VCU news

Moshe Feldman, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Office of Assessment and Evaluation Studies, VCU School of Medicine

VCU is the recipient of the 2013 Phil R. Manning Award from the Society for Academic Continuing Medical Education. The two-year, $50,000 competitive grant is awarded to research that advances knowledge of lifelong learning and physician practice change. Feldman is the principal investigator on the project and is joined by co-investigators Dale Harvey and Jennifer Murphy, both with the VCU Health System Division of Performance Improvement; John Bootby, Office of Continuing Medical Education; and Paul Mazmanian, Ph.D., associate dean for assessment and evaluation studies, School of Medicine, and director of evaluation, Center for Clinical and Translational Research.

The research team will develop and study a model for continuing education (CME) planners to identify practice needs, develop performance improvement (PI) knowledge and skills and evaluate factors contributing to practice change and improved health outcomes. The model integrates medical education, PI science and simulation. This project will add to existing knowledge of PI continuing medical education by evaluating a novel PI CME intervention that integrates an inter-professional collaborative team-based model with simulation and web-based tools to facilitate translation into practice.

In the second year of the project, a learning collaborative will be established with the University of Cincinnati and the University of Nebraska to disseminate the model nationally.

“This project will advance our understanding of this performance improvement CE model on practice changes and across three academic health systems,” said Feldman. “We address recommendations to encourage inter-professional collaborative learning, develop and share improvement tools and focus on process and outcome measures.”

 

Mark Crosthwaite, Associate Professor and Program Director, Nuclear Medicine Technology, School of Allied Health Professions

Crosthwaite has been named a fellow of the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging-Technologist section for his excellence and commitment to the society and profession.  

Crosthwaite was recognized for his nearly 30 years of work in nuclear medicine technology.  He has held several national positions, including chair of the Nuclear Medicine Technology Certification Board.

Crosthwaite lectures nationally and internationally on molecular imaging—a technique that uses sophisticated diagnostic imaging equipment that provides detailed pictures of what is happening inside the body at the molecular and cellular level.  

“Mr. Crosthwaite’s elevation to fellow recognizes the accomplishment and dedication to the society that we are fortunate to witness in the classroom every day at VCU,” said Jeff Legg, Ph.D., associate professor and chairman, Department of Radiation Sciences.

Crosthwaite is one of 85 fellows in the organization.  

 

David P. Chelmow, M.D., Chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, School of Medicine

Chelmow has been appointed to the board of directors of the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ABOG) and will start his term in January. The ABOG is one of 24 specialty boards recognized by the American Board of Medical Specialties. It is an independent nonprofit organization that certifies gynecologists and obstetricians in the United States. Chelmow is also editor-in-chief of the eMedicine OB/GYN online textbook.

Chelmow drafted the new Pap test guidelines issued by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists that recommend that women wait three to five years between Pap tests rather than having one each year.

 

 

Clint McCown, Professor, Creative Writing, Department of English, College of Humanities and Sciences

McCown won the Midwest Book Award for literary fiction for his latest novel, “Haints” (New River Press), on May 8.  The novel focuses on the effects a tornado has on the residents of a small town in Tennessee.

“I was surprised and honored to learn that “Haints” had been chosen for the award,” McCown said.  “Hardcover literary novels have become something of an endangered species in the publishing world, so it was gratifying that the faith New River Press put in the book was not ill-founded. I’m happy, too, for whatever attention this might bring to our writing program and VCU, since the university provided me the time to write the novel in the first place.”

McCown has also won the American Fiction Prize twice and the AP Award for Documentary Excellence. The Midwest book Awards are sponsored by the Midwest Independent Publishers Association.


Harrison Fletcher, Assistant Professor, Creative Writing, Department of English, College of Humanities and Sciences

Fletcher received a 2013 Independent Publisher Book Award Bronze Medal in the essay/creative nonfiction category for his memoir, “Descanso For My Father: Fragments of a Life” (University of Nebraska Press), on May 29.

The book is an introspective work that pieces together the life of the author’s father, Ray, who died when Fletcher was two, and details how the loss shaped the lives of Fletcher, his mother and his siblings.

“Descanso For My Father” also was a finalist for the 2013 Colorado Book Award.

 

 

David Coogan, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Director of Undergraduate Studies, Department of English, College of Humanities and Sciences

Coogan and co-author John A. Ackerman’s “The Public Work of Rhetoric” (University of South Carolina Press) has been released in paperback.

Winner of the 2011 Reflections Civic Scholarship Outstanding Book Award, “The Public Work of Rhetoric” offers case studies and criticisms on the practices of scholars and citizens pursuing democratic ideals in inner-city, postindustrial communities.

 

 

 

 

Jacqueline Corcoran, Ph.D., Professor, School of Social Work, College of Humanities and Sciences

Corcoran has released her fifth novel, “Maiming of the Shrew: A Snarky Mom Mystery” (Cozy Cat Press).

The novel centers on a social work professor who attempts to untangle the mysterious murder of a socialite and exonerate the woman she believes has been wrongfully charged in the crime.

 

 

Jeffrey Legg, Ph.D., Associate Professor and Chairman, Department of Radiation Sciences, School of Allied Health Professions
Melanie Dempsey, Assistant Professor and Program Director of Radiation Therapy, Department of Radiation Sciences, School of Allied Health Professions

Legg and Dempsey have received the American Society of Radiologic Technologists (ASRT) 2012-2013 Harold Silverman Distinguished Author Award, honoring the best peer-reviewed article published in ASRT’s scientific journal.

The article, “Patient Safety Perceptions among U.S. Radiation Therapists” is featured in the spring 2013 issue of Radiation Therapist.

The article focuses on their study, designed to help establish a baseline for the culture of patient safety as perceived by radiation therapists.  The authors surveyed 2,000 radiation therapists certified by the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists.  The information collected will help therapists improve processes and enhance the patient-safety culture in their respective workplaces.

Legg and Dempsey share the award with Laura Aaron, Ph.D., an associate professor, director and graduate coordinator of the Radiological Sciences program at Northwestern State University.  They will be honored at a reception on June 15, during the organization’s annual governance meeting in Albuquerque, N.M.

Massimo Bertino, Ph.D., Department of Physics, VCU College of Humanities and Sciences
Khaled Saoud, Ph.D., Department of Liberal Arts and Sciences, VCU-Qatar

Bertino, Ph.D., associate professor in the VCU Department of Physics, and Khaled Saoud, Ph.D., assistant professor of physics with the Department of Liberal Arts and Sciences from VCU-Qatar in Doha, have received nearly $900,000 from the Qatar National Research Fund to develop cost-effective and scalable procedures for fabricating custom-shaped aerogels.

The three-year project, titled “Mechanically Strong Aerogels with Custom Shapes,” is supported through the National Priorities Research Program, the flagship funding program of the Qatar National Research Fund.

Aerogels are ultra-light, highly porous and highly thermally insulating materials. Because of this unique combination of properties, aerogels are being considered for applications as varied as thermal and sound insulation for aerospace applications, as absorbents for environmental remediation, and as supports for catalysts. Aerogels are also mechanically fragile, so their commercialization has been slow and generally limited to granulates and panels of limited thickness.

Bertino and Saoud are developing alternative fabrication methods which produce custom parts made mechanically strong by reinforcing the regions of highest solicitation with a polymer.

According to Bertino, who serves as principal investigator for the project, the plan is to fabricate custom shapes that may be used to insulate selected parts of internal combustion engines, passive fire protection of structural elements in building, and lightweight footwear for extreme cold conditions.

“This is a great example of interdisciplinary collaboration,” said Bertino.

“The project would not have come into existence without the contribution from VCU’s School of the Arts, and the enthusiasm and tenacity of Dr. Saoud, who jump-started the research activity in Doha,” he said.

The interdisciplinary project includes researchers from the VCU Departments of Physics in Richmond and Doha; as well as VCU School of the Arts Department of Sculpture and Extended Media in Richmond and Doha. 

The aims of the National Priorities Research Program are to “build human capital through the promotion of knowledge and technology transfer, encouraging collaboration with institutions outside of Qatar; fund research that will benefit the nation of Qatar, the region and the world; and raise Qatar’s profile within the international research community.” 

Douglas Davis, Ph.D., Professor of Economics, School of Business

Davis, director of the VCU Experimental Laboratory for Economics and Business Research, gave a poster presentation of his research “Improving Markets with Laboratory Experiments” on behalf of both VCU and the American Economic Association at the 19th Annual Coalition for National Science Funding (CNSF) Exhibition and Reception on May 7.

The event informed members of Congress, congressional staff and federal employees about the breadth and significance of scientific research supported by the National Science Foundation.

The Experimental Laboratory for Economics and Business Research was one of the first laboratories dedicated to computer-mediated experiments in economics and the first in the United States to use a PC-based network. Research has been funded by the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, as well as Virginia Commonwealth University.

 

Christopher P. Kogut, M.D., Department of Psychiatry, VCU School of Medicine

Kogut, assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry, was one of three individuals to receive the Exceptional Dedication and Service Award presented by Fan Free Clinic for his contributions in health care and community wellness.

For the past four years, Kogut has volunteered at the Fan Free Clinic twice a month. There he has worked with a number of patients suffering from a combination of life-threatening diseases, depression and a variety of other psychiatric conditions, along with substance abuse, poverty and societal stigmatization.

“The Fan Free Clinic helps to address a significant hole in our health care system, providing access to medical and mental health services to people who are unable to afford health insurance,” said Kogut.

“It has been wonderful to be associated with an organization with a history of such progressive and vital community outreach. I really appreciate the honor,” said Kogut.

In addition to Kogut, June Henderson, M.D., a retired physician and community volunteer, and Richmond City councilwoman Cynthia Newbille were recipients of the Exceptional Dedication and Service Award this year.

Kogut received the award during “Wellness in Bloom: An Evening for the Community and Fan Free Clinic” on June 20.

Kogut is a three-time VCU alumnus, earning his MSW in 1996 and his M.D. in 2004 and completing his psychiatry residency and fellowship training in 2009.