Category: SharkBytes

Opening Keynote Session for the South Florida Hospital and Healthcare Association Annual Meeting

Farzanna Haffizulla, MD 2014-15 AMWA Past President, is the Assistant Dean for Community and Global Health, Chair of Diversity Committee, Nova Southeastern University, Dr. Kiran C. Patel College of Allopathic Medicine (NSU MD). Haffizulla gave an outstanding keynote address at the 13th Annual South Florida Hospital and Healthcare Association Summit on Disruption and Innovation in Health Care Delivery.

During her presentation followed by her moderation of a reactive panel, Haffizulla explored factors impacting health care costs, disruptive innovations in healthcare that have occurred in the last year, how to achieve financial sustainability in our uncertain health economy, clinician workforce shortages and provider burnout, and the importance of addressing diversity, inclusion, and disparities in the healthcare system.

For more information: American Medical Women’s Association.

Clinical Psychology Students Participate in Firefighter Training Event

When Samantha Rodriguez and Bailee Schuhmann each donned 90 pounds of firefighting protection equipment, they did so not as firefighter trainees, but as NSU Clinical Psychology doctoral students.

Schuhmann and Rodriguez participated in a two-day Clinicians Awareness Course hosted by the Florida Firefighters Safety and Health Collaborative in Bonita Hills, FL. The students were part of a group of 30 clinicians who wore the same gear and participated in a simulated exercise involving rescuing victims from a burning building (which was not actually on fire). The exercise give clinicians insight into the challenges and stresses experienced by people who work in the fire service.

Although the participants were never in danger and did not experience the stress and peril that firefighters do, Schuhmann said wearing the gear gave her a new perspective on their jobs.

“Your senses get messed with, and you can’t feel anything through the gloves,” she said.

The two-day course was also intended to raise awareness about cancer prevention, mental wellness, health and fitness, and firefighter safety across the state. The participants also toured a fire station and heard stories from firefighters about their experiences with mental health.

“There is a big stigma surrounding mental health and seeking services within the first responder population,” Rodriguez said. “This training has inspired me to continue to work towards changing the culture and removing that stigma so that these individuals can receive the services that they need.”

Professor Vincent Van Hasselt, Ph.D., an expert in police psychology who works frequently with first responders, encourages his students to participate in first responder training to gain knowledge that will help them as clinicians.

“Some knowledge of the nature of the job goes a long way in engaging a firefighter or police officer in the therapy or counseling process,” said Van Hasselt, of the Department of Clinical and School Psychology. “In particular, the likelihood of establishing a positive therapeutic relationship is enhanced when the first responder – client sees that the mental health provider has, at least, a basic understanding and awareness of the challenges they face.”

Full story: https://psychology.nova.edu/news-events/2019/cop-fire-awareness.html

Education Student Develops Language Acquisition Program Called Shark Speak

Fischler Academy student, Eloise Nieto, is spending her summer developing a language acquisition program called Shark Speak. A true experiential learning internship, Shark Speak is a “learning by doing” program.  Activities include preparing for job interviews, visiting state parks, and participating in service projects.

The goal of Shark Speak is to create a template that will allow Fischler Academy students to apply what they learn in TESOL (Teaching English as a Second Language) courses by helping people from the community learn a new language.

The inaugural Shark Speak includes ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) students from Miami Edison High School. In the picture provided, the team poses with the chef at the Life Net 4 Families Community Food Kitchen in Broward County where the team volunteered.

For more information on NSU’s Abraham S. Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice Fischler Academy, please visit: https://education.nova.edu/fischleracademy/index.html

Department of Family Therapy Alumna is Quoted in O Magazine Article

Dani Moye, Ph.D.

Dani Moye, Ph.D., an alumna of the Department of Family Therapy at NSU’s College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences (CAHSS), was recently interviewed for an article in O Magazine entitled, “How to Move on from a Best Friend Breakup”, in the article, published June 16. Moye recommended, “take the time to reflect on what this shift means to you and sit with the discomfort of sadness,” says Moye. “When we don’t grieve the relational losses we’ve endured, it may take us longer to move on.” The article may be accessed at https://www.oprahmag.com/life/relationships-love/a28069319/friendship-breakup/

Moye is a proud financial member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. She has served on the boards of Broward Association of Marriage and Family Therapy, Healing Arts Institute of South Florida, and currently the Greater Hartford Urban League Young Professionals. She is the owner of Harmony Cove Therapy, LLC, clinical supervisor for North American Family Institute, adjunct professor at the University of Saint Joseph, and licensure supervisor for Motivo. She is a Clinical Fellow of the American Association of Marriage & Family Therapy and licensed in both Connecticut and Florida. In addition to her Ph.D. from NSU. Moye received her B.A. in Gender Studies from the University of Hartford, and her M.S. in Marriage and Family Therapy from Central Connecticut State University. She is dedicated to breaking the stigma associated with mental health within the Black community

CAHSS Alum Publishes Book Chapter, “Transforming the Systemic Humiliation of Crime and Justice: Reawakening Black Consciousness”

Tony Gaskew, Ph.D.,

Tony Gaskew, Ph.D., graduate of the doctoral program in Conflict Analysis and Resolution in the Department of Conflict Resolution Studies (DCRS) in NSU’s College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences (CAHSS), has authored a chapter in the book, Systematic

Humiliation in America: Finding Dignity within Systems of Degradation, edited by Daniel Rothbart, Ph.D. and published by Palgrave McMillian. His chapter is entitled, “Transforming the Systemic Humiliation of Crime and Justice: Reawakening Black Consciousness.”

Gaskew is professor of Criminal Justice and Director, Criminal Justice Program at University of Pittsburg Bradford. He spent over 20 years in law enforcement. In 2016, he was one of ten US educators invited to the White House to participate in a Roundtable on Criminal Justice Reform.

Gaskew has published extensively in the areas of criminal justice, and policing. His book, Rethinking Prison Reentry: Transforming Humiliation into Humility, focuses on the role of the criminal justice system in providing adequate post-secondary prison education opportunities for incarcerated black males and the impact of historical racism on black males and on the criminal justice system.

Gaskew was a recipient of the 2014 NSU Distinguished Alumni Award.  His honors include the Fulbright-Hays Fellow for a research project in Egypt and the Academic Fellow in Terrorist Studies in Israel by The Foundation for Defense of Democracies.  He was named a University of Pittsburgh Faculty Diversity Fellow and Teacher of the Year by The National Society of Leadership and Success. Gaskew is the founding director of the nationally recognized UPB Prison Education Program.

CAHSS Faculty Publishes book chapter, “The Rock-n-Rollers Remixed: Back to the Future”

Shelley Green, Ph.D.

Shelley Green, Ph.D., faculty in the Department of Family Therapy in NSU’s College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences (CAHSS), has authored a chapter in the book, Creative Therapy in Challenging Situations: Unusual Interventions to Help Clients edited by Michael Hoyt, Ph.D. and Monte Bobele, Ph.D., and published by Routledge. Green authored the chapter entitled, “The Rock-n-Rollers Remixed: Back to the Future.”

Green received the 2016-17 President’s Distinguished Professor Award of Excellence. Several years ago, she initiated a course, Equine Assisted Family Therapy, which was the first of its kind to be housed in a nationally accredited family therapy program. Subsequently she initiated a second equine assisted therapy course. Green has presented at national and international conferences on equine assisted therapy as well as other family therapy topics.

CAHSS Faculty Comments in Sun-Sentinel, “Protecting life is not just a woman’s job”

Vicki Toscano, J.D., Ph.D.

Vicki Toscano, J.D., Ph.D., faculty in the Department of History and Political Science in NSU’s College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences (CAHSS), shared her opinion in Viewpoints in the Sun-Sentinel on June 4, 2019. Toscano’s piece was titled, “Protecting life is not just a woman’s job.”

Toscano’s current research projects examine reproductive rights law in the U.S. through the lens of constitutional jurisprudence and bioethical ideals. She teaches courses such as Introduction to Legal Studies, Biomedical Ethics, Introduction to Philosophy, Moral Issues, and Social and Political Philosophy.

Education Graduate Authors Book on Early Reading Development

Alvin Haywood, Ed.D.

Haywood was born in Vallejo, California, and attended public schools there from kindergarten through the community college level. Upon transferring to San Jose State University (CA), he later received undergraduate degrees in social work and psychology, a master’s degree in education, and both teaching and administrative credentials. After retirement from 34 years of elementary and middle school teaching and overcoming a bout with cancer, Haywood enrolled in FCE&SCJ’s doctorate program. He graduated in 2015.

His second book is currently in publication–Students Loving Math: What’s Reading Got to do With It?

This summer Haywood will travel to Barcelona, Spain, to participate in the annual international conference of the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management (APPAM). The theme of this year’s conference is: Public Policy in an Era of Rapid Change.

For more information on Cultivating Early Reading Development: Reaping the Benefits of School Success, please visit: https://www.amazon.com/author/dralvinhaywoodedd

Halmos College Researchers Explore Light and Life Below the Ocean’s Twilight Zone

Three species of bathypelagic dragonfishes (Stomiidae) displaying the range of shapes and colors of chin barbels. Image courtesy of Journey into Midnight: Light and Life Below the Twilight Zone.

From June 8-22, 2019, a team of NSU researchers was exploring the water column in some of the deepest parts of the Gulf of Mexico to determine what happens to deep-sea animals when a very important constraint is taken away from them – light. The scientists were making observations and collecting samples for further study on the characterization of visual systems, bioluminescence, and fluorescence of organisms living below 1,000 meters (3,280 feet), in the bathypelagic (midnight) zone. Participating in this research are Halmos faculty members Tamara Frank, Ph.D. and Tracey Sutton, Ph.D.

Frank is collecting live animals using 9m2 Tucker Trawl with a carefully designed collecting vessel at the end of the net, called a cod-end. The cod-end is constructed of three-quarter-inch thick PVC pipe and closes via ball valves when the net closes. The net is remotely opened at depth, and while it is fishing, the ball valves at either end of the cod-end are open, and animals are trapped inside in a mesh bag. When a signal is sent to close the net, the ball valves on the cod-end snap shut, trapping animals inside the cod-end in water at their normal ambient temperatures. The thick PVC walls insulate the water against temperature changes on the trip to the surface.

“Animals without air-filled spaces, like fish without swim bladders, crustaceans, and squids, can handle the pressure, but they can’t handle the temperature changes. At their normal depths, the temperature is around 7°C (45°F), while surface waters in the Gulf of Mexico in June can be up to 30°C (86°F). This temperature shock will kill them, so the insulated cod-end is essential to live collections of deep-sea animals”, says Frank.

Sutton is investigating the extraordinary adaptations exhibited by fishes of the midnight zone. “Our goal as ocean exploration researchers is to expand on these discoveries, as well as add much more to our knowledge of the inhabitants of this ‘harshest ecosystem on Earth.’”, says Sutton.

These adaptations help fishes find and eat prey, and find each other, in a permanently sunless habitat. In some cases, the adaptations have driven the radiation of entire fish families in the bathypelagic zone, where in other cases, these adaptations allow individual species of primarily shallower-living fish families (e.g., lanternfishes, hatchetfishes) to survive.  One of the most striking adaptations of predatory fishes of the deep is the astounding variety of bioluminescent “lures” that fishes use to attract prey (rather than swimming and searching, which is energetically expensive). This adaptation largely defines the deep-sea anglerfishes, the most species-rich taxon of primarily bathypelagic fishes.

Representatives from a primarily mesopelagic fish family, the dragonfishes (Stomiidae) are also among the dominant predators of the midnight zone, particularly when they approach maximum size. Dragonfishes do not possess the dorsal luring apparatus of the anglerfishes, but do possess a spectacular variety of chin barbels, some of which are as long as the fish itself and terminate in a chandelier of branches and multi-colored luminescent bulbs.

Both dragonfishes and anglerfishes display another adaptation common to bathypelagic predators – large, sharp, backwards pointing teeth set in a large, terminal mouth. Presumably in an environment where prey is hard to find, once prey are lured, one does not want them to escape capture! These are just a few of the extraordinary adaptations exhibited by fishes of the midnight zone.

The Journey into Midnight: Light and Life Below the Twilight Zone expedition offers a unique opportunity for explorers of all ages to investigate and understand bioluminescence in the deepest portion of the Gulf of Mexico. Lessons, career information, background essays, videos and images can all be found here to help bring this science expedition to life https://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/19biolum/

Education Alumnus Named Superintendent of Bertie County Schools in North Carolina

Otis Smallwood, Ed.D.

Otis Smallwood, Ed.D., graduate of NSU’s Abraham S. Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice, has been chosen as the new Superintendent for Bertie County Schools in Bertie County, North Carolina.

Smallwood has over twenty-five years of experience in education.  Most recently, he has spent the past 11 years as Assistant Superintendent of Jones County Public Schools (North Carolina) in charge of Human Resources. Through his work with the Jones County State Employees Credit Union, Smallwood helped a family ravaged by Hurricane Florence in 2018 receive a new home through Habitat for Humanity; even being on hand to present the keys to the Hill family when they moved in earlier in the spring.

He will take over Bertie County Schools on July 22; his first priorities are school security and teacher retention.

Smallwood earned his doctorate of education with FCE&SCJ in 2015.

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