Kudos November 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.
A warm welcome to employees who arrived at Tufts last month!
AS&E Shared: Alyssa Zahoruiko, Asst Director Student Life, Dean Of Student Life AS&E
AS&E Shared: Molly Peters, Senior Library Assistant, Tisch Library
Arts and Sciences: Richard Stillman, Music Private Lesson Instruct, Music - A&S
Arts and Sciences: Mary Rupert, Music Private Lesson Instruct, Music - A&S
Arts and Sciences: Qingfeng Wang, Postdoctoral Scholar, Physics & Astronomy - A&S
Arts and Sciences: Jake Mandel, Staff Assistant, Physics & Astronomy - A&S
Arts and Sciences: Sadia Alam Shammi, Postdoctoral Scholar, Urban & Enviro Policy & Plan
Arts and Sciences: Shubham Singh, Postdoctoral Scholar, Urban & Enviro Policy & Plan
Central Administration: Derek Smallwood, Asst Dir Intl Hlth & Safety, Controller
Central Administration: William Murphy, VP Human Resources, Human Resources
Central Administration: Sareena Wassmer, OHS Nurse Practitioner, Occupational Health
Central Administration: Joeben Dondyk, CSR Financial Services Ops, Tufts Support Services
Central Administration: Giovanna Bortolamedi, Executive Assistant to the VP, VP Finance
Cummings: Zachary Paige, Client Relations Assistant, Amb Med & Theriogenology
Dental: Emma Rosier, Central Sterilization Asst, Clinic Materials-Dental
Dental: Anna Ilina, Central Sterilization Asst, Clinic Materials-Dental
Dental: Gary Peterson, Assistant Professor, Comprehensive Care
Dental: Agustina Rodriguez, Sr Research Technician, Diagnostic Sciences-Oral Med
Dental: Paul Wilson, Clinical Instructor, Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery
Dental: Matthew Sievers, Student Records Coord, Student Services - Dental
Dining: Celina Damoura, Dining Service Attendant, Carmichael Dining Hall
Dining: Rosmeri Mendez, Dining Service Attendant, Dewick Dining
Dining: Owen Gilbert, Second Cook, Dewick Dining
Engineering: Justine Fragetta, Sr Research Coordinator, CABCS
Engineering: Julia Hellman, Sr Research Coordinator, CABCS
Engineering: Natkrittaya Saengsawang, Postdoctoral Scholar, Electrical & Computer Engineer
Engineering: Peter Om, Program Coordinator, Gordon Institute
Fletcher: Leticia Romney, Asst Director Empl Relations, Student Services-Fletcher
Friedman: Elena Kalodner-Martin, Adjunct Lecturer, Instruction
HNRCA: Emilie Buisson, Data Management Specialist, Biostats & Data Mgmt Core
HNRCA: Kristine Rego, Staff Nurse, Metabolic Research Unit-HNRC
HNRCA: Hsin-Yu Fang, Research Tech, Nutrition & Cancer Lab-HNRC
Medical: Hana Bahou, Grant & Program Administrator, Ctr for Study of Drug Dev.
Medical: Robin Galley, Visiting Clinical Assoc Prof, DPT Boston Program
Medical: Wayne Bonkowski, Lab Instructor, DPT Lab Instructors
Medical: Sutiluck Boonsrisart, Lab Instructor, DPT Lab Instructors
Medical: William Fabian, Lab Instructor, DPT Lab Instructors
Medical: Jaisie Stevens, Lab Instructor, DPT Lab Instructors
Medical: Ashley Coleman, Asst Dir Financial Aid, Financial Aid - Medical
Medical: Peter Quinn, Dir Student Affairs, Graduate Student Services
Medical: Theoni Katsiris, Research Administrator II, Microbiology-Basic Sci/Medical
Medical: Andrew Medeiros, Instructor, Public Health & Community Med
Medical: Kellie Sartoris, Assoc Registrar Student Data, Student Affairs - Medical
Operations: Aguinaldo Montrond, Maintenance Worker 1, Facilities Services - Boston
Operations: Bruce Dixon, Campus Energy Manager, Office of VP Operations
Operations: Nancy Quinn, Senior Campus Planner, VP Operations Administration
Provost: Gisselle Grijalva, Preclinical Svcs Technologist, CMS
Provost: Kender Poore, Laboratory Manager, Office of the Vice Provost
Provost: Zaira Medina-Rodriguez, Pre-Award Research Admin I, Office of the Vice Provost
SMFA at Tufts: Yvonne Coker, Instructor, SMFA
SMFA at Tufts: Virginia Casey, Assoc Dir Admissions, SMFA at Tufts
Tufts Technology Services: Bowen Fan, Research Data Management Spec, Tufts Technology Services
Tufts Technology Services: Thomas Kelling, Senior Data Analyst, Tufts Technology Services
University Relations: Aaron Braddock, Administrative Coordinator, Univ Rel - Community Relations
Tiffany Bairos, assistant professor of comprehensive care at the School of Dental Medicine, was elected vice president of the Massachusetts Dental Hygienists Association.
Yingjie Lao, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at the School of Engineering, received the 2023 Best Associate Editor Award from the IEEE Transactions on Very Large Scale Integration Systems (VLSI) journal, presented by the IEEE Circuits and Systems Society.
Eric Miller, professor of electrical and computer engineering, Matthew Panzer, professor in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering and dean of research for the School of Engineering, Sameer Sonkusale, professor of electrical and computer engineering, and José Ordovás and Kyla Shea, both scientists at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy and the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts, received $1.7 million dollar funding from the National Institutes of Health National Institute on Aging to develop a low-cost, user-friendly system capable of providing information to help detect cognitive decline in individuals. Read more about the funding and ongoing project on the School of Engineering’s website.
Erika Werner, Louis E. Phaneuf Research and Teaching Professor of Gynecology and chair of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Tufts Medical Center, has been appointed president of the Tufts Medical Center Physicians Organization. A national expert in maternal health, Werner has been interim president since April.
Qiaobing Xu, professor of biomedical engineering, and Michael Hughes, Ann W. Lambertus and Peter Lambertus Assistant Professor of Computer Science, were recognized with the 2024 Bright Light and Sunrise Awards, respectively. Tufts University’s Engineering Faculty Research Awards Committee recognizes School of Engineering faculty members who have achieved outstanding scholarship. Every year, one junior faculty member is presented with the Sunrise Award, and every two years, one faculty member receives the Bright Light Award. Additionally, Xu was recently named co-editor-in-chief of WIRES: Nanomedicine and Nanobiotechnology.
The Tufts Springboard Research and Scholarship winners, announced by the Office of the Vice Provost for Research, can be found on the OVPR’s website.
Tufts University researchers have received a $20.7 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to try to answer some of the most vexing questions around chronic Lyme disease. The collaborative team will lead the largest NIH-funded prospective study to date, following patients from their earliest diagnosis of Lyme disease to better identify why some people go on to develop debilitating symptoms. The research team is led by Linden Hu, an infectious disease specialist and the Paul and Elaine Chervinsky Professor in Immunology at Tufts University School of Medicine, who is an internationally recognized leader in the field of Lyme research.
Qais Assali, professor of the practice at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, had work showcased in Conspicuous Whorl, a group exhibition featuring Palestinian artists at LVL3 Gallery in Chicago. Assali also presented a solo exhibition titled Die magischen Hände: HOW TO MAKE (UN/NON/A)POLITICAL WORK? at Shoe Bones Gallery in Salem, Massachusetts, which will be on view until November 16.
James Bohnhoff, clinical assistant professor, coauthored “Pediatric subspecialty outreach clinics: reach and impact on access to care,” published in the journal BMC Pediatrics. Bohnhoff was also quoted in an article about the findings of this research in Healio.
Jack Burton, E26, created a tool to help consumers find the cheapest Dunkin' prices. He was featured in a Boston Globe article.
Jocelyn Chang, student at the School of Medicine, coauthored new research titled “Upper Gastrointestinal Mucosal Damage and Subsequent Risk of Parkinson Disease” in the journal Gastroenterology and Hepatology. HealthDay also wrote an article about Chang’s research.
Bhaskar Chakravorti, dean of global business at The Fletcher School, was quoted in the Built In article “What Would a Harris Presidency Mean for AI Regulation?”
Erin Coughlan de Perez, research director and Dignitas Professor at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, and colleagues authored a study titled “Detectable use of ENSO information on crop production in Southern Africa” in the journal Climate Services. Read more about the research on the Friedman School’s website.
Tom Dannenbaum, associate professor of international law at The Fletcher School, wrote the D+C article “How ICC is relevant in civil war in Sudan’s Darfur region.” Dannenbaum wrote that the International Criminal Court deserves global support to take action in the Sudanese conflict.
Alnoor Ebrahim, professor of management at The Fletcher School, spoke with Bloomberg Technology about corporate evolution at OpenAI.
Maya Erdelyi-Perez, lecturer in animation at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, will premiere her film Anyuka at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, on November 10, from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m., followed by a reception at SMFA at Tufts. The screening, held in the Remis Auditorium, is part of the 2024 Boston Jewish Film Festival. Additionally, Anyuka was featured at the 2024 Santa Fe International Film Festival at the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture in Santa Fe, New Mexico, in October.
Ryan Evans, principal service designer in Tufts Technology Services, and Colin Gerrity, design strategist working with the Office of Institutional Inclusive Excellence, led an invited interactive session for the University of Virginia’s Organizational Excellence Initiative titled “Facilitating Innovation: Practical Design Thinking Techniques for University Teams.”
Laura Gee, associate professor of economics, was featured in the “scholar spotlight” series by the Minneapolis Fed.
Eitan Hersh, professor of political science, authored a new study that shows increasing identification with Jewish roots and unease on college campuses across the country. Read more about the study on Tufts Now.
Justin Hollander, professor of urban and environmental policy and planning, was interviewed and his research was cited in the national magazine Outside in the article “Can Car-free Living Make You Happier?” The article describes Culdesac, Arizona, the first car-free city built from scratch, and references Hollander’s research using biometrics, which demonstrate that the benefits of car-free cities are real and measurable.
Evan Horowitz, director of the Center for State Policy Analysis (cSPA), comments throughout this Boston Globe article on the center’s report examining Massachusetts Ballot Question 1, which would allow the state auditor oversight over the state legislature. The report is also referenced in the Daily Hampshire Gazette and on Yahoo.com.
Maulik Jagnani, assistant professor of environmental economics at The Fletcher School, coauthored the VoxDev article “Dual misbeliefs and technology adoption: Evidence from air purifiers in Bangladesh.”
Shafiqul Islam, professor of civil and environmental engineering, shared his insights at two different conferences. The first aligned with Islam’s work in water diplomacy in the South Asian region. Held at Yale University, The Monsoon Revolution in Bangladesh conference brought together experts from around the globe to discuss recent developments in Bangladesh. Islam participated in the section about Cross-Border Relations and Water Diplomacy. Islam also participated in a roundtable conversation about the role of faith and climate change in research at a conference at Boston University. His session focused on faith, climate, and science. An interdisciplinary, multifaith group including Islam, a researcher at the University of Delaware, a provisional deacon in the United Methodist Church, the co-director on the Yale Forum on Religion and Ecology, and an assistant professor of world religions and intercultural studies at the United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities, came together for a conversation on faith and climate change.
Kei Kawashima-Ginsberg, senior director of Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE), discussed unaffiliated youth voter data in the Washington Examiner.
Jennie Jieun Lee, professor of the practice at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts, is represented with Nicelle Beauchene Gallery in New York City.
Michael Levin, Vannevar Bush Professor of Biology, has launched a new blog. Forms of Life, Forms of Mind weaves Levin’s thoughts on the science and philosophy of embodied minds; the lives that can be; and the more personal, broader complements of his laboratory research on the biophysical mechanisms of embodied intelligence.
Marco Lo Presti, research assistant professor, and Fiorenzo Omenetto, Frank C. Doble Professor, both in the Department of Biomedical Engineering, and colleagues from other institutions published “Dynamic Adhesive Fibers for Remote Capturing of Objects” in Advanced Functional Materials. Read more about the research on Tufts Now.
Pavel Luzin, visiting scholar at The Fletcher School, spoke to France24.com about Russia’s escalating nuclear rhetoric.
Dyan Mazurana, research professor, and Sima Samar, visiting scholar, both at The Fletcher School, coauthored a piece for The Conversation titled “How the Taliban’s new ‘vice and virtue’ law erases women by justifying violence against them.”
Alberto Medina, senior communications specialist at the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) at Tufts, spoke with Delaware Public Media about youth civic engagement and ways to get young people involved in politics. Medina also discussed recent trends of increased youth political involvement with Gothamist.
Chris Miller, professor of international history at The Fletcher School, joined NPR Weekend Edition to discuss Kamala Harris’ and Donald Trump’s comments about semiconductor policy at the September presidential candidate debate. Miller also authored the Financial Times article “Exploding pagers and spy chips: the rising risk of hardware tampering.”
Travis Moore, postdoctoral scholar at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, and Christina Economos, dean of the Friedman School, was a co-author on the study, published the paper “Determinants and facilitators of community coalition diffusion of prevention efforts” in PLOS Complex Systems. Read more about the research on Tufts Now.
Kelsey Murphy, V27, presented her work around analyzing biomarkers in RNA for early signs of canine osteosarcoma, which she completed during Cummings School’s Student Summer Research Training Program, at the National Veterinary Scholars Symposium.
Ken Pucker, professor of the practice at The Fletcher School, is quoted in a Vogue Business article.
Brian Schaffner, Newhouse Professor of Civic Studies, comments on the imprecise nature of polling in a New York Times article.
John Shattuck, professor of the practice in diplomacy at The Fletcher School, was interviewed for The Middle with Jeremy Hobson podcast episode “2024 Election: What is the value of NATO to the United States?”
Kelly Sims Gallagher, dean of The Fletcher School, is quoted in the New York Times article “The World Is a Mess. That Makes the Climate Crisis Harder to Solve.”
Sara Suzuki, senior researcher at Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE), commented on young people becoming political candidates and the issues that motivate youth voters in The 74.
Sam Telford, professor and director of New England Regional Biosafety Laboratory at Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine, explained in a CBS News article why an EEE vaccine hasn’t been made available to the general public. EEE is a rare but serious disease transmitted by infected mosquitoes that can cause brain damage and death.
Monica Duffy Toft, academic dean at The Fletcher School, authored Civil Wars: A Very Short Introduction, a new book that explores current debates on civil wars and how the reasons for fighting are changing. The book is also available on Audible.
Joel Trachtman, professor at The Fletcher School, delivered the keynote address at a special conference of Asian and African World Trade Organization Chairs, held in New Delhi, India, in September.
Mikhail Troitski, visiting professor at The Fletcher School, authored The National Interest article “Russia’s Military After the Ukraine War: Enter the Gray Zone?”
Josephine Wolff, associate professor of cybersecurity policy at The Fletcher School, was quoted in the Business Insider article “Companies without cyber insurance could be making a costly mistake.” In addition, Wolff won the 2024 Kulp-Wright Book Award from American Risk and Insurance Association for her book Cyberinsurance Policy: Rethinking Risk in an Age of Ransomware, Computer Fraud, Data Breaches, and Cyberattacks.
Chantal Zakari, professor of the practice at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, curated an exhibition at Arts Collaborative Medford about Design • Book • Art, which features 17 students and alumni from SMFA. The book was reviewed in Cambridge Day.
Researchers at Tufts University School of Medicine and the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences have identified a small molecule that, in mouse and human cell models, rectifies the underlying molecular cause of a rare genetic developmental disorder linked with motor and intellectual disabilities and some types of autism spectrum disorder. Their most recent research, published in EMBO Molecular Medicine, provides the first evidence that an efficacious drug treatment can be developed for this disorder, called CTNNB1 syndrome, potentially mitigating and reversing the cognitive and motor problems it causes, which can require lifelong assistance and care. Read more about the research the Tufts Solutions website.