Professional Notes: February 2025
02/17/2025
Professional Notes is a round-up of awards, presentations, papers, and other professional achievements of SLU faculty, staff members, and students.
Faculty and Staff
Benjamin Looker, Ph.D. (American Studies) gave a talk on Feb. 4 at the St. Louis County Library main location about local manifestations of the 1960s–70s Black Arts Movement.
Kenya Brumfield-Young (Social Work) took part in 2024 Criminal Justice Town Hall in St. Louis. The town hall brought together more than 100 attendees to engage in critical discussions on pressing issues within the criminal justice system.Brumfield-Young contributed her insights on key topics impacting the future of justice in Missouri and beyond.
Nathan Grant, Ph.D. (English) presented on “How to Get Published in a Scholarly Journal” as part of a roundtable at the Modern Language Association Convention in New Orleans.
Maryse Jayasuriya, Ph.D. (English) presented “Documenting Demons: Finding Hope for a Just Reconciliation in Sri Lankan and Diasporic Fiction and Film,” at the Modern Language Association Convention in New Orleans on Jan. 9, and she participated in a roundtable on “Transcultural South Asia: A Futuristic Visibility” on the same day.
She also presented “Emerging Writers Bearing Witness: Possibilities and Challenges” at the South Asian Literary Association’s online conference on Jan. 19, 2025, and she presented “Being Challenged by Other Voices in Public Reading Groups” at the conference on the same day.
Jason de Lara Molesky, Ph.D. (English) presented “Coding Oil among the Plantations: Energy Injustice in Digital Game Worlds” at the Modern Language Association Convention in New Orleans on January 9, 2025, and he also presented “Cli-NoFi: Creative Climate Nonfiction in Undergraduate Classrooms” on Jan.11.
Yea Jung Park, Ph.D. (English) presented “Overheard Prognoses and Middle English Epistemologies of Recovery” at the Modern Language Association Conference, on Jan. 11, 2025.
Joya Uraizee, Ph.D. (English) presented “Women Who Eat Their Own Passports: Defying Invisibility in Warsan Shire’s Work” at the Modern Language Association Convention in New Orleans on Jan. 11, 2025.
Brian Yothers, Ph.D. (English) presented “ ‘A timid rill of slender sound’: Melville’s Sonic Symphonies in Clarel” at the Modern Language Association Convention in New Orleans on Jan. 9, 2025.
He also presented “Finding ‘Companions’ in South Asian Books: A View from an Americanist” at the online South Asian Literary Association Conference on Jan. 19, 2025.
Ghazala Hayat, M.D. (Medicine) was awarded Woman of Distinction 2024 by Missouri Athletics Club.
Alex Delonis (Financial Services) was elected by the NASFAA membership as a Delegate at Large to the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA) board for a two-year term starting July 1, 2025. NASFAA membership consists of more than 29,000 financial aid professionals at nearly 3,000 colleges, universities, and career schools across the country. NASFAA member institutions serve nine out of every 10 undergraduates in the United States.
Jason D. Coombes, Ph.D. (Gastroenterology and Hepatology) was named the Interim Director of Advanced Spatial Biology, Research Histology, and Research Light and Electron Microscopy Cores. He is a cell and molecular biologist interested in tumor initiation and spread and related mechanisms of chronic disease progression. He is developing a research program aimed at limiting the invasiveness of liver cancers, studying the unique physical and biochemical properties of the tumor microenvironment. He is interested in utilizing bioengineered platforms designed to dissect the therapeutic avenues of matrix-cell interactions in biomimetic contexts, particularly concerning the complex interplay between stem and fibroinflammatory cells.
Anthony Breitbach. Ph.D. (Interprofessional Education) participated in the 4th Partnership Symposium of Interprofessional.Global in November. Interprofessional.Global is the Global Confederation for Interprofessional Education and Collaborative Practice consisting of 10 regional networks and 2 emerging networks from all over the world. At the meeting, Breitbach was elected as Deputy Chair of the Interprofessional. Global Board.
Leslie McClure, Ph.D. (College for Public Health and Social Justice) was named to the Executive Board for the International Biometrics Society. IBS is an organization that promotes the development and application of statistical and mathematical theory and methods in the biosciences. She will serve a three-year term on the board.
Devita Stallings, Ph.D. (Nursing), and Deborah Horton, Ph.D. (Nursing) were awarded a two-year $334,117 grant from the Nursing Education Incentive Program (NEIP) from the Missouri State Board of Nursing. The purpose of this funding opportunity was to increase the physical and educational capacity of professional nursing programs throughout the state of Missouri. Stallings and Horton's project is entitled, Empowered Nurses: Expanding Opportunities for RN-BSN Completion with a Nurse Educator Focus. With this funding, they plan to expand the capacity of the School of Nursing to assist nurses with associate degrees, particularly those currently teaching in practical and associate degree nursing programs, as they pursue a bachelor’s degree in nursing (BSN) and continue a streamlined pathway to a master’s degree in nursing (MSN) program. To alleviate the financial burden of returning to school, this grant will support full tuition for RNs accepted to the RN-BSN Program option.
SangNam Ahn, Ph.D. (Health Management and Policy) contributed to the research article study "Well-Being And Functioning Profile Among Older Adults Between Different Living Settings" in the 'Innovation in Aging' journal.
Ahn also contributed to the research article study "Role Of Machine Learning (Ml) In Aging In Place Research: A Scoping Review" in the 'Innovation in Aging' journal.
Thomas E. Burroughs, Ph.D. (Health Management and Policy), Jen Jen Chang, Ph.D. (Epidemiology and Biostatistics), and Yueqi Li, Ph.D. (Epidemiology and Biostatistics) published the research article study "Associations Between Sleep Duration and Lifestyle Risk Factors Among Adolescents: A Cross-Sectional Study" in 'Sage Journals.'
Leslie McClure, Ph.D. (College for Public Health and Social Justice) and colleagues worked on the research "Considerations and recommendations for collaborative research networks in epidemiology: lessons learned from the Diabetes LEAD Network" in the Journal of Clinical and Translational Science.
Zhengmin Qian, Ph.D., M.D. (Epidemiology and Biostatistics) and others from SLU contributed to the research "Associations between anthropogenic heat emissions and serum lipids among adults in northeastern China" in the International Journal of Environmental Health Research.
Mintesnot T. Teni, Ph.D. (Epidemiology and Biostatistics), with Travis Loux, Ph.D. (Biostatistics), and Anne K. Sebert Kuhlmann, Ph.D. (Behavioral Science and Health Equity) all participated in the publishing the research "Geographic distribution and demographic factors associated with use of a long-acting reversible contraceptive (LARC) in Ethiopia" in the 'Geospatial Health' journal.
Research by Annamaria Szakonyi, Ph.D. (Information Systems & Cybersecurity) was cited in the College of Computing Magazine of Illinois Institute of Technology (, page 11). The article wrote about Dr. Szakonyi's collaboration and mentorship with IIT on their research investigating "Russia’s Strategies for Leveraging AI Policies and Investments for Global Economic Competitiveness". Their study explored the role of artificial intelligence (AI) investment on economic standing and evaluated Russia’s AI strategy, highlighting areas for improvement. The research revealed that while Russia has intensified efforts to harness AI technologies, substantial gaps persist in comparison to leading nations. Findings include the importance of education in nurturing AI talent, balanced public-private investments in fostering innovation, and global collaboration in growing technological advancement.
Craig A. Boyd, Ph.D. (General Studies) co-authored an essay titled "Tolkien's Panopticon and Foucault's Towers: A Study on the Nature and Limits of Power" in the volume "Cities and Strongholds in Middle-earth," ed. Cami Egan (Mythopoeic Press, 2024).
Sam Biver (Behavioral Science and Health Equity) and Enbal Shacham, Ph.D. (Behavioral Science and Health Equity) with the support of the St. Louis University PRiME Center published a report, Physical Education: Policies and Practices in Missouri.
Maryse Jayasuriya, Ph.D. (English) published “Poetry of Witness as a Human Rights Intervention: A Conversation with the Coeditors of Out of Sri Lanka: Tamil, Sinhala & English Poetry from Sri Lanka and Its Diasporas” in South Asian Review.
Phyllis Weliver, D. Phil. (English) contributed a blog post to the Grainger Museum Research Hub at the University of Melbourne called “‘The din and the glamour’: Some Treasures of the Grainger Museum and Archives of Interlochen Center for the Arts."
Brian Yothers, Ph.D. (English) published “‘The Public Practice of Humanity’: How Antislavery Writing Matters Now” in the new Cambridge University Press journal Public Humanities.
Students
Nate Reyes (School of Education student) has been selected as the 2025 recipient of the MACTE RISE (Recognizing Inspiring Students in Education) Scholarship. This prestigious award recognizes promising future educators who demonstrate exceptional commitment to the teaching profession. Reyes, who is pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in Education with concentrations in English (2nd major) and a Research-Intensive English minor, stood out for his dedication to fostering student engagement and personalized learning approaches. His teaching philosophy emphasizes building strong relationships with students and creating an environment where all learners can thrive.
Darby Ratliff (Arts and Sciences student) was a recipient of the Graduate Student Prize from the Western History Association. Ratliff was honored along with other recipients of the prize at the Western History Association annual conference in Kansas, City MO.
Ifeoma Maureen Obionu (Public Health and Social Justice student) and Anne K. Sebert Kuhlmann, Ph.D. (Behavioral Science and Health Equity) published the research article "Predictors of Contraceptive Use Associated with Foreign-Born Women in the US During the Preconception Period of Their First Pregnancy" in the Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health.
Colten Biro (Arts and Sciences student) published “The Liberalism of A Little Princess (1905) and the Downfall of the Liberal Empire” | Children’s Literature Association Quarterly 49.2 (Fall 2024), pp. 168-183. The article was linked/featured within the “Notable New Publications” section of a different journal, The Early Children’s Literature & Culture Chronicle.
A Saint Louis University team, consisting of Nathaniel Alloway, Kieran Favazza, Kevin Mueller, Ben Schneiderheinze, and Evan Socher, competed in the 85th annual William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition. 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 3900 undergraduates from 470 institutions throughout the United States and Canada competed this year.