November faculty and staff features

Everett L. Worthington Jr., Ph.D., Department of Psychology
Worthington appears in “The Power of Forgiveness” by filmmaker Martin Doblmeier. The film won in the best documentary category at the Sun Valley Film Festival in Sun Valley, Idaho, in September. In addition to Worthington’s discussions about his research and personal stories of forgiveness, the film also examines the Amish, the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks and peace-building in Northern Ireland. The 78-minute documentary provides spiritual and scientific perspectives on forgiveness. “The Power of Forgiveness” was funded by Fetzer Institute as part of its Campaign for Love and Forgiveness and by The John Templeton Foundation.

Ayn Welleford, Ph.D., Chair, Department of Gerontology, School of Allied Health Professions
Welleford has been selected for the Distinguished Teacher Honor for the 34th Annual Meeting of the Association for Gerontology in Higher Education in February 2008 — "Disciplinary Convergence: The Nexus of Gerontology and Geriatric Education." The award recognizes gerontology educators with exceptional teaching abilities. Honorees are selected based on their outstanding teaching record and innovation in gerontology education. As a result of this award, Welleford will conduct a workshop at the upcoming annual meeting.

James R. Vonesh, Ph.D., Department of Biology, VCU Life Sciences
Vonesh, an assistant professor of biology, and Karen Warkentin at Boston University have received more than $650,000 in grant funding from the National Science Foundation to examine the effects of sequential predators on different life history stages of the red-eyed treefrog - including arboreal eggs, aquatic tadpoles and arboreal froglets.

Predation is one the key factors thought to shape patterns of biodiversity. Because prey are typically vulnerable to more than one predator, a key challenge in ecology is understanding the combined effects of predators on shared prey. Previous studies focusing on predators of a common life stage, for example, two tadpole predators, have shown this can be difficult because of context dependency of species’ interactions.

According to Vonesh, this three-year project will help elucidate how the lethal, i.e., consumptive, and non-lethal, i.e., shifts in behavior, morphology and life history, effects of multiple predators combine across life stages to shape prey survival and the timing of critical life history switch points, such as metamorphosis.

John M. Kellum, M.D., professor, VCU Department of Surgery, Division of General Surgery
Kellum will present a paper about laparoscopic gastric bypass at the Southern Surgical Association’s annual meeting in December at the Homestead resort in Hot Springs, Va. Kellum and research co-director James W. Maher, M.D., chairman of the Division of General Surgery, found that the operation could lead to a significant reduction in hospital stay.

Steven Woolf, M.D., M.P.H., professor, Department of Family Medicine
Woolf published the second edition of his book, “Health Promotion and Disease Prevention in Clinical Practice,” which gives clinicians a complete overview on helping patients adopt health behaviors and how to deliver recommended screening tests and immunizations. The book offers practical guidance on how to counsel patients on topics such as exercise, nutrition, substance abuse and sexually transmitted infections. This new edition features a chapter about using electronic medical records and insight from new authors with expertise in areas discussed in the book.

Dolores G. Clement, Dr.P.H., Department of Health Administration, School of Allied Health Professions
Clement, professor and program director of the Master of Science in Health Administration program, has been named a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives. Clement is board certified in health care management. The American College of Healthcare Executives is an international professional society of more than 30,000 health care executives who lead the nation's hospitals, health care systems and other health care organizations.