March 2022

Research @ Pace A newsletter highlighting faculty research & scholarship

Faculty Spotlight

Marcy Kelly, PhD, is a Professor and Chair in the Department of Biology, NYC (Dyson College of Arts and Sciences). Professor Kelly serves as the PI for a small undergraduate research laboratory. The work in her laboratory focuses on the interaction between mycobacteria (including the causative agent of tuberculosis – Mycobacterium tuberculosis) and effector molecules produced by the human immune response. She has over 15 peer reviewed publications describing the findings from her work – many with undergraduate student authors.   Professor Kelly has also published the results from over 10 National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded studies that have assessed the impact of her classroom interventions on student learning in peer-reviewed undergraduate education journals. She currently serves as a senior editor of the Journal of Microbiology and Biology Education. Professor Kelly’s efforts as a change agent in undergraduate biology education were recognized by the NSF, NIH-NIAID, and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) when she was invited to become a Partnership in Undergraduate Life Sciences Education (PULSE) Fellow . Additionally, she has received the Homer and Charles Pace Faculty Award and the Kenan Award for Teaching Excellence.    Most recently, Professor Kelly, together with Elmer Mojica, PhD (Chemistry and Physical Sciences, NUC/PLV, Dyson College of Arts and Sciences) and Brian Evans, PhD (Mathematics, NYC, Dyson Collage of Arts and Sciences), was awarded the NYS Department of Education CSTEP grant (Collegiate Science and Technology Entry Program) which provides academic enrichment and research experience in STEM to students from under-represented groups. Professor Kelly and her undergraduate research students were selected to present the results of their research at the 2022 meeting of the American Society for Microbiology Microbe (ASM), one of the largest life sciences societies in the world. They will present “A Cholesterol-Mediated Metabolic Shift Protects Mycobacterium bovis-BCG from GSH Induced Reductive Stress Killing by Increasing Electron Sink (NAD) Availability" in Washington DC this June.

Joshua Mendelsohn, PhD is Associate Professor in the Health Science Department, College of Health Professions. His grant-funded research includes studies of early antiretroviral therapy for reducing HIV infection among migrants (China), HIV transmission risk and relationship satisfaction among HIV mixed-status couples (Canada), community-based interventions for HIV stigma reduction among conflict-affected young people (Uganda), pre-exposure prophylaxis among gay and bisexual men (China/Canada), empowerment-based interventions for chronic illness self-management (New York), and vaccine attitudes and mental health among college students (Pace University). His recent publications include: "Social capital and HIV-serodiscordance: Disparities in access to personal and professional resources for HIV-positive and HIV negative partners” in Social Science and Medicine – Population Health (2022); “Exploring biomedicalization in daily life of mixed HIV-serostatus couples in Canada” in Social Science and Medicine (2022); “Health care professionals' experiences of facilitating patient activation and empowerment in chronic illness using a person-centered and strengths-based self-management program” in Chronic Illness (2021); and “Health-care professionals' assessment of a person-centred intervention to empower self-management and health across chronic illness: Qualitative findings from a process evaluation study” in Health Expectations (2021). “Disclosure of HIV-serodiscordant relationships and association with viral suppression: Results from the Positive Plus One study” is currently in press in AIDS Care and  "A national recruitment strategy for HIV-serodiscordant partners living in Canada for the Positive Plus One study: A mixed-methods study" is in press in BMC Public Health.   Professor Mendelsohn is also an Associate Editor for the journal Conflict and Health.

Faculty News

Michelle Chase, PhD (Economics, History, and Political Science, PLV) received a prestigious National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) fellowship to undertake the project “Red Star Over Cuba: A Global History of Anti-Castroism After the Bay of Pigs.” The success rate this year was only 8%. Professor Chase’s book manuscript provides the first history of Cuban exiles’ transnational anti-communist activism in the decades after the Cuban Revolution.

Anthony Mancini, PhD (Psychology, PLV, Dyson College of Arts and Sciences) published “A Comparison of Mental-Health Outcomes in the United States and Italy at Different Levels of Cumulative COVID-19 Prevalence” in Clinical Psychological Science (March 2022), one of the top psych journals. The article which discusses how the prevalence of COVID-19 affect people’s mental health, appeared in the special issue on COVID-19. The paper is an international collaboration with a colleague at the University of Bologna. It and received badges for open scientific practices (preregistration, open data, open materials).

Eric Brenner, PhD (Biology, NYC, Dyson College of Arts and Sciences), along with his former student, published a paper in Plant Signaling and Behavior 16.12 (2021). The study, titled “Nodding behavior observed in Japanese stiltgrass, Microstegium vimineum , seedlings from time-lapse observations.” It involves time lapse examining the juvenile behavior of the invasive weed, Japanese Stilt grass. It may be the first example of nictation in plants. That is the swaying back and forth used to detect other objects.  Further work on the subject is needed, but this is the first time lapse analysis of movement in this plant.

Martha Driver, PhD (Distinguished Professor of English and Women's and Gender Studies English, NYC, Dyson College of Arts and Sciences) was recently elected as a Fellow to the Society of Antiquaries (FSA) in London. She has published two articles this year: “How English Is It?” in Scribal Cultures in Late Medieval England: A Festschrift Honoring Linne Mooney, ed. by Holly James-Maddocks, Derek Pearsall, and Margaret Connolly (York Medieval Press, Boydell and Brewer, 2022), and “There and Back Again: Manuscripts after Printing,” Middle English Manuscripts and their Legacies: A Volume in Honour of Ian Doyle. Library of the Written Word 102, vol. 14, ed. by Corinne Saunders, Richard Lawrie (Leiden: Brill, 2022). Her short memorial essay for Derek Pearsall appears on the New Chaucer Society website. Professor Driver also served as a reader of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight at an event arranged by the Medieval Seminar at Harvard University in memory of Derek Pearsall.  Two of her profiles of women -- Margery Kempe  and Elizabeth Pickering appeared in The New Historia.

Aditi Paul, PhD (Communication Studies, NYC, Dyson College of Arts and Sciences) published my first sole-authored book The Current Collegiate Hookup Culture (Rowman and Littlefield, 2022). In this book, Professor Paul provides data-driven insights on how dating apps have transformed the culture of sex on campus for Gen Z students. The book has been endorsed by over 20 scholars from America, Asia, and Australia. Professor Paul has been invited to speak on multiple seminars and podcasts including Occidental College's podcast The Matrix in association with The Rep Project and The Gist with Mike Pesca. She has also been invited to hold workshops on sexual consent and wellness by Pace University, and John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

Seong Jae Min, PhD (Communication Studies, NYC, Dyson College of Arts and Sciences) published Rethinking the New Technology of Journalism: How Slowing Down Will Save the News (Penn State University Press, 2022). Based on on the survey of contemporary journalists as well as discourse and historical analysis of the American journalism industry, this book shows that journalists today live by the grand discourse of speedy technological innovation and cutthroat competition, struggling to catch up with new tools. The book argues for a slow journalism, a respite from the hectic pace of newswork and incessant innovation, and appreciation of long-term collaboration and reflection that enhance journalism’s core missions and functions in society.

Shirley Lin, JD., (Elisabeth Haub School of Law) recently published "Bargaining for Integration" in the New York University Law Review (96 N.Y.U. L. Rev. 1826 (Dec. 2021). Applying empiricism and political theory, Professor Lin uncovers the conversion of the Americans with Disabilities Act's "accommodations mandate" into a de facto bargaining model. As the COVID-19 pandemic has brought into bold relief, an individualistic model of rights-claiming ignores the constitutive dynamics of power in ableist institutions via race, gender, class, education level, and other dimensions despite disability advocates' original frame of social transformation.  Lin's critique raises broader implications for theorizing equality, state regulation, and social change work.  The LPE Project Blog previewed Lin's DisCrit (Disability CRT) analysis of the ADA and the pandemic here: "The Law and Political Economy of Disability Accommodations."

Jersey City Times published a show review that addresses Roger Sayre’s, PhD (Department Chairperson, Art, NYC, Dyson College of Arts and Sciences) ongoing project: Sitting: One Hour Portraits.  Read the full review.

Melvin Williams, PhD (Communication Studies, NYC, Dyson College of Arts and Sciences) was quoted on March 03, 2022 in a USA Today article entitled "Hugh Hefner, Jerry Lewis and the complications of talking about people after they die."

Elmer Mojica, PhD (Chemistry and Physical Sciences, NYC, Dyson College of Arts and Sciences) was a co-author of a paper entitled “Living with a giant, flowering parasite: Metabolic differences between Tetrastigma loheri Gagnep. (Vitaceae) shoots uninfected and infected with Rafflesia (Rafflesiaceae) and potential applications for propagation” published in Planta (Nov. 2021). Over 10,000 chemicals from infected and non-infected Tetrastigma cuttings were screened. The researchers discovered that non-infected cuttings had high quantities of benzylisoquinoline alkaloids, which include morphine and codeine. This study was also featured in Scientific American. Together with his research group alumni, Professor Mojica wrote the reflection paper "Impact of exposing students outside the classroom through poster presentations and publications" published in Perspectives in Undergraduate Research and Mentoring. Professor Mojica also publisher, with Alexander Tielemans '20 Psychology, "Geographical discrimination of propolis using dynamic time warping kernel principal components analysis," was published in Expert Systems with Applications 187 (January 2022). The article shows how a chemometric method (dynamic time warping kernel principal) was used to improve the discrimination of propolis analyzed by gas chromatographic with mass selective detection.

Upcoming Events

Grant Writing Workshops Obtaining funding for your research or scholarship contributes to your success as a professor. Such funding strengthens the case for promotion and tenure and raises your stature within your field. The funds can be used for research, supplies and travel, and can often be used for release time from teaching. Grants from federal agencies or private foundations comes with a catch, however; they are highly prized and very competitive. The Pace University Office of Research is now offering help for you to be more competitive in obtaining external support in the form of grant writing workshops this semester. The workshops will be led by Beth Schachter, PhD, who has 20 years’ experience in leading grant writing workshops and is an experienced and effective communicator. While she is a biomedical scientist she will deliver workshops that are also relevant to faculty from the computer sciences, social sciences, health sciences, humanities, Lubin School of Business, SOE and the Law School. The workshops will be on Zoom on the following dates: Wednesday, March 30th, 3:30 p.m.–5:30 p.m. Thursday, April 21, 3:30 p.m.–5:30 p.m.

The Future of Pace: Interdisciplinary Online Conference  Thursday, April 7, 2022 9:00 a.m.–4:15 p.m. The new strategic plan has identified four areas of academic opportunity for our faculty to develop new scholarly programs. These include business, humanities, healthcare, science and technology. The conference is arranged around those themes with the goal of getting faculty to talk about their work among their peers. On April 7, Pace’s Office of Research invites you to explore these questions at The Future of Pace, an interdisciplinary online conference featuring panel discussions and faculty research presentations, as well as a keynote address by Dan Porterfield, the President and CEO of the Aspen Institute, a global nonprofit organization committed to realizing a free, just, and equitable society. Register for the conference and we will be in touch shortly with a Zoom link. See the preliminary conference schedule

Celebration of the Book and Performance Completion Award winners April 27 at 3:30 p.m. - 5:00p.m. On Wednesday, April 27, Pace University will honor the winners of the Book and Performance Completion Award with an event that features presentations by the faculty award winners and a panel discussion on book publishing. The award is sponsored by the Office of Research. See the event program Register for the April 27th event Welcoming Remarks Avrom Caplan, Associate Provost for Research Presentations by 2021- 2022 Book and Performance Completion Award Winners Ana Amaya, Health Sciences Michelle Chase, Economics, History, and Political Science Kimberly Collica-Cox, Criminal Justice and Security Andriy Danylenko, Modern languages and cultures Jennifer Hofmann, Physician Assistant Studies Seong Jae Min, Communication Studies Aditi Paul, Communication Studies Gina Scutelnicu-Todoran, Public Administration Ying Wang, Modern Languages and Cultures Panel Discussion on book publishing Jaya Chatterjee, Acquiring Editor, Yale University Press Pamela Fuentes, Women’s and Gender Studies, Pace University Fredric Nachbaur, Director, Fordham University Press Eric Nelson, Vice President and Editorial Director, Broadside Books Nancy Reagin, Professor of European History and Gender Studies, Pace University

Undergraduate Research

Spring 2022 Undergraduate Research and Creative Inquiry Days CALL FOR APPLICATIONS TO PRESENT! Thursday, May 5, 2022 | NYC Friday, May 6, 2022 | PLV   The Undergraduate Research and Creative Inquiry Days May 5 (NYC) and May 6 (PLV) will showcase undergraduates from across the schools and colleges who have engaged in faculty-mentored research and creative inquiry during the academic year. Students will have produced scholarly or artistic work as part of a course-based research (or creative inquiry) assignment, award program, or a co-curricular project, and in fulfillment of their Senior Capstone or Honors College thesis requirement.   Apply to present by April 1, 2022 (deadline was extended)

Spring 2022 Faculty Undergraduate Research Webinar Series Monday common hour – 12:10 p.m. - 1:10 p.m. Learn about the Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR) – 04/11/22 Register in advance for this meeting After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

Spring 2022 Student Undergraduate Research Webinar Series Wednesday common hour – 12:10 p.m. - 1:10 p.m.                             Thursday common hour – 3:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.   Designing a Poster for Presentation – 04/13/22 and 04/14/22   Register in advance for Wednesday’s meeting                              Register in advance for Thursday’s meeting After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

Summer 2022 Provost’s Student-Faculty Undergraduate Research/Creative Inquiry Awards The Center for Undergraduate Research Experiences is now accepting applications! This summer research program is for undergraduate students who will be entering their sophomore, junior, or senior year in Fall 2022. This internal funding opportunity supports faculty-mentored scholarly and artistic projects developed in courses and research settings that will benefit from in-depth development over the summer months. Please consider sponsoring students for this funding opportunity!  Apply Here!  Deadline to apply: Monday, April 4, 2022   If you have questions contact Maria Iacullo-Bird, Ph.D., Assistant Provost for Research at miacullobird@pace.edu

Prestigious Awards and Fellowships

AFCEA Educational Foundation Scholarships  AFCEA Educational Foundation is dedicated to providing educational incentives, opportunities and assistance for people engaged in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines focused on information technology, cybersecurity, telecommunications and electronics supporting the defense, homeland security and intelligence communities. Merit-based scholarships ranging from $2500-$5000 will be awarded to full-time undergraduate sophomore or junior students attending a four-year university with a 3.0 GPA or higher studying STEM, Cyber Security, Intelligence, Homeland Security or related fields.    To be eligible for an AFCEA STEM Major Scholarship, a student must: Be a sophomore or junior level college student Be U.S. Citizen or Permanent Residents. Have a current overall GPA of 3.0 or higher Be committed to a career supporting the defense, homeland security and intelligence communities   If you know of any students who may be interested and eligible, please reach out to Jenny Irwin at jirwin@pace.edu.

Share your research news here.

Questions? email Elina Bloch at ebloch@pace.edu