Faculty News & Achievements

Chemistry Adjunct Professor Nyesa Enakaya Publishes Article in American Chemical Society Journal

Chemistry Adjunct Professor, Nyesa Enakaya, in the College of Arts and Sciences publishes her first article in the American Chemical Society Journal (ACS) in March 22, 2023. The article, titled “Design, Synthesis, and Evaluation of Allosteric Effectors for Hemoglobin”, outlines the causing factors of vaso-occlusive crisis in sickle cell patients and potential treatments to increase oxygen levels.  Read full abstract. 

Citation

Enakaya, N. A., Jefferson, A., Chew-Martinez, D., & Matthews, J. S. (2023). Design, synthesis, and evaluation of allosteric effectors for hemoglobin. Accounts of Chemical Research. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.accounts.2c00590

Dr. Lisa Simmons Presents Poster at Conference on Higher Education Pedagogy at Virginia Tech

Dr. Lisa Simmons, Director of Master of Occupational Therapy in the School of Nursing and Health Professions at Trinity Washington University presented at the Conference on Higher Education Pedagogy at Virginia Tech on February 16, 2023. The presentation was co-led with Callie Victor, Shenandoah University and Kristen Maisano, St. Catherine University.

Supporting the Mental Health and Wellness of Our Students

Poster Presentation: Most entry-level clinical programs aim to establish clinical competence in their students in preparation for patient care. In the process of establishing clinical competence, it is essential to build knowledge and confidence. Addressing students’ mental health can help them be successful students and practitioners. This presentation will allow participants to reflect on their current practices and increase their toolbox of engaging activities. As we look to create an inclusive workforce that can meet the needs of a diverse population, faculty must be prepared to positively impact the mental health needs of the students they educate.

Dr. Olivia White to Present at the American Occupational Therapy Associate Conference

Dr. Olivia White,  Assistant Professor of Occupational Therapy in the School of Nursing and Health Professions, will participate in three scholarly activities at the American Occupational Therapy Associate Conference in Kansas City, Missouri April 21-23, 2023.

The three activities are noted as follows:

“Adaptive Yoga for Wellness” – Thursday, April 20

Poster presentation on how adaptive yoga promotes health and well-being for clients with disabilities. The poster will educate OT practitioners on effectively modifying and adapting traditional yoga poses and led solely by Dr. White.

“Home Automation: The Emerging Instrumental Activity of Daily Living” – Friday, April 21

Short course on educating OT practitioners on how to identify types of technology for clients and their caregivers to access their home environment safely and independently, and how to identify apps on phones and tablets to be used by persons with cognitive or physical impairments. The session will be led by Trinity adjunct professor, Megan Mahaffey and Dr. Olivia White will serve as one of three additional presenters.

“Best Practices in AOTA Fellowship Programs” – Friday, April 21

Panel participant: OT Fellowship best practices with a focus on specific methods and strategies for moving occupational therapists beyond entry-level practice, and toward expertise in a focused area of practice. Dr. Oliva White and Amanda Gahlot, a former Trinity adjunct professor, will lead the panel.

Click to view all AOTA Conference sessions 

Dr. Shizuka Hsieh Serves as Panelist for AAAS Webinar on Environmental Science and Sustainability

Dr. Shizuka Hsieh, Associate Professor of Chemistry in the College of Art and Sciences, served as a panelist in the third webinar of the Inaugural Webinar Series: AAAS Section Q Equity & Justice in Science Education Webinar Series, a 4-part series to engage and discus equity- and justice-based considerations, approaches, curricula, pedagogies, and actions for advancing progress in sciences and science education. The first webinar focused on Informal STEM Environments and the second on Communities and their Knowledges. The third webinar, Dr. Hsieh’s panel, focused on “Engaging Non-STEM Undergraduates in Climate/Environmental Science and Sustainability to Promote Equity-Based Decision Making”. The webinar was held March 21, 2023.

Topic

Engaging Non-STEM Undergraduates in Climate/Environmental Science and Sustainability to Promote Equity-Based Decision Making

Description

Decisions for a sustainable and equitable future will require students who understand science, equity and the intersection between them. A critical part of this is to address sustainability and equity in undergraduate science courses for non-STEM majors. Panelists will share and discuss their approaches of engaging non-STEM major undergraduates in learning climate change, environmental science and sustainability through the lens of equity and justice.

Panelists:

David Szymanski, Associate Professor, Natural and Applied Science, Bentley University, Waltham, MA

Shizuka Hsieh, Associate Professor of Chemistry, Trinity Washington University, Washington D.C.

Beth Osnes, Professor of Theater and Environmental Studies, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado

Moderator:

Tamara Shapiro Ledley, STEM Education Consultant, Sustaining Science Consulting & Adjunct Professor, Bentley University

Dr. Sheila Spurlock-White to Present at Howard’s Symposium: Promoting Health Equity Through Nursing Science

Sheila Spurlock-White, RN, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Nursing in the School of Nursing and Health Professions, will present a poster presentation at the Howard University College of Nursing and Allied Health Sciences Symposium: Promoting Health Equity through Nursing Science on March 29, 2023. The symposium will be held at Howard University Louis Stokes Health Science Library 501 W St NW Washington, DC 20059.

Dr. Spurlock-White’s poster abstract, “Clinical Education: A Student Multidisciplinary Approach to Promoting Health Equity and Minimizing Health Disparities” outline the collaboration between Nursing and Occupational Therapy faculty to provide Trinity’s nursing students with an opportunity to work with at-risk populations in Washington, DC.

Dr. Cynthia Greer Appointed Board Member of the Playtime Project

Dr. Cynthia Greer, Associate Professor of Counseling in the School of Nursing and Health Professions, is a newly installed member of the Board of The Playtime Project (formerly The “Homeless  Children’s Playtime Project), a non-profit that supports and fosters the healing process of play and expressive and creative arts therapies in developing resiliencies, particularly for children living with adverse childhood experiences and trauma.  In 2019, Dr. Greer received the Voice for Children Award from The Playtime Project.  Dr. Greer is a leader of the Trinity Counseling Program’s Initiative on ACEs and Trauma: https://discover.trinitydc.edu/aces-research/

Dr. Mercedez Callenes Paper Accepted for Presentation

Dr. Mercedez Callenes, Assistant Professor of Global Affairs, has written a paper entitled “Civil Protests as a Means to Defuse or Escalate Conflict? Evidence from Colombia”.  The paper has been accepted for presentation as part of the panel Protest and Protest Event Analysis into the Track: Las protestas sociopolíticas del siglo 21 (Sociopolitical Protests of the 21^st Century) for the Latin American Studies Association 2023 Hybrid Congress: América Latina y el Caribe: Pensar, Representar y Luchar por los Derechos (Latin America and the Caribbean:  Think, Represent, and Fight for Rights) on May 24–27, 2023, in Vancouver, Canada.

Dr. Deborah Harris O’Brien Publishes an Article on “Faculty Burnout” in the Eye on Psi Chi Online Journal

Dr. Deborah Harris O-Brien, Associate Professor of Psychology, co-authored an article titled, “Coping with Burnout: Surviving and Thriving in Academia” in the Winter 2022 Issue of Eye on Psi Chi. The article written by Trinity’s own, Dr. Deborah Harris-O’Brien and Dr. Jamie Bondenlos of Hobart and William Smith Colleges (NY) discusses the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic in response to a faculty survey by the Chronical of Higher Education.  The survey reports faculty feeling increased stress and fatigue due to various contributing factors. (e.g., workload, financial impact, changing policies, work-life imbalance, emotional labor, etc.). Read full article.

Harris O’Brien, D., & Bodenlos, J. (2022). Coping with burnout: Surviving and thriving in Academia. Eye on Psi Chi Magazine, 27(2), 48–51. https://doi.org/10.24839/2164-9812.eye27.2.48 

Dr. Anette Casiano-Negroni Publishes Article in Journal of Chemical Education

Dr. Anette Casiano-Negroni, Assistant Professor of Chemistry at Trinity Washington University, co-published an article in the Journal of Chemical Education, titled, “Analysis of Cannabinoids in Lotions Using High Performance Liquor Chromatography”.  The article explores the ties of advertisement and presence of cannabinoids ingredients in topical products. Laboratory test results were achieved by analytical and organic chemistry undergraduate students. Their testing found, “that the average CBD amounts were higher than advertised for all lotions except CBDFx when analyzed using HPLC”. Read full abstract and article. 

We congratulate Dr. Casiano-Negroni for successfully publishing in the American Chemical Society Journal, sponsored by ACS, the largest disciplinary scientific society.

Quiñones, R., Casiano-Negroni, A., Pijor, H., Moreno, S., Suarez, K., Westfall, T. D., Sullins, C., Ivey, S., & Buxó, J. A. (2022). Analysis of cannabinoids in lotions using high-performance liquid chromatography. Journal of Chemical Education, 99(10), 3558–3565. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.2c00214 

Dr. Katherine James Publishes Article in in the Phi Delta Kappa International’s Professional Journal

Dr. Katherine James, adjunct professor in the Master of Science in Education Administration program at Trinity Washington University, published an article in the Phi Delta Kappa Journal, The Kappan, August 29, 2022. The article titled, Let’s Take Another Look at Homework” addresses the importance of homework and the reinforcement and opportunities it provides. Dr. James’ article was written in response to a previously published article  devaluing the purpose of homework.

James, K.A. (2002). Let’s take another look at homework”. Phi Delta Kappan, Vol. 104. No.1, pp. 66-67

Adjunct Professor Agnes Conaty Joins NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center

Dr. Agnes Conaty, PhD, Math adjunct faculty at Trinity Washington University, has joined NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center as Senior Research Scientist and part-time Science Lead for the NASA GLOBE Program last June 1, 2022. She analyzes the GLOBE Observer data and does education and public outreach for the Earth Sciences Division at Goddard in Greenbelt, MD. She is a NASA contractor under Science Systems and Applications, Inc. (SSAI).

NASA Day at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival 2022: Our Family’s Perspective – Article by Dr. Agnes Conaty

Adjunct Professor Michele Pascucci Publishes with Editorial Pilegos in Madrid

Michele Pascucci, Spanish adjunct professor at Trinity Washington University, publishes, “Entre México y Asia: imagen y poesía en la obra de José Juan Tablada”. The book was published by Editorial Pliegos in Madrid, Spain. This 500-page monograph in Spanish analyzes the Japanese influences in the ideographic (visual) poetry of early 20th century Mexican author José Juan Tablada.

Biology Adjunct Professor Sunil Pandey Publishes Blog on Microbiology Society

Sunil Pandey, Adjunct professor of biology at Trinity Washington University, College of Arts and Sciences, published a blog titled, ” Has the Increased Use of Hand Sanitizers During the Pandemic Impacted Antimicrobial Resistance” on March 10, 2021. The article was published on Microbiology Society’s website- a membership charity for scientists interested in microbes, their effects and their practical uses

During the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, the importance of hand hygiene has been heavily promoted as vital in controlling the spread of the virus. In this blog, Professor Pandey discusses the indirect effect antimicrobial cleaning products have on other infectious diseases. Read article. 

Mary Hayes, SNDdeN Presents Paper at the Conference on the History of Women Religions

Mary Hayes, SNDdeN, Professor Emerita of History and Archivist at Trinity Washington University, presented a paper at the Conference on the History of Women Religious held at the University of Notre Dame, South Bend, Indiana, June 26-June 29.

The title of the paper, presented on June 28, is “Retrieving the Past : The Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur Confront Racism within the Congregation.

Provost Carlota Ocampo Delivers Lecture on Racist Incident Based Trauma at Fairfield University

Provost Carlota Ocampo delivered a lecture entitled “Hidden in Plain Sight:  Acknowledging and Addressing the Impacts of Racist Incident Based Trauma” at Fairfield University in Connecticut on March 30, 2022.  Under the auspices of the university’s Annual Magic Core Lecture and the Women, Gender & Sexuality Studies program, the lecture addressed the exclusionary history of trauma diagnosis along with recent research on the impacts of multigenerational and historical trauma in communities that experience systemic racism.  Using an interdisciplinary lens, the lecture also discussed ways all can combat systemic racism and support resiliency and thriving in individuals and communities impacted by racist policies, attitudes and behaviors in America and beyond.