Faculty Research Interests

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 also have interest in developing therapeutic devices and diagnostic tools to support the Autism community.

I am interested in research on mental health and homelessness in youth aging out of foster care.

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.

My research interests focus on catalysis and kinetics, chemical process development, and mathematical modeling.

My research interests include: men in nursing; diversity in the nursing profession; interprofessional education; and collaboration

• Childhood trauma
• Childhood psychopathology
• Neurobiology of trauma and toxic stress 
• Behavioral biomarkers of toxic stress and trauma 
• Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) antibody/antigen extraction 
• Measuring stress hormones: cortisol, oxytocin, alpha amylase etc.
• Nervous system dysregulation
• Allostatic Load
• Intergeneration/Transgenerational Trauma
• Compassion, relational therapy, and Self Care
• Developmental disorders 

My research interests are culturally centered educational pedagogy, therapeutic methodological frameworks, healing, counseling agency-based practice, and emancipation-oriented paradigms for African Americans and other disempowered populations.

An active and ongoing research agenda perpetuates knowledge that is meaningful to society and memorable to students in the classroom. My research focuses on communication pedagogy, ethical journalistic reporting in cases of suicide, emotional intelligence, gendered communication, and interactive interdisciplinary research. The topics of research are connected by interpersonal communication theories and application.

• Well-being
• Goals, goals selection, and effective goal pursuit
• Antecedents and consequences of motivation
• Arrogance
• Basic Psychological Need Satisfaction
• Psychological Health and functioning
• Self-Determination Theory
• Research methodology 

I examine muscle function during locomotion and feeding. Employing fish as model species, my students and I use integrated research approaches, from whole animal performance to tissue function to gene expression. Currently, my lab is focused on how a small, coastal fish, the rainbow smelt, is able to swim and feed during the extreme cold of the North Atlantic winter.

Broadly, my research focuses on how media and technology affect interpersonal and romantic relationships. I study how computer-mediated communication affects interpersonal processes such as person perception and relationship development. I particularly focus on how ambiguity in text-based interactions disrupts intimacy and how individuals attempt to reduce that ambiguity. Many of my online and laboratory projects address how emoji use in text conversations affects impression formation and perceived partner responsiveness. I also study how being ghosted on online dating apps affects future perceptions and pursuit of potential partners.

• Trauma
• Racial Stress
• Racial Identity
• Ancestral Healing 
• LGBTQ Joy/Liberation

My overarching research agenda is to explore and understand the professional identity development of social work students, how values and personal attributes contribute to that development, and then how courses can be structured to enhance and continue to support the developmental process. My research goal is to examine the process of identity development to provide insight to the process, thereby enabling the development of course content that will further strengthen the students' professional development.

• Investor Protection and Equal Economic Opportunity
• Social Justice and Criminal Legal System Reform
• Trauma and Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) as perpetuated by unequal legal systems

My research interests involve designing teaching materials that enhance conceptual understanding and problem solving. This includes use of technology and multimedia to facilitate understanding of the submicroscopic world.

My research focuses on application of machine learning to digital privacy and security. My dissertation was on applying stylometry - the study of style - to identifying the authors of collaborative documents and programs. I am interested in continuing research in applications of stylometry, but also in expanding to other applications of machine learning.

My clinical and research interests include minority identity development, microaggressions, intersectionality, grief, trauma, couples therapy, human sexuality, community psychology, and more recently, the impact that social media has on both self-image/worth/esteem and the development and maintenance of intra- and interpersonal relationships. I look forward to partnering with students and faculty across disciplines around research that speaks to the lived experiences of Black people within those interest areas.

• Global Health
• Global Health Ethics
• Rehabilitation and Disability

• Intergenerational Identify Formation
• Social-emotional-ethical learning in school settings
• Child psychopathology in family and school settings

My research interests include online and hybrid education, developmental mathematics, and innovative approaches to teaching and learning.