Professional Notes: Fall 2023

02/05/2024

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

Faculty and Staff

Anthony Breitbach, Ph.D. (Vice Dean, Doisy College of Health Sciences) traveled to Doha, Qatar for two major international interprofessional events hosted at Qatar University. He was one of three representatives from the United States at the 3rd Interprofessional Global Partnership Symposium on Nov. 2-5 prior to the All Together Better Health (ATBH) XI Conference on Nov. 6-9. Breitbach serves as the Communication Working Group Co-Chair for Interprofessional Global as well as the ATBH XI Scientific Committee where he conducted several workshops and participated in the closing plenary session.

Breitbach also presented at the Association of Schools Advancing Health Professions Annual Conference in Fort Lauderdale, Florida on Oct. 17, 2023 presenting: "Regional Summits - Using the ASAHP Stakeholder Engagement Model to Promote Interprofessional Collaboration" with collaborators Kathryn Bell (Pacific University); Genevieve Zipp (Seton Hall University); Sabina Kupershmidt (University of South Dakota); Valerie Herzog (Weber State University); David Henzi (University of Texas Health - San Antonio); Betty Kapralos (Seton Hall University); Kimberly Hoggatt Krumwiede (University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center); and Elizabeth Swann (Nova Southeastern University).

Kim Levenhagen, DPT (Physical Therapy and Athletic Training) was invited to present her research on breast cancer related lymphedema at the Lymphedema Summit: Forward Momentum Future Steps in Lymphedema Management.

Travis Threats, Ph.D. (Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences) was the co-chair for a conference sponsored by the National Academy of Medicine on Health Systems Science in early November.

Whitney Linsenmeyer, Ph.D. (Nutrition and Dietetics) was the invited speaker at the annual conference of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Her presentation was "Gender-affirming nutrition in sports: Providing excellent care for transgender and gender diverse individuals."

Danni Young (Social Work) visited Cincinnati, Ohio to host an information session about SLU's nationally ranked Master of Social Work (MSW) program. SLU and Xavier University have partnered to offer an innovative hybrid MSW degree program, where 60 percent of classes are taught online by SLU faculty and the remainder of the courses are taught on campus at Xavier University.

Courtesy of Investigator Travel Award by the Infectious Disease Society (IDSA), Geoffrey Kangogo (College for Public Health and Social Justice) presented two posters at the IDWeek conference in Boston, Massachusetts held from Oct. 11-15, 2023. The presentations were on HIV testing among sexually experienced high school students in the USA and an investigation of prior HIV testing and schistosomiasis treatment among the fishing communities in Malawi. IDWeek is the joint annual meeting of the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA), the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA), the HIV Medicine Association (HIVMA), the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society (PIDS), and the Society of Infectious Diseases Pharmacists (SIDP).

Kim Levenhagen, DPT (Physical Therapy and Athletic Training) was the co-author of a paper published in September. The paper was titled "Lower Quadrant Edema Patient-Reported Outcome Measure Is Reliable, Valid, and Efficient for Patients with Lymphatic and Venous Disorders."

Joel Mort, Ph.D. (Office of the Vice President for Research) published a review article, "A Missed Opportunity. A review on Dimitris Xygalatas, Ritual: How Seemingly Senseless Acts Make Life Worth Living, London: Profile Books, 2022."

Anthony Breitbach, Ph.D. (Vice Dean, Doisy College of Health Sciences) co-authored the chapter "Governance of Interprofessional Education and Collaborative Practice" with Hani Alghamdi, M.D. (King Saud University, Saudi Arabia) in the Springer textbook "Novel Health Interprofessional Education and Collaborative Practice Program: Strategy and Implementation."

Whitney Linsenmeyer, Ph.D. (Nutrition and Dietetics) published an invited article, "Nutrition research and practice with transgender and gender non-conforming populations," in the journal, "Proceedings of the Nutrition Society."

Nori Katagiri, Ph.D. (Political Science) published a manuscript titled "Democracy, firms, and cyber punishment: what cyberspace challenge do democracies face from the private sector?" in the Australian Journal of International Affairs. In the article, he discusses some of the major challenges that democratic states face when they seek to launch a cyber attack for penal purposes. The most severe challenges come not from target retaliation or inconsistency with international law but from government relations with technology firms.

SangNam Ahn, Ph.D. (Health Management and Policy) contributed to the research study "Group-based trajectory analysis identifies varying diabetes-related cost trajectories among type 2 diabetes patients in Texas: an empirical study using commercial insurance."

Enbal Shacham, Ph.D. (Behavioral Science and Health Equity) co-authored the research article "The Effect of a Merit Point Incentive System on the Willingness to Donate Organs" in the journal Transplantation Proceedings. The research conducted assessed the young adult population's perspective on their willingness to donate organs when merit points are granted to their family members to prioritize their potential transplant if needed.

Soophia Naydenov, M.D. (Critical Care) was elected to the Board of Directors of the national Pulmonary Embolism Response Team (PERT) Consortium. The PERT Consortium "intends to guide and influence pulmonary embolism (PE) care and research in institutions across the U.S. and will be the driving force behind increased survival rates and the future of PE treatment."

Chris Sebelski, Ph.D. (Physical Therapy and Athletic Training) served as a mentor for the 2023 GAMER Grantsmanship - mentorship in education research. This workshop focuses on developing education researchers. Applicants submit education research proposals and are sponsored by their organization to attend. Over the course of an intense four days, each participant meets with several mentors to refine their proposals in preparation for a grant submission.

Julie Hoffmann (Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences) and Angela Adrian (Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences)were awarded an 1818 Community Engagement Grant. The funds will be allocated to further develop a partnership with SLU's Reinert Speech-Language-Hearing Clinic and the Academy of St. Louis (ASTL). The grant will provide opportunities for specialized courses for SLU and ASTL faculty and educational materials for students. This grant further enhances an established program and provides the opportunity to target narrative and conversational skills in the academic setting.

Travis Threats, Ph.D. (Speech, Language & Hearing Sciences) was awarded the alumni Career Achievement Award by the College of Health and Human Sciences by Kansas State University, where he received my undergraduate degree. He was one of 10 alumni recognized at the ceremony.

Gillian Heinecke, M.D. (Dermatology) as named a “Visiting Scholar” by the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS). The American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) selected 13 individuals to participate in its 2023-2024 Visiting Scholars Program. Established in 2014, the one-year, part-time program supports early-career physicians and researchers in scholarship and leadership development focusing on initial and continuing board certification. Each Visiting Scholar receives a $15,000 financial award.

ABMS Visiting Scholars are selected based on the quality of their proposed research project, the relevance of their research to the ABMS mission and the certification community, and demonstration of making significant progress on the project during the scholar year.

Krista Simmons, D.N.P. (Nursing) received the Inspiration Leadership Award from the Black Nurses Association of Greater St. Louis.

Mary Maxfield, Ph.D. (Women's and Gender Studies), was a finalist in Button Poetry's annual video contest. Maxfield's poem "Call it a Catch Breath" placed in the top 2% of submissions and was featured on Button's platforms in late December.

The Association of Corporate Counsels in St. Louis announced that a session led by Cathleen A. Fleck, Ph.D. (Art History) received a 2023 Innovative Programming Effort Award from their national association for her session "Artful Observations with a Diversity Lens.” 

Two Saint Louis University College for Public Health and Social Justice faculty members received honors at this summer’s Association of University Programs in Health Administration (AUPHA) Annual Meeting. At the annual meeting this June in Maryland, the organization formally announced Kimberly R. Enard, Ph.D. (College for Public Health and Social Justice) as one of four new board members for AUPHA (PDF). Enard also serves as an associate professor of health management and policy at SLU, and is a board-certified health care management professional.

At the same meeting, Michael Rozier, S.J., Ph.D. (College for Public Health and Social Justice) was one of two professors to receive the Teaching Excellence Award in Healthcare Management and Leadership, sponsored by the American College of Healthcare Executives.

The 62nd Annual Meeting of the Central Slavic Conference was held at Saint Louis University Nov. 3-5, 2023. Established in 1962, The Central Slavic Conference is the oldest regional Slavic studies in the United States. For over six decades, the Central Slavic Conference has organized an annual meeting where scholars, students, and others interested in Slavic, East European, and Eurasian studies have shared research and exchanged ideas. This year’s program was hosted at Saint Louis University by Sergey Toymenstev, Ph.D. (Russian). The keynote speaker, Professor Ani Kokobobo, University of Kansas, presented "Leo Tolstoy, Overcoming the State."

The Boeing Institute of International Business hosted the 2023 Bayer International Business Conference on Wednesday, Dec. 6, in the Busch Student Center. Titled "International Business Resilience Under Global Disruptions," this year’s conference explored topics around facing adversity in business and adapting to new challenges. Special guest speakers included, Jim McCool, CEO of Bunzl North America, Jay Greenberg, Special Agent in Charge with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Jeremy Williams, Ph.D., Head of Climate LLC, Digital Farming, and Commercial Ecosystems at Bayer, and Keynote Speaker, Arnold Donald, Retired Vice-Chair and CEO of Carnival Corporation & PLC.

Students

SLU M.D./Ph.D. medical student, Alexander Piening, presented his poster "Overall survival in advanced hepatocellular carcinoma treated with concomitant systemic therapy and stereotactic radiation therapy or systemic therapy alone" at ESMO 2023 in Madrid, Spain. This analysis of the national cancer database showed that liver cancer patients treated with stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) lived longer when treated with SBRT and systemic therapy versus systemic therapy alone.

R. Aver Yakubu (Public Health and Social Justice) won first place in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Preventing Chronic Disease Journal 2023 Student Paper Contest. Yakubu, doctoral candidate in the Public Health Studies Program in the CPHSJ, wrote a paper titled “Shared Decision-Making and Emergency Department Use Among People With High Blood Pressure.” Her academic advisor and support of this process was Kimberly Enard, Ph.D.

A Saint Louis University team, consisting of Nathaniel Alloway, Conner Cruise, Katrina Esswein, Kieran Favazza, Andrew Hansel, Taylor Hochman, Bernadette King, Aldas Kriauciunas, Kaitlyn Lampe, Zukai Sagan, and Ben Schneiderheinze, competed in the 84th annual William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition on Dec. 2, 2023. The Putnam Competition is administered by the Mathematical Association of America and is considered the premier mathematics contest among colleges and universities in North America. An estimated 3,400 undergraduates from 460 institutions throughout the United States and Canada competed this year.

The top five competitors will be designated as Putnam Fellows and awarded cash prizes. In the past, Putnam Fellows have gone on to win two Nobel Prizes in Physics and three Fields Medals in Mathematics. Greg Marks, Ph.D., is the faculty supervisor of the SLU Putnam Competition team.