Professional Notes: September 2023

09/06/2023

Professional Notes is a round-up of awards, presentations, papers, and the other professional achievements of SLU faculty, staff members, and students.

Faculty and Staff

During a ceremony at City Hall on Monday, Aug. 28, St. Louis Mayor Tishaura O. Jones presented the key to the city to Michael Graham, M.D. (Pathology) for his decades of dedicated service to the citizens of St. Louis. Graham recently retired as Chief Medical Examiner of the City of St. Louis after 34 years.

Nori Katagiri, Ph.D. (Political Science) has been selected as a new affiliate fellow of the Research Institute for Sociotechnical Cyber Security (RISCS). RISCS is funded by the UK's National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) and hosted at the University of Bristol. It is the country's "first academic research institute to focus on understanding the overall cyber security of organisations, including their constituent technologies, people, and processes."

Anthony Breitbach, Ph.D. (Doisy College of Health Sciences) was honored with the 2023 Sayers "Bud" Miller Distinguished Educator Award. This award is given to those who exemplify excellence in the field of athletic training education through professional service, instructional effectiveness, scholarship, and overall impact on education in athletic training. The award was presented on June 23, 2023, at the NATA Annual Clinical Symposia and AT Expo in Indianapolis, Indiana. Breitbach served as Director of the SLU Athletic Training Program from 2007-2022 and is widely recognized for scholarship and leadership in Interprofessional Education and the AT profession.

Jennifer Monahan, Ph.D., associate professor of chemistry, was named a 2023 Engineering Unleashed Fellow for her leadership in undergraduate engineering education. Thirty individuals from 24 higher education institutions across the country were named 2023 fellows.

Monahan is designing a faculty development and mentoring program for chemistry and engineering faculty at SLU. She is adapting DYAL workshop activities (e.g., values exercise, speed networking, prototyping, mentor map) that emphasize connections and innovating her own activities.

The SNMMI 2023 Annual Meeting is recognized as the premier educational, scientific, research and networking event in nuclear medicine and molecular imaging. The four-day event, taking place each June, provides physicians, technologists, pharmacists, laboratory professionals and scientists with an in-depth view of the latest research and development in the field and insights into practical applications for the clinic.

Nuclear Medicine Technology (NMT) faculty Sarah Frye, Ph.D. and Crystal Botkin, Ph.D., attended the 2023 Annual Meeting of the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging in Chicago, from June 24-27. Frye and Botkin both presented continuing education sessions during the meeting. Six graduates from the Doisy College of Health Sciences 2023 NMT class also attended and presented.

Anthony Breitbach, Ph.D. (Doisy College of Health Sciences) presented collaborative scholarship "International Perspectives on Job Satisfaction, Interprofessional Collaboration, and Learning in Sport Science and Sports Medicine" and "Transforming Interprofessional Education Through Alignment with University Core Curriculum" at the Academy of Medical Educators/International Network for Health Workforce Education Conference at Cardiff University in Cardiff, Wales on June 27-29, 2023. Breitbach's participation was supported by an International Speaker Grant from the National Athletic Trainers' Association.

Tim R. Randolph, Ph.D. (Clinical Health Sciences) presented a webinar "2022 WHO Update: Hematologic Malignancies" to a national audience hosted my MediaLab, Inc. on July 20, 2023.

Whitney Linsenmeyer, Ph.D. (Nutrition and Dietetics) gave a presentation, "Nutrition research and practice with transgender and gender nonconforming populations" at the Nutrition Society, Irish Section in June 2023 in Athlone, Ireland.

The Maternal and Child Nutrition and Health (MUNCH) research lab, spearheaded by Maria J. Romo-Palafox, Ph.D. (Nutrition and Dietetics) impacted the nutrition science field this summer, showcasing pioneering research at several national and international conferences.

• At the National WIC Association (NWA) conference, the MUNCH Lab highlighted the malnutrition risk facing U.S. infants due to a severe shortage of infant formulas. The team stressed the critical need for improved communication between WIC dietitians, pediatricians, and grocery stores to ensure the appropriate prescription and availability of formulas during these difficult times.
• Continuing at the International Society of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity (ISBNPA) in Sweden, the team unveiled that motherhood significantly drives healthier dietary choices. They also exposed the misleading advertising that influences consumption of pediatric shakes.
• At NUTRITION 2023 in Boston, the MUNCH lab delved into the emotional turmoil experienced by new mothers over breastfeeding and formula use. Their research highlighted the urgency to alleviate breastfeeding pressures and destigmatize infant formula use. They also examined the limitations of the WIC food packages, presenting dietitians' recommendations for improvements to cater to individuals' needs and cultural variations. Additionally, they explored women's intuitive eating experiences during the perinatal period, hinting at a crucial chance to encourage healthier dietary habits during this transformative phase.
• This October, MUNCH lab will present at the FNCE in Denver, sharing insights from dietitians on the WIC program. This study aims to uncover insights to improve the WIC program, enhance participant recruitment and retention, and address job satisfaction and turnover among dietitians.

Whitney Linsenmeyer, Ph.D. (Nutrition and Dietetics), Katie Heiden-Rootes, Ph.D. (Medical Family Therapy), Theresa Drallmeier, M.D. (Family and Community Medicine), Rabia Rahman, Ph.D. (Nutrition and Dietetics), Emily Buxbaum (Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences) and others co-authored " Advancing inclusion of transgender and gender diverse identities in clinical education: A toolkit for clinical educators" in Health Promotion Practice. The piece was published online ahead of print.

Richard Grucza, Ph.D. (Family and Community Medicine & Health and Clinical Outcomes Research), was the senior author of a paper that was published in JAMA Psychiatry . The paper deals with the topic of comedication with gabapentin in the context of opioid use disorder treatment.

Jason Longhurst, Ph.D. (Physical Therapy and Athletic Training) published an article with colleagues from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. "Cognitive-motor dual-task interference in Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and prodromal neurodegeneration: a scoping review." The article was published in Gait and Posture.

Jason T. Eberl, Ph.D. (Albert Gnaegi Center for Health Care Ethics) published a chapter entitled "Does Enhancement Violate Human 'Nature'?" in The Routledge Handbook of the Ethics of Human Enhancement.

Juliet Iwelunmor, Ph.D. (College for Public Health and Social Justice) co-authored an the research titled 'Building Capacity of Community Nurses to Strengthen the Management of Uncomplicated Hypertension in Persons Living with HIV in Low- and Middle-Income Countries' that was published in the 'Global Heart Journal' from the World Heart Foundation.

Travis Loux, Ph.D. (College of Public Health and Social Justice) and colleagues published the study 'Risk Selection and Care Fragmentation at Medicare Accountable Care Organizations for Patients With Dementia' in Medical Care.

Loux and Hong Xian, Ph.D. (College for Public Health and Social Justice) and the team from the VA published the study "Comparative effectiveness of SGLT2 inhibitors, GLP-1 receptor agonists, DPP-4 inhibitors, and sulfonylureas on risk of major adverse cardiovascular events: emulation of a randomised target trial using electronic health records."

Anthony Breitbach Ph.D. (Doisy College of Health Sciences) and Katie Eliot Ph.D., RDN (University of Oklahoma) were featured on the Healthcare's MissingLogic podcast to discuss the highly anticipated 2023 update to the IPEC Core Competencies for Interprofessional Collaborative Practice. Breitbach and Eliot both serve on the IPEC Core Competencies Revision Working Group.

Students

Nebu Kolenchery, a graduate student in the College for Public Health and Social Justice, was named a de Beaumont 40 Under 40 for his work as the director of communicable disease response for the St. Louis County Department of Health.