Kudos June 2025
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.
Pilar Alcaide, assistant dean of faculty development and Kenneth and JoAnn G. Wellner Professor of Immunology, was named a recipient of the 2025 American Society for Investigative Pathology Outstanding Investigator Award.
Ndidiamaka Amutah-Onukagha, assistant dean for diversity and inclusion and Julia A. Okoro Professor of Black Maternal Health Public Health and Community Medicine, was named one of the City of Boston’s 2025 EXTRAordinary Women.
Amy Gantt, director of research development in the Office of the Vice Provost for Research, was elected vice president/president elect of the National Organization of Research Development Professionals (NORDP). With more than 1,000 members across the United States and internationally, NORDP provides opportunities for professional development and knowledge creation to advance the field of research development and to support scientific and scholarly impact across diverse institutions. As an executive officer, Gantt will work to continue NORDP’s goals to serve the research development community and to lead the organization through the challenges of the current federal funding landscape.
Mala Ghosh, associate dean and senior director of Tufts Global Education, received a 2024 Excellence in Diversity & Inclusion in International Education award in the Executive Leader category from Diversity Abroad. Each year, Diversity Abroad celebrates outstanding institutions, organizations, individuals, and students who exemplify the vision and ideals of Diversity Abroad to support diversity and inclusive excellence in global education.
Douglas Gollin, Jason P. and Chloe Epstein Professor of Economics, has been appointed research associate to the National Bureau of Economic Research Development Economics Program. The Development Economics Program studies the forces that contribute to economic development, particularly in less developed nations.
Matthew Gudgeon, assistant professor of economics, was appointed faculty research fellow to the National Bureau of Economic Research Labor Studies Program. The Labor Studies Program explores issues related to employment and compensation, including the supply of and demand for labor, human capital, and the determinants and consequences of unemployment.
Raissa Li, a fourth-year M.D. student at the School of Medicine, received the 2024 Rosalind Franklin Society Award in Science for her first-author publication in the journal Videoscopy. Her research paper, “Concomitant Repair of an H-Type Tracheoesophageal Fistula and a Vascular Ring in an Infant with Tetralogy of Fallot,” presents a rare and complex pediatric surgery case involving the simultaneous repair of multiple congenital anomalies. The Rosalind Franklin Society Award in Science, presented in partnership with Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., recognizes outstanding peer-reviewed papers authored by women and members of underrepresented groups across the publisher’s portfolio of more than 100 scientific and medical journals. Awardees are selected for the significance and quality of their work and are featured in the society’s annual anthology, published each July to mark Rosalind Franklin’s birthday. Read more about this recognition on the School of Medicine website.
Heather Nathans, professor of theatre, dance, and performance studies, received the Loewenstein-Wiener Fellowship from the American Jewish Archives to support her current research and book project.
Daniel Promislow, senior scientist at the Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging, was nominated and elected as one of the top Geroscience candidates to join the Academy for Health and Lifespan Research (AHLR) this year. The AHLR is comprised of an elite group of world-renowned researchers, scientists, and clinicians who are all united around making breakthroughs in longevity both accelerated and accessible.
Caleb Scoville, assistant professor of sociology, won a prestigious Andrew Carnegie fellowship for his research to delve deeply into the connection between environmentalism and partisan politics in the United States, titled “Divided by Nature: How Environmental Politics Became Partisan and What to Do About It in a Warming World.” Read more about Scoville’s work on Tufts Now.
Charlie Sykes, John Wade Professor of Chemistry, was selected to deliver the 2025–26 Bernstein Lectures at UW–Madison. The Bernstein Lectures at UW–Madison honor the legacy of Professor Richard B. Bernstein, a pioneer in physical chemistry. This prestigious lecture series features distinguished physical chemists who have made outstanding contributions to the field.
Farshid Vahedifard, professor and Louis Berger Chair in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, was featured on the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) 2025 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure. Published every four years, the report assesses the condition and performance of the nation’s infrastructure. This year’s report marks a historic high, with an overall grade of C, which is the highest average since the report’s inception in 1998. Vahedifard was appointed to ASCE’s Committee on America’s Infrastructure in 2023, which advises on and writes ASCE policy reports, including the Report Card for America’s Infrastructure. Vahedifard has played a key role in shaping two critical sections of the 2025 report Dams and Levees. Both categories showed measurable improvement from the 2021 assessment, each rising from a D to a D+. With research from Vahedifard’s team cited throughout both chapters, the updated grades signal meaningful, if modest, progress in infrastructure sectors historically marked by serious challenges. Read more about Vahedifard’s contributions on the School of Engineering website.
Eleven students received the 2025 Presidential Awards for Civic Life. The award recognizes some of Tufts’ most remarkable graduate and undergraduate students with the university’s highest honor for outstanding civic leadership and service. This year’s awardees are: Kailani Day, A25, anthropology; Biani Ebie, A25, international relations; Sarah Lotsoff, A25, philosophy; Elizabeth Marte, A25, biology; Ayomide Oloyede, A25, international relations; Sristi Panchu, E25, computer science; Lima Halima-Khalil, F25, Ph.D. in international relations; Jada Copeland-Hayes, AG25, Ph.D. in psychology; Adriana Iturbide-Rodriquez, D25, D.M.D.; Melissa Calica, M25, M.D.; and Michael Zarra, M25, M.D.
The following students are the 2025 Tufts University Alumni Association Senior Awards honorees: Louise Bond, A25; Adeline Grimmett, A25; Ashley Lopez, A25; Elizabeth Marte, A25; Charles Mitchell, E25; Nathan Moreno, A25; Oyinkansola Akin-Olugbade, A25; Joel Omolade, A25; Arielle Ortega, A25; Jed Quiaoit, E25; Hailey Swett, A25; and Cathy (Lishan) Yao, A25. These members of the senior class are honored for their academic achievement, campus and community participation, and outstanding leadership.
The following students and faculty received various School of Engineering 2025 Graduate Awards. Avijit Paul, Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Biomedical Engineering, and John McElearney, Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, were each recognized with the School of Engineering Award for Outstanding Academic Scholarship. Eric Hines, professor and Kentaro Tsutsumi Faculty Fellow in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Jack Derby, professor of the practice at Tufts Gordon Institute, were each honored with the Faculty Teaching and Mentoring Award. Pan Menasuta, Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Electrical Engineering, and Grace DePietro, Ph.D. candidate in Offshore Wind Energy Engineering, won the award for Outstanding Graduate Contributor to Engineering Education. Menasuta’s research focuses on molecular beam epitaxy of III-V photonic semiconductors, using the Veeco GEN Xplor system. DePietro’s research focuses on the advancement of marine renewable energy.
The Tufts research community recently contributed to an Association for Accreditation of Human Research Protection Programs Site Visit, which was an important step toward reaccrediting Tufts’ Human Research Protection Program.
Tufts University announced the recipients of this year’s Tufts Distinction Awards and the David J. Kahle Leadership Award. These awards honor the exceptional achievements of Tufts faculty and staff, reflecting the university’s values: leadership, innovation, customer service, integrity, collaboration, respect for diverse perspectives, and support for inclusion. Visit the Distinction Awards webpage to see a full list of awardees.
Tufts University received the 2025 Campus Sustainability Achievement Award from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education for its work on redefining sustainability programming to develop students’ leadership skills in a holistic way that provides them with the tools to deal with the complexity of climate change while preserving their wellness. Read more about Tufts’ climate programs on Tufts Now.
Tufts University was named one of the top 100 U.S. universities granted utility patents—also known as patents for invention—for 2024 by the National Academy of Inventors.
Peter Arsenault, professor at the School of Dental Medicine, shares potential benefits and drawbacks from chewing gum all day in this New York Times article.
Nicole Tichenor Blackstone, associate professor at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, David Kaplan, Stern Family Professor of Engineering, Edward Gordon, research technician in biomedical engineering, and Amin Nikkhah, research assistant professor at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, authored the review “Biomaterials in cellular agriculture and plant-based foods for the future” in Nature Reviews Materials.
Helen Boucher, dean of the School of Medicine, delivered the Women in Medicine and Science lecture at Weill Cornell Medicine’s Diversity Week, where she shared insights on thriving in medicine, through authenticity, resilience, and saying yes to opportunity. Boucher and her talk were spotlighted in an article on Weill Cornell Medicine’s website.
Ria Brodell, lecturer at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University, authored a new book, More Butch Heroes, published by MIT Press.
Sean Cash, associate professor, and Christina Economos, dean, both at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, alongside colleagues from other institutions, co-authored “Front-of-pack labels and young consumers: An experimental investigation of nutrition and sustainability claims in Chile,” that was recently published in the journal Food Quality and Preference. Cash was interviewed for a recent episode of The Leading Voices in Food podcast about this new study on front-of-pack labels and young consumers in Chile.
Bhaskar Chakravorti, dean of global business at The Fletcher School, authored the Harvard Business Review article “How Companies Can Mitigate the Harms of AI-Driven Inequality.”
Michael Cohen, senior fellow at the Center for Strategic Studies at The Fletcher School, authored an MSNBC opinion piece about tariffs and the economy.
Alexandra Collins, assistant professor of community health, was a keynote speaker at the Howard Center Spring Conference, “Perspectives 2025: Confronting Stigma, Cultivating Compassion” in Vermont. Her talk, “Rethinking the continuum of care for people who use drugs: exploring the role of overdose prevention centers” focused specifically on the role of harm reduction approaches, including overdose prevention centers, as critical for supporting people who use drugs.
Erin Coughlan de Perez, research director at the Feinstein International Center at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, Bethany Tietjen, F20, and Jenna Clark, A21, both graduate students at The Fletcher School, as well as Amy Jaffe, a non-resident senior fellow at the Climate Policy Lab, along with colleagues from other institutions, authored “Storylines of Unprecedented Extremes in the Southeast United States” in the American Meteorological Society Journal. Read more about the research on Tufts Now.
Tom Dannenbaum, associate professor of international law at The Fletcher School, commented on the legal classification of the restriction of humanitarian aid in Gaza in a Tagesspiegel article.
Dan Drezner, distinguished professor of international politics at The Fletcher School, discussed the future of American soft power in The World. Additionally, Drezner authored the Reason article “What if the President Tries to Annex Greenland and Canada?”
James Fisher, researcher at the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Study, will have a chapter published soon entitled “The Past’s Haunting of the Present: Musical Memorializations of Patrice Lumumba & Thomas Sankara in West African Popular Culture,” in the upcoming book Musics, Songs, & Imaginaries of West Africa published by Springer International.
Jeffrey Guasto, associate professor of mechanical engineering, Richard Henshaw, former Tufts postdoc, and Michael Stehnach, EG22, were authors along with colleagues from Wake Forest University and other institutions on the study “Metabolites from intact phage-infected Synechococcus chemotactically attract heterotrophic marine bacteria,” published in the journal Nature Microbiology. Wake Forest News also published an article about this research.
David Hernke, assistant clinical professor in the Department of Ambulatory Medicine and Theriogenology and a large animal clinician at Tufts Veterinary Field Service at Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine, talked to Veterinary Information Network News about the potential hazards of bird flu to dairy veterinarians.
Justin Hollander, A96, A25P, professor of urban and environmental policy and planning, and a team of Tufts students were profiled in an article on the nonprofit news website The Worcester Guardian about their work to bring bus rapid transit to the second biggest city in New England. The work of Hollander and the students was also covered by NPR’s GBH radio.
Ayesha Jalal, Mary Richardson Professor at the School of Arts and Sciences and The Fletcher School, spoke to Al Jazeera English about the future of Kashmir in light of the recent ceasefire between India and Pakistan.
Barbara Kates-Gatnick, professor of the practice at The Fletcher School, is quoted in the Wall Street Journal article “A Fading Coal Town Banked on a Wind-Power Boom. Then Came Trump.” In addition, Kates-Garnick is quoted in a Canary Media article about states that are suing to block President Trump’s wind ban.
Hassaan Khan, assistant professor of urban and environmental policy planning, was quoted in multiple news outlets on the factors behind India’s suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty with Pakistan and what the implications are for Pakistan. These news outlets include Dawn News TV, WGBH’s The World, Al Jazeera, and the BBC. Khan also wrote a front-page op-ed on the suspension of the treaty for the Dawn e-paper.
Valencia Koomson, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering, Joel Dungan, recent electrical and computer engineering Ph.D. graduate, Juantia Matthews, staff scientist in the Department of Biology, and Michael Levin, Vannevar Bush Professor in the Department of Biology, authored “A microfluidic sucrose gap device for electrical measurement of gap junction connectivity featured,” in Review of Scientific Instruments. The article was also featured on the cover of the journal. Read more about this work on the School of Engineering website.
Andres Ardisson Korat, a scientist at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging (HNRCA) at Tufts, researchers from the HNRCA and the School of Medicine, along with colleagues from other institutions, authored “Dietary Carbohydrate Intake, Carbohydrate Quality, and Healthy Aging in Women” in JAMA Network Open. Read more about the research on Tufts Now.
Jennie Jieun Lee, professor of the practice at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University, was in the group exhibition Shadow’s Mirror at Snow Gallery in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.
Timothy Hyunsoo Lee, lecturer at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University, had work included in a group exhibition on view at the Governor Maura Healy’s executive office suite in the Massachusetts State House during Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.
Pavel Luzin, visiting scholar at The Fletcher School, is quoted in the DW article “Between propaganda and reality: Russians in Kursk speak up.”
Jamie Maguire, Kenneth and JoAnn G Wellner Professor Neuroscience at the School of Medicine, explained in Scientific American a new study that reveals a potential biomarker for postpartum depression and offers insights about the underlying neurobiology.
Lily Mengesha, assistant professor of theatre, dance, and performance studies, authored the book Critical Dreaming: Feminist Performances across the Indigenous Americas, which was recently published by NYU Press.
Chris Miller, professor at The Fletcher School, was quoted in the NPR article “Trump administration backs off Nvidia’s ‘H20’ chip crackdown after Mar-a-Lago dinner” and in Financial Times articles “Tariffs ignore the reality of global tech supply chains” and “What would a U.S. tariff on chips look like?” Miller was also interviewed for the CNBC Squawk Box segment “Chris Miller: The Trump admin. believes tariff threats have led to more chip investments in the U.S.”
Chidi Odinkalu, professor of the practice of international human rights law at The Fletcher School, was quoted in Barron’s about the recent surge of violence in Nigeria’s Plateau state. Additionally, Odinkalu was quoted in an AP article about Africa’s youngest leader.
Athena Papas, Dr. Erling Johansen, D49, Endowed Professor in Dental Research, Diagnosis and Health Promo-Dental at the School of Dental Medicine, authored an article titled “Safety and Efficacy of Ianalumab in Patients With Sjögren's Disease: 52-Week Results From a Randomized, Placebo?Controlled, Phase 2b Dose-Ranging Study,” which was published in Arthritis & Rheumatology.
Greses Pérez, McDonnell Family Assistant Professor of Engineering Education, alongside colleagues from other institutions, authored the article “How Representation Matters: Conceptualizing Systemic Racism to Develop Diversity Research Agendas for Undergraduate STEM Education” in the journal Educational Psychology Review.
Marieke Rosenbaum, assistant professor in the Department of Infectious Disease and Global Health at Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine, along with co-authors from Tufts, Northern Arizona University, the U. S. Department of Agriculture, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, authored the paper “Host population dynamics influence Leptospira spp. transmission patterns among Rattus norvegicus in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.” in the journal PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases. Read more about the study on Tufts Now.
Patrick Schena, Barton L. Rachlin, E59, A85P Professor at The Fletcher School and the School of Arts and Sciences, discussed the challenges and opportunities facing President Trump’s proposed sovereign wealth fund in a fDi Intelligence article.
Deborah Schildkraut, John Richard Skuse, Class of 1941, Professor of Political Science, authored an essay in the Los Angeles Times titled “Which defines you best—your state and its symbols or your political party?”
Cathy Stanton, distinguished senior lecturer of anthropology, authored the CommonWealth Beacon op-ed “Why we can’t think straight about the price of eggs.”
Monica Duffy Toft, professor of international politics at The Fletcher School, was quoted in the France24 article “Trump carves up world and international order with it” and the Responsible Statecraft article “Symposium: Was the Vietnam War a mistake or fatal flaw in the system?”
Malcolm Turvey, Sol Gittleman Professor in the Department of the History of Art and Architecture, authored a book titled Film, Art, and the Limits of Science: In Defence of Humanistic Explanation. Turvey will be giving a keynote address about it at a forthcoming conference on the Arts and Humanities in Rijeka, Croatia.
Rob White, associate professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, directed the development of a sonic anemometer that recently began its journey to circumnavigate the globe. Mechanical engineering undergraduate Elias Bilal, E26, built a tracking website and developed backend code to receive and display the live balloon data. White’s group will collaborate with atmospheric scientists to process the data they receive.
Abiodun Williams, professor of the practice of international politics at the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life, discussed Kofi Annan’s role in implementing Responsibility to Protect in an Expert Voices on Atrocity Prevention podcast episode.
Iris Jaffe, executive director of the Molecular Cardiology Research Institute at Tufts Medicine and Elisa Kent Mendelsohn Professor of Molecular Cardiology at Tufts University School of Medicine, has been named the inaugural director of the Tufts University–Tufts Medicine Research Enterprise, a transformative leadership role dedicated to shaping the future of research across Tufts.
Callan Moody was promoted to program director of the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute.