Faculty From Two NSU Colleges Partner for COVID-19 Research

 A cross-disciplinary COVID-19 research project is bringing together faculty from NSU’s College of Psychology and the Dr. Kiran C. Patel College of Osteopathic Medicine.

The research is a joint effort involving Madhavi Menon and Weylin Sternglanz, both faculty in the College of Psychology, and Bindu Mayi of the College of Osteopathic Medicine.

“What we’re looking at is psychological correlates of COVID-19 preventive health behaviors,” Sternglanz said.

Sternglanz noted that while there are many preventive behaviors like masking and social distancing that can reduce people’s likelihood of contracting COVID-19, not everyone carries out those behaviors. Because of that, Sternglanz, Menon, and Mayi are studying the personality and social variables that might predict if people will or will not engage in preventive health behaviors.

The current project builds on previous research that the three faculty members conducted in 2019 on preventive health behaviors relating to mosquito-borne illnesses. That research was inspired by the Zika fever outbreak that had previously made news headlines. Menon said the study will have about 400 participants, divided evenly between undergraduate students and medical students.

“It’s very similar to what we had for our Zika studies, and we’re trying to keep everything comparable across the two studies,” Menon said. “The only distinction is we’re incorporating these COVID-19-related questions about beliefs, behaviors, and attitudes towards the coronavirus.”

According to Menon, the research will also study factors like self-esteem, overall psychological well-being, and social support from family and significant others. The previous study examined the relationship between conscientiousness and social support and found that the interaction of both influenced preventive health behaviors.

NSU Florida to Host Online Symposium “Policing the Black Man”, Feb.12

Free Two-Day Virtual Event Open to All Members of the Community

Features Prominent Figures in Law Enforcement, the Judicial System and Education

WHO:       Officials from Nova Southeastern University’s Shepard Broad College of Law, the College of Psychology and the Lifelong Learning Institute, along with:

  • Gregory TonyBroward County Sheriff;
  • Harold Pryor, Broward State Attorney;
  • Gordon WeekesBroward County Public Defender;
  • Dale V.C. Holness, Broward County Commissioner, District 9; and
  • Angela J. Davis, Distinguished Professor, American University Washington College of Law, and one of the authors of “Policing The Black Man: Arrest, Prosecution And Imprisonment”

WHAT:      Two-day virtual symposium: “Policing the Black Man: Arrest, Prosecution And Imprisonment,” which examines how the judicial system interacts with the African-American Community.

WHERE:    Each day’s presentation will take place online via Zoom

  • Registration online HERE
  • Event program online HERE

WHEN:            

  • Friday, Feb. 12   10 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.
  • Friday, Feb. 19,  1:30 – 4:30 p.m.

WHY:               The continuing plague of abuse by law enforcement of African Americans, and African American men in particular, led to last year’s widespread protests. As a new presidential administration takes office, there is an opportunity to advance changes that can help to address this fundamental challenge facing our nation.  Interested community members are encouraged to join in for an examination of the many challenges and how to address them.

The first day of the program will begin with a presentation by the leading lawyers and legal scholars who co-authored a book that addresses this precise issue: “Policing the Black Man: Arrest Prosecution and Enforcement.” Law enforcement officials and elected officials will examine the impact on the criminal legal system.

A week later, the conversation will continue with an analysis of the issue by community leaders and activists to examine the impact on society. The results of the discussion will be used to identify steps to undertake to address these challenges. This is an important conversation that must continue.

NSU Psychology Student Completes Virtual Internship With South Korean NGO

Troy’nia Douglas, President of the Caribbean Student Association, Sharks Abroad Peer Advisor and a senior in the Bachelor of Science in Psychology program at NSU’s College of Psychology with a minor in Business, completed a virtual internship through the NSU Sharks Abroad program with The Education Abroad Network (TEAN) for a prominent non-governmental organization known as Teaching North Korean Refugees (TNKR) located in Seoul, South Korea. The organization is known for empowering North Korean refugees and providing them with free English learning opportunities to open up their lives to more possibilities and choices outside of North Korea.

The web conference featured 3 guest speakers, the main one being Eunhee Park, a female North Korean defector and popular Korean YouTuber who learned English while at TNKR, alongside Co-Founders Casey Lartigue Jr. and Eunkoo Lee, who were Douglas’s internship supervisors. The web conference centered around the plethora of struggles that North Korean women face as they escape North Korea and try to start a new life in the South. The event offered a perspective of the strength, will and determination that North Korean refugee women possess.

As a Sharks Abroad Peer Advisor, Douglas is now working to open doors to similar experiences for her fellow NSU students.  Douglas organizes virtual international internship presentations and is available for individual advising sessions on Summer 2021 opportunities and beyond.  Learn more at nova.edu/sharksabroad.

“To take action, one must first take the initiative to spread awareness and open up people’s minds to not just what is happening around you but to what is happening in other parts of the world,” Douglas said.

Behavioral Neuroscience Major is one of NSU’s 2020 Nominate a Veteran honorees

Andre Huggins, a Behavioral Neuroscience major in the College of Psychology, is one of NSU’s 2020 Nominate a Veteran nominees.

Huggins is a veteran who continues to serve in the Navy Reserve. During the COVID-19 pandemic, his unit was tasked with supporting New York, California, and Guam. He was essential in the planning and execution of this effort and personally volunteered to mobilize. Huggins also participated in a service learning trip to Tena, Ecuador, during spring break in the Winter 2020 semester. He assisted in the triage, diagnosis, and treatment of over 220 patients covering three locations in the Amazon.

Huggins has also been involved in several research projects in the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience and volunteers his time at NSU and through local organizations.

 

 

Recent College of Psychology Grad will Present Poster at Virtual Conference

Kelly Reyes graduated from NSU in May 2020 with a major in psychology and minors in behavioral analysis and criminal justice, but before heading to graduate school, she’s presenting a research poster at a virtual conference.

In late November, Reyes will present “Impact of Response Latency and Confidence on Eyewitness Accuracy,” at the Psychonomic Society virtual conference, based on research she conducted as an independent study with Associate Professor W. Matthew Collins of the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience. Reyes and Collins had 60 students watch a video and examine photos of faces to measure eyewitness accuracy and confidence in choice. The sample size was smaller than planned because in-person research was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I was interested in false memories,” Reyes said, which led her to seek out Collins after reading about his research interests on the college website.

Reyes recorded a video for her poster presentation, and she will be joined by Collins for a live Zoom session at the conference to answer questions.

“This is the big cognitive psychology conference that happens every year,” Collins said of the Psychonomic Society.

Reyes intends to study clinical psychology with a focus on forensic psychology in graduate school, followed by working with mentally ill populations in the prison system.

Click here to watch Reyes’ poster video: https://youtu.be/smVzGnpAgDY

College of Psychology Faculty Presents at Sports Nutrition Conference

Kayla Thayer, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor Kayla Thayer, Ph.D., from NSU’s College of Psychology, recently presented at a conference on the intersection of psychology and sports performance.

The International Society of Sports Nutrition conference took place in person in Daytona Beach, but implemented masks and social distancing. Presentations covered topics such as diet and amino acids, but Thayer took a different course.

Although sports performance is not Thayer’s main area of research, her presentation took the basic tenets of clinical psychology and evidence-based tools like cognitive behavioral therapy, but applied them to sports. Thayer noted that athletes also contend with common problems – anxiety, depression, trauma, legal issues, substance issues and sleep issues.

“When it’s your job to perform well, all of these problems negatively impact cognitive functioning, so by using clinical psychology, what we’re doing is targeting those underlying problems so that we can dedicate more cognitive resources to performance and enhancing it in the moment on the field,” Thayer said.

NSU Clinic Offering Online COVID-19 Support Groups

If you are feeling stressed out by COVID-19, free online support groups are available from one of the clinics at the College of Psychology’s Psychology Services Center. The support groups, which meet on Zoom, are offered by the Healthy Lifestyles Guided Self-Change Clinic (GSC).

For additional information about the support groups, please call (954) 262-5922. For information on other GSC programs, visit https://www.nova.edu/gsc/.

Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Students, NSU Faculty Discussed Art and Therapy

In February, some Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Students joined NSU College of Psychology faculty for a panel discussion on art that the students created after the school shooting that changed their lives.

“I wanted a calming, easy way to distract myself, so I started painting in December 2018,” said Olivia Feldman, who was in her sophomore year at the time of the shooting and graduated from MSD this year. “It clears my mind and helps me feel happy.”

Feldman said some of her school friends also turned to art, and she said participating in the panel helped them express some closure over the shooting before going their separate ways in college.

“Not everybody has either the desire or the ability to verbally process a trauma, and of a mass shooting, because you’re trying to make sense out of something that is a senseless act of violence,” said panelist Tara Jungersen, Ph.D., Chair of the Department of Counseling. “I think that’s where art therapy is beneficial.”

Full story: https://psychology.nova.edu/news-events/2020/cop-msd.html

College of Psychology Hosting Pride Webinar, June 19

The College of Psychology will be hosting a free Shark Chat webinar on LGBTQA Pride in recognition of June being Pride month.

The panel will take place Friday, June 19, 2020, at noon ET. Listen to LGBTQA panelists describe their paths. Hear the panelists share their personal journeys and describe the current challenges to overcoming barriers and stigmatization in a world designed for cisgender and heterosexual people.

Panel:

  • Cindy Brown, Manager Jewish Community Services Lambda Living Program, Miami LGBT Leader, President of Cenergy, LLC
  • DJ Diva Power Infiniti
  • Mindy Dunagan, Ph.D., LPC, NCC, Assistant Professor, Department of Counseling
  • Amy E. Ellis, Ph.D., NSU alum, Visiting Assistant Professor/Assistant Director, Trauma Resolution & Integration Program (TRIP)
  • Justin Maki, Ph.D., LPC, NCC, Assistant Professor, Department of Counseling
  • Zaver D. Moore, M.S., M.A., Clinical Psychology Doctoral Student, Graduate Assistant–Student Counseling Services, Counselor in Residence
  • Nicolas Meade, M.S. Clinical Psychology Doctoral Student, TRIP
  • Carlos Manuel Perez, Ed.D., NSU alum, College of Psychology Director of Outreach, Adjunct Professor
  • Steve Rothaus, mainstream news pioneer on South Florida LGBTQ issues

College of Psychology Alum working on COVID-19 Front line in New York

Christopher Fisher, Psy.D., is a clinical psychologist currently working at the epicenter of the coronavirus on a COVID-19 positive Adult Inpatient Psychiatry unit at Elmhurst Hospital Center in Queens, New York.

Fisher provides psychological care to those battling the virus who are also requiring psychiatric stabilization before community reintegration. Fisher credits the faculty of the College of Psychology’s Clinical Psychology program, and specifically his mentor, Assistant Professor Jennifer Davidtz, Ph.D., for years of amazing training and supervision that have prepared him for the work he does daily during this pandemic.

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