Faculty Research Interests

My research focuses on writing techniques in healthcare. I've published three books in this area, as well as numerous journal articles, such as analyses of Medicare manuals for their targeted audience of senior citizens. I am also active in the open education movement. Because many of my courses have experiential components, I've also published and presented on applied projects that benefit our community. Fortunately, my research interests have allowed me to travel throughout Europe—from Spain and Italy in the southwest to Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Poland in central and Eastern Europe. Just like my courses, my research emphasizes the applications of writing in professional contexts.

Although my research interests are broad, most of my research investigates the relationships between psychological factors and adjustment to chronic physical health conditions. These studies have explored relationships among variables such as family functioning, anxiety, depression, posttraumatic stress and adjustment, self-management, rehabilitation, and medical outcomes for individuals experiencing diabetes, cancer, spinal cord injury, and cardiac conditions. I am also interested in the development and application of therapies to help individuals, couples, and families who face chronic health conditions, and in the integration of therapeutic methods toward optimal effectiveness for these problems. I have piloted many interventions utilizing imagery as a medium for exploration and intervention. I have also worked in primary care medical settings, specialty care medical settings, and physical medicine & rehabilitation settings over the years, integrating psychological services into the integrated interdisciplinary medical care.

My research interests include the pathology of bacteria, diagnostic bacteriology, pathology of protozoan parasites, electron and light microscopy, and human anatomy and physiology.

My research interests are related to organizational behavior and human resources with specific interests in emotional intelligence, cultural intelligence, social intelligence, and leadership, which are all areas that have current relevance to researchers and practitioners.  More recently, I have found that the cultural intelligence field is such an emerging area that there are many opportunities to create new research streams that I believe I will be focusing more on in the future. Additionally, I have become interested in online social networks and their implications for expatriates and repatriates.  

My research interests include the use of evidence-based practices in school and community-based settings for individuals with disabilities and teacher training, specifically in under-served communities.

• Person-centered being, doing, connecting, and facilitating
• Experiential learning and experiences
• Integrating mind, body, spirit, and environment in practical ways
• Bringing transpersonal skills to the everyday
• Identity/formulation of Black women and girls
• Women and Girls of Color and their many intersecting identities 
• How women and their collective actions will change the world
• Black daughter-mother dynamics

• The importance of spirituality in Nursing
   

My research interests are focused on the characterization and use of fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) composites as a substitute for steel in reinforced concrete construction. My work encompasses both internal reinforcement for new construction and external reinforcement for strengthening and repair of existing structures, contributing to the development of an innovative technique for mechanically-fastening FRP laminates to the tension soffit of concrete beams.

As a fellow of the American Concrete Institute, I was recently appointed chairman of the ACI international committee that is tasked with developing code language for the design of structural concrete reinforced with FRP bars.

My research focuses on mentoring and parental involvement in the college-going process of African American students pursuing nursing education. Specifically it focuses on how these strategies facilitate the recruitment and retention of minority students in nursing education programs. In addition my research interest includes reducing health care disparities and inequalities by diversifying the nursing workforce and improving healthcare outcomes among this population.

• Trauma
• Social Work in Behavioral Health
• Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities
• Intersection of Social Work and Applied Behavior Analysis

Health Promotion across the Life Span; Spirituality and Health; and Faith Community Nursing Outcomes

My current research interests are community and collective models of trauma healing, transformative teaching in social work, mind-body interventions, social work practitioner wellbeing, and collective care and culturally grounded interventions in social work.

We live in a world where employment is an expectation and often a requirement for accessing certain safety net supports, such as TANF. Yet, we are also in an era where stable work may be fleeting at best. Given this situation, my research interests have centered on the effects that this precarious condition can have on families' material and emotional well-being.

Currently, I am studying the relationship between families' economic vulnerability and children's social-emotional competence with a focus on family processes. In future research, I plan a continued investigation of the impact of economic vulnerability on family well-being, expanding this inquiry to gain a richer understanding of individual families' experiences with, and responses to, economic vulnerability and the consequent influence on family and child well-being. I am also interested in better understanding intersectionality of identities, particularly those identities that are outside of the dominant culture, and experiences of precarity.

By identifying the interactive effects that system, family, and individual-level experiences can have on the well-being of children and families, my research is intended to build policymakers' and practitioners' understanding of policies' and conditions' impact on families, thereby enabling appropriate policy and programmatic responses to be identified and implemented. In particular, I aim to conduct research that informs social workers' micro- and macro-level responses (ideally in an integrated manner), and by doing so, facilitates social and economic justice and social change.

My current research interest is how magic was performed on the early modern stage and how magic interacts with gender norms. I also enjoy the work of editing editions of early modern plays.

My research interests focus primarily on geriatrics and aging in place through home modifications, health promotion programming, smart technology, and designing livable communities.  I am also interested in the impact of international service learning on healthcare students' professional development. I enjoy exploring the  interprofessional collaboration between designers and occupational therapists, including pedagogical best practices to facilitate collaborations within academic programs. Finally, I have been researching the effects of sensory strategies to affect the mental health of two distinct groups of people: older adults in late stage dementia and university students experiencing increased stress and anxiety.

My research interest includes analyzing the effects of hospitalization and discharge on older adults from a biopsychosocial perspective.  Specifically, I am interested in the social determinants of health as related to the ability to return to a full and active lifestyle after acute illness for older adults. Additionally, since joining the Widener PT faculty, I have developed an interest in teaching pedagogy and how to share classroom and lab experiences for improved learning.

I have conducted diverse research studies which have given me understanding of various subjects and vast experience in a number of molecular, biochemical, cell biology, immunological and neurological techniques. I have extensive experience in cell and tissue culture techniques. My research interest is focused on application of stem cells (NSCs/MSCs) in understanding and treating different diseases of brain, lungs and heart. I also have interest in molecular and cell biology of microbes and malaria parasite. During my PhD., I investigated the translational status of a plastid-like organelle - apicoplast, known to be essential for the survival of Plasmodium falciparum.

Behavioral Modification and Motivation & Attribution

My interest in biomaterials and tissue engineering was kickstarted during my first job as an engineer for Cook Biotech Inc., a company that manufactures medical devices made of small intestinal submucosa. Since then, I have studied mechanobiology, inflammation, tissue engineering and hyaluronan in tendon, fat, and liver. My current research interests include the mechanical behavior of diseased soft tissues and identifying the contributing cellular and extracellular matrix structures. I have particular interest in adipocytes and adipose tissue, the effects of fatty acids on mechanosensing and inflammation, and the development of cell- or tissue-engineering treatment strategies.

I have two main research interests: sports literature and flash fiction. I am interested in how fiction writers and poets use sports to explore issues of identity, gender, race, class, psychology, competition, and civic pride. More recently, I've become interested in flash fictions extremely short narratives typically less than 1,000 words.