From Here to Health
App State Faculty Creating,
Disseminating & Advancing Knowledge
in the Science of Health
| |
Fall 2024
As all of you are very aware, the path From Here to Health in the High Country has recently been flooded; washed away with bridges and roads; and blocked by fallen trees, rocks and mudslides. And it seems, as typical, many with the least to begin with have lost the most. But our communities have been responding with the strength, determination, and grace so characteristic of resilient Appalachia and of Appalachian State. We have seen heroic efforts from trained rescue teams and untrained, emboldened volunteers. We have much to be thankful for as the slightly muted coloration of the mountains begins to disappear and the colder air starts to reach us in fits and starts. This season of fall has turned into a season of volunteering, fundraising, and heartfelt drives to build our way back. There's much work ahead, but we will get there.
The Beaver College of Health Sciences fared much better than many other colleges on campus, as our primary building, Leon Levine Hall, suffered only power loss and minor flooding. That power loss, unfortunately, caused some substantive losses in research, as generators went out and freezers filled with thousands of dollars worth of reagents, biological samples, and other important research materials requiring specialized refrigeration were lost--along with countless hours of work. Our faculty in Holmes Convocation Center, along with others housed there, lost offices and found classrooms and common areas under water and layers of mud. But our students are back, our faculty are back, and our mission to Take Health to New Heights is ever-present.
It's my pleasure to provide you with some updates on the great work our faculty and students are doing to create and disseminate new knowledge to improve the health and well-being of Western NC, Appalachia, and beyond. This will be my last opportunity to share this news with you, as I am returning to faculty in 2025 and handing over the reigns of research and graduate programs in Health Sciences at App State to Dr. Adam Hege, Associate Professor of Public Health. I look forward to him carrying on some of the initiatives created during my time in this role and expanding our reach with new ones of his own.
As always, we need volunteers to participate in research studies.
Many research projects conducted by faculty and their students involve human subjects/participants. Please take a look at some of the exciting research projects that are active right now and see if you qualify to participate at: https://healthsciences.appstate.edu/research/volunteers.
Or scan the QR Code you see in this section. Thank you for taking a look and for supporting the advancement of new knowledge that can impact health and wellness for many.
Enjoy this edition of our newsletter and podcast, and I'll see you on the road From Here to Health.
Gary H. McCullough
Associate Dean for Research & Graduate Education
⧫⧫⧫
| | |
Faculty Spotlight
Becki Battista, Rich Christiana, & Joy James
| |
The HOPE Lab, Healthy Outdoor Play and Exercise, investigates the role of outdoor physical activity, exercise, and play on health, the environment, and human development with the overarching goal to promote and support outdoor physical activity, exercise, and play through interdisciplinary research.
Formed through some early conversations between Drs. Becki Battista and Joy James, the seeds of an idea to look at the impact of outdoor play and exercise on health, the environment, and human development grew into a research cluster and eventually a full-on research lab. Here's a bit about three of the lab's senior investigators.
Becki Battista, Ph.D., is a Professor in the Department of Public Health and Exercise Science. After receiving undergraduate degrees from the University of Delaware and Lock Haven University, Becki earned her Master's degree in Exercise Physiology from Indiana University and her PhD in Growth and Motor Development from Michigan State. She is a member of the American College of Sports Medicine and the North American Association of Pediatric Exercise Science.
Rich Christiana, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Public Health, holds a B.S. degree from Binghamton University, a Master's in Anthropology from University of Albany, and earned his doctorate at the University of Georgia. He is a member of the American Public Health Association, the American College of Sports Medicine, and the US Play Coalition.
Joy James, Ph.D., Professor in the Department of Recreation Management and Physical Education, has an undergraduate degree from The University of Georgia, a Master's in Curriculum and Instruction from Northern Illinois, and earned her doctorate in Parks Recreation and Tourism Management from Clemson University. She is a member of the North Carolina Parks and Recreation Association and the American Camping Association and holds certifications as a Park and Recreation Professional and an Interpretive Guide Trainer.
Some of the labs current projects include:
- Effects and outcomes of online higher education and physical activity courses
- Physical activity behaviors and perceptions pre- and post-COVID-19
- Pediatrician prescriptions and referrals for the outdoors (TRACK Rx, OutdoorRX, and ParkRx)
- Evaluation of the TRACK Trails trail enhancement intervention
- Development of a web database of local parks and outdoor spaces for play in the High Country region of North Carolina (a collaboration with Park Rx America)
Other lab members include: Dr. Robert Broce, Associate Professor of Social Work; Dr. Brooke Towner, Assistant Professor of Physical Education; and Dr. Heather Venrick, Clinical Faculty in the Department of Nursing.
Follow the link above to listen to our podcast discussion, and be sure to check out their own podcast, Appalachian Outdoorosity, to hear stories that inform you about living an active outdoor lifestyle. Also, check out the latest issue of The Journal of the Appalachian Institute for Health and Wellness at https://jihhs.pubpub.org/. This issue is also all about the great work of the HOPE Lab, written by their research team.
| |
Recent Grants in Health Sciences | | |
Dr. Adam Hege, Associate Professor of Public Health and Dr. Martie Thompson, Blue Cross NC Distinguished Professor of Public Health were awarded a grant from The Collaboratory for Science, Policy, and Solutions at UNC Chapel Hill. The $190,800 award is for their project "Understanding and Addressing Opioid Remediation Activities in Three Appalachian Counties in Western North Carolina." AppHealthCare, a local government agency and tri-county local health department serving Watauga, Ashe and Alleghany counties is currently making use of national opioid settlement funding to implement initiatives aimed at remediation activities across the three counties. In this project, an App State interdisciplinary research team (Public Health, Social Work, and Geography and Planning) along with graduate and undergraduate student research assistants, will partner with AppHealthCare and other nonprofit and FQHC entities currently working with AppHealthCare in their remediation activities. | | | |
|
Dr. Leah Hamilton continues her research on guaranteed income allocations with a 4 year, $676,000 grant from the Georgia Resilience and Opportunity Fund. This project is a phase two of her prior work on "In Your Hands." Building on the success of Phase One, this phase seeks to expand and deepen the understanding of the transformative potential of guaranteed income for low-income women in historically Black communities in Georgia. The pilot aims to enroll an additional 400 participants and extend the study duration to three years to capture long-term effects.
| | | |
Health Sciences Faculty Appointments & Awards | |
Dr. Jenny Womack was elected Chair of the newly-formed Education Committee for the Society of the Study of Occupation-USA, the national research society for the discipline of Occupational Science.
| |
| | |
HERE’S TO HEALTH PUBS
Kudos to these faculty for disseminating their research to the broader community of scholars through publications in some top-tiered journals. We did a bit of altering from the traditional referencing formats to highlight the names of our faculty.
Williams, E., Monica Bellon-Harn, & Morris, L. (2024). You’re going to serve people from all different backgrounds”: CSD Students’ Perceptions of an Introductory Online Social Justice Program. Teaching and Learning in Communication Sciences and Disorders, 8(3). DOI: https://doi.org/10.61403/2689-6443.1307
Dana Brackney & Susan Lane (Accepted for publication). Registered nurses’ educational plans post-pandemic with implications: Qualitative descriptive analysis. British Journal of Nursing.
Cuzmenco, S., Dana Brackney, Melinda Bogardus (2024). Whole food plant-based dietary education for frontline RNs: Strategic actions to enhance CAD management. International Journal of Disease Reversal and Prevention, 6(2), 1-10.
H Kim, Scott Collier, V Bonavolontà, A Lassiter, S Wait, Marco Meucci. Cardiorespiratory Fitness Is an Indicator of Arterial Stiffness and Aortic Blood Pressure in Healthy Adolescents. Children, Children 2024, 11(9), 1078. https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9067/11/9/1078
Batson, W. T., Wilhoite, S., Singh, H., Zhang, C., Gavin Colquitt, & Modlesky, C. M. (2024). Estimates of functional muscle strength from a novel progressive lateral step-up test are feasible, reliable, and related to physical activity in children with cerebral palsy. PLOS ONE. 19(7), e0306529. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0306529
Gavin Colquitt, Keko, M., Rochani, H. D., Modlesky, C. M., Vova, J., & Maitre, N. L. (2024). A cross-sectional study of disparities in healthcare transition in cerebral palsy. Journal of Clinical Medicine, 13(13), 3759. https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm13133759
Galphin G*, Adam Hege, Page, AD (2024). Impacts of the COVID-19
pandemic on intimate partner violence and child maltreatment in rural northwest North Carolina. Journal of Appalachian Health, 6(3).*Former undergraduate student
Jill Juris, Zvonkovic, A., Allen, K. R., Few-Demo, A., & Crawford, A. (2024). Grandparent couples’ experiences of family leisure. Journal of Leisure Research, 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/00222216.2024.2408382
Bob Kowalski & Martie Thompson (2024). Expanding the Sexual Experiences Survey to include cyber sexual victimization. The Journal of Sex Research, 61, 897-903. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224499.2023.2244939.
C.E. Kline, A.G. Kubala, Bob Kowalsky, B.B. Gibbs (2024). The effect of replacing prolonged sitting with intermittent standing during a simulated workday on the subsequent night's sleep. Sleep and Biological Rhythms. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41105-024-00552-x.
Jennifer Kurtz, Grazer, J., Wilson, K., Feresin, R. G., Doyle, J. A., Middleton, R., … Otis, J. (2024). The effect of quercetin and citrulline on cycling time trial performance. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 21(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/15502783.2024.2416909
Gibert Munoz-Cornejo, J Lee, BA Russell (In Press). A thematic analysis of ransomware incidents among United States hospitals, 2016–2022. Health and Technology, 1-12
Gibert Munoz-Cornejo, Julie Sakowski, J Lee, A Parks. (In Press). Analyzing the urban–rural divide: the role of location, time, and breach characteristics in US hospital security incidents, 2012–2021. Discover Health Systems 3 (1), 38
Joonghee Lee & Gilbert Munoz Cornejo (in press). The Impact of Healthcare Digitalization on Communication with Healthcare Providers: The Case of People Who are Hard of Hearing. Health Communication.
Alan R. Needle, Jennifer S. Howard, Marguerite B. Downing, Jared W. Skinner; Neural-Targeted Rehabilitation Strategies to Restore Typical Activation after Joint Injury. Journal of Athletic Training 2024; doi: https://doi.org/10.4085/1062-6050-0215.23
Deringer, S. A., Mitten, D., Eric Rabinowitz, Leonard, A., & Clegg, J. (2024). Use of Nearby Nature in College Outdoor Programming. Journal of Experiential Education, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/10538259241265970
Morgan J.E., Dunning, O.N., Tocci N.D., Mauney E.L., Yazell A.S., Matt Rogatzki (2024). Plasma and serum volume remain unchanged following a 12-h fast from food and drink despite changes in blood and urinary hydration markers. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, epub ahead of print. https://rdcu.be/dXi7z
Heather Schier, Chetty K, Induri S, Gunther C. (In Press). Exploring Nutrition-Related Interests of the Transgender and Gender-Diverse Community: A Content Analysis of a Transgender-Centric Discussion Forum on Reddit. Public Health Nutrition.
Kettrey, H., Martie Thompson, Marx, R., & Davis, A. (in press). Who is considered a potential victim, perpetrator, or bystander? A systematic review and meta-analysis of research evaluating gender-specific campus sexual assault prevention programs implemented in the United States. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse.
Martie Thompson, Matt Hudson-Flege, & Hancock, K. (2024). Long-term impacts of civic engagement during emerging adulthood: A nationally-representative study. American Journal of Health Promotion.
Susan Weidmann (2024). Conjuring History: Presenting the Salem Witch Trials to Visitors. The Journal of American Culture 00(0): 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1111/jacc.13588.
George Wolford, Fissel Brannick, S. (2024). Reimagining clinical education practices for autism through the multi-client multilevel mentorship model. Teaching and Learning in Communication Sciences & Disorders, 8(3). DOI: https://doi.org/10.61403/2689-6443.1320
⧫⧫⧫
ON THE ROAD IN THE AIR
| | |
From Boone to Boston to California to Seattle to Texas to Minnesota to Illinois to New Hampshire to Florida to Canada to France to China to Taiwan....and, of course, back. The post-COVID (not entirely accurate) travel for research presentations is in high gear. Can't really get them all on a map like this. You can read about some of these great presentations below. | | |
|
Alan Needle presented his work titled "Rewiring Rehabilitation: Visuomotor & Cognitive Assessment and Rehabilitation" at the International Ankle Symposium in Strasbourg, France on October 5, 2024. | | | |
Ashley Marshall gave keynote presentations on "Patient care documentation: A source of actionable data in athletic training" and "Improving clinical practice: Using data at the point-of-care at a conference on data transformation: From injury records to empirical applications" at National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, Taiwan on August 25, 2024. | |
| | |
More on the Circuit
Melinda Bogardus, Sydeena Isaacs, Thompson, M., &Wu, S. (2024, October 29). Testing the feasibility and impacts of a whole-food plant-based diet intervention on college students’ health [Poster presentation]. American College of Lifestyle Medicine 2024 Lifestyle Medicine Conference, Orlando, FL.
Sydeena Isaacs, Melinda Bogardus and Young, A. (2024, August 1). Changes in diet quality and adherence in college students after a 3-week whole-food plant-based vegan diet intervention [Podium presentation]. Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior (SNEB) International Conference, Knoxville, TN.
Margaret Brown, Zoe Bestmann-Smith, BS (AppState Public Health Graduate); Martie Thompson
Understanding The Increased Vulnerability To Sexual Violence of College Students Who Are LGBTQ+ Women To Better Inform Prevention And Intervention Efforts. Presenting at the Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality Conference, November 13-17 (https://sexscience.org/content.aspx?page_id=22&club_id=173936&module_id=680954)
Brook Harmon & Webster, K. (January 2025). Design Lab Leader - Women in Ministry. Common Table Global Gathering, La Mirada, California.
Brook Harmon, West, N., San Diego, E.R.N., Pichon, L. (February 2025). Translating and implementing community-based participatory research: How assessing needs of faith communities became a model for promoting health equity in diverse settings. SBM Behavior Change Grand Rounds, webinar.
Smith, R., Clain, A., Martin-Harris, B., Gary McCullough & Jordan Hazelwood (2024, December). Screening for pediatric feeding disorder: an exploratory item-level analysis of the ICFQ screening tool. [In-person and virtual poster presentation]. Annual meeting of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, Seattle, WA.
Robinson, G., Jordan Hazelwood, George Wolford, Smith, R. (2024, December). Elevating healthcare standards: exploring competence in dysphagia management. [In-person and virtual poster presentation]. Annual meeting of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, Seattle, WA.
Seger, M., Julie Sakowski, Ashley Parks & Gutschall, A. (2024, October 27-30). Evaluation of type 2 diabetes intervention, management & treatment programs for Western NC Veterans [Poster Presentation]. APHA 2024 Annual Meeting "Building Trust in Health and Science" Minneapolis, MN. *Graduate Student Research Achievement: Megan Segar (Julie Sakowski PhD & Ashley Parks DrPH, research advisors) was awarded the Health Administration Section student achievement award for her abstract/poster submission to the 2024 American Public Health Association (APHA) annual meeting.
Susan Lane & Becky Turpin (2024). Creating capstone placements: Top tips for facilitating positive solution oriented approaches in an ever-changing healthcare landscape. Presentation at South Eastern Nurse Educator Symposium, Concord, NC 10/24/24. https://www.southernregionalahec.org/wp-content/uploads/NU241024.pdf
Susan Lane, Dana Brackney & Tammy Haley (2024). Villain or hero? AI and the future of nursing education. Presented at as a Plenary Session at SENSES Conference in Concord, October 2024. https://www.southernregionalahec.org/senses-2024/
Jean Bernard, Rebecca Almond, Susan Lane, & Lee Wittmann (2024). Learning care of diverse populations through 360-Virtual Reality simulation: A qualitative examination of nursing students’ experiences in interpersonal and clinical therapeutic relationships post-simulation training. Presented as a poster at SENSES Conference in Concord, October 2024.
Denise Levy, Drumm, R., Timbers, V., Goodwin, J., Chamiec-Case, R., & Ward, W. (2024, October). Intergroup dialogue with the Collaborative on Religion, Sexuality & Gender [Conference presentation]. 74th annual convention of the North American Association of Christians in Social Work, Dallas, Texas.
Zhong Liu, Shenghui Wu, Marco Meucci. Body Mass Index and Non-invasive Cardiovascular Parameters. (2024 the 5th Belt & Road Initiative Global Health International Congress) in Xi'an, China. https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/vUIcw-PXgT33XgL71D3Xyw
Kim McCullough and Bayles, K. (2024) MCI: Best Practices for Assessment and Intervention. Session presented at the American Speech-Language Hearing Association annual convention, Seattle, WA.
Alan Needle. Rewiring Rehabilitation: Visuomotor & Cognitive Assessment and Rehabilitation. Presented as a Symposium at the International Ankle Symposium in Strasbourg, France on October 5, 2024.
Annie Preaux, & Castro, A. (2024, November 20-23). The intersection of violence, mental health, discrimination, and poverty in the Dominican Republic [Conference presentation]. 2024 American Anthropological Association Annual Meeting, Tampa, FL, United States.
Heather Schier. Beyond the Binary: Exploring the State of Transgender and Gender-diverse Nutrition Research. Oral Presentation, American Society for Nutrition. Chicago, IL. July 2024.
Heather Schier. “Nutrition is the easiest thing I can do, right?”: Exploring the Nutrition Needs and Priorities of Transgender and Gender-Diverse Youth Through Key Informant Perspectives. Poster Presentation, American Society for Nutrition. Chicago, IL. July 2024.
Martie Thompson, Bob Kowalski, Peterson, Z., & Anderson, R. (July 2024). Technology-facilitated sexual exploitation module of the SES-V: Prevalence and differential vulnerability across two national samples. Violence Prevention Research Conference 2024, Portsmouth, NH.
Martie Thompson, Matt Flege, Hancock, K. (June 2024). Long-term impacts of civic engagement during emerging adulthood: A nationally-representative study. 2024 Add Health Users Conference, Chapel Hill, NC.
| | | | | |