Public Health  News

Katherine (Katie) McDonald, Ph.D., has been appointed Senior Associate Dean for Research and Administration in Falk College. As Senior Associate Dean, McDonald is responsible for the oversight of research, administration, and support for faculty; the supervision of the Falk College Office of Research Development; the development and implementation of Falk strategic initiatives; and representing Falk College on University-level committees as appropriate. The office reports directly to Falk College Dean Jeremy Jordan.

“Falk College research spans a wide range of disciplines with impactful, practical applications in individual health and community wellbeing,” Jordan says. “Thanks to Dr. McDonald’s leadership and her team in the Falk College Office of Research Development, the College has experienced steady growth in research activity by every measure, including grant funding, publishing, interdisciplinary collaborations, and student engagement. I am eager to see her influence expand as Senior Associate Dean for Research and Administration.”

McDonald’s new appointment follows a three-year appointment as Associate Dean of Research. During her tenure, McDonald worked collaboratively to establish programming to nurture faculty research, enhance connections on campus to fuel interdisciplinary research, and develop policy to foster research success.

“I am delighted to continue to serve Falk College in this new role,” says McDonald. “Falk College is home to students, staff, and faculty committed to creating and leveraging scientific discoveries to enhance human thriving. It is an honor to have the opportunity to work with so many talented people to co-chart our future.”

McDonald is a professor in the Falk College Department of Public Health, where she also served as chair from 2018 to 2020. She is a fellow of the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, chair of Syracuse University’s Institutional Review Board, and a member of the Editorial Board for Autism in Adulthood. At Syracuse University, she holds faculty affiliations in the Aging Studies Institute, the Burton Blatt Institute, the Consortium for Culture and Medicine, and the Disability Studies program.

As a scholar, McDonald uses socioecological theory and community-engaged research to understand and promote the inclusion of individuals with disabilities. She has made significant contributions to research in disability, health disparities, community-engaged research, and ethical, legal, and social issues in research. Her research has been supported by grant funding from the National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Education, the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, Rehabilitation Research, and the Patient Centered Outcomes Institute, among others. She is published in leading journals such as the Disability and Health Journal, American Journal of Bioethics, and the American Journal on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities.

She received a B.S. with distinction in human development and family studies with a minor in French from Cornell University and a Ph.D. in community and prevention research psychology with a minor in statistics, methods, and measurements from the University of Illinois at Chicago.

After David Sobczak ’23 enrolled at Syracuse University, he gravitated toward social work and helping others because of the time he had spent in hospitals as a child with cerebral palsy.

“He was in and out of the hospital for extended periods of time, and what he saw were a lot of kids who were in the hospital and literally no one ever came to see them,” says Dee Anna Sobczak, David’s mother. “With his family and friends, David was never alone, and we would embrace kids that were there and bring them into our circle. He realized then and there that he’s very lucky to have a support group and not everybody has that.”

Sobczak wanted to be a football coach, and he earned his undergraduate degree from the School of Social Work in the Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics because a football team, like society, is made up of people from all walks of life. He wanted to learn how to best communicate with the players, show empathy for their individual situations, and build trust–the building blocks of social work.

Sobczak spent four seasons as offensive student assistant coach for the Syracuse football team, and he recently completed his first season as an offensive assistant coach for the University of Akron. Meanwhile, Sobczak’s younger brother, Danny, played football in high school and he and David told their mother that in both high school and college, many of the student-athletes struggled to pay for day-to-day items.

“What we found is that a lot of the students who were part of the team were on scholarship, but they weren’t funded for school supplies, their computer–all the things that would have set them up to be just as successful as their peers,’’ Dee Anna Sobczak says. “Many of the kids didn’t even have the money to buy lunch.”

As a result of those conversations, Dee Anna, David, and Danny, who graduated from the University of Colorado Boulder last spring, decided to create a fund to help Falk College students who are experiencing financial hardship. Working with Director of Development Megan Myers, who will become Falk’s assistant dean of advancement March 1, they created the Sobczak Family Student Support Endowed Fund that provides mini grants for an academic year.

“A lot of times, these students are trying to fight their way out of whatever situation they came from and start a new life for themselves,” Dee Anna Sobczak says. “This (fund) is to help set them up to be as successful as their peers, and that way everybody is on the same playing field as much as they can be.”

The mini grants are available to meet a wide range of needs and provide access to opportunities. Categories of support include emergency basic needs, fees, and supplies associated with the student’s educational program, and other critical student and human needs. Mini grants range from $100 to $300.

The Sobczak Family Fund is open to graduate and undergraduate students from the following Falk College programs: Exercise Science, Human Development and Family Science, Marriage and Family Therapy, Nutrition and Food Studies, Public Health, and Social Work. In the types of needs it addresses, the fund mirrors the Brandon S. Steiner Sport Management Student Support Fund for students enrolled in Falk’s Department of Sport Management.

Students may apply for assistance from the Sobczak Family Student Support Fund by filling out this application form and including documentation/information about circumstance. A student can’t be awarded funding more than twice.

David Sobczak’s disability is physical, and his challenges are there for all to see. But what his Social Work education taught him and his family is that we don’t know everything that might be going on in a person’s life, and the family fund is for students whose challenges may not be so obvious.

“There are really special people in Social Work,” David Sobczak said in a fall 2022 interview. “When it comes to my career and where it helps me, I’m going to encounter–and I’ve already encountered–people with tough situations in their family lives and you’ve got to be there for them.

“So, you learn about empathy, how to deal with people, and how to communicate, and you also learn that we’re all people,” he added. “You treat people as people and that’s a life skill that will take you further than any education can ever take you.”

In that interview for a feature story that appeared before Syracuse’s bowl game in 2022, David talked about wanting to give back and serve as a role model for those with disabilities who have dreams of their own. The family fund for Falk Students, Dee Anna Sobczak says, is to help students overcome outside challenges to complete their education and realize their dreams.

“We want them to be the best version of themselves they can be, figure out who they want to be and what they want to do, and put a path together to get there,” Dee Anna says. “And also, to realize that nothing is impossible; if you can dream it, you can do it.”

In addition to the Sobczak Family Student Support Endowed Fund, there are other opportunities and awards available to students in Falk College. Please visit the Awards and Scholarships page on the Falk website for more information on how to apply.

About Forever Orange: The Campaign for Syracuse University

Orange isn’t just our color. It’s our promise to leave the world better than we found it. Forever Orange: The Campaign for Syracuse University is poised to do just that. Fueled by more than 150 years of fearless firsts, together we can enhance academic excellence, transform the student experience, and expand unique opportunities for learning and growth. Forever Orange endeavors to raise $1.5 billion in philanthropic support, inspire 125,000 individual donors to participate in the campaign, and actively engage one in five alumni in the life of the University. Now is the time to show the world what Orange can do. Visit foreverorange.syr.edu to learn more.

Megan Myers has been named Falk College Assistant Dean of Advancement effective March 1, 2024. Myers will report to Dean Jeremy Jordan and lead all Falk College advancement efforts working closely with the Syracuse University Office of Advancement and External Affairs (AEA).

Myers joined Falk College’s advancement team as assistant director of development in December 2018 and was promoted to director of development in December 2021. In these roles, Myers successfully managed an assigned donor portfolio, established and managed relationships with Falk College alumni and donors, and collaborated with Syracuse University’s regional fundraising program.

“Megan has an exceptional history of success in creating new strategic partnerships and developing alumni engagement with Falk College,” says Falk College Dean Jeremy Jordan. “From new signature programs to targeted student support funds, Megan’s contributions have meaningfully advanced this College. I am confident that under her leadership we will continue to enrich the student experience.”

Prior to joining Falk, Myers was a development associate in AEA and highly successful as part of the inaugural Development Associate Team established as part of the planning for prospective donor development in the Forever Orange Campaign.

“I am thrilled to have the privilege to support Dean Jordan and advance his vision for the future for Falk College,” says Myers. “I look forward to continuing to build upon the excellent work my predecessor Dave Salanger has already initiated for the College by further developing relationships with alumni, parents, and friends of Syracuse University that create new opportunities for students and faculty.”

Myers previously worked as a development specialist with the Alzheimer’s Association, Nebraska Chapter, where she managed community-based, volunteer-driven events. In her professional career, she held positions with KLKN-TV in Lincoln, Nebraska, serving as a promotions manager and earning recognition as an Emmy-nominated reporter/anchor. She also contributed as an anchor for the weekend news at KEVN-TV in Rapid City, South Dakota, where she played a key role in achieving notable viewer market ratings.

She recently earned a master of public health from Syracuse University and holds a bachelor of arts in broadcast journalism and sociology from The Pennsylvania State University, where she was an Academic All-American and team co-captain for the women’s swimming and diving team.

Myers succeeds David Salanger, who will retire in March 2024. Salanger served 20 years at Syracuse, 18 of those with Falk College. During that time, he made a transformative impact on Falk College through alumni engagement, strategic partnerships, and critical financial gifts.

Among his contributions, Salanger was instrumental in guiding the generous gift from David B. Falk ’72 and Rhonda S. Falk ’74 that named the College in 2011. In addition, he secured the financial support for the renovation of Falk College Complex, previously the College of Law, in 2015. In the course of his service, Salanger raised over $40 million for the University and Falk College.

When Falk College Department of Public Health Chair and Professor David Larsen was notified that he had received a Fulbright U.S. Scholar Award to teach and continue his wastewater surveillance research at the Medical University of Innsbruck in Austria this spring, the academic in him was rightfully excited and proud to receive this prestigious honor.

But Larsen is also a father of four children, and that side of him had a slightly different reaction.

“I didn’t expect to get it because the European posts are quite competitive. When I received the email notification, it was kind of an ‘oh, crap’ moment. What have I done?” Larsen says, smiling.

What Larsen and his wife, Natalia, did was pack up their four children–Isabel, 13; Sophia, 11; Madeline, 8; and Teddy, 5–and travel roughly 6,500 miles to a house they’re renting in Birgitz, a village outside of Innsbruck, from January through July. Their daughters are attending English-speaking schools, while their son is attending a German-speaking preschool (German is the primary language in Austria).

“Their schooling is going to be a bit disrupted, but they’re good students who read a lot and we’ll keep on top of it and fill in the gaps they might miss,” Larsen says. “It is a ski town, so we’ll spend some time skiing, and the schools for the older girls had London excursions last year so perhaps they can do trips like that.”

Fulbright Scholar Awards are competitive fellowships that provide students, scholars, teachers, artists, and professionals of all backgrounds and fields the opportunity to study, teach and conduct research abroad, exchange ideas, and play critical roles in U.S. public diplomacy as they seek to find solutions to shared international concerns.

Since its establishment in 1946 under legislation introduced by the late U.S. Senator J. William Fulbright of Arkansas, the Fulbright Program has provided more than 390,000 scholarships and its alumni include 62 Nobel Laureates, 89 Pulitzer Prize winners, 78 MacArthur Fellows, and thousands of leaders and world-renowned experts in academia and many other fields across the private, public, and non-profit sectors.

At the outset of COVID in 2020, Larsen, an epidemiologist, led an interdisciplinary team of experts in coordination with the New York Department of Health to create a wastewater surveillance system throughout New York State. Today, the New York State Wastewater Surveillance Network is testing for COVID in at least one wastewater treatment plant in all 62 of the state’s counties, covering a population of 15.3 million. The New York State Wastewater Surveillance Network dashboard provides the most recent statistics regarding the network.

Before Larsen and his family traveled to Austria, we asked him about the Fulbright Award, what he’ll be doing in and outside of Austria, and why a wastewater surveillance system to test COVID and other infectious diseases is crucial to worldwide health. Here’s that conversation:

Why did you want this fellowship?

You submit for a specific award, and I submitted for a position at the Medical University of Innsbruck. I had reviewed their papers and there was good science coming out of there, so I reached out to their scientists who are working on wastewater surveillance in Austria and created their own network in the Tyrol region where Innsbruck is located.

I told them about my work in New York State and the wastewater surveillance network here, and they were supportive of my application.

What will you be doing at the Medical University of Innsbruck?

I’m a visiting professor and they’ve asked me to teach two courses that meet once a week and are equivalent to a 3-credit course here. I’m teaching a condensed version of my “Spatial Statistics for Public Health” course, and I developed an overview course for public health surveillance. Those were selected in brainstorming with my colleagues at Innsbruck who thought those would be of most value to their students.

In addition, I’m working with the wastewater-based epidemiologists there, and the research project attached to the Fulbright is the comparison of the networks in New York State and Tyrol.

Will you be working outside of Austria?

There’s a national wastewater network in Austria, and initiatives to establish a global network being led by Europeans. Europeans have been doing wastewater surveillance for drugs since 2010, and they’ve got a great model of collaboration across the different nation states. So, I hope to connect with that team and learn more about it, in addition to working with the Austrians.

I’m working here in New York State, primarily, and others are working across the globe on the same issue and building a global system. So, we’ll take the lessons we’ve learned and the challenges we’ve overcome here in New York and go to Austria, share those, and I hope to learn lessons they’ve learned and the challenges they’ve overcome in Austria, and then Europe, and more broadly. Hopefully, we’ll have a greater understanding and improved wastewater surveillance systems as a result.

Why is this collaboration so important?

We built this (network) with COVID, but we also built it for the future. Right now in New York State, local health departments are using the data we produce–particularly the sequencing data to track variants–but also the hospitalization forecasting that we provide them. Our aim is to provide the local health departments and the public with robust understanding of COVID-19 risk.

At the same time, COVID is not the only infectious disease, and there’s always potential for what we call ‘Disease X,’ which is the next emerging infection. It could be another coronavirus, it could be an avian influenza, it could be something we’re not thinking about right now. The goal is to make this system ready and prepared to empower the public health response to whatever comes in the future.

In New York State, we supported the polio response in 2022 and made a huge impact on understanding how many people were at risk of polio. We are piloting influenza, RSV, Hepatitis A, Norovirus, and Antimicrobial Resistance (which occurs when a virus doesn’t respond to medicine). Antimicrobial Resistance is a looming public health threat and could be very impactful. We do support the COVID response, but that’s the tip of the iceberg of where we hope the wastewater surveillance network goes.

The idea here is that perhaps most, if not all, infectious diseases can be surveilled or found in wastewater. Beyond that, drugs and environmental toxicants and pollutions and other measures of non-communicable diseases can be measured. How do we build this system to make the world a better place?

What motivates you to do this?

This came about because I wanted to safely open my kids’ schools. I wanted to get back to normal. When COVID hit, we shut down and I supported the response–I still support the response we had–but it was a response made without local understanding of risk.

Infectious diseases are local. You have travelers that take them from community to community, but you can have little enclaves of safe places. We had one at Syracuse University in the fall of 2020. It was safe from COVID because of the aggressive public health measures and the aggressive infectious disease surveillance we were doing with wastewater and testing.

Could we have a situation where infectious disease is threatening, but we have these little pockets of freedom? And that’s informed a lot of my work: How do we live a free life in a world affected by infectious disease? The way to do that, in my view, is to fight these diseases so they’re no longer a threat and then you have to be able to confirm that they’re not affecting people. That’s where infectious disease surveillance comes in.

Vaccinations are down, and a new COVID variant is on the rise. What’s your message to people as we approach the four-year anniversary of COVID?

People associate COVID with public health restrictions: masks, closed restaurants, closed schools, quarantine, isolation. But at its best, public health is empowering. Freedom from polio, the ability to drink tap water, the trust we have in our food system, the long-term health care as we get older. That is public health. And if we are on the front foot–if we prevent the disease–then we can avoid the restrictions that happen. The shutdowns are a last resort when we have overflowing morgues and overflowing hospitals and it’s a panic button. It was the last resort and that’s the situation we found ourselves in.

Real public health is, how do we build a system so we don’t get into that position again? Vaccines are part of that toolkit; clean air, air filtration, environmental adjustments are also part of that toolkit and infectious disease surveillance is definitely part of that toolkit.

Mary E. Graham, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Sport Management, has been named Falk College Associate Dean of Faculty Affairs effective Jan. 2, 2024. This newly created leadership position reports to Falk College Dean Jeremy Jordan and is dedicated to faculty development and success. In this role, Graham will guide all Falk College efforts related to faculty development—from hiring to retirement—and work closely with university offices and leadership in Academic Affairs, University Counsel, Equal Opportunity Compliance, Human Resources, and Office of Research.

“I am excited to appoint Dr. Graham to this new role for Falk College,” says Jeremy S. Jordan, Dean of Falk College. “I am very confident that she will be able to further the support and development of our faculty based on her wealth of professional experiences and academic expertise.”

As Falk College Associate Dean of Faculty Affairs, Graham will work with department chairs to develop strategic hiring plans for faculty and oversee the successful execution of faculty searches. She will participate in faculty review processes, including recommendations for contract renewals and promotion and tenure, and manage operational aspects of faculty affairs. Together with Falk College leadership, Graham will steer the college towards enhanced faculty research and teaching excellence.

“Falk College has an exceptionally talented, diverse faculty with unparalleled dedication to the student experience and the creation of new knowledge,” says Graham. “I am honored to serve as Associate Dean of Faculty Affairs in service to my faculty colleagues and the linked missions of Falk College and Syracuse University. I look forward to collaborating with our visionary Dean, Jeremy Jordan, and his leadership team on strategic and operational faculty matters.”

Graham joined the Falk College faculty in 2012 and is also affiliated faculty in the Whitman School of Management. She teaches applied courses in organizational behavior and strategic human resource management, as well as diversity in sport organizations at the undergraduate, graduate, and executive levels. An expert in gender disparities in employment, she has conducted numerous American Association of University Women salary negotiations workshops for students since 2009.

In 2022, Graham was named Syracuse University’s faculty athletics representative (FAR) to the NCAA and the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). In this capacity she serves as a key advisor to Chancellor Kent Syverud and Provost Gretchen Ritter on policy proposals and issues affecting student-athletes’ academic and overall wellbeing, working closely with Tommy Powell, Assistant Provost for Student-Athlete Academic Development; Athletic Director John Wildhack; and their teams of professionals. Graham chairs the Faculty Oversight Committee on Athletics, which reviews student-athlete academic data and conducts exit interviews of departing student-athletes.

She previously served as a Syracuse University Provost Faculty Fellow from 2018 to 2020, where she worked with the Provost and University Senate to develop and implement campus-wide shared competencies for undergraduate students. Graham has been a University Senator since 2018, and she currently serves on the Senate Committee on Athletic Policy.

Prior to joining Syracuse University, Graham held faculty positions in business schools at Clarkson University, George Washington University, and Georgia State University. She has served as a visiting scholar at National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, National Central University in Taiwan, and at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. She also has prior work experience with several members of the U.S. House of Representatives. Graham has published extensively and has been widely cited in the areas of human resource management (HRM), public policy and employment discrimination, gender in employment and HRM in supply chains. She is currently studying the equal employment opportunity transparency among professional sport teams, and the impact of concussions on player misconduct.

Graham is on the Editorial Board of the journal Human Resource Management (Wiley), where she previously served as an associate editor. Her professional memberships include the Society for Human Resource Management; and the Academy of Management, where she serves on the executive committee of the Research Methods Division.

A former CPA, Graham has a B.S. in Accounting from Le Moyne College and work experience in public accounting and human resource management. Graham earned both her M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell University, specializing in human resource management, organizational behavior, and gender studies.

Testing wastewater for COVID-19 provides a better forecast of new COVID hospital admissions than clinical data, according to a Syracuse University research team led by postdoctoral researcher Dustin Hill.

The COVID-19 pandemic has been a burden on the U.S. health care system since its arrival in early 2020. COVID remains a threat to our communities, particularly during the winter months when new cases and hospitalizations are likely to surge. The ability to predict where and when new patients will be admitted to hospitals is essential for planning and resource allocation.

“Our findings indicate that wastewater surveillance improves prediction models for hospitalizations by 11 percent over models that use case data at the county level and by 15 percent for regional hospitalization estimates,” said Hill, an environmental data scientist and epidemiologist who works in the Department of Public Health at Syracuse University’s Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics. “When looking at how many beds a hospital has available, those percentages can make a big difference in whether that hospital is going to have space for new patients or not, and this data can help them get ready for changes.”

Hill led a project that used wastewater surveillance data in predictive models to improve estimates for new COVID hospital admissions in New York State. The research team’s results were published recently in the peer-reviewed journal Infectious Disease Modeling and were gathered in collaboration with State University of New York at Albany, University at Buffalo, State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Stony Brook University, and the New York State Department of Health.

Throughout the pandemic, hospitalization forecasting models have relied heavily on clinical data collected from polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and antigen tests. But these data can be biased because of a lack of widespread testing and may not be quick enough to indicate a surge.

In their study, the researchers combined wastewater surveillance data (how much SARS-CoV-2 is found in wastewater) with clinical case and comorbidity data to predict the seven-day average of new hospital admissions 10 days after the wastewater sample collection.

Wastewater data are being collected across New York State through the New York State Wastewater Surveillance Network, and that data can be used to continuously update forecasting predictions each week. According to the research, the average difference between predicted hospitalizations and observed hospitalizations was 0.013 per 100,000 population, or 1.3 in 10,000,000 population, providing high accuracy.

The New York State Wastewater Surveillance Network is testing for COVID in at least one wastewater treatment plant in each of the state’s 62 counties, covering a population of more than 15.3 million. The New York State Wastewater Surveillance Network dashboard provides the most recent statistics regarding the network.

The research team is exploring how their methods to predict COVID hospitalizations can be further refined and applied to other infectious diseases such as RSV and influenza as wastewater surveillance expands to cover these public health threats.

“Predicting future hospitalizations using wastewater data helps get our public health partners in front of surges before they happen so they are prepared when new patients need to be admitted and can distribute resources accordingly,” Hill says. “The methods we developed here are going to be instrumental for tracking the diseases we already know about, and perhaps even more important for the diseases that could arise in the future.”

What five words best describe you?

Well, this is what I would hope for: Kind, empathetic, fun(ish), focused, humble.

Three fun facts about yourself that others may not know?

I have run 12 marathons and 25 half-marathons. I love live music and try to go to as many concerts as a I can. One of my favorite places to visit is Japan—I love the people and the culture.

Do you play a sport or follow a sports team?

During COVID I bought a Peloton bike, so now I spend a lot of time riding a bike that goes nowhere. After living in Philadelphia for 15 years, I tend to root for the Phillies and Eagles.

Favorite band?

Pearl Jam, I am old.

Favorite podcast, book, movie or hobby you’ve enjoyed recently?

I have been reading Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders. It is a unique book that I have enjoyed quite a bit. Fun that he is a faculty member at Syracuse.

Most interesting travel experience you’ve had?

I love to travel abroad and experience all that is available at the destination, especially the food. The most epic travel day I have had was in Tokyo. The day started with a bike tour through the city where we stumbled upon one of the best Oktoberfest celebrations I have seen (it was in May by the way). The day ended with some amazing street food and a visit to the robot bar. I got to share this day with my spouse, Laurel, and a good friend, which made it even more special.

Best advice you’ve received?

Listen more, talk less.

What most appeals to you about living in Central New York?

I have really enjoyed learning about all the different outdoor activities and festivals.

How do you bring out the best in your students?

Understanding their academic and career aspirations and making sure we provide the necessary support and resources for them to be successful. We work collaboratively with our students to help them achieve their goals.

What do you look most forward to in your role as dean?

Working with the faculty and staff to provide a transformational experience for our students. We will tell the story of Falk, in part, through the outcomes of our students.

An SU Story by Maren Powell originally published on November 3, 2023.

As the nation grapples with an ongoing opioid crisis that annually claims tens of thousands of lives, two Syracuse University professors are collaborating on a research project that they hope will help people receiving opioid use disorder treatment to curb their cravings and maintain their recovery. With the support of a four-year grant from the National Science Foundation, lead principal investigator Asif Salekin, an electrical engineering and computer science professor in the College of Engineering and Computer Science, and co-principal investigator Dessa Bergen-Cico ’86, G’88, G’92, a public health professor and coordinator of addiction studies programs in the David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics, have teamed up with the Crouse Health Addiction Treatment Services in Syracuse where they’re working with outpatients in recovery for opioid use disorder.

The patients—who receive medication for addiction treatment at the clinic—have volunteered to participate in this novel study, which seeks to create an automated, individually tailored intervention that integrates an adaptive artificial intelligence (AI) system with a sensor-equipped smartwatch to monitor changes in their neurophysiology. The goal is for the system to detect escalating stress—a known risk factor for opioid cravings and relapse risk—and prompt the patient to engage in mindfulness-based practices, such as breathing techniques and meditation, to reduce the neurophysiological stress response. “We’re combining what we know from the decades of research I’ve been involved in around mindfulness-based practices with veterans and other challenged populations and applying that to what we know about the neurophysiology of stress and addiction craving to establish more effective and sustainable recovery,” says Bergen-Cico, an expert in addressing substance use, trauma and addictive behaviors.

Monitoring Stress

Salekin specializes in assessing stress and anxiety using sensing technologies. “Stress is very diverse and a broad umbrella,” he says. “So how to identify the common markers across all the variations and effectively assess that information using passive sensors is an open research challenge that I’m fascinated to address.”

Salekin’s research team—which includes computer science doctoral candidates Harshit Sharma and Yi Xiao—is focused on creating an unbiased AI algorithm that will accurately reflect changes in an individual’s behavior. “We are working with an at-risk population, so we want the AI to be robust and trustworthy,” Salekin says. “We want to know how to avoid putting our patients in an adverse situation and incorporate that in the AI.”

Revealing Results

In the project’s first phase, they set up a lab at the Crouse Health Addiction Treatment Services, and Sharma and Xiao conducted a Trier Social Stress Test on the patients to gather data on heart rate, heart rate variability, skin conductance, respiration and skin temperature (they also tested a comparison control group of non-opioid or other substance users from the Syracuse area). The test featured an interactive video with both relaxing and stress-inducing imagery and required participants to perform a series of tasks, including doing a timed counting exercise and a numbers game, recalling good and bad memories and creating a song in 30 seconds. The team used thermal and depth cameras as well as a radar-imaging device, which captures body movement and gestures, and a smartwatch with multiple passive sensors to capture the biometric data in real time.

According to Bergen-Cico, the stress test results revealed two important findings: The rate of the physiological stress response was much more rapid for people with an opioid use disorder, and they were unable to verbally recall a positive experience, a characteristic she attributes to reward deficiency syndrome. “That the patients can’t verbalize something positive in their lives is a groundbreaking finding and component of the study,” she says. “They are readily able to recall negative experiences, which produce dramatic physiological stress response, but they are seemingly unable to recall joy or pleasure in anything.”

“We’re combining what we know from the decades of research I’ve been involved in around mindfulness-based practices with veterans and other challenged populations and applying that to what we know about the neurophysiology of stress and addiction craving to establish more effective and sustainable recovery.”

~ Dessa Bergen-Cico ’86, G’88, G’92, public health professor

Now in its second phase, the project is moving from the lab to a home environment, where the patients will wear the sensor-equipped smartwatches, providing feedback that will help the researchers evaluate and adapt their algorithm. In the final phase, the researchers plan to pilot their invention, a fully automated AI intervention that brings all their research together where patients will be trained in mindfulness practices and prompted to use these practices when the AI detects neurophysiological stress response. If successful, they hope to apply for a National Institutes of Health grant that would lead to a medical trial.

Unique Interdisciplinary Collaboration

Along with the project’s unique interdisciplinary collaboration and putting AI and mindfulness theories into practice, Bergen-Cico cites the importance of building community connections, crediting Monika Taylor G’99, G’17, G’18, director of the Crouse Health Addiction Treatment Services, as a key collaborator and project manager Susan Scholl ’81 for working with the clinic and coordinating recruiting. Both she and Salekin highly value the work of Sharma and Xiao, who communicated with the patients and guided them through the lab tests. Bergen-Cico says addiction studies and public health graduate and undergraduate students have also assisted with the project.

Sharma says it’s heartbreaking to learn about the patients’ lives and struggles but believes the team’s hard work and the technology they’re developing will truly have a positive impact. “It’s been an eye-opening experience understanding how people suffer after opioid use and how they’re trying to recover,” he says. “Being a part of this project and contributing little things to make it better for them makes my day.”

An SU Story by Jay Cox originally published on October 17, 2023.

Why Falk College? And why OttoTHON?

For Grace Brashears, the answer to both questions is the same: She has dedicated her life to helping children and their families “while they walk the terrifying path that is pediatric illness.”

Brashears is a double major at Falk (human development and family science, and public health) who’s working toward becoming a certified child life specialist. In that role, Brashears will help children and families navigate the process of illness, injury, disability, trauma, and hospitalization.

But Brashears is helping children and their families even before she graduates in 2025. The junior from Holland, Michigan, was recently named the youngest executive director in the 10-year history of OttoTHON, Syracuse University’s 12-hour dance marathon that raises money for Upstate Golisano Children’s Hospital, which is adjacent to campus.

“It’s quite an honor,’’ says Matthew Mulvaney, associate professor and undergraduate director of the Department of Human Development and Family Science (HDFS). “This will be a wonderful representation of Syracuse values and an important show of support for children managing these challenges.”

OttoTHON is a part of a larger international movement of students fighting for a future without childhood illness. Hundreds of Dance Marathon programs throughout North America raise funds and awareness for Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. In recent years, OttoTHON has raised more than $100,000 a year for Golisano.

In a recent meeting with her HDFS faculty advisor and mentor, Professor of Practice Colleen Cameron, Brashears mentioned that she had been named executive director. Happy and excited for Brashears and how her work with OttoTHON reflects the social justice values of HDFS and Falk, Cameron asked Brashers to write a reflection about her appointment that Cameron could share with the department leadership.

We also asked Brashears to share her reflection with the wider Falk and Syracuse University communities. Here’s what she wrote:

“Throughout the year, OttoTHON plans and runs various small events, fundraising pushes, and support initiatives for the children and families who have been treated at Upstate Golisano. All of this leads to our large event in the spring, our 12-hour Dance Marathon. This 12-hour party is a celebration of all the kids and families who have and currently are walking the path of pediatric illness. Throughout this event, we play games, eat food, watch performances from several student groups, fundraise, hear stories from staff and families at the hospital, and, of course, dance.

“This year, I have the absolute honor of being the executive director for OttoTHON! After being a part of the OttoTHON Leadership Program as a first-year student and serving as the first-year recruitment co-chair on the executive board last year, I am thrilled to be able to step into this role during my junior year here at Syracuse.

“Pediatric illness is something that I have always been highly passionate about. Since I started the mini-dance marathon program at my high school (Holland Christian High School), my biggest ‘why’ for being a part of this movement is to ensure that no child or family ever has to feel that they are alone while they walk the terrifying path that is pediatric illness. Programs like Dance Marathon offer an opportunity for the local community to help fill the gaps in healthcare today through the funds they raise and the support they offer. This ‘why’ brought me to Syracuse University to pursue my degrees in human development & family science and public health with the goal of becoming a certified child life specialist.

“As executive director, I oversee the organization and set the top priorities and goals for OttoTHON; manage and ensure that initiatives, fundraisers, and events run successfully; and assist in whatever capacity is needed. I also serve as a liaison to Upstate Golisano Children’s Hospital, the Syracuse University community, the greater Syracuse community, Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, and other key partners. My ultimate responsibility and personal goal as executive director are to be sure OttoTHON does absolutely everything we can to ensure that the families we work with know there is a group of passionate Syracuse University students across the street from them who will do everything in our power to do anything that will make this journey even the tiniest bit easier for them.

“I believe it is vital for Syracuse University students to get involved in experiences that will get them into the local Syracuse community in a way that benefits the members of that community. As an out-of-state student, it can be easy to look at Syracuse, New York, as just Syracuse University; this is why it is essential to know that Syracuse is an entire community of people that goes far beyond the University. OttoTHON is a great way to begin to do this.

“If anyone is interested in joining the internal side of OttoTHON at this time, they can apply to be a part of a committee (applications coming out soon), or our new Team Captain program! If anyone is looking to participate but not be a part of the planning side of things, they can participate in the various small events we hold on campus, donate to the hospital through OttoTHON’s Donor Drive page, or register through our donor drive to be a dancer (participant) at our main event this spring! For more information on where to sign up, donate, or any other questions, please follow us on our Instagram @ottothon or email me at Ottothon@gmail.com.”

In addition to her OttoTHON activities, Grace Brashears ’25 is a Falk College student ambassador, Falk research assistant, Syracuse University orientation leader, and a member of Kappa Alpha Theta sorority.

In June, Falk College Associate Dean of Research and Professor of Public Health Katherine McDonald will receive the 2023 Research Award from the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AAIDD).

The award recognized McDonald’s recent research, but in many ways, it has been years in the making.

For nearly two decades, McDonald has led community-engaged research with people with developmental disabilities and advocated for the responsible inclusion of adults with intellectual disability in research. When she started, there weren’t many other researchers who were involved in that kind of work.

“I am thrilled to say that has changed drastically. Today, there are several of us doing this work, learning together how to infuse disability rights into science,” McDonald says. “Receiving this award from AAIDD is another sign of the groundswell of interest in this area, the recognition of its importance, and new opportunities to further grow and enhance this work.”

McDonald is one of two recipients of the Research Award, which AAIDD Executive Director and CEO Margaret Nygren says “recognizes (McDonald’s) formulations and investigations that have contributed significantly to the body of scientific knowledge in the field of intellectual and developmental disabilities.” George State University Professor of Psychology Rose Sevcik will also receive a Research Award.

McDonald and other awardees were honored at the 147^th AAIDD Annual Meeting June 5-7 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

“Katie’s selection for this year’s Research Award from AAIDD is very fitting,” says Lutchmie Narine, Professor and Chair of the Department of Public Health at Falk College. “It recognizes her lengthy track record of interest and accomplishment in the field of intellectual disability.

“The Department of Public Health is very proud that one of our own is being honored with this nationally recognized award,” Narine adds. “Katie’s research is among the many areas in our department– infectious disease epidemiology, health communication, and health disparities, to name a few–that have attracted significant external grant funding.”

Founded in 1876, AAIDD is the oldest professional association concerned with intellectual and developmental disabilities. McDonald says professional organizations such as AAIDD play a pivotal role in recognizing and responding to changing social circumstances.

“When professional associations are on the right side of history and proactive in the appropriate uptake of new ideas, they can change research policy and practice by, for example, influencing expectations for the methods and focus of research and how new empirical insights are shared in and outside of the scientific community,” McDonald says. “It is great to see AAIDD leaders consciously pursuing initiatives in line with disability rights and encouraging to see the many ways my fellow award winners are doing the same.”

McDonald was honored for research such as this year’s this year study entitled “Eligibility criteria in NIH-funded clinical trials: Can adults with intellectual disabilities get in?” published in Disability and Health Journal. The co-authors were Ariel Schwartz from MGH Institute of Health Professions and Maya Sabatello from Columbia University, and the work was funded by the Collaboration for Unprecedented Success and Excellence (CUSE) Grant Program at Syracuse University. The CUSE grant and McDonald’s ongoing research led to additional funding from the National Institutes of Health to enhance inclusion of adults with intellectual disability in biomedical research.

McDonald discusses that research in more detail in this Q&A. Here, McDonald addresses the evolution of the disability rights movement and how that has dovetailed with her research:

“The disability rights movement has been afoot for decades; each success has led to new areas to push into to further advance disability rights. In my scholarship, I leverage progress and ideas from this anti-ableist social movement to transform how we conduct science. My focus is two-fold.

“First, as we pursue new questions of social importance, we need to re-examine ideas about sources of legitimate knowledge and make room in the scientific process for insights derived from lived experience. My scholarship involves community engagement—research done in partnership with people with disability. Community-engaged research allows us to pursue scientific questions of priority to people with disabilities, integrate their insights and concerns alongside empirical evidence, and pursue more socially just scientific research.

“Second, we increasingly position disability as a social factor and understand people with disabilities as a health disparities population. Generating scientifically derived knowledge inclusive of, and relevant to, people with disabilities is necessary for achieving health equity, yet too often people with disabilities are left out of research studies. My work seeks to challenge this decades-long practice and instead foster responsible inclusion of people with disabilities.

“More specifically, I build from key principles of disability rights that emphasize inclusion, the presumption of competence, and the right to make decisions for oneself, including those that might entail risk.”

McDonald’s research adds to a long history of noteworthy contributions that Syracuse University has made to AAIDD and highlights how University faculty have worked with self-advocacy groups, policymakers, schools, and social service organizations to promote disability rights. The hope now, McDonald says, is to continue building from this heritage and add new elements to this collective work.

“When I started in this area I would sometimes say ‘yeah, I do research about research’ and people’s eyes would glaze over with confusion and disinterest,” McDonald says. “Now, when I say I do community-engaged research and research to understand and address ethical, legal, and social issues in research with adults with intellectual disability, I see new understanding of its value and excitement about its potential. I so appreciate that my colleagues understand and understand the relevance of my work.”

Project ENGAGE is recruiting adults with intellectual disability as research participants. To learn more, call 1-800-295-2187 or email engageinpmr@syr.edu

View original story on SU News