Health Sciences Archives | �鶹ԭ�� News

�鶹ԭ�� Students Reimagine Clothing Through Adaptive Design

Paul Kelly — Tue, 30 Jun 2026 15:49:56 +0000

At the �鶹ԭ�� College of Health Professions and Sciences Rehabilitation Innovation Center, clothing becomes a tool for care. Students are combining health expertise and design to help people reclaim independence, confidence and comfort in daily living.

Through the Spring 2026 Health Tech Innovators Adaptive Clothing Hackathon, students across disciplines including physical therapy, health sciences, medicine, health services administration, and engineering worked together to redesign everyday garments around the needs of people facing medical, cognitive, and sensory challenges.

This year’s project immersed students in real world healthcare challenges, pairing interprofessional teams with patient volunteers in the community and their caregivers to identify barriers created by traditional clothing and create personalized solutions.

“It’s one thing to build something that works,” says Associate Dean of Clinical Affairs and Healthcare Innovation Bari Hoffman, who led the program. “It’s another thing to build something that’s usable, comfortable and actually fits into someone’s daily activities.”

Interprofessional student teams showcased their adaptive clothing designs in a final presentation in which patient volunteers modeled the garments. (Photo by Grayson Keglovic)

��ܳ��-��Գٱ��ٱ��

For physical therapy doctoral student Ashley Peitz, the project revealed how something as ordinary as getting dressed can become physically exhausting when clothing isn’t designed with accessibility in mind.

“We’re working with a stroke survivor, and he wears a device on his left leg and has difficulty getting pants on and off without his [WalkAide device] getting in the way,” Peitz says. “It makes things like going to the bathroom take longer, or just getting dressed take a little longer, which is fatiguing for him.”

Students began the multi-month project by hearing from entrepreneurs in the adaptive clothing industry before interviewing and assessing their patient volunteers to better understand their daily routines, needs and personal preferences.

For Peitz’s team, those conversations revealed not only the physical challenges their volunteer faces, but also his desire to maintain a sense of normalcy and personal style.

“His main goal was finding an easier way to take his garments on and off while still looking like everyday attire,” Peitz says. “Everyone wants to fit in. Even something as simple as not having a shirt that fits correctly, or allows for your medical device to fit underneath, can make you feel outside the norm.”

��ԲԴǱ��پ��ǲ��ճ��ǳܲ��貹�ٳ��

After developing a garment design plan, presenting it for peer feedback and securing materials, students quickly learned the project required more than creativity. It demanded adaptability, communication and collaboration across disciplines.

“I think a lot of times, engineers think of a really cool, innovative idea, but sometimes the comfort and practicality of a human actually using it isn’t the most ideal,” says mechanical engineering major Jannah Barakat. “You shift from more of a product standpoint to more of a human-centered approach.”

“I’m able to be a professional problem solver and learn how I can take something that is different for somebody else and really cater it to their needs.” — Sari Greenstein, �鶹ԭ�� student

Health sciences major Sari Greenstein and her team designed clothing for Marlie, a young girl with cerebral palsy who loves bright colors and Disney, especially Princess Tiana. They modified a sweatshirt and sweatpants with openings for a medical port and feeding tube and added zippered access points to the arms and the legs to make dressing and undressing easier for caregivers.

“It’s a process [with] a lot of iteration and a lot of cultivation,” Greenstein says. “I’m able to be a professional problem solver and learn how I can take something that is different for somebody else and really cater it to their needs.”

Students researched user needs, learned garment fabrication skills, and designed adaptive clothing solutions to improve comfort, accessibility, and independence for individuals with medical needs. (Photo by Grayson Keglovic)

Mission-Driven Work

During fabrication day, students assembled their garments with guidance from sewing professionals. Volunteers later returned to try on the finished outfits and provide feedback on the fit before final adjustments were made.

The project culminated in a final presentation during which student teams explained their designs and the patient volunteers modeled the clothing.

“We are not just changing clothing,” Hoffman says. “We’re actually changing how people move through their daily activities, how they feel about themselves and how independently they can live.”

The experience also reinforced the value of interdisciplinary collaboration in healthcare.

“My biggest takeaway from this project is how important it is to work with all the other professions, especially in healthcare,” Peitz says. “We all need to come together to make the patient’s health our first priority.”

The Health Tech Innovators program was developed in part through a grant from VentureWell to promote innovation in healthcare technology. ��徱�پ��ǲԲ��upport and materials were provided �ٳ��ǳܲ��funding from the Chesley G. Magruder Foundation.

�鶹ԭ�� Scientist Leads Research to Break Through Harmful Bacterial “Fortresses”

Eddy Duryea ’13 — Mon, 01 Jun 2026 13:19:55 +0000

College of Medicine Assistant Professor Renee Fleeman continues to refine a powerful therapy for drug-resistant bacteria that pierces the gooey coating that anchors and protects such germs from the drugs we take to kill them.

��research, backed by a five-year $813,130 National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases grant, found that an antimicrobial peptide naturally found in cows weakens the biofilm defenses of Klebsiella pneumoniae bacteria and destroys it.

Now in their fourth year of research, Fleeman and her lab have discovered exactly how the peptide works in findings published in PLOS Pathogens.

“Our research is very advantageous for healthcare because about 80% of bacterial infections being treated in the clinic are bacteria living in a biofilm state, which makes them resistant to virtually every antibiotic available,” she says.

The results represent a critical step to potentially applying this peptide as a therapy and eventually treating patients, as the findings show they can and kill biofilm-embedded bacteria in animal models.

Robert Beckman ’23 shows an isolated experiment that demonstrates how their peptide kills K. pneumoniae, which is a critical step before testing in animal or human models.

Parsing out the Peptide

K. pneumoniae is found in the intestines and is usually harmless, however, the bacterium develops resistance over a person’s lifetime as they are exposed to antibiotics. The bacteria also can spread from the intestine to other parts of the body in immunocompromised patients and those who have internal ruptures or exposure to contaminated medical devices. That exposure can lead to pneumonia, urinary tract or wound infections.

“What happens is the bacteria infects the wound, proliferates, and then invades through the bloodstream where it travels to the liver, kidneys and spleen,” Fleeman says. “We found our peptide was able to decrease the bacteria at the source while limiting the bacteria’s ability to move through the blood.”

Fleeman and her lab’s most recent study found that the peptide triggers a dual stress response that tricks the bacteria to break out of their protective biofilm.

They discovered the genetics of a specific protein in the bacterium when turned on in the germ causes it to break from its own protective biofilm. The peptide, in effect, damages the protection and then stresses the bacterium into shedding its protection, making the germ more sensitive to antibiotics and the body’s immune system.

“By hitting the membrane as well as protein synthesis at the same time, it’s a double punch that triggers a genetic change in the cell to make it think it needs to break out of the biofilm as a response to our peptide,” Fleeman says.

The team says their sustained research aims to demonstrate that their peptide can work synergistically with existing antibiotics. They envision long-term applications could involve a topical cream that weakens the bacteria’s defenses and allows standard antibiotics to work more effectively.

“We’re moving our research forward and we’re very hopeful,” Fleeman says.

Renee Fleeman’s lab group is comprised of students who, under Fleeman’s mentorship, gain valuable research experience. (Photo by Kadeem Stewart)

Preparing for the Post-Antibiotic Era

The first author of this new work is Robert Beckman ’23, who graduated from �鶹ԭ�� with a bachelor’s degree in health sciences, managed Fleeman’s lab and is now on his way to the University of Michigan for his Ph.D.

His previous work as an EMT gave him firsthand exposure to infectious diseases and their impact on patients. He says helping to lead the study and working with Fleeman helped prepare him for a career in medical research.

“I have developed a strong foundation in research and gained insight into the many components that define an effective scientist,” he says. “My long-term goal is to remain in academia and eventually lead my own research lab. I plan to continue focusing on bacteriology, with a particular emphasis on pathogenic bacteria and drug discovery applications.”

Funding and Disclosure:

Research reported in this publication was supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number R00AI163295. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.

Student Research Expands Medical Education in Virtual Reality Spaces

Eddy Duryea ’13 — Wed, 17 Dec 2025 13:58:30 +0000

The foundation of future medical educational tools may have just been developed at �鶹ԭ�� thanks to an interdisciplinary collaboration for student research projects.

As part of the Fall 2025 Senior Design Showcase, two research projects featured faculty mentorship that resulted in new ways for students and medical professionals to collaborate in health sciences and medical education.

Judges selected the two projects to be featured in the yearly showcase because of their quality and potential for real-world application.

The students received invaluable experience and the technologies developed are ready to be further refined by another incoming group of �鶹ԭ�� undergraduates.

Seniors Brayden Weber, Nabeeha Vorajee, Jose Hernandez, Francisco Picazo, Anthony Castillo and Julian Mendez worked on a heart imaging project as developers. (Photo by Eddy Duryea)

Understanding Congenital Heart Defects Through Immersive Technology

If Nabeeha Vorajee were was in a clinical setting, she would need a mask, scalpel and medical scrubs to explore the anatomy of the heart. But she’s not a medical student and the heart she’s studying isn’t real thanks to new technology she helped develop.

�մǰ��Ծ��ǰ��computer science major, and the heart is made of thousands of pixels residing in a simulated classroom accessible through virtual reality (VR).

Students wear a virtual reality headset to better understand CT scans of the heart. Using AI, the system categorizes the images for common heart defects. It also creates a 3D digital twin of the heart that students can interact with through the headset.

Vorajee’s team took the learning system a step further and applied it for medical education. They integrated AI learning and the ability to highlight, isolate and segment different parts of the heart. If users have questions about what they’re seeing, they can ask the AI data set without leaving the session.

Users can import cardiac CT scans and transform them into a 3D heart, which allows them to take the model and learn beyond the classroom, Vorajee says.

“Computers and VR headsets are a lot more easily available than an actual heart,” she says. “If a student wanted to study up, they’ll be able to do so a lot easier with this program than they will be able to find a heart.”

The project included guidance and mentorship by Laura Brattain, associate professor of medicine, and Matthew Gerber ’98 ’00MS ’05PhD and Richard Leinecker, associate lecturers of computer science.

Seniors Ash Hutchinson, Arianna Ramirez Oquendo, Michael Biskup, Matthew Eisenberg, Kyle Kratt, Zoe Schlesinger and Thomas Winslow worked on a CT scan/VR application project. (Photo by Eddy Duryea)

Clinical Imaging VR

Before pursuing a degree in computer science, Arianna Ramirez Oquendo attended nursing school and used her experience to inform her group’s research project: a VR application to help medical students practice interpreting CT scans.

“When I was in nursing, I realized that most of my practice identifying organ structures and reading CT scans or MRIs was restricted to only lab times,” Oquendo recalls. “I needed more than two or three hours a week to really understand what I’m looking at.”

Oquendo’s group’s system simulates a clinical imaging office where students can compare normal and abnormal CT scans, identify anatomical structures and recognize medical implantable devices.

The app allows students to see and adjust up to 160 slices — or images — from each CT scan. After the tutorial and CT scan room, there is a final study room where teachers can implement multiple choice or “drag and drop” quizzes on specific scans.

Emily Bradshaw, an associate professor of medicine and project sponsor, says that this project has great potential to help students and supplement their education.

CT imaging can be a difficult radiologic discipline to master because the images are presented in three different planes, says Melissa Cowan, project sponsor and assistant director of instructional technology at the College of Medicine.

“By aligning the CT images to a 3D model of the patient’s skeleton and organs, the students have a visual reference as they scroll through the various views and isolate the key findings,” she says. “This app is another tool to help students learn how to read and interpret CT scans and apply their knowledge to other patient cases presented throughout the curriculum and in clinical settings.”

A longer version of this story can be accessed on the .

�鶹ԭ�� Health Sciences Researcher Embraces Florida as Her Living Lab

Robert Stephens — Fri, 08 Nov 2024 13:00:17 +0000

Qianxia Jiang arrived at �鶹ԭ��’s Department of Health Sciences earlier this year as a researcher, teacher and optimist. With her interest in the environmental influences on healthy living, Jiang the researcher is fully aware of the alarming rise in childhood obesity rates in the U.S. — nearly 20% of children 2-19 years old are considered obese by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) today compared to 10% in 1990. She’s witnessed firsthand the beginning stages of a similar trajectory in the country of her youth, China. Yet Jiang is undeterred in her certainty that she and her colleagues can influence a shift in the other direction. It’s why she’s come to �鶹ԭ��.

“The idea of integrating healthy lifestyles into communities is a complex issue that will require experts in a variety of fields working together,” Jiang says. “I knew �鶹ԭ�� would offer me the unique opportunity to interact with educators, students and policymakers. It’s why I’m excited every day.”

This also explains why, shortly after unpacking her belongings in Central Florida, Jiang actively met not with exercise and nutrition experts, but with experts in urban planning.

“We discussed the health aspects of plans to keep up with the needs of a growing population. More roadways are important, of course, but at the same time we can shape healthier lifestyles with safe sidewalks, wider bike paths, access to parks and other enticements for people to move around outside. It’s all part of a bigger picture.”

Jiang and her husband have become part of that bigger picture in the Orlando area, which she calls “a living lab” for her research interests. The population is growing. People come from around the world to visit and to settle, bringing with them a melting pot of cultural norms and habits. New communities are being built. Some are purposefully designed to promote health. Others are not.

“We need to understand that health is not always as simple as making a personal choice,” Jiang says. “It’s influenced by the environment where we live.”

She started to become aware of this connection when she traveled to Taiwan as an exchange student from southeast China.

“I thought it would be nice to experience the beauty of the island, but my eyes were opened in a different way.”

In Taiwan, she noticed an emphasis on community engagement and volunteerism. Older people were active community participants, leading tours and telling stories in museums. One year later, during Jiang’s internship in China’s primary schools, her eyes were opened even further to two rapidly evolving environmental trends at the opposite end of the age spectrum.

“For one, rapid urbanization has created a fast-food culture in parts of China,” she says. “Also, the pressure on students to do well academically has diminished the importance of physical activity. We see that in U.S. schools, too, but in China the academic pressure is greater because the school-age population is so much higher than the available spots in good colleges. Observing this gave me a clear vision of what I wanted to research: environmental factors on healthy lifestyles. It’s how I felt I could make a positive difference in peoples’ lives.”

If the idea of shaping healthy lifestyles sounds daunting, you wouldn’t know it after spending time with Jiang. She politely makes a case that other efforts to do the same could be too narrow in focus, with the expectation of all-or-nothing results.

“There’s a growing awareness among educators and policy makers about the research I’m doing. As a teacher at �鶹ԭ��, I can use it to engage discussions and plant seeds with students. Then they can go out and influence their own communities through their fields of interest.”

Jiang has another very good reason to be optimistic: her own life. Observation spawned her curiosity. Curiosity inspired her research. And the knowledge from her research has changed her daily behaviors. She now prepares her own food more often so she can see the ingredients in it. She takes stairs more frequently instead of elevators. And she enjoys kayaking and paddleboarding with her dog, Poppy, which has prompted another possible research cycle.

“Having a dog inspires me to explore outside more often,” Jiang says. “It’s also made me curious enough to possibly conduct research about the impact of dog ownership on healthy lifestyles.”

And with that, Jiang would again merge her personal and professional interests, her research with real-life impact, observation with optimism, all in the living lab of Central Florida.

�鶹ԭ�� Limbitless Solutions Students Win Awards at SBEC Biomedical Engineering Conference

Katherine Tran and Case Hannum — Tue, 01 Nov 2022 15:57:08 +0000

�鶹ԭ�� health sciences students recently received top recognition for research presentations illustrating the impact that developed technology and research can make in the lives of people with accessibility limitations.

The research was performed in collaboration with Limbitless leadership and faculty and specifically focused on life improving technology for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and limb differences, such as congenital limb amputations.

The students, Shea McLinden and Katherine Tran, received the recognition at the Southern Biomedical Engineering Conference held recently in New Orleans.

McLinden, a senior, and Tran, a junior, are undergraduate research students at , a nonprofit organization and direct support organization at �鶹ԭ��.

McLinden received first place in the undergraduate category for her presentation on using training video games to improve people’s use of bionic arms and hands-free wheelchairs. Tran received third place in the undergraduate category for her presentation on developing a custom silicone insole orthotic, or foot support, for an individual born with a congenital limb abnormality affecting their foot. The wheelchair game research was funded through a grant from the Pabst Steinmetz Foundation. The undergraduate student research was also supported with funds from the Paul B. Hunter and Constance D. Hunter Charitable Foundation and the Albert E. and Birdie W. Einstein Foundation.

Video Game Training

McLinden presented two oral presentations, both discussing the design and effectiveness of video game training for Limbitless’ bionic arm and hands-free wheelchair project. The projects use Limbitless’ video game-based training that converts muscle flexing through electromyography (EMG) into the game character’s actions. The development of the training game research is led by �鶹ԭ�� faculty members Matt Dombrowski ’05 ’08MFA, with �鶹ԭ��’s , and Peter Smith ’05MS ’12PhD, with �鶹ԭ��’s .

McLinden’s presentation, titled “Utilizing EMG And Eye Tracking For Serious Game Control For Populations With Neurodegenerative Diseases,” highlighted new human computer interfaces being developed that leverage eye-tracking in combination with electromyograph (EMG ) sensing muscles contracted in the jaw to control a video game that trains patients to use a patented hands-free wheelchair control system (Limbitless’ Project Xavier) for patients unable to use a traditional joystick, including ALS patients.

The video game training system is designed to train users to operate the wheelchair, with players navigating the game’s interface using only their eyes before practicing the chair’s operation using clenches of their temporalis muscles. Students from a variety of majors work with research staff and faculty for the gamification and development. The accessible interface supports patients learning to control the system in a low-stress and safe environment prior to driving the system.

Continuing patients’ independent mobility is thought to support greater perceived autonomy and dignity throughout disease progression. The EMG and eye-tracking technology will be evaluated in an upcoming research study, building on the results of the prior clinical trial with the Mayo Clinic.

McLinden also presented the team’s research on training efforts to accelerate learning to use a bionic arm, titled “Improvement in Muscle Control via Serious Gaming for Prosthetic Usage.”

McLinden and her fellow research members engaged with �鶹ԭ�� students on campus to collect valuable data regarding their participation and perspective for application to improve the training for prosthetic users through gamified simulation using surface EMG.

The surface EMG was attached to the patient’s forearm to discretize their muscular signal into a correlated action within the video game.

“The work is important because prosthesis users often reject their devices due to inability to master them immediately, among other factors including weight of the prosthetic and potential social stigma,” McLinden says.

Developing a Custom Foot Support

Tran’s project was titled “Developing Custom Advanced Orthotic to Improve Biomechanical Gait for Congenital Symbrachydactyly.” The project aimed to develop a non-invasive technique to aid in improving foot stability and minimizing discomfort symptoms in patients with congenital foot abnormalities. The device works to adapt a unique foot shape to a traditional shoe to improve gait and traction. The project involved manufacturing techniques including mold casting, 3D printing and silicon molding.

The work enabled Tran to immerse herself in medical research, patient care, and use hands-on manufacturing tools and techniques.

“Working with the patient was an insightful experience, as I was able to work hands-on to create something special and impactful,” Tran says. “The project has shown me the impact of assistive technology and the greater meaning of my work.”

Team Presents EMG Video Games Controllers and Prosthesis Users Study During Student Research Week

Wed, 30 Mar 2022 12:00:55 +0000

Five undergraduate students studying health sciences, biomedical sciences and statistics are putting what they’ve learned at Limbitless Solutions on display during Student Research Week.

is a �鶹ԭ�� (�鶹ԭ��) non-profit research facility, with a STEAM-focused approach toward prosthetics. The philosophy has led to a program devoted to beautiful and functional electromyographic bionic limbs for children which are currently being evaluated through clinical trial research.

This semester 40 students are interning at Limbitless. They all bring their own talents based on their fields of study while learning to work as a team and gaining skills outside their area of study. The research environment blends engineering, art and communication with innovative tech, including the prosthetic arms for children. Part of the process of getting children ready for Limbitless prosthetics involves preparing their muscles for the kind of work required to use the prosthetics. That’s accomplished through using a video game controller and special EMG-based video games designed at Limbitless Solutions.

In 2016, Limbitless and �鶹ԭ�� faculty members Matt Dombrowski ’08MFA with and Peter Smith ’05MS ’12PhD with created video games to train children’s muscles in anticipation of receiving bionic arms.

The student research team presenting evaluates the effectiveness and usability of a custom EMG video game controller and the game mode used by the children between pre- and post-tests. The study focuses on the mobile video game, Limbitless Runner, developed in-house and now available in app stores.

The findings of the study will assess the influence of using focused training games with the EMG controller to teach Limbitless’ bionic kids how to use their prosthetic.

“My time at Limbitless has been filled with a variety of different learning experiences, each of which has brought me closer to my peers and pushes me to become more and more passionate about our main goal: supporting our bionic kids,” says Calvin MacDonald, one of the team members presenting at Research Week. He is a 20-year-old sophomore from Melbourne Beach studying health sciences.

Other team members are Shea McLinden (health sciences), Devon Lynn (biomedical sciences), Katherine Tran (health sciences) and Kelsey Robinson (statistics).

“This experience has sparked my interest in pursuing a career which incorporates healthcare, as well as clinical research opportunities,” says McLinden who is in her junior year.

This same team also presented their work at the Florida Undergraduate Research Conference (FURC) in February. is one of the nation’s largest multidisciplinary research conferences and is open to all Florida undergraduate students. This was the 11^th year of the conference and the first time held at �鶹ԭ��.

School Day Structure Could Benefit Children’s Health

Wed, 01 Sep 2021 13:52:06 +0000

Having a structured environment for children, whether during school days or when stuck in quarantine as the COVID-19 pandemic continues, could benefit children’s health, according to new research from the �鶹ԭ��.

In a study of more than 50 rural schoolchildren over the course of two weeks, researchers found that behaviors that lead to obesity — like too much sedentary behavior or screen time — dropped on school days compared to non-school days, while amounts of activity increased. The results were published recently in the journal Childhood Obesity.

The findings are important because more than 20 percent of U.S. children ages 6 to 11 are obese, which could lead to problems such as type 2 diabetes or other diseases, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The researchers focused on rural children because they are at increased risk for obesity compared to their urban-dwelling counterparts. Additionally, rural children’s obesogenic behaviors have not been studied as much, says Keith Brazendale, an assistant professor in �鶹ԭ��’s and the study’s lead author.

These behaviors can include low physical activity, poor diets, irregular sleep and excess screen and media time.

The researchers used wristband accelerometers to compare the students’ physical activity and sleep on school and non-school days in addition to diaries of daily activities, diet and screen time that were recorded by the parents.

They found that children accumulated an average of 16 additional minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity per day on school days compared to non-school days.

Furthermore, students reduced their average daily sedentary time by about an hour each day and their screen time by about an hour and half each day on school days compared to non-school days.

In a separate study of a sub-sample of the rural children, the researchers found that rural children exhibited accelerated weight gain during five months of home quarantine due to the closure of schools and community-operated programs.

“This supports the benefit of attending schools and programs,” Brazendale says.

To combat obesogenic behaviors on non-school days or during quarantine, some sort of structured program, or at least a structured schedule for children on those days is recommended, Brazendale says.

Keith Brazendale is an assistant professor in �鶹ԭ��’s Department of Health Sciences and the study’s lead author.

“It’s not necessarily the program itself that always provides the direct benefit, but the presence of ‘attending something’ seems to shape behaviors outside of the program’s operating hours and almost sets a default schedule for the day for the child, like when they wake up or go to bed, or when they eat,” Brazendale says.

The researcher specializes in examining elementary school-aged children’s obesogenic behaviors during different times of the year, especially those from low-income and minority populations.

His and that of others’ suggest that children’s behaviors are healthier when they have consistent routine and structure in their day-to day lives, such as on school days compared to other times when structure is not necessarily as present, such as in the summer or on weekends.

He says that even on rainy days or when it’s not safe to go outside, organizing a plan of activities — even if they take place in the home — can be a good way to keep children engaged in healthy consistent routines.

“This means maybe having a very loose schedule that has time for children’s snack, free play time, maybe some indoor exercises that don’t require a lot of space such as aerobics, dancing to music, or even yoga,” he says. “I also encourage rule-setting around screen and media time, especially in the evening as bedtime approaches, as this can be beneficial for the child.”

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recommends that children and adolescents ages 6 through 17 do 60 minutes or more of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity daily. Screen time should be limited to one to two hours a day, according to the CDC.

Study co-authors included �鶹ԭ�� health sciences undergraduate students Michael Blankenship ’21 and Serina Rayan ’21, a Burnett Honors Scholar; biomedical sciences majors Daniel Eisenstein and Alejandra Rey ’21. Jeanette Garcia and Cassie L. Odahowski, assistant professors in �鶹ԭ��’s Department of Health Sciences; and Ana Leon, a professor in �鶹ԭ��’s , were also co-authors on this project.

Brazendale earned his doctorate in exercise science from the University of South Carolina-Columbia. He joined �鶹ԭ��’s Department of Health Sciences, part of the , in 2019.

�鶹ԭ�� Students Lead Session at Sunshine State Scholars Event

Zenaida Gonzalez Kotala — Wed, 30 Jun 2021 18:47:46 +0000

When Shea McLinden was a high school junior, she had a lot of choices when it came to going to college. She had excellent grades and a demonstrated interest and talent for science, which is why she was selected to attend the Sunshine State Scholars event in 2018.

The event aims to recognize Florida’s brightest STEAM students and encourage them to attend college in Florida. This week, McLinden — now a �鶹ԭ�� health sciences junior in the Burnett Honors College — was part of the Limbitless Solutions team hosting one of the in-person design challenges for the 103 honorees at the 2021 Sunshine State Scholars event in Orlando. McLinden and Kayla Vonder Embse, who is majoring in economics and leadership studies at �鶹ԭ��, are helping run the challenge.

The scholars, which include 14 students from Orange, Seminole, Hillsborough, Osceola, Brevard and Volusia counties, also had the chance to listen to Albert Manero ’12 ’14MS ’16PhD. He is the CEO and co-founder of Limbitless Solution, a �鶹ԭ��-based nonprofit which makes bionic arms for children. He was the keynote speaker this year and he was the speaker in 2018.

McLinden says she was moved to join Limbitless Solutions after hearing Manero speak at the conference and strongly believes in paying it forward by encouraging students to pursue STEAM careers.

Manero says it is important to inspire the next generation of innovators and that starts early. That’s why Limbitless Solutions hosts field trips at their laboratory and continues to participate in the Sunshine State Scholars year after year. When the pandemic threatened the 2020 Sunshine State Scholars event, LS jumped into action and helped organize a mini-virtual session so students wouldn’t miss out.

Embse also actively promotes STEM. The national merit scholar is a Burnett Honors College student and interns at Limbitless Solutions. She plays many roles, including engaging in K-12 STEM programs at the laboratory.

The event is sponsored by the Florida Education Foundation, the State University System of Florida, and the Florida Department of Education. The event also benefits from the help of many industry partners including AT&T, Florida Prepaid College Foundation, Lockheed Martin, Helios Education Foundation, Kyra Solutions, SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment and the Florida Lottery.

Graduating Senior Escaped a Civil War in Syria to Become a Scholar at �鶹ԭ��

Anthony M. Moore — Fri, 24 Jul 2020 20:56:16 +0000

Growing up in war-torn Syria, Suzanne Chaar saw first-hand the impact that medical professionals can have on a society.

During the country’s civil war, she witnessed her father, a pharmacist, and her brother, then a medical student at the University of Aleppo, provide care for civilians impacted by the conflict. Chaar says she admired their bravery and felt pride in their contributions to the people of Syria. They inspired, in part, her aspirations to be a physician, serving patients across the globe.

“There is something uniquely special about the field of medicine,” says Chaar, a Burnett Honors Scholar who will receive a bachelor’s degree in health sciences during this weekend’s . “Every day you have an opportunity to make a meaningful impact in someone’s life. That speaks to me.”

While studying at �鶹ԭ��, Chaar earned her certified nursing assistant certification while surrounded by university professionals who see in her all of the qualities of a great doctor.

“Suzanne is the definition of an altruistic leader. She goes out of her way to help others, and I think that is an important quality, one that we would all like our physicians to have,” says Erin Myszkowski, director of �鶹ԭ��’s Pre-Health and Pre-Law Advising Office, who has been both an advisor and a mentor to Chaar.

Since coming to �鶹ԭ�� through the in the Summer 2018 semester, Chaar has been recognized with numerous awards and distinctions. She was the recipient of a �鶹ԭ�� Burnett Honors College Scholarship for her scholastic performance in the Honors Undergraduate Thesis Program, where she examined the cardiovascular outcomes in nonsmokers exposed to secondhand smoke. She has also earned an American Association of University Women Scholarship, an Outstanding Achievement Award in STEM, and an Outstanding Academic Award in Chemistry. Additionally, Chaar was the student speaker for Lake Sumter State College’s Spring 2018 Commencement.

But she would never have come to the U.S. if not for a threat.

For the first two years of the conflict, Chaar’s family endured through the uncertainties of living within a country at war. The proverbial final straw came in the form of a menacing note, pinned to the front door of the family’s home. Among other threats, the note expressed an intention to kidnap the Chaar children for ransom and burn down the family’s pharmacy business.

“I don’t think we’ll ever know who sent that note or how serious their threats were. However, we knew that they knew where we lived. I can’t tell you how unsettling that fact was,” says Chaar, who recalls her father beginning immediate preparations to relocate the family to the United States, where he had attended graduate school and had obtained American citizenship.

Moving to Central Florida as a high school freshman, Chaar did not know a word of English and had little familiarity with American culture. It would take her more than two years to become fluent and feel comfortable around her peers, an obstacle that she describes as her life’s most challenging.

While a senior in high school, Chaar started Education for Arabs in USA Initiative (EAU) to help other young Middle Eastern immigrants transition to life in the United States. (Photo by Nick Leyva ’15)

Realizing that other Middle Eastern immigrants were likely facing similar difficulties adapting, Chaar established the Education for Arabs in USA Initiative (EAU) during her senior year of high school in 2016. What started as a Facebook group for Arab-American girls to gather online and discuss their questions, concerns and experiences in America has expanded to help all students from the Middle East make a smooth transition into life in the United States. To date, EAU has assisted more than 5,600 students, and Chaar has personally mentored more than 40 youths.

“When we first immigrated to the States, I was fortunate to have people in my life who were familiar with how things worked here and could guide me in the right direction,” says Chaar. “There are a lot of Arabs who aren’t nearly as lucky. I started EAU for them.”

Making meaningful contributions to the wellbeing of her surrounding community is important to Chaar. She has volunteered her time and efforts to public health centers throughout the region, including the Leesburg Regional Medical Center and the Shepherd’s Hope Health Center in Winter Garden. In addition, Chaar is a member of the Association of Islamic Charitable Project.

Following commencement, Chaar plans to take a gap year. In that time, she looks forward to carefully thinking over medical school options and volunteering at various public health clinics in the Orlando area. Long-term, she hopes to settle in Central Florida while practicing medicine globally through medical missions and other public-health endeavors. Syria is often on her mind, and Chaar hopes to visit family within the nation when it is again safe to do so.

“I love Syria, and I love the United States,” says Chaar. “It is important for me to give back to these places that have played such a major role in shaping the person I am today.”

�鶹ԭ�� Grad Works at Johns Hopkins Hospital to Prevent and Control COVID-19 Spread

Mon, 20 Apr 2020 13:30:22 +0000

Frankie Catalfumo ’13 has worked through outbreak responses to cholera in Haiti and Ebola virus disease in the United States, but he says the current coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is more stressful than any of his other work with controlling infectious diseases.

“You see the waves in China and then we started to see it spread across the globe,” says Catalfumo, an infection control epidemiologist in the Department of Hospital Epidemiology and Infection Control at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. “You have a warning of what’s to come and you’re just waiting to see what the next day will bring as you see more and more cases pop up in your own state.” As of April 21, Maryland has had 13,684 cases positive for and 582 deaths due to COVID-19, according to .

“You have a warning of what’s to come and you’re just waiting to see what the next day will bring.”

For the general public, controlling the spread of the virus mainly consists of practicing excellent hand hygiene, social distancing and staying home. But in hospitals across the nation, healthcare professionals must consider many other factors to keep patients, themselves and everyone else safe. It’s Catalfumo’s job to help develop the necessary infection prevention and control practices to ensure safety is maintained.

“A hospital’s kind of like a sick hotel, so patients being admitted may have some type of infection and risk of spreading it,” says the health sciences graduate. “Now is an especially important time for healthcare providers and other frontline staff to collaborate on identifying how this particular infection may be communicable to everyone in the hospital, and outside of it.”

His recent workdays consist as much of being responsive to the many matters that evolve daily as of thinking ahead on potential obstacles. One of the biggest issues hospitals across the nation are dealing with is providing essential personal protective equipment (PPE) for healthcare workers. Catalfumo has helped establish guidance at his hospital.

“In a pandemic, it is crucial to know how to clean specific PPEs, such as face shields, so we can reuse them,” he says. “Knowing which type of equipment can be reused and how it can be cleaned will help the hospital mindful use our supplies.”

Catalfumo also has to consider routes that minimize contact between patients and others, proper laboratory specimen collection and transport, and problem-solving with staff on personal concerns, such as what to tell family members now that they’re working with COVID-19 patients.

“Epidemiologists frequently work behind the scenes and if an outbreak doesn’t become very notable that’s because they were able to intervene.”

Before working at Johns Hopkins, Catalfumo worked as a consultant for the Department of Defense and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. While studying at �鶹ԭ��, he volunteered with International Medical Outreach (IMO), a student-led nonprofit organization that specializes in medical service and shadowing trips in impoverished areas around the world. It was with IMO that he gained his first experience working hands-on with epidemiology in Haiti and subsequently motivated him to pursue a master’s degree in public health.

“All disasters and all public health emergencies are incredibly interdisciplinary. Even if you’re working with an issue that appears simple or more readily understood, such as cholera, or one that’s new and evolving, such as COVID-19, you have to be able to adapt and be flexible when responding to the event,” Catalfumo says.

For epidemiologists, a job well done is often one that the majority of people can’t tell has even happened.

“Epidemiologists frequently work behind the scenes and if an outbreak doesn’t become very notable that’s because they were able to intervene,” he says. “It requires providing a lot of hands-on, in-the-moment education, to make sure everybody has the information they need to feel very safe caring for patients.”

“It’s a marathon, not a sprint. We need to make sure we’re going to be at our best and be prepared in our response.”

When it comes to making sure the general public has the knowledge they need, he suggests referencing the on a frequent basis to get the most accurate and up-to-date information available.

Like many other healthcare professionals, Catalfumo can feel the strain of the everchanging conditions in hospitals. To remain on top of their responsibilities, he knows it’s essential to maintain another good practice off the clock.

“Right now, it’s important for healthcare workers to practice self-care because we’re just beginning,” he says. “It’s a marathon, not a sprint. We need to make sure we’re going to be at our best and be prepared in our response.”