L
O
N
G
I
S
L
A
N
D
U
N
I
V
E
R
S
I
T
Y
NEWSROOM LIU’S DR. RICHARD NADER IS AWARDED FULBRIGHT SCHOLARSHIP TO INDIA Dr. Richard Nader, Chief Research and International Officer at Long Island University, has been selected for a 2019 – 2020 Fulbright-Nehru U.S. International Education Administrators (IEA) award. This is his second Fulbright Award; his first was in 2014 to France. Dr. Nader heads the LIU Research and International Office (RIO), where his role includes strategic global research development and assisting faculty to enhance research and international activities. This particular Fulbright program is a specially designed, short-term intensive program to connect U.S. universities to opportunities in India that match the interests and priority areas of LIU. “I am thrilled and honored to be selected for this award and to represent LIU in highly recognized venues in India,” said Dr. Nader. As Jeffrey L. Bleich, chair of the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board, said in his recent acceptance letter to Dr. Nader, “The Fulbright Program, which aims to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries, is the flagship international exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government.” Named after U.S. Senator J. William Fulbright, more than 380,000 Americans have participated in the program since its inception in 1946. As a grantee, Dr. Nader will join the ranks of 59 Nobel Laureates, 84 Pulitzer Prize winners, 72 MacArthur Fellows and 16 Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients. “I think Fulbright said it best,” added Dr. Nader, “when he said: ‘The making of peace is a continuing process that must go on from day to day, from year to year, so long as our civilization shall last.’ “ Dr. Nader has more than 30 years of experience in research and international affairs. Before coming to LIU in June 2018, Dr. Nader served as Associate V.P. for International Development at Mississippi State University, where he led efforts in international development, education and research, including establishing the state’s first Fulbright Association. Previously, Dr. Nader worked at the National Science Foundation’s Office of International Science and Engineering and at Texas A&M University. “Research and creative activities are noble pursuits,” Dr. Nader said. “A university values faculty because they carry out its goals: the pursuit of truth through discovery, and the pursuit of peace through freedom of expression, debate and understanding the human condition. Research, teaching and service are the key means of accomplishing the university’s goals, and for universities to thrive, they must excel at all three missions.”
LIU PROFESSOR THOMAS INZANA JOINS ELITE RANK OF AMERICA’S LEADING SCIENTISTS FOR HIS RESEARCH Long Island University is proud to announce that Dr. Thomas Inzana, the new Associate Dean for Research at the College of Veterinary Medicine, has been elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) for his extraordinary work in the world of medical science. This honor places him in an elite company that includes Thomas Edison, Linus Pauling and computer science pioneer Grace Hopper since AAAS began its annual tradition of recognizing leading scientists in 1874. With its announced mission to “advance science, engineering and innovation throughout the world for the benefit of all people,” AAAS is the world’s largest multidisciplinary scientific society, with individual members in more than 91 countries. In its announcement, Dr. Inzana was singled out for his “distinguished contributions to basic and clinical bacteriology, particularly for research leading to improved methods for diagnosing and preventing human and animal diseases.” “I was always interested in science,” said Dr. Inzana, who took a microbiology course early in his college studies at the University of Georgia that inspired him to become the clinical microbiologist he is today. Over the years he estimates he’s received more than $9 million in funding from sources such as USDA, the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Defense. He holds three patents including a vaccine developed for swine respiratory disease that was marketed by Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica, Inc. (BIVI). Now he’s hoping to develop a vaccine for bovine respiratory disease caused by the pathogen Histophilus somni. “A lot of my work these days is on bacterial biofilms,” he said, referring to the thin, slimy film of bacteria that adheres to a surface like lunchmeat. “The good point is that biofilms don’t induce a highly robust inflammatory response so the disease isn’t so severe. The bad news is that they’re very difficult to get rid of because they’re more resistant to antibiotics and host defenses.” At LIU, he’ll be teaching microbiology while continuing his lab work, mentoring faculty, and overseeing the College’s research program. Dr. Inzana, a native of Rochester, N.Y., earned his doctorate at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and did his postdoc at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. He is a diplomate of the American Board of Medical Microbiology, the American College of Veterinary Microbiologists (Honorary), and a Fellow of the American Academy for Microbiology. Before joining LIU, he spent 31 years at Virginia Tech.
LIUMAGAZINE | Spring 2019
41