Alvin Sherman Library’s Computer Camp on Internet Safety, Sept. 21
Learn Internet safety tips to protect yourself online on Tuesday, September 21 on Zoom from 1-1:45 p.m. ET. We’ll cover passwords, shopping online, and more.
Author: iharrell
Thank You Sharks for Keeping Our Community Safe This Fall
NSU has been busy all summer readying our campus locations for the “Return of the Sharks.” To prepare you for a healthier fall, I wanted to share the latest information on NSU policies related to the ever-evolving landscape of COVID-19.
Medical and health policy experts agree that the safest path forward is to be vaccinated against COVID-19, so I continue to encourage all students to get vaccinated and I have mandated that all employees be fully vaccinated by Sept. 20. Students on the Fort Lauderdale/Davie Campus can receive a vaccine on our campus, and everyone can find a location by visiting: www.vaccines.gov. For mandatory staff vaccinations, Sept. 6 is the deadline to get your final Pfizer/Moderna shot or the one shot of Johnson & Johnson vaccine to be fully vaccinated by the Sept. 20 deadline.
- Because of the emergence of new highly contagious variants and the fact that we have not yet reached the desired threshold of vaccination rates at our various locations, everybody at NSU will be required to wear masks in classrooms, at approved events, and while indoors at any NSU facility, whether you are vaccinated for COVID-19 or not. (On the positive note, Orlando and Jacksonville have both exceeded 70% in Vax Max reporting.)
- All classes that are scheduled to be face-to-face this fall will be held face-to-face in the assigned NSU classroom, with everyone required to wear a mask. According to medical sources and our own records, high vaccination rates combined with safety protocols like mandatory face coverings and air quality measures result in classroom transmission rates being extremely low.
- To help us return to a more normal campus experience, please register your vaccination status at nova.edu.
- Any individual who is exposed to or tests positive for COVID-19 must self-isolate or quarantine off campus, and as such, we highly encourage everyone to have a plan in place ahead of time. Those individuals must report and coordinate with the COVID-19 office (covidcase@nova.edu) and should also consult with the Student Medical Center or their own health care provider.
- In the case that a student must quarantine, they should contact their College COVID Coordinatorto receive guidance on ways to remain current with their coursework.
Remember, according to the CDC and NSU’s medical experts, vaccination is the best way for a safer and interruption-free university experience for all of us. As always, NSU closely monitors the public health conditions in our communities, and we are hopeful that with rising levels of vaccination reporting on the Vax Max portal we will be able to revisit our safety policies and protocols as appropriate.
Thank you for doing your part to keep the Shark community healthy this fall.
FINS UP!
George L. Hanbury II, Ph.D.
President/CEO
Nova Southeastern University
Faculty Member Awarded Hispanic Dental Association Award
Elías M. Morón, DDS, MPH, MHL, MHSM – a proud Shark who makes his mark in the community by breaking barriers, aiding minorities, and supporting families in need – was awarded the 2021 HDA/Colgate Faculty award during the Diverse Dental Society (DDS) Multicultural Oral Health Summit on June 17.
Elías M. Morón, DDS, MPH, MHL, MHSM
The event was planned and organized by National Dental Association (NDA), the Hispanic Dental Association (HDA) and the Society of American Indian Dentists (SAID). The summit was centered around stakeholders discussing oral health issues that have impacted diverse communities.
“Hispanics are among the largest and fastest growing population in the United States, and they are facing measurable disadvantages when it comes to oral health. Hispanics experience a high prevalence of oral diseases, barriers to access dental care, and less ability to afford dental care,” Morón said. “During my career, I have supported and worked in programs to improve the lives of the homeless, mentally ill, children in foster care, substance abusers, correctional population, children living in poverty, seniors, and pregnant and childbearing high school students. I have also contributed with research, community approaches, teaching, and promoting a better understanding of the social determinants of health in our communities.”
Morón graduated with his Master of Public Health in July 2016 and Master of Science Health Law (Magna Cum Laude) in April 2021. In addition to being a two-time alumnus, he is also a clinical assistant professor at the Nova Southeastern University College of Dental Medicine.
With Morón’s background in health law, he has also been able to utilize his legal knowledge to help advance clinical and community initiatives.
“In my experience working in the healthcare, I feel that in addition to clinical knowledge, there is a huge legal component to practicing dentistry. Expanding my knowledge in health law is allowing me to support my students and colleagues in the complex legal concerns where law and health care intersect including privacy, risk management, patients’ rights and ethics, employment discrimination, copyright issues, health care administrative law, clinical research law, regulatory compliance, and patient issues,” he said.
Morón attributes his success to the university and emphasized NSU giving him an edge in his career.
“Some of the NSU core values are focused on diversity, integrity, research, community, and academic excellence,” he said. “In that way, the different programs reinforced these values. It is an honor for me to have the opportunity to apply the same values as a professor, in the same institution where I completed my health law degree.”
If you are interested in contributing to diverse communities as a healthcare professional or would like to discuss initiatives with Morón, you can contact him at em1293@nova.edu.
College of Law Alumna Tapped for Top Navy Position
Meredith Berger was sworn in as the assistant secretary of the Navy for Energy, Installations & Environment (EI&E) by Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks, during a ceremony at the Pentagon Aug. 5.
Meredith Berger/U.S. Army photo by William Pratt
Berger holds a Juris Doctor degree from Nova Southeastern University’s Shepard Broad College of Law, a Bachelor of Arts in American Studies and Spanish from Vanderbilt University, and a Master’s in Public Administration from the Harvard Kennedy School.
She has served in various positions in state and federal government including the Florida Department of Financial Services, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Department of Defense. Berger served as the deputy chief of staff to the Secretary of the Navy from 2014 to 2017. Most recently, she was a senior manager for Microsoft’s Defending Democracy Program.
Having grown up in Florida, Berger is proud to be the sponsor of the USS Fort Lauderdale (LPD-28).
The assistant secretary of the Navy for EI&E serves the Department of the Navy and the nation by enhancing combat capabilities for the warfighter and greater energy security; enhancing climate change resiliency; acquiring and disposing of real property; construction and maintenance of installations; protecting the safety and occupational health of the military and civilian personnel; environmental protection, planning and restoration ashore and afloat; and conservation of natural and cultural resources.
Halmos Faculty Provides Training on Verbal De-escalation
Judith McKay, J.D., Ph.D.
Judith McKay, J.D., Ph.D., director of the doctoral program, and associate professor in the Department of Conflict Resolution Studies (DCRS) in the Halmos College of Arts and Sciences and the Guy Harvey Oceanographic Research Center (HCAS), provided training to therapeutic staff at the Jewish Community Services of South Florida, Miami. McKay was invited to provide virtual training in July on verbal de-escalation. She focused on skills, strategies, and responses, particularly when dealing with clients and others in high conflict and crisis.
McKay is the faculty adviser to the Social Justice Roundtable and works with students in the community through Community Resolution Services, a practicum and volunteer site for DCRS. Conflict resolution Studies hosts Story Café, We Love our Families series, The Women’s Roundtable, and is involved in offering workshops, training for the county’s Crisis Intervention Teams, and other events for community groups and organizations.
McKay’s scholarly interests include conflict coaching, strategic community planning, and prevention and intervention in family, neighborhood, and organizational conflict and violence. For more information about Conflict Resolution Studies events and how we can partner with your group, free to contact McKay at mckayj@nova.edu.
D.O. Student Earns First-Place Poster Award at Symposium
Brooke Alexander
Fourth-year Dr. Kiran C. Patel College of Osteopathic Medicine student Brooke Alexander took first place honors in the clinical case category for her poster “Bronchogenic Cyst Under the Veil of an Adrenal Adenoma” at the Florida Medical Association David A. Paulson M.D. Poster Symposium held July 31.
Halmos Researcher’s Efforts Focus on Visualizing Virus Variants
Associate Professor Louis R. Nemzer, Ph.D.
NSU Associate Professor Louis R. Nemzer, Ph.D., in the Department of Chemistry and Physics at the Halmos College of Arts and Sciences, developed a new method for visualizing amino acid substitutions in which changes in the physical and chemical properties are represented by vectors in a 3D space. While applicable to a wide range of biological applications, such as rational protein design, this work is particularly useful for understanding the behavior of COVID-19 variants and even predicting future threats.
Proteins are long chains of amino acids, and the most infamous today is certainly the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for COVID-19. Random mutations cause changes to its amino acid sequence, which leads to variants that may spread more easily or more effectively evade the human immune system.
As part of his research on amino acid properties, Nemzer created a new way to visualize changes in novel variants, utilizing recently available data on SARS-CoV-2 immune escape, which measures how well they can hide from the host’s antibodies. In addition, results were used from site-saturation mutagenesis experiments, in which all possible amino acid substitutions at a particular site in the spike protein were tested for their impact on binding affinity with ACE2 receptors.
“We live in the era of big data in biology, and the key now is finding new ways to visualize this vast amount of information to make the best use of it,” Nemzer said.
In some diagrams, the colors of the vectors show the impact of the substitution, while dashed lines indicate changes that require at least two nucleotide mutations to happen. He showed that sometimes clusters of chemically similar amino acids can have similar effects, but in other situations, only a specific change – such as swapping a charged amino acid in place of a neutral one – significantly reduces the virulence. The work is available now as a bioRxiv preprint.
REFERENCES:
Fischler Spotlights Alumnus/Marymount Athletic Director
Marymount California University (MCU) has announced Jonathan Harper, a seasoned collegiate athletics administrator, as its new athletic director. Jonathan graduated in 2003 from the Abraham S. Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice with his master’s in education with a specialization in sports management.
Jonathan Harper
Harper joins Marymount at a pivotal time as MCU reinvigorates its athletics program after having suspended the spring season because of COVID-19 and as it make plans to become a part of Saint Leo University. Harper has a vision, the experience and the passion needed to lead the MCU athletics program in a new era, continuing its proud traditions on and off the field and driving the university to even greater accomplishments.
Harper was the former director of athletics at Newbury College in Brookline, Massachusetts, where he supervised 14 NCAA Division III sports and won three conference championships in men’s soccer and men’s and women’s track and field before the school permanently closed in 2019. While there, he led fundraising for the Chawla Fitness Center and the Connolly Family Sport Court. He also chaired the New England Collegiate Conference Athletic Directors’ Council and the NCAA Division III Membership Committee.
Before working at Newbury, Harper served as the assistant commissioner at the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (NCAA Division II) and commissioner of the Little East Conference (NCAA Division III), launching its official video stream website. Other roles include commissioner of the East Coast Conference (NCAA Division II) and associate commissioner of the Northeast-10 Conference (NCAA Division II).
Additionally, Harper has worked for media company Penn Atlantic, securing partnerships with NCAA member conferences and institutions and professional sports organizations to facilitate live internet video streaming of athletic events to broadband pay-per-view viewers.
Harper currently lives in Hermosa Beach with his wife Heather and their three children: Clayton, Skyler and Brooklyn.
Fischler Professors Collaborate on Book Chapter
Professor David B. Ross, Ed.D.. and Associate Professor Gina Peyton, Ed.D., at NSU’s Abraham S. Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice coauthored the chapter, “The Never-Ending Intellectual Theft of Truth: How the Mainstream Media Cartel Dismembers the Facts.” In R. Blankenship (Ed.), “Deep Fakes, Fake News, and Misinformation in Online Teaching and Learning Technologies” (pp. 39-68). The abstract of the book chapter is listed below:
The purpose of this chapter is to examine how the fake news has originated. This term has been in existence for decades, since the evolution of the printing press, which also disseminated false information. The mainstream media and non-mainstream media or just individuals in general have their own biases and agendas, so misinformation, disinformation, exaggerations, and deceptions will exist. This chapter will provide individuals from any political perspective or other beliefs evidence to make their own judgments. Digital citizenship and literacy will be explored using various examples of obtaining information and use of devices. In addition, this chapter will consider how researchers should take risks to explore controversial topics such as fake news to inform an audience using research.
For more information, please click here.
Speech-Language Pathology Alumna Starts Publishing Firm
Flo Davis, SLP.D, CCC/SLP
Flo Davis, SLP.D, CCC/SLP, a 2015 graduate of the doctoral program in Speech- Language Pathology in the Dr. Pallavi Patel College of Health Care Sciences, is excited about her venture and launch of a female-led, minority-owned indie publishing company.
She and business partner Shawanna Bowens have joined forces to create Aces Destiny publishing company, which is set to debut its first novel, Bloodstone’s Jinx, Book 1 in the Blacku Magic Series, this upcoming Fall of 2021. Davis is currently working on her first solo novel, which is an African American, Sci-Fi/Fantasy and Urban Fiction tale.