Kudos April 2024
Celebrating Tufts Faculty and Staff
Kudos is a monthly submissions-based roundup celebrating university faculty and staff—awards, honors, thought leadership, new arrivals, and more. Share your own great news or recognize a colleague at go.tufts.edu/kudos.
Ayse Asatekin, associate professor and Steve and Kristen Remondi Fellow at the School of Engineering, was named number 79 of the top 100 Turkish women with most patent applications worldwide by the online platform International Property Rights Explorer. Read more on the School of Engineering’s website.
Alexandra Barancikova, A26, Deniz Karabakal, AG24, Derrick Seegars, AG25, Gabriel Mogollon, E25, Hugo Rengifo, AG25, and Prajna Cauvery Kotera Pooviah, AG24, all students in urban and environmental policy and planning, are advancing an equitable and clean energy future in Massachusetts with the app Grant Glider. The app was created as part of a Department of Energy competition, the TOP University Sprint, in which university teams from across the country were challenged to improve access to electrical power to meet the growing need for climate resilience. Recognizing the pivotal role of funding in advancing community electrification initiatives, the Tufts team opted to streamline the oft-daunting grant application process. Justin Hollander, A96, professor of urban and environmental policy and planning, says he has faith in the future of GrantGlider, as do the Tufts students, who enthusiastically pitched their product as “a vision of empowered communities shaping their energy destiny. As electrification advances across the state, it’s important no communities are left behind,” Hollander said. “The DOE was very impressed with the GrantGlider product, and I am hopeful that it will garner some attention from DOE or industry partners in the weeks to come.” The team’s participation was supported by Abani Patra, director of the Data Intensive Studies Center and Stern Family Professor, the Office of the Vice Provost for Education, and the School of Arts and Sciences.
Ajay Bhalla, senior fellow at The Fletcher School’s Council on Emerging Market Enterprises, was named by Arabian Business as one of the top 50 Indians working in the United Arab Emirates.
Olivia Calkins, E24, has been awarded a $1,000 Cocovibe Grant from Cocovibe Electrolyte Drinks. This grant will support the Tufts Alternative Protein Project and its initiative the Food 4 Thought Festival. Food 4 Thought will be a first-of-its-kind food festival bringing together students from global universities to envision the future of food. It is 100% student-run and will take place at Harvard University April 12 to 14.
Anjuli Fahlberg, assistant professor of sociology, had her book Activism Under Fire: The Politics of Non-Violence in Rio de Janeiro’s Gang Territories selected as one of two co-winners of the Roberto Reis Book Prize of the Brazilian Studies Association in the First Book category.
Kerri Greenidge, associate professor in the Department of Studies in Race, Colonialism, and Diaspora, has been selected to be part of a Boston Reparations Task Force team studying the history and legacy of slavery in Boston. The research teams will produce a comprehensive report documenting Boston’s role in and ties to the transatlantic slave trade and the institution of slavery, building the foundation for the task force’s recommendations on local reparations.
Joshua Kritzer, professor of chemistry at the School of Arts and Sciences, Cheryl London, Anne Engen and Dusty Professor in Comparative Oncology and associate dean for research and graduate education at Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine, Charlie Mace, associate professor of chemistry at the School of Arts and Sciences, Mohan Thanikachalam, research assistant professor in the Department of Public Health and Community Medicine at the School of Medicine, Qiaobing Xu, professor of biomedical engineering and chemical and biological engineering at the School of Engineering, and Pamela Yelick, professor of orthodontics and director of the Division of Craniofacial and Molecular Genetics at the School of Dental Medicine, were named to the 2024 class of senior members of the National Academy of Inventors. Read more on Tufts Now.
Dominique Michaud, professor at the School of Medicine, and colleagues received a $2.5 million four-year grant from the National Institutes of Health to develop a test to predict lung cancer risk more accurately and reduce the number of scans needed to detect the condition. Read more on Tufts Now.
Ng'endo Mukii, professor of the practice at the School of Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University, won an Annie award in the Best TV/Media – Limited Series category for her episode, Enkai, in the Disney+ anthology series Kizazi Moto: Generation Fire.
Katelin Murphy, histotechnologist at Cummings Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory’s Histology Lab, earned an honorable mention in an annual scientific imaging contest sponsored by Evident Life Sciences. Murphy’s image of a red-backed salamander skull was one of just 15 to receive recognition among 640 images. Her dorsal view of the red-backed salamander skull was stained with Movat’s pentachrome technique.
Max Nusbaum, A26, placed 12th overall and was the top American in the M 19–20 2,000 meter event at the 2024 World Rowing Indoor Championships held in Prague.
Courtney Sato, assistant professor in the Department of Studies in Race, Colonialism, and Diaspora, was awarded a National Endowment for the Humanities fellowship. The fellowship will support the research and writing of Sato’s first book, Pacific Internationalisms: Asian American Mobility, Gender, and Empire in the Interwar Period.
Matthew Seliger, A27, a first-year violinist and composition student, was recently accepted to the International Masterclasses Avenir Foundation through the Arnold Schönberg Center in Vienna, Austria. Seliger will travel to Vienna in June where he and other students and professional musicians will study the works of Arnold Schönberg with internationally renowned experts and perform at the Arnold Schönberg Center in Vienna. Joseph Auner, professor of music, and John McDonald, professor of music, supported Seliger in his application.
Chris Swan, professor and dean of undergraduate education at the School of Engineering, was recently named an Outstanding Link Coordinator by the Order of Engineers. Each year, only four coordinators are selected for this distinction.
Patrick Webb, Alexander McFarlane Professor of Nutrition at the Friedman School, was appointed chief nutritionist at the United States Agency of International Development.
John Wong, professor of medicine at the School of Medicine, was appointed vice chair of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, a panel of experts dedicated to evidence-based recommendations in preventive medicine.
The Food is Medicine Institute at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy will be included in the White House’s new round of public and private sector commitments to end hunger, improve nutrition, and reduce diet-related disease in the United States by 2030. The first Tufts commitment is the establishment of the Food is Medicine Institute, and the second commitment will be a collaboration between the Food is Medicine Institute and Kaiser Permanente to develop and co-lead a new National Food is Medicine Network of Excellence.
The Social, Behavioral, and Education Research IRB (SBER IRB) team decreased the median review turnaround time for the review of a new study compared to fiscal year 2022 from 33.5 calendar days to 14, representing a reduction of more than 50%. This achievement is attributed to increased staffing of the office, education outreach efforts, improved internal processes, and the SBER IRB team. Members of the SBER IRB team include Paul Hart, analyst III, Amanda O’Brien, analyst I, Christine Pelletier, analyst II, Meghan Pronovost, operations manager, and Linda Spang, analyst II.
Tufts’ substance-free dorms were featured in a WCVB-TV segment. The dorms were made possible by a donation from Hank Azaria, A85, H16. Read more about the dorms on Tufts Now.
Stephanie Borns-Weil, assistant clinical professor at the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine, spoke with the Washington Post for a story about the importance of taking your dog on walks. Borns-Weil noted in the article that taking your pet on walks offers mental stimulation such as seeing and sniffing new things, with the added benefit of direct human interaction.
Cristobal Cea, professor of the practice at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University, was chosen to take part in TONO Festival 24, loosely guided by the theme of metamorphosis. Presented in partnership with the Perez Art Museum, this year’s festival explored moments of transformation and regeneration.
Michelle Ceresia, adjunct associate professor at Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine, was featured in a recent issue of the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences President’s Newsletter. The piece focused on the veterinary pharmacy rotation that Ceresia leads at Cummings School. She also teaches a large animal rotation.
Bhaskar Chakravorti, dean of global business at The Fletcher School, was quoted in The Exchange article “How AI-powered innovation is reshaping agriculture for smallholder farmers” and the Marketplace article “What would be the point of a central bank digital currency?” Chakravorti also wrote the Indian Express article “With elections in at least 83 countries, will 2024 be the year of AI freak-out?”
Daniel Chandler, assistant professor of medicine, is quoted in the Huffpost article “What To Do If You Get Sick On A Plane.”
Linfei Chen, N24, student at the Friedman School, Nicola McKeown, adjunct associate professor at the Friedman School, Rebecca Morin, associate director of the Hirsh Health Sciences Library, Nanguneri Nirmala, adjunct assistant professor at Tufts Medical Center, Kara Staffier, affiliate at the Freidman School, Angelica Valdes Valderrama, Ph.D. student at the Friedman School, along with colleagues from other institutions, published a review entitled “Physiologic Effects of Isolated or Synthetic Dietary Fiber in Children: A Scoping Review” in the journal Current Developments in Nutrition, which is a journal of the American Society of Nutrition. An article about the research was published on Newswise.
Michael Cohen, a non-resident senior fellow with the Center for Strategic Studies at The Fletcher School, authored an opinion piece entitled “My eldest daughter was born through IVF. Here’s what ‘pro-life’ conservatives don’t understand” for MSNBC.
Andrew Day, Ph.D. student at the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, was featured in a Nature article.
Bernadette Dineen, a Ph.D. student at the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences studying astrobiology, was featured in a Museum of Science video for International Women’s Day.
Chris Dulla, professor and interim chair of neuroscience at the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, discussed the complexities of traumatic brain injury in the AP News article “Maine mass shooter had a brain injury. Experts say that doesn’t explain his violence.”
Adam Gismondi, director of the National Study Of Learning, Voting, And Engagement at Tisch College, is quoted in a CNBC article discussing young voters and their feelings about the political process.
Michael Glennon, professor of constitutional international law at The Fletcher School, was interviewed for the NPR segment “How the Justice Department foils assassination plots in the U.S.”
Tarun Gopalakrishnan, Ph.D. student of international relations at The Fletcher School, co-authored the Scientific American article “Sunlight-Dimming Climate Schemes Need Worldwide Oversight.”
Justin Hollander, A96, professor of urban and environmental policy and planning, spoke to a third-grade classroom in the Josiah Quincy Elementary School in Chinatown, Boston, in February. He shared his research on architecture and urban planning with the students and then discussed their plans for a new city. Hollander was also interviewed about his recent research on Mars for the Irish national talk radio station Newstalk. Read more about the research on Tufts Now.
Evan Horowitz, executive director of the Center for State Policy Analysis at Tisch College, comments on Massachusetts Revenue Department data indicating tax revenue shortfalls in the Commonwealth Beacon. Horowitz is also quoted in a report, published by the Boston Policy Institute, on the possible impacts of a downward trend in Boston commercial property values in the Boston Globe, WBUR, and NBC10.
James Intriligator, professor of the practice of mechanical engineering at the School of Engineering, was interviewed for the Harvard Kenneth C. Griffin Graduate School of Arts and Sciences podcast Colloquy, in an episode entitled “A Glide Path to Getting the Most from ChatGPT.”
Shafiqul Islam, professor of civil and environmental engineering at the School of Engineering and professor of water diplomacy at The Fletcher School, authored research entitled “Synthesis of Scientific and Social Facts: Evolution of a Principled Pragmatic Framework for Decision Making” in the Journal of Environmental Engineering.
Sushrut Jangi, assistant professor of medicine at the School of Medicine, explained what Crohn’s disease pain feels like, why it happens, and what to do about it in a Health Central article.
David Kaplan, Stern Family Endowed Professor of Engineering, is quoted throughout a Knowable Magazine article, which features the work his lab is doing to create biological polymers that can replace traditional plastic that will be safely reabsorbed into the environment after use.
Abby Kiesa, associate director of the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning & Engagement at Tisch College, commented on how much influence a Taylor Swift endorsement might have on young voters in The Hill.
Susan Landeau, Bridge Professor in Cybersecurity and Policy at The Fletcher School and the School of Engineering, co-authored the articles “Building a Cyber Insurance Backstop Is Harder Than It Sounds” and “Challenging the Machine: Contestability in Government AI Systems” in Lawfare.
Jennie Jieun Lee, professor of the practice at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University, had a solo exhibition, Strawberry Nose, at COOPER COLE Gallery in Toronto.
Aaron Love, Ph.D. student in the School of Engineering, and Nik Nair, associate professor in the chemical and biological engineering department, recently published new research in the journal Science Advances entitled “Specific codons control cellular resources and fitness.” The research investigates how specific codons control cellular resources and fitness. Read more about the research on the School of Engineering’s website.
Cathy Lu, professor of the practice at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University, is included in Prospect New Orleans Artist List for Prospect.6: the future is present, the harbinger is home, which will be on view later this year.
Zarin Machanda, an assistant professor of anthropology and biology, and Kris Sabbi, Machanda’s former postdoctoral associate and currently a college fellow in human evolutionary biology at Harvard University, authored “Ecological variation in adult social play reveals a hidden cost of motherhood for wild chimpanzees” in the journal Current Biology. Using 10 years of observational data gathered on wild chimpanzees, the researchers found that while adults often play, and young chimps play a lot, when food gets scarce, the adults put mutual play aside and focus on survival. But in the meantime, mother chimps continue to be their offspring’s primary playmate—suggesting that the mother chimps take on an indispensable role fostering their young’s physical and social development even when they are under food stress. Read more about this research on Tufts Now.
Sola Mahfouz, a researcher in the Tufts quantum computing group, was interviewed for Women’s Day on Daily Blast Live about her book, Defiant Dreams: The Journey of an Afghan Girl Who Risked Everything for an Education.
Alex McAuliff, Ph.D. candidate at The Fletcher School, examined the role that the Northern Ireland Women’s Coalition played in negotiating the Good Friday Agreement in a Talk 4 Peace article.
Eoin McGuirk, assistant professor of economics, and colleagues from other institutions authored “No Kin in the Game: Moral Hazard and War in the U.S. Congress” in the Journal of Political Economy. Read more about the research on Tufts Now.
Chris Miller, associate professor of international history at The Fletcher School, was quoted in the Yahoo article (originally produced by Agence France-Presse) entitled “TSMC diversifies out of hotspot Taiwan with new Japan plant;” in the South China Morning Post article “US-China tech war: second-tier ‘legacy chips’ at forefront of battle for semiconductor supremacy;” and discussed why advances in artificial intelligence will have major consequences for international security for the Sydney Morning Herald article “‘They want this, all of it’: The global tech race you can’t see—and China wants the edge.”
Triton Mobley, professor of the practice at the School of Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University, had a solo exhibition, COLOURED.AESTHETICA., at Chazan Gallery in Providence in March.
Laurel Nakadate, professor of the practice at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University, is included in Praise Shadows’ See and Be Seen II group exhibition on view through April 7.
Miriam O’Leary, associate professor and chair of otolaryngology at the School of Medicine, won the 2024 Barbarajean Magnani Award. Established in 2019, the Magnani Award recognizes a Tufts Medical Center woman physician who exhibits outstanding accomplishments in the advancement of gender parity and leadership of women in science and medicine.
Karen Panetta, dean for graduate education and professor at the School of Engineering, recently shared her expertise with Tech Brew about watermarking to safeguard against increasingly convincing AI deepfakes.
Kenneth Pucker, professor of the practice at The Fletcher School, authored a Harvard Business Review article entitled “The Lingering Cost of Instant Fashion.”
Qi Qi, postdoctoral scholar at The Fletcher School, told Eos that China’s ability to mass produce renewable energy technologies has attracted developing countries into the Belt and Road Initiative.
Malavika Raman, associate professor of developmental, molecular, and chemical biology at the School of Medicine, along with fellow School of Medicine researchers and researchers from other institutions, authored an article in Stem Cell Reports titled “ALS-related p97 R155H mutation disrupts lysophagy in iPSC-derived motor neurons.”
Sima Samar, visiting scholar at The Fletcher School and one of Tufts’ Scholars at Risk, authored a memoir entitled Outspoken: My Fight for Freedom and Human Rights in Afghanistan. Samar also wrote an op-ed for the New York Post entitled “How the U.S. pull-out from Kabul hurt women most.” Read more about Samar’s work and book on Tufts Now.
Tara Sonenshine, Edward R. Murrow Professor of Practice in Public Diplomacy at The Fletcher School, wrote an op-ed for The Hill titled “Russia is watching America’s fight over Ukraine and NATO” and authored a piece in The Conversation entitled “As war in Ukraine enters third year, 3 issues could decide its outcome: Supplies, information and politics.”
Bjorn Steffensen, professor emeritus of periodontology, Yau-Hua Yu, associate professor of periodontology, and colleagues from other institutions authored “Self-reported oral health is associated with systemic health outcomes and all-cause mortality” in the Journal of the American Dental Association. Read more about this research on Tufts Now.
Alice Isabella Sullivan, assistant professor in the History of Art and Architecture Department, co-edited a new book entitled Routledge Handbook of Byzantine Visual Culture in the Danube Regions, 1300–1600, which explores the history, art, and culture of Eastern Europe relative to Byzantium. Sullivan is also working as a senior researcher for the “HER-UKR: Challenges and Opportunities for EU Heritage Diplomacy in Ukraine” project that aims to provide European policymakers with solid expertise on developments in Ukraine’s cultural heritage field as well as that of East-Central Europe more broadly. She is also serving as president of the Society of Historians of East European, Eurasian, and Russian Art and Architecture, which promotes research, provides a forum for ongoing conversations on areas of mutual interest, and fosters contacts and collaboration among scholars of East European, Eurasian, and Russian art and architecture.
Yury Terekhov, visiting scholar at The Fletcher School, speaks out about the death of his mentor, the Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny, in a CBS News Boston article.
Brian Timko, assistant professor of biomedical engineering, alongside Olurotimi Bolonduro, affiliate, Corey Fucetola, research assistant professor, and Justin Wang, A24, all from the Department of Biomedical Engineering, and a colleague from Harvard authored “Single-Crystal Silicon Nanotubes, Hollow Nanocones, and Branched Nanotube Networks” in the journal ACS Nano. Timko also authored “Transparent and conformal microcoil arrays for spatially selective neuronal activation” in the journal Device with co-authors Shelley Fried, adjunct associate professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering, and Vineeth Raghuram, EG21, as well as a colleague from another institution. Read more about this paper on the School of Engineering’s website.
Farshid Vahedifard, professor and Louis Berger Chair in Civil and Environmental Engineering at the School of Engineering, along with colleagues from other institutions, authored “Amplifying feedback loop between drought, soil desiccation cracking, and greenhouse gas emissions” in the journal Environmental Research Letters. Read more about the research on Tufts Now.
Jeremy Weinberger, assistant professor of medicine, is quoted in a Health Central article entitled “Is It Asthma or a Lookalike?”
Laurin Weissinger, visiting scholar in the Department of Computer Science, told NBC News that American travelers may need workarounds to access Tik Tok abroad as Congress considers a TikTok ban.
Abiodun Williams, professor of the practice at Tisch College and The Fletcher School, briefed the United Nations Security Council and provided six recommendations to enhance the council’s conflict prevention role.
Benjamin Wolfe, associate professor of biology, was quoted throughout a Washington Post article entitled “Will brie and Camembert cheeses go extinct? Here’s what scientists say.”
Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning & Engagement (CIRCLE) research entitled “State-by-State Youth Voter Turnout Data and the Impact of Election Laws in 2022” was referenced in an NPR article, “The push to vote ‘uncommitted’ to Biden in Michigan exceeds goal.”