OFALD Newsletter Q4-2025

MAP Cohort #7

This year’s MAP Cohort has reached the midpoint, and the series of interesting monthly sessions continues. Special thanks to all presenters and also to the mentors who meet individually with their mentees every month!

MeRG 2025

MeRG wrapped up in November, with mentees presenting their research or project of choosing. Each cohort of the mentoring program accepts faculty, staff, and graduate students.

BSOM Mission Champion

Rachel Gaskins, Director of Assessment, was recognized as a BSOM Mission Champion described in the nomination letter by Dr. Brig Willis as the singular go-to person for all things related to assessment and testing, doing amazing work to ensure the physical performance of all assessments occurs.

Learn more about the Mission Champion Award

Calligraphy II Session

Dr. Morgan Milton instructs Paige Tyson on techniques used with quill pens and dipping ink as a wellness session from the series.

Utilizing AI in Medical Education

Medical students Clay Langfeldt & Jesse Singh gave an interactive presentation on the incorporation of LLMs into teaching methods.

See Upcoming Sessions

James Clifford, PhD, MS

Dr. Clifford received a Health Sciences Author Recognition award from Laupus Library for a recent paper on “Generational Latent Class Analysis” in PATH.

Dr. Sinan Sousan, PhD

Dr. Sousan, Associate Professor in Public Health, announced that the paper “Further Development and Testing of a Compact Wind Tunnel for Exposing Mosquitoes to Formulated Insecticide Products,” was published in the Journal of Insects. This study further evaluates patent-pending wind tunnel designed for insecticide resistance testing.

Read Dr. Sousan’s Full Paper

Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics Highlighted Trainee Author Syed Anees Ahmed, PhD for November 2025

Postdoctoral Researcher Dr. Ahmed and his team found that long-term estrogen administration can make male heart cells vulnerable to a specific type of cell death, ferroptosis, that damages cell membranes and weakens heart functioning.

Read Dr. Ahmed’s Full Paper

Dr. Ahmed was also recently featured in The Pharmacologist, the monthly news magazine of ASPET.

Deputy Barkey Reporting for Duty

This fan favorite from the Pitt County Sheriff’s office recently visited BSOM. His handler, Deputy Chris Curtis, says the pup takes his responsibilities seriously and looks forward to coming back in 2026!

Click here to receive a calendar reminder for the next visit!

Educator of Distinction

James Spears, a Forensic Pathologist’s Assistant at BSOM, was selected as the Educator of Distinction for his commitment to learners and will be honored at the Outstanding Staff Awards ceremony in 2026.

ISER–BrightFocus Glaucoma Symposium

Drs. Cooke Bailey and Asowata attended the ISER–BrightFocus Glaucoma Symposium in Atlanta to present ECU’s emerging glaucoma research to an international audience of scientists and clinicians. Dr. Asowata presented a poster highlighting the team’s findings from clinically characterizing glaucoma in Jamaica, while Dr. Cooke Bailey delivered an invited talk on new biological insights from large-scale genomic studies of glaucoma.

Dayana M. Gonzalez, MD

Dr. Gonzalez spreads her wings with the Department of Pediatrics at BSOM, joining the team as a Social/Clinical Research Specialist. Welcome aboard!

The latest manuscript, “Conditional deletion of the multiple sclerosis susceptibility gene ATXN1 identifies cell-autonomous effects in the B-cell compartment” was recently published online in the FEBS Journal. In this new study, the lab successfully created the first conditional Atxn1-null mouse line to study the effects of the transcriptional corepressor protein Ataxin-1 on B cells. These results from the Didonna lab pinpoint a previously unexplored role of Ataxin-1 in regulating B cell activity and uncover how ATXN1 genetic variations contributes to risk of Multiple Sclerosis.

Special thanks to the incredible work of Rachael Denbrock, Jonathan Carver, & Cindy Martines!

Brody School of Medicine Presents:

The 12th Annual Medical Education Day

Thursday, April 30, 12:30-5:00 pm.

Brody’s Medical Education Day is an annual half-day event highlighting the medical education research and innovation of the BSOM community. The event underscores Brody School of Medicine’s commitment to ongoing improvement in medical education. Dr. Taj Nasser will be the keynote speaker.

Click here to learn more or submit an abstract

People’s Choice Award Winner

The three-minute thesis competition gave the students an opportunity to explain their work at the university’s 12th annual event. From metabolic function to tone-deaf chatbots, graduate students are working to solve real-world problems. This year, Daniel Stevens from the OFALD team took home the honor of People’s Choice- great job!

Read the Full News Services Article here!

Basic science and clinical faculty participants write learning objectives, create assessment items, design small group activities, complete feedback exercises, complete longitudinal learning journals, and build teaching materials aligned with learning goals. They also create leadership goals and reflective statements. These work products accumulate into an educator portfolio used for teaching quality improvement and promotion.

Becky Gilbird waits with the new Pediatric Hal manikin in front of BSOM for pickup by the Healthcare Simulation Unit. The BSOM Simulation Center travels throughout eastern NC to train clinicians using high-fidelity manikins such as Pedatric Hal.

The Office of Faculty Affairs and Leadership Development recently hosted a fun team-building workshop as part of a department retreat. OFALD has multiple tools and offerings that can be used at your next department meeting or event!

Request a consultation here!

Dr. Joseph M. Chalovich was featured recently in Woodworking Crafts magazine!

Dr. Chalovich builds and carves a useful stand for storing books and papers. Some of his art and clocks are currently on display on the first floor of Brody.

Alyssa Arnold, EdD, M.Ed., M.S., LCMHC, NCC

Dr. Arnold successfully defended her dissertation, fulfilling the requirements to complete the advanced degree at ECU, a Doctorate in Educational Leadership. Congrats!

Share YOUR Celebrations and Good News here!