes that occur in the brain during learning and memory. Of particular interest is the identification of molecular memory traces that underlie behavioural memory. Sossin's laboratory examines this problem in the simple nervous system of Aplysia, where behavioural memory is encoded by changes in the synaptic strength of identified neurons. In this system, one can visualize memory using modern imaging techniques and electrophysiology, and thus investigate the underlying molecular basis of memory. His laboratory is investigating several candidates for the molecular trace, including the activation of persistent kinases and the regulated translation of new proteins.
Autism,Autism diagnosis,Autism Treatment And Research,Big Data,big data and medicine
Juergen Hahn, Department Head of Biomedical Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, is a trailblazer in the use of big data methods to improve the diagnosis and treatment of Autism. His research focuses on the use of machine-learning algorithms to analyze complex biological and biomedical systems. He previously developed a physiological test for autism after discovering patterns with certain metabolites in the blood that can accurately predict diagnosis. He is applying that same approach to other areas of autism research including correlating conditions and assessing the effectiveness of possible medical treatments.
Patrick Brady, PhD, University of Alberta
UWM Distinguished Professor of Physics
University of Wisconsin-MilwaukeeAstrophysics,Black Holes,Cosmology,Gravitational Waves,LIGO,LIGO Scientific Collaboration,LSC,Universe,UW-Milwaukee
Astrophysicist Patrick Brady at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee yesterday began his duties as spokesperson for the international scientific collaboration that studies gravitational waves using the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO). The spokesperson of the LIGO Scientific Collaboration (LSC) speaks on behalf of the 1,300 scientists in 20 countries who are engaged in gravitational wave research with data from observatories located in Hanford, Washington, and Livingston, Louisiana. Brady, a UWM professor of physics and director of the Leonard E. Parker Center for Gravitation, Cosmology and Astrophysics, is sixth in an elite group of scientists who have served as LSC spokespersons since the LSC formed in the late 1990s. Former spokespersons were Nobel Prize winner Rainer Weiss (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), Peter Saulson (Syracuse University), Dave Reitze (Caltech), Gabriela Gonzalez (Louisiana State University) and David Shoemaker (MIT). Brady’s research focuses on the analysis and interpretation of data from the network of gravitational-wave detectors. He served on the executive committee of the LSC from 2004-2006, and has co-chaired the LSC Inspiral Analysis Group and chaired the LSC Data Analysis Software Working Group. He joined the UW-Milwaukee faculty in 1999, after a fellowship at Caltech. In 2010 he was elected a Fellow of the American Physical Society, and he shared in the 2016 Special Breakthrough Prize. Video from 2017: https://www.pbs.org/video/measuring-gravity-waves-with-ligo-vkft6w/
Dr. Pete Blair, Ph.D. Criminal Justice
Professor of Criminal Justice and the Executive Director of ALERRT
Texas State UniversityALERRT,Criminal Justice,Investigation,Law Enforcement,Mass Casualities,Mass Shoot,Policing,Training
Dr. Blair is a Professor of Criminal Justice and the Executive Director of the Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training (ALERRT) Center at Texas State University. He received his Doctoral Degree from Michigan State University and his Master's and Bachelor's degrees from Western Illinois University. His current research involves active shooter events.
Adolescent,Medication,Misuse,Nicotine Addiction,Opiod,Prescription Drug Abuse,Psychology,Psychopathology
Ty S. Schepis, Ph.D., is an associate professor of psychology at Texas State University. He obtained his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, and he completed a National Institutes of Health-funded Postdoctoral Fellowship in Substance Abuse at Yale School of Medicine. His primary expertise is in prescription medication misuse and nicotine use across the lifespan, and his work has been published in notable academic journals, including Addiction, Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and PAIN. He has been a principal investigator on four funded National Institutes of Health research grants, all from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, with over $1 million in total research funding.
Dr. Lawrence Fulton, Ph.D. in Management Science & Information Systems
Assistant Professor and Program Director, BSHS
Texas State UniversityHealth Administration,Machine Learning,Modeling,Optimization,Python,Simulation,Statistics,Sustainability
Larry Fulton is an Associate Professor of Health Administration at Texas State University, San Marcos. He earned his Doctorate of Philosophy / Masters of Science in Statistics from the University of Texas at Austin, his Master of Health Administration from Baylor, and three other graduate degrees. Dr. Fulton is a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives (FACHE) and maintains the credentials of Chartered Scientist and Chartered Statistician (CStat CSci) as a Fellow in the Royal Statistical Society. He is a Certified Analytics Professional (CAP) of the Institute for Operations Research & Management Science, a Certified Quality Engineer and Certified Six Sigma Black Belt (CQE CSSBB) of the American Society for Quality and a Professional Statistician (PStat) of the American Statistical Association.
Aging,Dementia,Elderly,Gerontology,Global Perspective,Sociology
Dr. Christopher J. Johnson received his Ph.D. in Sociology with a major in Aging and Family and minor in Social Psychology from Iowa State University, Sociology with major in Aging and Family. He earned his M.A. from University of Northern Iowa in Sociology with major in Aging. He earned his B.A. in Philosophy from the University of Denver. In research, besides procuring over 3 million dollars in grant and private funding, his interests are in dementia and marriage, design for dementia, suicide, thanatology and religiosity and aging. At his previous university, he was twice awarded “Researcher of the Year” in the School of Arts and Sciences. He has conducted a state-wide needs assessment of elderly in Iowa but specializes in oral histories. He was awarded an, Endowed Professorship in Gerontology based upon his outstanding teaching and research skills.
Biomaterials,Biosensors,Diseases,Higher Education,Nanomaterials,Nanomedicine,Texas,Texas State University,Vitro,VIVO
Research in the Biomaterials and Nanomedicine Laboratory focuses on capturing the promise of nanomaterials for the development of new strategies for the detection and treatment of diseases. Specifically, our group develops functional nanostructures that can act as highly specific contrast agents for bioimaging, in vitro and in vivo biosensors, targeted and intracellular drug delivery systems, and stimuli controlled delivery systems. These responsive nanomaterials incorporate functional nucleic acid linkers, enzymatically cleavable linkers, polyelectrolytes, and amphiphilic copolymers to mediate physico-chemical changes in the polymeric networks upon interaction with target molecules, leading to the desired material response. Work in the laboratory encompasses the synthesis and characterization of copolymers and nanoparticles, in vitro confirmation of stimuli-responsive behavior, and the evaluation of the particle functionality on cultured human cells. Dr. Betancourt’s group collaborates with academic and industrial researchers for preclinical evaluation of the compatibility and efficacy of the developed biomaterials and technology transfer. Current projects in Dr. Betancourt’s laboratory include the development of: (1) aptamer-based responsive nanostructures that can be activated by disease-specific molecules, and on the study of the applications of these functional materials in targeted drug delivery, bioimaging, and biomolecular sensing; (2) highly specific nanoparticle-based near infrared contrast agents and drug delivery systems for optical detection and treatment of cancer; (3) photoablation agents and biosensors based on conductive polymers.
Dr. Jennifer Irvin, Post-Doctoral Fellow
Associate Professor - Director, MSEC Program
Texas State UniversityElectroactive polymers,Energy Storage,Sensors
Dr. Jennifer Irvin is the Director of the Materials Science, Engineering, and Commercialization Program as well as an Associate Professor in the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry at Texas State University. Her research focuses on electroactive polymers, that is, polymers that change their properties in the presence of an electric field. Projects include synthesis of novel n-doping polymers with enhanced stability, using electroactive polymers to develop energy storage devices as alternatives to traditional batteries and capacitors, using electroactive polymers to detect and treat cancer, using processing approaches to enhance electroactivity, developing nanocomposites for water purification, and preparing, modifying, and characterizing nanoparticles. Dr. Irvin received a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from the University of Florida under the guidance of Dr. John R. Reynolds prior to spending two years as a post-doctoral fellow at Sandia National Laboratories. Dr. Irvin then spent eight years as a Research Chemist and Head of Analytical Chemistry in the Chemistry and Materials Division of the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division in China Lake, CA. In 2008 Dr. Irvin joined the faculty at Texas State University as an Assistant Professor; she was promoted to Associate Professor in 2014. Dr. Irvin has more than 40 publications, 19 patents issued, and over 100 technical presentations. She is a member of the American Chemical Society.
Dr. Ron Walter, Ph.D.
Professor and Director Xiphophorus Genetic Stock Center
Texas State UniversityBioinformatics,Fish Ecology,Genetics,Inheritance,Molecular Bioscience,Research,Science
Dr. Walter has spent his 28-year academic career at a primarily undergraduate campus that has just recently been designated an “Emerging Research Institution.” He has served in the Department of Biology (9 years) and then moved to the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry to assist in development of a Biochemistry undergraduate program. Dr. Walter developed partnership grant proposals aimed towards providing scholarships for student groups that are underrepresented in the sciences (URM). In Fall 2013, he was awarded a Bridges to Biomedicine (B2B) grant wherein Texas State University is partnering with two Alamo Community College campuses to establish a program focused on increasing success of URM students in the biomedical sciences upon transfer to the baccalaureate institution. The B2B program addresses the most important obstacles to upper-division degree completion experienced by students showing an early commitment to a biomedical career. Additionally, Dr. Walter serves as Co-PI for the South Texas Doctoral Bridge Program (STDBP). The STDBP is aimed at student matriculation from the MS degree into highly competitive doctoral programs. The STDBP is established between the Univ. of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UTHSCSA, medical school) and Texas State University. The STDBP is designed to provide a combination of mentoring and student development activities as well as enhance didactics and research training during a thesis-based M.S. degree in Biochemistry.
Dr. Maureen Keeley-Vassberg, Ph.D. Communication Research
Professor — Director of Graduate Studies
Texas State University,End Of Life,Family Communication ,Interpersonal Communication,nonverbal communication,Speech
Dr. Keeley is the senior faculty member in the area of Interpersonal Communication. In the classroom, she encourages and challenges students to look at their own communication and to use pragmatic, theoretical, and scholarly knowledge to improve their lives and their relationships. Her courses include upper division Undergraduate courses and Master’s level courses in: Nonverbal Communication, Relational Communication, Family Communication, End-of-Life Communication, Interpersonal Communication, and Relational Health Communication. Dr. Keeley is an applied communication researcher that focuses on the communication that occurs within close relationships in the midst of difficult situations. She utilizes theory to describe and explain the communication that focuses on health and/or relational challenges revealing the verbal and nonverbal messages that help people to gain meaning, grow, heal, and connect more fully with one another in the midst of strong emotions and life changes. The practical applications of her research make a real difference in people’s everyday lives. She is nationally recognized as one of the leading researchers on relational communication at the end of life. The nature of Dr. Keeley’s research calls primarily for the use of qualitative methodologies. Dr. Keeley comes from a family filled with civil servants (police officers, fire fighters, and nurses) that placed a high value on helping and serving others. Her family’s values inspires Dr. Keeley to serve others by providing workshops for members of the community on final conversations, nonverbal, relational, and gender communication; she is active as a reviewer for numerous national and regional academic journals; and she is committed to meeting the needs of her department, college, and university.
Antibodies,Biology,Coronavirus,covid,cryo-electron microscopy,Ebola,Ebola Virus,Global Health,Health,Infectious Disease,Lassa Fever,Marburg,Medicine,Rabies,SARS COV-2,Structural Biology,Vaccines,Virology,zoonotic disease
Erica Ollmann Saphire, Ph.D. serves as President and CEO of the La Jolla Institute for Immunology. She is one of the world’s leading experts in pandemic and emerging viruses, such as Ebola, Marburg and Lassa. Dr. Saphire directs the Viral Hemorrhagic Fever Immunotherapeutic Consortium (VIC), an NIH-funded Center of Excellence in Translational Research. The VIC unites 43 previously competing academic, industrial and government labs across five continents to understand which antibodies are most effective in patients and to streamline the research pipeline to provide antibody therapeutics against Ebola, Marburg, Lassa and other viruses. Dr. Saphire's research explains, at the molecular level, how and why viruses like Ebola and Lassa are pathogenic and provides the roadmap for developing antibody-based treatments. Her team has solved the structures of the Ebola, Sudan, Marburg, Bundibugyo and Lassa virus glycoproteins, explained how they remodel these structures as they drive themselves into cells, how their proteins suppress immune function and where human antibodies can defeat these viruses. A recent discovery revealed why neutralizing antibodies had been so difficult to elicit against Lassa virus, and provided not only the templates for the needed vaccine, but the molecule itself: a Lassa surface glycoprotein engineered to remain in the right conformation to inspire the needed antibody response. This molecule is the basis for international vaccine efforts against Lassa.
Dr. Saphire is the recipient of numerous accolades and grants, including the Presidential Early Career Award in Science and Engineering presented by President Obama at the White House; the Gallo Award for Scientific Excellence and Leadership from the Global Virus Network; young investigator awards from the International Congress of Antiviral Research, the American Society for Microbiology, American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and the MRC Centre for Virus Research in the United Kingdom; the Investigators in the Pathogenesis of Infectious Disease Award from the Burroughs Wellcome Fund, and the Surhain Sidhu award for the most outstanding contribution to the field of diffraction by a person within five years of the Ph.D. Dr. Saphire has been awarded a Fulbright Global Scholar fellowship from the United States Department of State and a Mercator Fellowship from the German research foundation, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, to develop international collaborations around human health and molecular imaging through cryoelectron microscopy.
Dr. Saphire received a B.A. in biochemistry and cell biology and ecology and evolutionary biology from Rice University in Houston, Texas, and a Ph.D. in molecular biology from Scripps Research. She stayed on at Scripps Research as a Research Associate to conduct postdoctoral research and rose through the ranks to become a Professor in the Department of Immunology and Microbiology. In early 2019, Dr. Saphire joined La Jolla Institute for Immunology to establish a molecular imaging facility for cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) at the Institute. The extremely detailed images produced by cryo-EM reveal precisely how essential mechanisms of the immune system operate.
Business,Cold Chain,Lean & Process Improvement,Operations Management,Supply Chain,Supply Chain & Logistics Management,Supply Chain Management,Tariff,Tariffs,Trade,trade and transportation,transportation logistics
Douglas Hales is an Associate Dean and Professor of Supply Chain Management at the University of Rhode Island. His primary teaching expertise is Global Supply Chain Management and Lean Six Sigma. His research interests include Global Port Competitiveness and Applied Process Improvement. Hales has more than 20 years of operational and supply chain management experience for the U. S. Marine Corps as well as the plastics and construction industries. He can speak to the impact of U. S. imposed tariffs on Chinese goods and U. S. goods in many industries. He can discuss the delay between the tariffs and the arrival of goods being shipped to the U.S. and what consumers can expect, in terms of the timing of price hikes on goods purchased by Americans. He can discuss the “cold chain,” agricultural goods, electronics and commodities in general that ship by container vessel. Hales is a special issue co-editor for the Transportation Journal on Seaport Competition for 2018 and 2019, as well as the past Program Chair of the Northeast Decision Sciences Institute. He is also the incoming President of the Northeast Decision Sciences Institute, beginning July 1, 2019. https://web.uri.edu/business/meet/doug-hales/
Border Politics,Citizenship,Immigration,Politics,Presidential Leadership,Puerto Rico,race and politics,Religion And Politics,US citizenship
An assistant professor in the Department of Politics at Ithaca College’s School of Humanities and Sciences, Figueroa can discuss U.S. political issues, including presidential leadership, racial, religious and working class politics, U.S.-Puerto Rico policy, and immigration/border politics. Figueroa’s academic research focuses on American political development; race, religion and citizenship; Black American politics and political thought; Latino politics and border studies; public leadership; and U.S. Quakers. He is currently finishing a book on Quakers, race and U.S. Empire. His research also focuses on Bayard Rustin, a Black, gay, Quaker labor and civil rights activist of the 1940s through 1980s. He is also working on a project about the everyday “lived experiences” of people who study and/or work near the U.S.-Mexico border.
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