Month: October 2025

NSU Professor Shares Research in Iceland and Denmark

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Dr. Adithya Chandregowda, associate professor from the Department of Speech-Language Pathology at NSU’s Dr. Kiran C. Patel College of Osteopathic Medicine, presented a research poster at the 21st Congress of the European Geriatric Medicine Society (EuGMS), held in Reykjavik, Iceland.

His poster was titled “Promoting Interaction Between Individuals with Severe Communication Impairments and their Loved Ones: Implications for End-of-life Care.” Dr. Chandregowda presented a one-hour lecture on primary progressive aphasia — also referred to as “language-led dementia” — and end-of-life communication to the faculty and speech pathology students at the Department of Nordic Studies and Linguistics at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark.

Researchers and students from the speech pathology program at the University of Southern Denmark joined this lecture online. His lecture was well received, and he appreciated the warm hospitality. He remained thankful for these opportunities as they help him gain global perspectives about his professional areas of interest.

NSU MD Students Present at Gold Humanism Summit

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On Sept. 20, 2025, six students from NSU’s Dr. Kiran C. Patel College of Allopathic Medicine had the opportunity to present their work at the 2025 Gold Humanism Summit in Baltimore, Maryland.

The Gold Humanism Summit is hosted yearly by the Gold Foundation and Gold Humanism Honor Society, providing health care workers a space to share their efforts in the area of humanistic care. And NSU MD students Cristina Benites, Makenna Bowman, Jeams Richard-Costa, Iman Fakhoury and Matthew Houser did just that, with support from NSU MD graduate Samuel Angel — now an M1 at the University of Florida — and faculty advisor Vanessa Johnson, Ph.D.

HELPWISE Communities (Healthcare Educators Leading Prevention, Wellness and Intervention while Supporting and Empowering Communities) is a student-founded community health education initiative. It is funded by the “Quality of Life” grant with the goal of reducing health inequities by providing our communities with access to health education. This initiative provides an opportunity for medical students to do what they do best: teach each other and the community, while providing the community with access to free information and resources through programs like STOP THE BLEED, 2 Step CPR, Women’s Health Education and Health Screening information.

The students of HELPWISE Communities shared this initiative and preliminary data on the effectiveness of this program at the Gold Humanism Summit in hopes that students around the country may replicate the program in their area and improve the lives of communities across the country.

Photo1: NSU MD HELPWISE Team Pictured Left to Right- Matthew Houser (M2), Iman Fakhoury (M3), Cristina Benites (M4), Makenna Bowman (M4), Jeams Richard-Costa (M3) Photo2: Cristina Benites, M4, Founder of HELPWISE Communities – with poster presented at the 2025 GHHS Summit

KPCOM Student Presents During Virtual Conference

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On Tuesday, October 14, Ms. Yumna Indorewala, Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine candidate at Nova Southeastern University’s Kiran C. Patel College of Osteopathic Medicine, presented a poster at the Human Anatomy and Physiology Society (HAPS) 2025 Virtual Conference.

In collaboration with her research independent study mentor Dr. Santanu De, associate professor at NSU’s Department of Biological Sciences, the interdisciplinary project was titled “Case Studies on Education and Research in Global Healthcare and STEM Adapted to COVID-19: A Comprehensive Evaluation.”

The mission of this prestigious, scholarly society is to promote teaching excellence in the critical health science disciplines of anatomy and physiology around the world.

Education Alumna Opens Private School in Palm Beach

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Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice alumna Kisha Bellande-Francis, Ed.D., has opened a new private school in Palm Beach County.

DOTT Academy (Daily Opportunity to Thrive) opened its doors to the public on Sept. 3, 2025. Instead of using traditional grade levels, DOTT Academy uses a competency-based mastery learning model, something Bellande-Francis said allows students to progress based on their individual skill level and allows instructors to devote more time to students who need extra teaching or give advanced students more challenging instruction.

The academy currently supports students who traditionally fall between kindergarten to sixth grade, with plans to expand to eighth grade in the future. Bellande-Francis graduated from NSU with her Ed.D. in instructional leadership.

With over 20 years of experience in education, she developed the long-term goal of opening her own school. After initial plans to open a school fell through in 2021 due to the pandemic, she was finally able to achieve her goal. The experience has been an emotional rollercoaster for Bellande-Francis, but she said it has also been a fulfilling one. Congratulations Dr. Bellande-Francis!

To learn more about the DOTT Academy, visit the school’s website here.

Criminal Justice Student Publishes Article on Estate Planning

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Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice doctoral student Sandy Rao published an article on estate planning and law enforcement officers. The article, “The Perils of Neglecting Estate Planning,” was published in Police Chief Magazine.

Rao, who has worked with the U.S. Marshals since 2001, was motivated to investigate estate planning and how it relates to fellow officers after the death of a close friend and mentor, his parents and grandmother. He was also motivated by the overall dangers that come with working in law enforcement.

Rao also created a Survey Monkey questionnaire and administered it in his own task force. The survey included questions on how often the officers themselves faced danger and traumatic experiences while on the job. Rao hoped to show his colleagues how dangerous the profession is, and the benefits of being prepared if something happened. Out of the total respondents, over 51% had been involved in a shooting 53 percent had been injured or hospitalized, and 49 percent had been exposed to a dead body on the job.

However, only 23% of respondents had a will. “Policing is a dangerous profession, making it a field in which estate planning is especially important,” Rao wrote. Rao is currently pursuing his Ph.D. in Criminal Justice from Nova Southeastern University. Looking ahead, he said he hopes to do his dissertation on probable cause fugitive cases.