This report highlights our accomplishments of the last two years. Since arriving at Stempel College in 2016 as dean, I’ve been energized by the inspiring ideas of our faculty and students that are taking shape in our classrooms, labs and communities of South Florida and beyond. It reminds me that the work we do has never been more important to the world we live in.
I know from experience that creativity alone does not drive innovation or advance solutions. It is only when creativity is coupled with conviction that meaningful, lasting change occurs. This potent combination has catapulted Stempel College to unprecedented heights.
Since 2016, we’ve recorded a number of historic achievements: the largest grant received in Stempel College history, the most sponsored research dollars ever earned among faculty, the highest enrollment and greatest number of undergraduate students graduating in four years. At a time when the trend nationally is a decline in master’s of public health applications, Stempel College received more applicants to our MPH programs than at any other time in our history.
Our doctoral programs are also experiencing explosive growth. In 2017-2018, we increased new doctoral student enrollment by 67 percent over the previous year. We graduated a record number of doctoral students, and we currently have 104 Ph.D. students enrolled (another record). By any measure it’s clear – something special is going on at Stempel College.
I’m proud of the collective accomplishments of our faculty and students these past two years and look forward to continued advances as we move forward, together for the greater good.
Dean, Robert Stempel College of Public Health &
Social
Work
Professor, Department of Environmental Health Sciences Professor, Cognitive Neuroscience & Imaging Director, Brain, Behavior & Environment Member, Biomolecular Sciences Institute
About FIU
56,000 Average Annual Enrollment
200,000 Alumni
#2 Ranking in 2018 Among Florida’s Public Universities in Key Indicators
200+ Number of Bachelor’s, Master’s and Doctoral Degrees
Top 100 Ranking Among Young Universities in the World
About Stempel
At Stempel College, we think across academic boundaries and attract lifelong learners from diverse backgrounds, resulting in a broader understanding of existing issues and a robust set of solutions. Our interdisciplinary structure combines the five major departments of public health in partnership with the disciplines of dietetics and nutrition, social work and disaster preparedness. Stempel College is accredited by the Council on Education for Public Health through December 2019.
2018 By The Numbers:
Full-Time Faculty
Total Students 79
1,082
20
$16.2M 2017-2018 NIH funding
#30 Rank in NIH funding in 2017 among ASPPH members
Sponsored research funding doubled from 2013-2015 to 2016-2018
Degrees Awarded since 2016 Student Diversity
518 Bachelor’s
493 Master’s
48 Doctoral
Research Highlights
At Stempel College we believe in nurturing promising and creative minds among our faculty, post doctoral fellows and students. And it’s working. From 2016-2018, Stempel College researchers brought in a record amount of sponsored research funding.
Reversing long-term damage of chronic lead exposure in children
As principal investigator of a study funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), Dr. Tomás R. Guilarte has discovered a potential therapy that could reverse lead’s harmful effects in children, including learning disabilities and behavioral problems.
Guilarte’s research demonstrates that activation of TrkB receptors, the cognate receptor for BDNF by 7,8-Dihydroxyflavone (7,8-DHF), can reverse the long-term effects of lead exposure on neurotransmitter release in synapses. The naturally derived and safe 7,8-DHF molecule is able to cross the blood-brain barrier, completely reversing lead-induced impairments of synaptic dysfunction. His findings were published in the October 2017 issue of Toxicological Sciences
The next step for his research team is demonstrating that 7,8-DHF also improves learning performance in the same animal model. Then, they will conduct a translational study from animals to humans.
Reducing symptoms of HIV in elderly patients through ancient Chinese practice
Dr. Gladys Ibañez has been funded by the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) to try and reduce the physical and psychological symptoms of HIV in elderly adults through qigong. A healing practice that dates back approximately 5,000 years, Qigong incorporates meditation, controlled breathing and gentle movements that can ultimately cleanse and reenergize the internal organs. Tai chi was born from the foundations of qigong. After more than 15 years of traditional HIV research, this is the first project in which Ibanez is able to integrate alternative approaches to care into her work.
Patent granted for comet assay device
Dr. Marcus S. Cooke had his comet assay patent approved by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in 2018. The patent – “Devices and methods for highthroughput assay” – is for a device that automates the testing of DNA damage, DNA repair and cellular antioxidant status. Cooke has been working in partnership with Dr. Shekhar Bhansali, chair of FIU’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, on the device. Together they have been collaborating with colleagues for approximately two years. Specific uses for the device include in vitro and in vivo genotoxicity testing (i.e. nanomaterials), together with human biomonitoring, DNA repair studies, gene-specific assessments and ecogenotoxicity.
Studying Drinking and Driving Trajectories of Recent Latino Immigrants
Dr. Mariana Sanchez received a $2.38 million grant from the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute for Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism to examine drinking and driving trajectories of Latino immigrants during their initial years in the United States. The coprincipal investigator on the five-year grant is Dr. Eduardo Romano with the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation. Sanchez and Romano hope to understand the environmental, demographic and sociocultural factors influencing the early adoption of DUI trajectories. The researchers will use this knowledge to generate a culturally relevant intervention strategy in a concerted effort to prevent drinking and driving among this population.
$16.2M
2017-2018 NIH funding #30
Rank in NIH funding in 2017 among ASPPH members
Examining long-term effects of ethnic discrimination among Hispanic adolescents
Dr. Miguel Angel Cano received funding from the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) to understand and reduce alcohol use disparities among Latino teenagers 14 to 17 years of age. From a developmental perspective, exposure to ethnic discrimination can be extremely stressful and disruptive for minority youth. To address the pervasive issues facing these teens, Cano is studying the longitudinal effects of ethnic discrimination on mental health and alcohol risk behaviors among Hispanic teens over the course of five years.
Cano is conducting his research using secondary data analysis and communitybased participatory research and will develop and pilot test an intervention in MiamiDade County through a partnership with ConnectFamilias.
Evaluating PrEP intervention for women of color in South Florida
Dr. Jessy G. Devieux and Dr. Mario De La Rosa are co-principal investigators on a three-year grant from the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA). The purpose of the grant is to help South Florida women of color understand and utilize pre-exposure propylaxis (PrEP), an oral medication used in high-risk populations, as a protective measure for maintaining sexual health and HIV-free lives.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, South Florida has the highest HIV rates in the nation, and women of color are disproportionately affected. Stempel College researchers will focus on African American, Hispanic and Haitian women in Broward and Miami-Dade counties.
Through community-based participatory research, the team will implement a pilot program for 120 women from three sites across South Florida. Their research will measure adherence and retention in care among PrEP users and determine the feasibility of a future large-scale project.
[ ] Sponsored research funding doubled from 2013-2015 to 2016-2018
Human Neuroimaging Center
Emerging Preeminent Programs
A
key goal in the university’s strategic plan (2015-2020) is the identification of preeminent and emerging preeminent programs – outstanding programs that illustrate FIU’s ability to foster student success and high-impact faculty research. These programs drive research, spark creativity and encourage innovation, helping the researchers and students of Stempel College better serve our community, our state, our nation and our world.
Stempel
College is home to two emerging preeminent programs.
Brain, Behavior and the Environment
This program is a transdisciplinary initiative that unites FIU’s dynamic and diverse neuroscience and neurotoxicology communities in the pursuit of three goals:
• Create and empower research programs focused on environmental causes of neurological disease
• Devise strategies and develop treatments for neurological disorders using novel neuroscience and engineering tools as well as pharmacological approaches
• Establish a rich educational resource in South Florida to educate students, faculty, clinicians, the public and health officials on the role that environmental factors play on neurological diseases.
Health Disparities
This program is a multidisciplinary group of faculty and students dedicated to advancing research efforts by:
• Conducting community-based participatory research
• Determining the impact of HIV, substance abuse and ethnicity on health outcomes and barriers in access to health care
• Developing and testing culturally appropriate substance abuse and HIV prevention and treatment programs
• Partnering with community stakeholders in South Florida, the Caribbean and beyond on real-world approaches to reduce substance use/abuse and HIV
• Identifying and eliminating health inequities, health barriers and health disparities associated with race, ethnicity, gender and sexual orientation
• Developing the next generation of health inequities and disparities researchers through innovations
Leading Global Change
Today’s challenges call for bold approaches to doing things differently. FIU students and faculty bring energy, optimism and a new way of thinking to their role as change agents, making critical connections with local, national and international partners to impact policy from the vantage point of their respective disciplines.
The Global Health Consortium (GHC) at Stempel hosted the 8th Annual International Global Health Conference at FIU in May 2018. Key players in public health developed relationships across borders as 130 experts from 27 countries participated. Attendees included representatives of the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization, National Institutes of Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Carlos Slim Foundation, four international scientific associations and many universities and professional associations.
The conference provided an opportunity – in English and Spanish –for the presentation, analysis and discussion of risk assessment and
Building powerful public health alliances at global conference
Lobbying Capitol Hill
Dietetics and nutrition graduate students attended the Academy of Nutrition & Dietetics Public Policy workshop in June 2017. The program had 350+ registered dietitian-nutritionists attend from across the United States. The students’ mission was to meet with D.C. officials on Capitol Hill and urge Congress to strengthen insurance coverage of evidence-based preventive and wellness services. Pictured below are master’s students Bianca Manfred, Andrea De Leon, Dailiana Povedo, Rakhi Chowdhury and Juan Montoya.
Advocating for children with developmental disabilities
Social work master’s student Tatyana Malinovskaya-Ward was selected to attend the Association of University Centers on Disabilities Trainee Policy Summit and Disability Policy Seminar in April 2018 in Washington, D.C., due to her internship efforts with the Dr. John T. Macdonald Foundation School Health Initiative. As part of her internship, she was required to create an advocacy project. Malinovskaya-Ward’s project deals with early childhood education, particularly the lack of affordable and quality preschool options through the Children’s Movement of Florida. While at the summit she met with policymakers and legislative assistants on Capitol Hill and had the opportunity to learn about and advocate for access to health care, community living and civil rights protections. She networked with more than 900 peers who contribute to the grassroots movement for people with developmental and intellectual disabilities.
Teaching students to become visionaries
Sahar Ajabshir, doctoral candidate in dietetics and nutrition, participated in FIU’s Student Success Fly-in in December 2017. The three-day program takes place in Washington, D.C., and teaches promising students how to become visionaries in the workplace through professional and personal development in career exploration, advocacy, communications and policy issues. The event included official visits to New America and the American Enterprise Institute for consultations on their current efforts with workforce challenges, a visit with Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta and a discussion hosted by FIU President Mark B. Rosenberg. It also incorporated training sessions in communications and advocacy. The program ended with a policy “hackathon” competition on solutions for future workforce needs.
scientific progress in relation to global health issues and emerging diseases. Four workshops served as the focal point of the conference: lead and mercury impact on environment and human health; familial hypercholesterolemia as a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases; arbovirus control; and advances in immunization in the Americas. Additional topics discussed included diabetes, disaster preparedness, environmental health and the U.S. opioid crisis.
“The conclusions and recommendations set forth by the conference’s experts will help to develop the research agenda for the next few years.”
— Carlos Espinal, Stempel College epidemiologist and director of GHC
Community Partnerships
The communities beyond our campuses make FIU an extraordinary place for teaching, research and learning. In the past two years, Stempel College has fostered genuine partnerships, creating new relationships and nurturing and expanding existing ones. Now more than ever our faculty and students are uniting research with teaching and learning to effect change beyond our campus borders.
135+ Active partnerships
59 Students completed their practicum in 2017-2018
493
Undergraduate and graduate internships in 2017-2018
200
Minimum hours completed at each practicum site
178,819
Internship hours completed in 2017-2018
11,800 Service hours completed in 2017-2018
Students commemorating World AIDS Day 2017.
Clarissa Delgiudice doing an investigation in a corn field on heat stress.
Cindy Lopez and Alejandra Tercero promoting free HIV and sexually transmitted infection testing as part of the Cody the Camel campaign.
Left to right: Kelli Winn, Zizah Blair and Leandra Munson participated in the Community Health Workers Project for NeighborhoodHELP® in 2018.
Student Success
See you on CNN
Social work student Daniel Alvarez was interviewed by CNN in September 2016 for his work on human trafficking and the importance of student involvement on the issue. Alvarez felt compelled to become active in social causes after returning from a service trip to Colombia in 2011 with the nonprofit Children Beyond Our Borders.
Article examining possible effects of Medicaid expansion published
Chintan Bhatt, a doctoral student in health promotion and disease prevention, published in the American Journal of Public Health. His article, “Medicaid expansion and infant mortality rate in the United States,” examined the possible effects of Medicaid expansion on infant mortality rates. Bhatt’s research findings suggest that Medicaid expansion may be an important way to address long-standing disparities in U.S. infant mortality by race.
Returning home to Haiti for research
Cassandra Rene, a doctoral candidate in health promotion and disease prevention, was awarded the highly competitive Global Health Equity Scholars (GHES) Fellowship for 2018-19. Rene will be participating in a one-
Seattle, here they come
Three students participated in a highly competitive, 12-week paid internship sponsored by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in the summer of 2018. Master of Public
Health students Daniel Tirado (biostatistics) and Donald Yanogo (health promotion and disease prevention) and doctoral student Angel Algarin (epidemiology) worked alongside top-tier global health researchers who tackle the world’s most critical health inequities.
Tirado worked with the foundation’s Healthy Growth and Development Initiative on analyzing a dataset of more than 170 studies in 30+ countries. He learned about the combination of statistics and the utilization of code and advanced programs to uncover new insights and questions.
Algarin worked with the foundation’s Global HIV/AIDS team on projects that accelerate the reduction of HIV infection in high-burden geographies/populations of southern and eastern Africa while addressing the Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (PreP) stigma. Algarin is a C.V. Starr Scholarship recipient for being an extraordinary Stempel student of Latino and Caribbean descent.
Yanogo worked with Gates’ Global Development Department to promote nutrition in countries of the West African region. He did this by expanding the use of confirmed interventions and supporting the growth of new solutions. A Fulbright Scholar grantee, Yanogo is a medical doctor from Burkina Faso.
year mentored research fellowship while also conducting a research project under the supervision of GHES mentors in which she seeks to capture a better understanding of peripartum cardiomyopathy in Haiti. Rene has not been back to her native Haiti since she was a teen.
Preston in Prague
Health promotion and disease prevention doctoral candidate Sharice Preston presented at the 23rd Congress of the World Association of Sexual Health in Prague, Czech Republic, in May 2017. Her abstract, “Temporal Trends in HPVRelated Knowledge: A Global Systematic Review,” won the Best Abstract Award at the conference.
Naseh guest curates Sheltering Survivors
Mitra Naseh was guest curator in 2017 for the exhibition Sheltering Survivors at the Coral Gables Museum. A doctoral candidate in social work, Naseh was born in Tehran during the Iran-Iraq War of the 1980s. She considered the exhibition an opportunity to start a conversation, beyond the academic context, about the world’s forced displacement crisis.
Stempel students learn from hurricane evacuees
In the aftermath of Hurricane Irma, public health and social work students were able to interact with Monroe County residents who evacuated to a special needs shelter at FIU. The opportunity provided insights into challenges faced by displaced persons in a natural disaster. The students also learned about career opportunities with the U.S. Public Health Services, which operated the shelter.
Philizaire accepted into Peace Corps
Sophie Philizaire, a master’s student in health policy and management, has been accepted into the Peace Corps as a community health support agent in Senegal, Africa, beginning in February 2019. Philizaire will be working with the Peace Corps’ Community Health Project, which aims to reduce maternal and child mortality in Senegal.
Celebrating life and hope
Student members of the Stempel Public Health Association raised funds for FIU’s 2017 Relay for Life. The event is a unique overnight celebration of life and hope that one day a cure for cancer will be discovered. The event featured food, activities, music and lots of fun.
Krupp in Cape Town
Doctoral student Karl Krupp presented two posters at the 31st International Papillomavirus Conference in Cape Town, South Africa, in March 2017: “A communitybased cervical cancer screening program in Mysore, India: Challenges and opportunities for scale-up” and “Is there a relationship between vaginal pH and detection of precancerous lesions by VIA?”
Number of papers or posters presented at conferences by public health faculty from Spring 2016-Summer 2018
Number of book chapters published from Spring 2016-Summer 2018
Basic research is an important cornerstone of Stempel’s future.
576 Number of articles accepted or published in peer-reviewed publications by public health faculty from Spring 2016-Summer 2018
]
Faculty Achievements
Faculty win largest single grant in FIU history
In fall 2017, faculty in Stempel College won a $13.1 million grant from the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD) to build Florida’s first Health Disparities Research Center at a Minority Institution (RCMI). The FIURCMI at Stempel College will focus on reducing substance use problems and HIV and will work in partnership with South Florida communities. The grant is the largest single award in the university’s history.
Postdoc receives two awards
Dr. Damaris Albores-Garcia, a postdoctoral fellow, received two awards from the Society of Toxicology in 2018. Dr. AlboresGarcia is a member of Dr. Guilarte’s Environmental Health Sciences laboratory. Her work examines whether early-life lead exposure could predispose drug use in early adolescence and emphasizes the importance of continuing efforts aimed at diminishing lead exposure since research shows there is no “safe” level of lead exposure.
Researcher wins New Investigator Award
The American Society of Clinical Psychopharmacology honored Dr. Shanna Burke with the New Investigator Award for her exploration of “Cognitive and Functional Performance and Measures of Neurodegeneration in Hispanic and White nonHispanic Older Adults” in Miami-Dade County, a region known for its majority Hispanic population.
Researcher
receives Faculty Scholar in Cancer Research Award
The American Association for Cancer Research’s (AACR) Minorities in Cancer Research (MICR) Council selected Dr. Jayanta Kumar Das as a recipient of the 2018 AACR Minority and Minority-Serving Institution Faculty Scholar in Cancer Research Award.
Dean inducted into Johns Hopkins University Society of Scholars
In April 2018, Dr. Tomás R. Guilarte was inducted into the Johns Hopkins University (JHU) Society of Scholars. The society
is comprised of members who have achieved marked distinction in their careers since spending their formative years at Hopkins as postdoctoral fellows, postdoctoral degree recipients, house staff and junior or visiting faculty. Guilarte received his doctorate at JHU and spent three decades as a professor and researcher at JHU’s Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Researcher receives $1.75 million to build capacity for waterpipe control
Dr. Wasim Maziak, serving as the principal investigator for an international project funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Fogarty International Center (FIC), received $1.75 million to conduct a five-year study that will translate evidence and build capacity to support waterpipe (also known as “hookah”) control in the eastern Mediterranean.
Professor honored for her impact in the field of
health promotion
The Florida Public Health Association (FPHA) awarded Dr. H. Virginia McCoy the 2017 J.Y. Porter, M.D., Award for her impact in the field of health promotion. McCoy works to better understand disparities in HIV/AIDS and drug and alcohol abuse, the impact of acculturation and victimization of disadvantaged communities, and effective strategies for health promotion in these settings.
Aging expert receives Lifetime Achievement Award
The Latino Center on Aging gave a Lifetime Achievement Golden Age Award to David Saltman for his myriad contributions to the Latino/Hispanic senior community throughout his career. This award is presented annually to professionals who promote, educate and advocate for seniors through dedicated leadership.
Epidemiologist honored with multiple awards
The Florida Education Fund presented Dr. Mary Jo Trepka with the 2017 William R. Jones Outstanding Mentor Award. The year before, she received The White House Presidential Early Career Award for her work on HIV. Trepka is an infectious disease epidemiologist who focuses on HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases.
New Faculty Hires
Dr. Zoran Bursac was hired as chair of the Department of Biostatistics. Previously, Dr. Bursac had a tenured professor position in the Department of Preventive Medicine’s Division of Biostatistics at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center-College of Medicine. During his time there, he served as interim chair for the epidemiology master’s program and as associate director and senior statistical scientist for the college’s Center for Population Sciences. He has more than 100 publications in peer-reviewed journals and maintains an active research portfolio that includes collaborative co-investigator roles for several multimillion-dollar grants that focus on public health issues such as diabetes, weight loss and obesity, smoking cessation for the general population and military, and preventing alcohol and substance abuse behaviors. Dr. Bursac obtained his master’s in public health and doctorate in biostatistics at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center’s College of Public Health and his bachelor’s degree in computer science and mathematics from Cameron University in Oklahoma.
Dr. Jason R. Richardson was hired as associate dean of research and professor in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences. Dr. Richardson has an impressive record of 15 years of continual funding from the National Institutes of Health and the current support of three grants from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, including a $2.5 million grant. He also recently secured a $3.98 million U01 research project/cooperative agreement with the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. A diplomate of the American Board of Toxicology and a fellow of the Academy of Toxicological Sciences, he spent a decade at Rutgers University as a faculty member at the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and the Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute and time at Northeast Ohio Medical University where in his last role he served as acting associate dean for research and acting chair of the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences. He has authored or co-authored more than 90 manuscripts and book chapters.
Dr. Diana Sheehan and Mariana Sanchez have joined the interdisciplinary team that comprises the Health Disparities Program.
Dr. Mariana Sanchez was hired as assistant professor in the Department of Health Promotion and Disease Prevention and a research associate in the Center for Research on U.S. Latino HIV/AIDS and Drug Abuse (CRUSADA). Her research seeks to gain a deeper understanding of the sociocultural factors influencing illnesses that disproportionately affect racial/ethnic groups, with an emphasis on Latinos. She has been an investigator on seven National Institutes of Healthfunded studies. She recently received a $2.38 million grant from the National Institute for Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism as principal investigator of a mixed-methods study, the goal of which is to acquire a detailed understanding of the environmental, demographic and sociocultural factors influencing drinking and driving trajectories among recent Latino immigrants.
Dr. Sheehan was hired as assistant professor in the Department of Epidemiology. Her research focuses on identifying gaps along the HIV care continuum, particularly those among Latinos. Her work has been funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the HIV Prevention Trials Network and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Additionally, Dr. Sheehan is dedicated to advancing the research careers of minority investigators, both as a faculty under the FIU-Health Disparities Initiative and as a coinvestigator on the FIU Center for Reducing Health Disparities in Substance Abuse & HIV in South Florida. She hold a Ph.D. in epidemiology from FIU and Bachelor of Science and Master of Public Health degrees from Boston University.
