Faculty & Staff News
Kicking off her Nova Southeastern tennis career with an eye-opening 6-0 week, sophomore Karolina Snita has earned the title of Sunshine State Conference Women’s Tennis Athlete of the Week, as announced by the conference office on Monday afternoon. FULL RELEASE
Nova Southeastern first-year head coach Laz Gutierrez has announced the hiring of Nick Rodriguez as the Sharks’ volunteer assistant coach. Rodriguez brings a wealth of baseball knowledge from his previous coaching stops and as a player at Tusculum – he will work with the Sharks infielders FULL RELEASE
Less than 24 hours removed from its season-opening win at the World Golf Invitational, the Nova Southeastern women’s golf team has taken over as the nation’s new No. 1 in Golfstat’s updated rankings. FULL RELEASE
After preparing for championship season for the past few weeks, the Nova Southeastern men’s and women’s swim teams are geared up and ready to go, starting with the 2020 Sunshine State Conference Championships beginning on Thursday, Feb. 13 at the Long Center in Clearwater, Fla. FULL RELEASE
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Matthew Johnston, Ph.D.
On February 4, the New York Times published the article, “Open Sores, Lower Numbers Likely Not Invasive Lionfish’s End”. The article discusses a new disease which has caused open sores that can eat into the muscles of the invasive lionfish. While the disease contributed to an abrupt drop in the northern Gulf of Mexico populations, researchers quickly state that this is not the end of these showy invaders.
Halmos College biology faculty member Matthew Johnston, Ph.D. contributed to this article. Johnston, who has written scientific papers about the lionfish commented, ““We’ve always been wondering if they’re ever going to reach their limit in certain locations,” he said. “To date it seemed the populations just kept getting larger and larger and larger.”
Genetic studies have shown the invaders are descended from lionfish that were first sighted off Florida in 1985; aquarium hobbyists may well have started the invasion by dumping fish into the ocean, according to NOAA.
Armando Rodriguez, Ed.D., Director of International Programs at NSU’s Abraham S. Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice, visited with the Mariot Simon, Vice President of the University of Belize, and the Dean of the School of Education, Nestor Chan to discuss a potential partnership and cohort in Belize. Chan is an alumnus of FCE&SCJ’s doctoral program; he graduated in 2014.
While visiting, Rodriguez was able to attend an informal meetup with a few FCE&SCJ alumni, which over 70 call Belize home.
On Friday, February 7, Halmos College Biology major Rishabh Kasarla presented his talk entitled, “Walk Away with the Key to Unlock a Super Memory”. Kasarla, a memory athlete, demonstrated how to unlock the power of memory and enable one’s ability to study effectively.
The presentation took place at NSU’s Scientific Literature Society. The group was established in 2010 with Halmos College faculty member Venkatesh Shanbhag, Ph.D. as its faculty advisor. At the weekly gathering, members discuss topics from research which appeared in recent peer-reviewed publications. The information is presented by a member of the group which is then critically evaluated by the attendees. The group aims at helping each other in learning about critical evaluation of published data and help each other in presentation skills. Additionally, members discuss strategies of effective interviewing. This semester, the group meets on Fridays at noon in Parker 127D. Rishabh Kasarla is the current president (rk841@mynsu.nova.edu) of Scientific Literature Society.
On February 8, 2020, NSU hosted the 23rd annual Innovative Teacher Idea Expo on its Ft Lauderdale – Davie campus. The event was presented by the Broward Teachers Union (BTU) in conjunction with the Broward Education Foundation (BEF) and educational workshops, presentations, visual project displays illustrating effective and dynamic teaching strategies, and other activities, mainly Broward County Public School teachers.
Jamie Manburg Ed.D., Associate Dean, at NSU’s Abraham S. Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice (FCE&SCJ), provided opening remarks and Michele Tenam-Zemach, Ed.D., Associate Professor, Department of Curriculum and Instruction, presented one of the workshops on the day of the event. Additionally, at the request of the Broward Education Foundation, Associate Professor, Jia Borror, Ed.D., Department of Curriculum and Instruction, conducted a workshop for the teachers about planning their presentations prior to the Innovation Teacher Expo.
Leonard Jacobskind, Ed.D., and Kristin Bobineaux, members of FCE&SCJ recruitment team, were also on hand to showcase the college’s degrees and programs.
Members of the project team from left to right: Regine Kanski, division director, Broward Regional Health Planning Council; Dr. Angelika Schlanger, public health specialist, UF/IFAS Extension Family Nutrition Program; Alyssa K. Eason, director of student licensing and credentialing, NSU MD; Kristen Sooklal, program coordinator, NSU MD; Dr. Farzanna S. Haffizulla, assistant dean for community and global health, NSU MD; George L. Hanbury II, President and CEO, NSU
The Caribbean Diaspora Healthy Nutrition Outreach Project (CDHNOP) aims to improve the health and lives of Caribbean immigrants and their families. The findings of this study conducted by researchers from NSU College of Allopathic Medicine was recently published in the Annals of Global Health. The project was founded and is led by Trinidad-born Principal Investigator and Assistant Dean for Community and Global Health, Dr. Farzanna Haffizulla at the Nova Southeastern University Dr. Kiran C. Patel College of Allopathic Medicine. Dr. Patrick Hardigan Executive Dean of Research in Dr. Kiran C. Patel College of Allopathic Medicine also contributed to the success of this project.
The purpose of this CDHNOP study was to quantify social determinants of health relevant to the Caribbean population of Broward county and develop culturally appropriate healthy nutrition and active living education material tailored to this burgeoning demographic group.
Personnel involved in this study evaluated members of focus groups represented by people from five Caribbean nations which make up the majority of South Florida’s Caribbean diaspora: Jamaica, Haiti, Cuba, Trinidad and Tobago and Dominican Republic. Authors of this article studied cultural risk factors, prevalence of diseases and dietary habits of the Caribbean population in Broward county. They also conducted health disparity assessments to determine the diseases most likely to affect this demographic group and identified their leading causes of death.
The key objectives of this CDHNOP study were to create and evaluate culturally appropriate nutrition materials and quantify which social determinants associated with health are most relevant for the Caribbean diaspora of Broward county. Researchers utilized both qualitative and quantitative focus group methods to generate the data necessary for this study.
The findings reported in this peer-reviewed publication indicate that heart disease, stroke, cancer and diabetes are the leading causes of mortality. The Caribbean population of Broward county was also found to have higher rate of obesity relative to the national average.
To address these medical issues, it is necessary to improve nutrition and dietary habits using a culturally appropriate, inclusive research frame. To achieve this goal, the NSU team led by Dr. Haffizulla, implemented the Go-Slow-Whoa or GSW format to develop dietary educational information appropriate for the Caribbean diaspora. The GSW format acts as a tool that will provide information to encourage people to make healthier lifestyle choices. It classifies foods and beverages into the following three groups – Foods that should be chosen frequently (Go, colored green), eaten less often (Slow, colored yellow) and eaten rarely (Whoa, Colored red). Nutritional qualities, fat content, sodium content and sugar content are used as the significant determining criteria to decide the GSW classification of each item.
The CDHNOP study concluded that the food and active living preferences of the Caribbean population of South Florida was significantly underrepresented in the national GSW material. Consequently, the informational material in GSW were not inclusive enough or ideal for the Caribbean population. As mentioned earlier, most prevalent diseases affecting this demography, are linked to diet and active living choices. Therefore, this study serves the purpose of identifying the shortcomings and gaining a better understanding of health-related patterns among this underrepresented demographic group. The information accumulated through this initiative by NSU researchers will enable better understanding of the needs of our Caribbean community and thus facilitate development of a health education materials that is inclusive of the cultural and dietary habits of the Caribbean population. A critical component of the CDHNOP project is that it has built trust between the local Caribbean community and key personnel of this project. This puts the project team in a unique position to explore health disparities further in this population, develop a diversity pipeline for the health professions, and gain momentum in developing more reliable, comprehensive, actionable data. All materials created from this research are available in English, Spanish and Creole.
About Quality of Life Faculty Community-Based Applied Research Grants: The authors of this scientific study would like to thank the Quality of Life Faculty Community-Based Applied Research Grants (QOL) for supporting this CDHNOP initiative. QOL focuses on funding research associated with certain topics categorized as 2021 priority issues. The QOL 2021 Broward, Dade and Palm Beach county priority issues include obesity and access to health services. QOL Grant