Kudos August 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.
AS&E Shared: Sydney Grant, Operations Coordinator, Office for Campus Life
AS&E Shared: Patrick Quinn, Asst Librarian Res & Instruct, Tisch Library
Advancement: Joseph Walker, Administrative Coordinator, UA-Advancement Operations
Advancement: Nikki Ayres, Assoc Dir Corp & Found Rel, UA-Corporate & Foundation Rel
Advancement: Carmen Dore, Staff Assistant, UA-Medical Dev & Alumni Rel
Arts and Sciences: Tiziana Gallo, Lecturer, Anthropology
Arts and Sciences: Juhee Park, Lecturer, Biology - A&S
Arts and Sciences: Brian Yocis, Instrumentation Specialist, Chemistry - A&S
Arts and Sciences: Rubel Chandra Talukder, Postdoctoral Scholar, Chemistry - A&S
Arts and Sciences: Kelly Fleese, Lecturer, EP Child Study & Human Dev
Arts and Sciences: Stacey Piwinski, Lecturer, Education - A&S
Arts and Sciences: Ryan Thomas, Lecturer, Experimental College
Arts and Sciences: Melissa Hector, Lecturer, Experimental College
Arts and Sciences: Jessica Lander, Lecturer, Experimental College
Arts and Sciences: Milo Todd, Lecturer, Experimental College
Arts and Sciences: Cynthia Perry, Lecturer, Experimental College
Arts and Sciences: Margaret Freeman, Lecturer, Experimental College
Arts and Sciences: Michaila Peters, Lecturer, Experimental College
Arts and Sciences: Rafael Abrahams, Lecturer, Experimental College
Arts and Sciences: Steven Edwards, Lecturer, Experimental College
Arts and Sciences: Juliana Lunde, Lecturer, Experimental College
Arts and Sciences: Iris Feldt, Lecturer, Physics & Astronomy - A&S
Arts and Sciences: Nicholas Anderson, Lecturer, Political Science - A&S
Arts and Sciences: Negin Mohammadmirzaei, Postdoctoral Scholar, Psychology - A&S
Arts and Sciences: Dorothy Wang, Associate Professor, Race, Colonialism & Diaspora
Arts and Sciences: Patricia Sanchez Martin, Lecturer, Romance Studies - A&S
Arts and Sciences: Roan Parrish, Lecturer, Science, Technology & Society
Arts and Sciences: Eric Horvath, Professor of the Practice, Urban & Enviro Policy & Plan
Auxiliary Services: XiHu Arfa, SMFA Art Store Assistant Mgr, Stores
Central Administration: Ralph Eugene, Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner, Health Science Health Services
Central Administration: Julie Thayer, Staff Clinician, Health Science Health Services
Central Administration: Tara Murphy, Benefits Specialist, Human Resources
Central Administration: Alexis Howard, Budget Analyst, Office of Budget & Planning
Central Administration: Erin Brenneman, Sr Budget Analyst, Office of Budget & Planning
Central Administration: Lenia Constantinou, Sr Budget Analyst, Office of Budget & Planning
Central Administration: Pinar Irmaklar, Senior Strategic Sourcing Spec, Procurement
Central Administration: Brett Finch, Strategic Sourcing Manager, Procurement
Central Administration: Reed Swain, Asst Dir Strategic Initatives, University Strategy & Pgrm Dev
Cummings: Simone March, Assistant Clinical Professor, Clinical Sciences-Cummings-Vet
Cummings: Christina Johnson, Client Services Assistant, Foster Hosp - Cummings-Vet
Cummings: Sabrina Richards, Infection Control Technician, Foster Hosp - Cummings-Vet
Cummings: Antonia Van Dam, Veterinary Assistant, Foster Hosp - Cummings-Vet
Cummings: Nailea Salinas, Veterinary Assistant, Foster Hosp - Cummings-Vet
Cummings: Isadora Ferreira, Veterinary Technician I, Foster Hosp - Cummings-Vet
Cummings: Catherine Brady, Veterinary Technician II, Foster Hosp - Cummings-Vet
Cummings: Erica Dwyer, Veterinary Technician II, Foster Hosp - Cummings-Vet
Cummings: Abigail Stymiest, Veterinary Technician I, Large Animal Hosp-Cummings-Vet
Dental: Jenny Dao, Patient Financial Coordinator, Revenue Cycle Operations
Dental: Heeji Hyun, Patient Financial Coordinator, Revenue Cycle Operations
Dining: Josue Zaldivar, Third Cook, Dewick Dining
Engineering: Dongwook Kim, Postdoctoral Scholar, Biomedical Engineering
Engineering: Jingyi Yu, Postdoctoral Scholar, Biomedical Engineering
Engineering: Sergio Salgado Briegas, Postdoctoral Scholar, Biomedical Engineering
Engineering: Niyera Mitchell, Research Tech, Biomedical Engineering
Engineering: Samantha Tracey, Sr Research Coordinator, CABCS
Engineering: Vitaly Yurik, Lecturer, Computer Science
Engineering: Rebecca Curran, Program Coordinator, Computer Science
Engineering: Minh Dat Nguyen, Postdoctoral Scholar, Electrical & Computer Engineer
Engineering: Filip Cuckov, Professor of the Practice, Gordon Institute
Engineering: Haroula Tzamaras, Lecturer, Mechanical Engineering
Fletcher: Wesley Hester, Dir Admin & Finance, Fletcher Sch of Law & Diplomcy
Friedman: Khristopher Nicholas, Assistant Professor, Khristopher Nicholas Research
HNRCA: Andrea O'Neill, Communications Manager, Core/Service Support-HNRC
HNRCA: Stephanie Breton, Staff Nurse, Metabolic Research Unit-HNRC
Medical: Audrey Elias, Assistant Professor, DPT Boston Program
Medical: Becca Brazelton, Lab Instructor, DPT Lab Instructors
Medical: Anna Van Alstyne, Assistant Professor, DPT Phoenix Program
Medical: Paul Salamh, Visiting Assoc Prof, DPT Phoenix Program
Medical: Jesse Rideout, Associate Professor, Educational Affairs - Medical
Medical: Laurence Bailen, Clinical Associate Professor, Educational Affairs - Medical
Medical: Jocoll Burgess, Instructor, Medical Education
Operations: Anthony Richards, HVAC Mechanic, Facilities Services - Grafton
Provost: Muhammad Mustafa Humayun, Assoc Dir Strategic Initiative, Office of the Vice Provost
Provost: Maxim Shabrov, Associate Director Licensing, Office of the Vice Provost
Provost: Gerard Foo, Sr Res Dev Specialist, Office of the Vice Provost
Provost: Sydney Moyer, Communications Manager, Provost's Office
Provost: Henry Reinhart, Research Tech, Provost's Office
Provost: Nora Soto, Digital Archivist, Tufts Archival Research Center
SMFA at Tufts: Haley Mackeil, Lecturer, SMFA
SMFA at Tufts: Sophia Eisner, Lecturer, SMFA
Tisch: Ben Snyder, Lecturer, Tisch College
Tisch: Adele Watkins, Lecturer, Tisch College
Tisch: Velina Batchvarov, Program Manager, Tisch College
Tisch: Nawrin Rahman, Program Manager, Tisch College
Tisch: Leela Strong, Sr Director Circle, Tisch College
Tufts Technology Services: Patricia Stevens, Sr Clinical Systems Analyst, Tufts Technology Services
Tufts Technology Services: Matthew Frost, Sr IT Ops Systems Engineer, Tufts Technology Services
Tufts Technology Services: Hughes Mayo, Sr PACs Administrator, Tufts Technology Services
Tufts Technology Services: Robert Thayer Iii, Systems Analyst, Tufts Technology Services
The inaugural recipients of the Honors Thesis Prize, which was created through the generosity of an anonymous donor, were recently announced. The prize celebrates an exceptional undergraduate thesis from each department within the School of Engineering. Nery A. Matias Calmo, E25, was awarded the prize for the thesis entitled “AI-Based Computer Vision Analysis of Pulmonary Arterial Microvasculature in Interstitial Lung Disease using Endobronchial Optical Coherence Tomography.” David Gillingham, E25, was awarded the prize for the thesis entitled “Realization of Genetic Code Expansion in Display Mediated Cell-Cell Interactions.” Nico Moldovean, E25, was awarded the prize for the thesis entitled “It IS Rocket Science: System-Wide Sounding Rocket Optimization via Requirements Management and Engineering Design in Support of the Tufts SEDS Rocketry Team’s 2025 IREC Entry.” Prithvi Singh Shahani, E25, was awarded the prize for the thesis entitled “Noise Injection Systemically Degrades Large Language Model Safety Guardrails.”
Ira Caspari-Gnann, assistant professor of chemistry, was awarded a grant from the National Science Foundation to support her project entitled “The Impact of Power on Active Learning in Learning Assistant-Supported General and Organic Chemistry Lectures.”
Jamie Chagnon, athletics communications director, and Nick Goldberg, A27, athletics videographer, took first place in the “Long form videos, recaps, and features” category in the College Sports Communicators 2024–25 Creative and Digital Design Contest for their work on the Field Hockey Season Recap Highlight video.
Caroline Hsu, assistant professor at the School of Medicine, was awarded the 2025 Carl W. Gottschalk Research Scholar Grant through KidneyCure. Twenty-three emerging investigators join a cohort of continuing grantees from the most prestigious research institutions in the United States.
Valencia Koomson, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering, won a Massachusetts Life Sciences Center 2025 Health Equity Accelerator grant to support her work in bias-free pulse oximeter devices. Her project aims to improve the quality of health care across all skin tones.
Max Landers, A25, was a finalist for The Oarsman Award from the Intercollegiate Rowing Coaches Association. New this year, The Oarsman Award stands as a tribute to those rare athletes who achieve greatness not only through personal excellence but through a lasting commitment to their team, their sport, and the values that define true champions.
Anna Lubitz, D26, was named the 2025–2026 American Dental Education Association (ADEA) District 1 Commissioner. In this leadership role, Lubitz will represent dental students from five schools across New England—including Tufts—on the ADEA Council of Students, Residents, and Fellows.
Kiame Mahaniah, clinical assistant professor of family medicine at the School of Medicine, was appointed by Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey to serve as the next Secretary of Massachusetts Health and Human Services.
Andy McDonald, Grady Van Orden, and Jacob Welborn, men’s rowing assistant coaches, were recognized by the Intercollegiate Rowing Coaches Association (IRCA) as the Division III National Staff of the Year for the 2025 season. This trio assists head coach George Munger in the operation of a Jumbo men’s rowing squad that was one of the deepest and most successful teams in the nation. This marks the second straight year that Tufts has won IRCA Staff of the Year national honors.
Reuth Mirsky, assistant professor at the School of Engineering, won the Best Paper Award at the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers International Conference on AI and Data Analytics and Technology. The paper is titled “Shared Control with Black Box Agents using Oracle Queries.”
Honorine Ward, professor at the School of Medicine, is a 2025 recipient of the Excellence in Service, Research, and Education (EISRE) Award in Medicine. The EISRE Award acknowledges undergrad and post-grad alumni living in North America who exemplify the mission of the Christian Medical College Vellore.
Tufts University’s American Society of Civil Engineers student chapter earned second place overall at this year’s Northeast Regional American Institute of Steel Construction Student Steel Bridge Competition, hosted at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. The annual event challenges student engineers to design, fabricate, and assemble a scale-model steel bridge, testing their ability to translate classroom learning into real-world engineering. Roughly 200 schools compete in the Steel Bridge competition each year across the country. Teams are judged on construction speed, structural efficiency under load, weight, and aesthetics—all with strict spatial and time constraints. This year, the build team included Lucas Klein, E28, Kaitlin Maloney, E26, Cecilia Sweeney, E26, and Maddy Wood, E28. Team captains were Sweeney, Griffin Davis, E25, and Oakley Winters, E26. Advisors include Masoud Sanayei, professor, Dan Valentine, E95, EG95, Brian Brenner, professor of the practice, and Ryan Marshall, part-time lecturer.
The Tufts University chapter of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI) received the NAI’s 2025 Chapter of Excellence Award. Chapter members are required to be NAI senior members or fellows, have at least one issued U.S. patent through Tufts and at least one active commercialization agreement through Tufts, or have three or more issued U.S. patents through the university. The Tufts chapter currently has 27 members from across multiple schools and is led by Karen Panetta, dean of graduate education for the School of Engineering.
Several members of Tufts’ physics and astronomy department have been recognized by the 2025 Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics for their work on the ATLAS experiment at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider. Read more about the award and awardees on the School of Arts and Sciences website.
The women’s rowing coaching staff earned national honors from the College Rowing Coaches Association (CRCA). Head coach Lily Siddall won the Division III CRCA Coach of the Year award, and assistant coaches Ethan Maines, Kaitlyn Severin, and Emelie Eldracher won the Division III CRCA Staff of the Year award. Additionally, the Jumbo coaches were announced as New England Region Division III Coach and Staff of the Year. Women’s rowing are NCAA champions.
David Augustine, affiliate at the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life, and his course, “The Intersection of Hip Hop and Social Change,” were profiled in a WCVB segment. Read more about the course on Tufts Now.
Andrew Bender, A24, Nikolai Davey, graduate student, Gizem Gumuskaya, AG24, Douglas Hazel, AG24, Michael Levin, Vannevar Bush Professor of Biology, Léo Pio-Lopez, computational biologist and senior scientist in the Allen Discovery Center at Tufts, and Pranjal Srivastava, A98, authored “The Morphological, Behavioral, and Transcriptomic Life Cycle of Anthrobots” in the journal Advanced Science. Read more about this research on Tufts Now.
Marjorie Bercier, assistant professor at Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine, co-authored the study “Reference Intervals for D-Dimer Concentration, Fibrinogen Concentration, and Automated Platelet Count in Juvenile Asian (Elephas maximus) and African (Loxodonta africana) Elephants without Elephant Endotheliotropic Herpes Virus (EEHV),” which was published in the Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine. Read more about the research on the Cummings School website.
Julia Berger, assistant clinical professor, Ashley Pope, veterinary technician, and Mike Santasieri, simulation lab manager, all at Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine, volunteered throughout the Allagash Wilderness at the Can-Am Crown International Sled Dog Races in Fort Kent, Maine this past March.
Viking Bohman, Ph.D. student at The Fletcher School, co-authored a brief on Beijing’s increasing use of western-style sanctions tools.
Leah Costlow, N21, current doctoral student, Shijun Gao, adjunct assistant professor, Elena Martinez, adjunct lecturer, William Masters, professor, Benga Sadik, program officer, and Parke Wilde, professor, all at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, along with Wenhui Feng, Tufts Health Plan Professor of Health Care Policy Research at the School of Medicine, presented at the 2025 Agricultural & Applied Economics Association (AAEA) and Western Agricultural Economics Association Joint Annual Meeting in July. Additionally, Masters was elected to the AAEA Board of Directors for the 2025–2028 term, and LaPorchia Collins, assistant professor at the Friedman School, was elected to the Executive Board of the AAEA’s Food Safety and Nutrition Section as chair-elect.
Alex de Waal, executive director of the World Peace Foundation at The Fletcher School, is quoted in the BBC article “Searching for answers about U.S.-backed aid agency in Gaza” and authored the BBC article “Sudan in danger of self-destructing as conflict and famine reign.”
Shira Doron, professor at the School of Medicine and chief infection control officer at Tufts Medicine, joined part three of Science Quickly's three-part audio documentary on avian influenza.
Dan Drezner, distinguished professor of international politics at The Fletcher School, discussed why zombies make the perfect lens for understanding global relations, pandemics, and government response post-2020 in a recent episode of The Bulwark podcast.
Julian Gilbert, A27, David Kaplan, Stern Family Professor of Engineering, Logan Morton, postdoctoral scholar, Jugal Kishore Sahoo, research assistant professor, Ryan Scheel, postdoctoral scholar, all from the Department of Biomedical Engineering, along with colleagues from other institutions, authored research entitled “Mechanically and Chemically Robust Lanmodulin-Functionalized Silk Sponges for Rare Earth Element Sequestration” in the journal ACS Biomaterials Science & Engineering.
Michael Glennon, professor of constitutional and international law at The Fletcher School, was quoted in the NPR segment “Can a president declare war without consulting Congress? Here’s what to know.” Glennon also authored the Just Security article “The U.S. Attack on Iran Was Unconstitutional.”
Edward Gordon, research technician at the School of Engineering, alongside David Kaplan, Stern Family Professor, co-authored an article exploring the environmental impact of future food systems. The article is entitled “Biomaterials in cellular agriculture and plant-based foods for the future” and was published in Nature Reviews Materials. Read more about the research on the School of Engineering’s website.
Donald Heflin, executive director of the Edward R. Murrow Center and senior fellow of diplomatic practice at The Fletcher School, authored The Conversation article “Ceasefires like the one between Iran and Israel often fail—but an agreement with specific conditions is more likely to hold.”
Anna Herforth, visiting associate professor, William Masters, professor, and Aishwarya Venkat, affiliate, all at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, along with a colleague at The World Bank, authored the study “The Healthy Diet Basket is a valid global standard that highlights lack of access to healthy and sustainable diets,” published in Nature Food. Read more about this study on Tufts Now.
Evan Horowitz, executive director of the Center for State Policy Analysis at the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life, joined WBUR’s Morning Edition to discuss President Trump’s signature domestic policy bill. Horowitz talked about how the bill will impact people locally.
Linden Hu, Paul and Elaine Chervinsky Professor in Immunology at the School of Medicine, was featured in the Science Friday segment “Why Don’t We Have a Vaccine for Lyme Disease?”
Pratik Kanjilal, senior fellow at The Fletcher School, authored The New Indian Express opinion article “Smelling cash in the space race.”
Michael Klein, professor at The Fletcher School, co-authored the MarketWatch opinion article “Why the plunging U.S. dollar is putting your spending and savings power at risk.” Klein also co-authored an EconoFact memo that was mentioned in a New York Times opinion piece on the impacts of President Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill.”
Susan Landau, professor in cybersecurity and policy, authored the Lawfare article “The FBI’s Dangerous Failure to Adapt to the Digital Age.”
Yi-Pin Lin, associate professor of infectious disease and global health at Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine, and colleagues from Tufts and other institutions had their research about a potential Lyme disease vaccine featured in an article published by the Association of American Universities. Lin’s research was originally published in Nature Communications.
Pavel Luzin, visiting scholar at The Fletcher School, was quoted in the ABC News article “How Trump’s threats to abandon Ukraine war pose battlefield conundrums for Kyiv.”
Chris Miller, professor at The Fletcher School, appeared on Yahoo Finance to discuss Micron Technology’s intent to invest $30 billion in U.S. semiconductor manufacturing. Miller also authored the Financial Times article “China’s weaponization of rare earths is a new kind of trade war.”
Yongyi Pan, N24, MG24, Mengyuan Ruan, N18, Lu Wang, assistant research professor, Fang Fang Zhang, associate professor, and Bingjie Zhou, N19, NG25, all at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, along with a colleague from the Center for Surgery and Public Health at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, authored “Coffee Consumption and Mortality Among United States Adults: A Prospective Cohort Study” in The Journal of Nutrition. Read more about the research on Tufts Now.
Mihaela Papa, senior fellow at The Fletcher School, along with Walter Streeter, F23, co-authored the World Politics Review article “BRICS’ New Map Is Taking Shape.”
Ken Pucker, professor of the practice at The Fletcher School, was quoted in a Bloomberg Businessweek article about Coca-Cola’s climate pledges.
Mark Ruffalo, adjunct assistant professor at the School of Medicine, explained his new Borderline Personality Disorder Inventory for evaluating patients for the possible presence of borderline personality disorder in a Psychiatric Times article.
Patrick Schena, Barton L. Rachlin, E59, A85P, Professor of Economics, in a Bridge Michigan article, explained why the government of Singapore owns more than 5% of all land in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.
Monica Duffy Toft, professor of international politics at The Fletcher School, is featured in The World segment “Is there any way to stop escalation once it’s begun?” and was quoted in The Straits Times article “Hope in fraught times: Trump-Xi bond could shift ties for the better, say U.S. experts.”
Amanda Martinot, associate professor at Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine, was a co-senior author on a study entitled “TnSeq identifies genetic requirements of Mycobacterium tuberculosis for survival under vaccine-induced immunity,” which was published in the journal npj Vaccines. Martinot partnered with researchers at the University of Utah, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and Texas A&M University on this study. Read more about the research on Tufts Now.
Tamara Vesel, chief of the Division of Palliative Care at Tufts Medical Center and clinical associate professor of medicine and pediatrics at the School of Medicine, had her paper, “A Mixed-Methods Evaluation of an Innovative Workshop to Teach Primary Palliative Care Communication Skills to Fourth-Year Medical Students,” published in the American Journal of Hospice and Palliative Medicine. The paper shows the important work being done to equip future physicians with palliative care communication skills.
Nathan Wolff, associate professor and director of graduate studies in the Department of English, and Joseph Rezek, associate professor in the Department of English at Boston University, contributed to a new printing of Edgar Allen Poe’s The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket: And Collected Writings. Wolff and Rezek spoke about the book at a Harvard Book Store event in July.
The Center for Animals and Public Policy at Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine, in collaboration with the Homes for Horses Coalition, released a report based on a survey of equine welfare organizations across the United States. The results show that while many horse welfare organizations grapple with small budgets and limited paid staff, they maintain high standards for the horses under their care.
Tufts University signed a memorandum of understanding with Indian Institute of Science (IISc), a leading research university with more than 40 departments and more than 5,000 students, located in Bengaluru, India, the center of the nation’s high-tech industry. The agreement, signed in Bengaluru (formerly known as Bangalore) by Sunil Kumar, president of Tufts University, and Govindan Rangarajan, director of Indian Institute of Science, establishes a framework for the development of a range of possible initiatives jointly pursued by the two institutions. Foremost among the collaborations envisioned is the creation of a center of excellence focused on nutrition science and medicine. To be housed at IISc, the proposed center, known as the Interdisciplinary Centre for Nutrition Science and Medicine, represents the vision of Kumar and Rangarajan to synergize the institutions’ complementary strengths.
Research by Tufts University School of Dental Medicine and Tufts University School of Medicine, which described a new approach to dental implants that could better replicate how natural teeth feel and function, was covered by Medical XPress. The study was published in April in the journal Scientific Reports.
Chris Dulla was named permanent chair of the Department of Neuroscience at the School of Medicine.