College of Public Health

George Mason alumna and her furry coworker fight for Fairfax County kids

Colleen Rich — Fri, 16 Aug 2024 14:27:02 +0000

George Mason alumna and her furry coworker fight for Fairfax County kids Colleen Rich Fri, 08/16/2024 - 10:27

When Samantha Carrico, MSW ’15, enters a room, eyes usually lock onto her charismatic coworker Rylynn, a five-year-old Labrador golden retriever mix. But while Fairfax County’s facility dog gets all the attention, Carrico is the key to making it all happen.

George Mason alum Samantha Carrico and her coworker Rylynn. Photo by Evan Cantwell/Office of University Branding

As the supervisor of Volunteer and Partner Services within the county’s Department of Family Services (DFS), this ��AV alumna plays a leading role in providing critical services to children and their families through programs that are powered entirely by volunteers.

“I like to call Volunteer and Partner Services the best-kept secret in DFS,” she said. “We’re providing so many resources to families and communities.”

Those resources include their popular holiday assistance program, Adopt-a-Family; the Befriend-a-Child mentoring program; and body safety classes for children offered in the public schools. Last year, the Body Safety Program alone served 15,000 children.

“It’s been really nice to see the impact that we’re making,” Carrico said. “Prevention is definitely where we’re going to move the needle for child welfare.”

When not managing four full-time staff members, almost 100 volunteers, and leading the county’s child welfare mandated reporter training for agencies ranging from county police departments to the CIA, Carrico is also the official handler for county facility dog Rylynn.

Rylynn is certified to accompany children to the witness stand when they must testify in court. Photo by Evan Cantwell/Office of University Branding

Carrico was working with Manassas City when she heard of a colleague who worked with a certified service dog and broached the idea with her supervisor. When she learned they could have one only if the dog were free, Carrico didn’t give up. After much research, her perseverance paid off. She found Canine Companions, an organization that offers trained service dogs to organizations and individuals free of charge, and Rylynn entered her life.

“Rylynn is actually the only facility dog at a family services or social services agency in the whole country,” Carrico said. Rylynn attends events and is certified to accompany children to the witness stand when they must testify in court. “She doesn’t have a vest, a badge, a gun. She’s not intimidating, and it’s very rewarding for a family or for a child to know that Rylynn is here for them, with no other agenda.”

Carrico hopes her experience with Rylynn—and her determination to find a way to make it happen—will help pave the way for more agencies nationwide to acquire their own facility dogs.

“Children will disclose when they’re ready, but also when they’re comfortable. And sometimes it’s on us as the professionals to help make sure the environment is comfortable for them.”

A licensed social worker, Carrico has been with Fairfax County in a full-time role since 2020, but her entry into the world of child welfare started long before that—and included a pivotal stop at ��AV.

Born and raised in Northern Virginia, Carrico’s first memories of the university came at an early age, when she attended Camp Mason at the Fairfax Campus. When it came time to think about getting her master’s in social work, the choice was easy.

“Mason felt like a second home,” she says. Encouraged by the Department of Social Work faculty in the College of Public Health, Carrico decided to additionally pursue her licensure.

Carrico cites Valerie Cuffee, a former long-time social work faculty member who also had child welfare experience, as a particular influence. “Having a professor who was sharing her real cases and what she learned from them, and the mistakes she made—that was invaluable.”

Equally invaluable were the many internship opportunities the university offered her, including at a homeless shelter and with Loudoun County’s Department of Family Services. “What really resonated with me from being a student into being a professional is…how enriching my internships were.” She’s since paid the opportunities forward by frequently hiring George Mason students as interns.

It all comes back to her desire to make a difference, whether she’s offering in-person training or sitting quietly while Rylynn comforts a child in distress. “My heart really lies in wanting to do more.”

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Alumni

College of Public Health

Mason Spirit

Social Work

Gut Bacteria may be Linked to Obesity in Peri- and Post-menopausal Women

Kelly Hansen — Tue, 13 Aug 2024 19:57:14 +0000

Gut Bacteria may be Linked to Obesity in Peri- and Post-menopausal Women Kelly Hansen Tue, 08/13/2024 - 15:57

Cara Frankenfeld studies the connection between gut bacteria and obesity.

Extra pounds on peri- and post-menopausal women may be connected to gut bacteria living in the intestinal tract, according to a recently released study co-authored by a ��AV alumna and professor.

“Gut bacteria profiles are incredibly complicated and very diverse across people,” said Cara Frankenfeld, a global and community health professor at George Mason.

Women whose gut microbial communities can’t turn daidzein, a compound found in soy, into something called O-desmethylangolensin are more likely to be overweight, according to a study published in Maturitas.

Daidzein has been of some interest to scientists for a while because it is structurally similar to estrogen and can possibly elicit weak estrogen-like responses in peri- and post-menopausal women who tend to have lower estrogen levels, Frankenfeld said.

There are subsets of the population who don’t produce certain compounds, in this case, ODMA.

“We can tell something about people’s gut bacteria based on the presence or absence of these compounds,” she said.

The idea is that certain gut bacteria profiles are associated with certain health outcomes. Peri- and post-menopausal women who have a profile that can’t produce ODMA are in a group that’s more obese, Frankenfeld said.

The cross-sectional study examined 137 peri-menopausal and 218 post-menopausal women who consumed at least three servings of soy per week. They were identified as ODMA producers or nonproducers through urine samples.

Studies have examined other age groups, but the results vary, Frankenfeld said, so it may be an age group or a hormonal status-specific condition.

It could be that producers of ODMA may be more at risk for other conditions, she said, but researchers aren’t yet able to make recommendations to women who may fall within this group.

“We wouldn’t want people to try and become producers [of ODMA],” Frankenfeld said.

Scientists do know there is an obesity–gut bacteria relationship, she said, but more research is needed to fully understand whether and how gut bacteria influence obesity, or whether it is vice versa, or both.

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College of Public Health

Online learning expert suggests best practices for promoting academic honesty

Jennifer Pocock — Tue, 13 Aug 2024 17:44:33 +0000

Online learning expert suggests best practices for promoting academic honesty Jennifer Pocock Tue, 08/13/2024 - 13:44

In This Story

John Cantiello, PhD

The growing popularity of easy-to-use artificial intelligence (AI) interfaces has reignited discussions about cheating in academics. Academic dishonesty, however, is a long-standing concern for faculty and a burgeoning area of research for online coursework. Whether cheating is more or less prevalent in remote coursework has been the topic of debate since online coursework went mainstream in the early 2000s. While online learning provides access to education for nontraditional students and in nontraditional circumstances (such as the COVID-19 pandemic), it’s important to ensure that students are authentically learning the material.

John Cantiello. Photo provided

To understand the prevalence of cheating and help teachers address it, John Cantiello, a professor of the Department of Health Administration and Policy, reviewed the existing literature on the topic. In the Journal of Health Administration Education, Cantiello, who was honored last year as an online teacher of distinction by the Stearns Center of Teaching and Learning, reports that many methods for preventing academic dishonesty are effective.

Not everyone agrees on what constitutes “dishonesty,” he points out. While some forms of cheating are clear-cut—having others do assignments or take tests in the place of the student, plagiarism, or copying answers, others are not. Up for debate are the use of tools like artificial intelligence, or consulting publications that, in a professional setting, would be available to them while solving problems.

“This paper illustrates varying results on the frequency of cheating in online, college-level courses,” Cantiello said. “Tools and strategies for preventing academic dishonesty vary in effectiveness, but some show significant success.”

Cantiello examined many different interventions to prevent online academic dishonesty, including frequent discussions on what constitutes cheating and plagiarism (e.g., can they use AI tools in this course?), technology (e.g., biometric hardware and software such as Turnitin or Examity), and varied testing strategies (e.g., limiting testing times, multiple versions of tests, and leaking fake answers online).

He suggests that a combination of strategies is the best way to limit cheating. “A holistic approach to course design that incorporates these elements and includes a variety of learning activities fosters an effective learning environment where academic integrity can be upheld,” Cantiello said. However, he says, more research is needed on how often and in what capacity cheating happens.

“Preventing Academic Dishonesty in Online Courses: Best Practices to Discourage Cheating” was published online in March 2024 in the Journal of Health Administration Education. Renee Hotchkiss Geschke is co-author on the paper.

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College of Public Health

Artificial Intelligence

Songs from adolescence and early adulthood enhance mood and social engagement among people with dementia, according to new study

Mary Cunningham — Mon, 24 Jun 2024 21:18:46 +0000

Songs from adolescence and early adulthood enhance mood and social engagement among people with dementia, according to new study Mary Cunningham Mon, 06/24/2024 - 17:18

Around 46% of residents in U.S. nursing homes have Alzheimer's or other dementias, and 13% of them are treated with antipsychotic medications, according to the National Partnership to Improve Dementia Care in Nursing Homes.

Photo by Getty Images

Antipsychotic medications that affect a person’s mental state have been widely prescribed for people living with dementia in nursing facilities to treat their behavioral (social) and psychological (mood) symptoms, though positive results are limited, and the drugs can come with serious side effects. ��AV College of Public Health faculty are part of a growing group of researchers who are seeking therapeutic ways to improve the quality of life of these residents without medication.

New research, led by principal investigator Megumi Inoue, found that personalized music intervention is effective at reducing the use of antipsychotic and antianxiety medication, alleviating agitation levels, and enhancing mood and social engagement among residents.

Personalized playlists were developed based on family member suggestions regarding what songs, artists, and/or genres the participants listened to when they were around 15 to 25 years old, an age when more memories are available for potential recollection. Facility staff played the personalized playlists for the intervention group twice a week, aiming for at least 30 minutes each session, for four weeks. Participants in the control group continued their usual schedule during these four weeks.

Associate Professor of Social Work Megumi Inoue

“This study provides evidence that personalized music intervention can be used to manage distressing behavioral and psychological symptoms associated with dementia,” said Inoue, an associate professor in the Department of Social Work. "This low-cost, easily implementable intervention, requiring no special licensure for administration, can significantly enhance the quality of life for nursing facility residents

Overall, the intervention group experienced a decrease in average antipsychotic medication use after the intervention, and the control group, which did not receive any music, had an increase in medication use during the same time period. The observational data also revealed that this intervention can improve the mood of residents living with dementia and help them connect with others, while surveys from administrative staff and activity directors highlighted their positive views of the intervention.

“In addition to improving patients’ quality of life, this intervention can create an improved environment throughout the nursing home,” said Inoue. "For example, if personalized music helps reduce residents’ challenging symptoms, they will become easier to work with for direct care workers. In addition, the reduction of medications to treat residents’ psychological and behavioral symptoms will contribute to creating an overall safer facility because such medications have sedating effects that can cause falls."

She added, "Using the personalized music intervention may be perceived as extra work by some staff members, but ultimately, it can ease their work processes as its positive effects have indirect impacts on their work and facility environment."

“A Personalized Music Intervention in Nursing Home Residents Living With Dementia: Findings From a Randomized Study” was published online in the Journal for Applied Gerontology in June 2024. This research was supported by a Civil Money Penalty (CMP) Fund from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services through the Virginia Department of Medical Assistance Services.

Additional authors include Emily S. Ihara, Catherine J. Tompkins, Shannon Layman, Sarah Nosrat, Morgan Moore, and Kimberly A. McNally from George Mason’s College of Public Health; Meng-Hao Li from George Mason’s Schar School of Policy and Government; Samreen Mehak from George Mason’s Department of Biology; George Mason alumna Kendall Barrett from Wise Mind Psychotherapy; and Catherine Magee from Paving the Way MSI.

In This Story

Megumi Inoue, PhD

Topics

Virginia Department of Medical Assistance Services

Research

College of Public Health

In the George

George Mason researchers receive $1.78M from NIH for work improving the health of mothers, children

Shayla Brown — Wed, 05 Jun 2024 16:57:43 +0000

George Mason researchers receive $1.78M from NIH for work improving the health of mothers, children Shayla Brown Wed, 06/05/2024 - 12:57

��AV scientists, nurses, and researchers in the College of Public Health have just entered the second cycle of a National Institutes of Health (NIH) program called Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO).

The NIH grant provides ECHO teams across the country with a total of $7 million a year for seven years to research five outcomes of women and children: pre-, peri-, and postnatal outcomes; upper and lower airways; obesity; neurodevelopment; and positive health. George Mason will receive $1.78 million every year throughout this cycle.

An ECHO researcher taking measurements of a child participant. Photo by Evan Cantwell/Office of University Branding.

The cohort, which includes Boston Children’s Hospital, is led by the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. George Mason is the only university in Virginia participating in the project. The research being done for the ECHO project is part of a new set of research initiatives made possible with the opening of the Population Health Center on the Fairfax Campus.

They are currently re-recruiting participants from the first cycle. They have confirmed just over 300 participants out of 1,512. The youngest participant is under one year old and the oldest is 12.

“We’re aiming to gather information about women and children in a longitudinal manner to compare to our data to that of Omaha, Nebraska, or Iowa. Learning about the regional disparities will then allow us to use them to influence national policy,” said principal investigator Kathi Huddleston, PhD ’08, an associate professor in the College of Public Health.

Huddleston said George Mason’s robust PhD nursing program and her dissertation research on pediatric emergency preparedness helped to prepare her for this extensive project.

The team studied the effects of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), also known as “forever” chemicals, as well as air pollution modeling, sleep patterns, nutrition, and COVID-19, gathering real-time data and look at their associations with child health outcomes, such as child obesity, immunization rates and more.

This research from the first cycle of ECHO revealed that school lunch consumption was associated with increased obesity in children and prompted policy change that strengthen the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act (HHFKA). This resulted in a significant decrease in the overall body mass index among school-aged youths and will have substantial health benefits on generations of children.

More results from the first cycle included changes in sleep patterns due to COVID-19 and disparities in sleep patterns between children of different racial/ethnic backgrounds. The team also found that there is a strong relationship between the health of the mother at pre- and early conception and the overall health of children. For example, babies born to mothers with higher levels of toxic metals were more likely to be underweight, which could lead to future health issues.

“If we want to have healthy kids, we have to have healthy moms,” said Huddleston.

As part of cycle two, the researchers will recruit more pregnant women to gain additional insight, including women who were patients at Inova Health System and have also been working with a lot of the same kids for many years, said Grace Lawrence, PhD ’18, director of research clinical operations for the ECHO project.

Student researchers Daisy Posada, Seema Poudel, and Shiva Zarean. Photo by Evan Cantwell/Office of University Branding.

Also on the team are Alma Fuller, nursing student Shiva Zarean, and research project administrators Daisy Posada BA ’13, MA ’18, and Bruna Mayen, a biology major who also acts as the project and lab manager. Mayen’s role as lab manager includes collecting teeth, hair, and urine samples to test the progression of health and well-being in the participants as they grow.

“I ensure samples are stored at required optimal conditions and freezers are monitored daily,” said Mayen. “I also perform data entry and quality assurance/quality control of all data and samples.”

“Each interaction with the participants is so special, it brings potential for new connections and enriches the overall experience and impact they have on the study and us on their development,” said Mayen.

The families come into the research facility once a year so researchers can record each family member’s weight, height, and head and waist circumferences, as well as their body fat percentage.

“We were in the ECHO study when my first child was a newborn. Then my second child was born, and we just kept going,” said Cassie Gallagher, a mom of three young children, all of who participate in the ECHO study. “We’ve been very active in the study, we send in nails, teeth, everything.”

“I also appreciate how thorough the questions are in the surveys that they send us because they’re trying to get the important answers. Especially when they ask about our stress level and different environmental aspects,” said Gallagher.

The project encompasses the concept of citizen science as the participants provide all of the information being used to create an impact in public health. They also receive quarterly updates with the researchers’ findings.

“One of the understated benefits of this study is that children are encouraged to participate firsthand in science and gather an understanding of science in a very personal way,” said Huddleston. “We have received wonderful feedback from the kids about how they feel giving new information to better all children’s health.”

In This Story

Dr. Kathi Huddleston, PhD, MSN

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Ageism research helped prepare these social work grads for the workforce

Shayla Brown — Tue, 21 May 2024 20:42:16 +0000

Ageism research helped prepare these social work grads for the workforce Shayla Brown Tue, 05/21/2024 - 16:42

In This Story

Emily Ihara, PhD, MSW, FGSA

While working on their master’s degrees in social work at ��AV, College of Public Health alumni Kendall Barrett, Madeline Holden, and Harveen Pantleay took part in field research on ageism in health care and are now using those skills in their careers.

They are also co-authors on the paper “’Don’t treat us like fragile babies:’ Mentors’ perspectives of an intergenerational mentoring program for medical students,” which was published online in the Journal of Intergenerational Relationships in February 2024.

��AV is a leader in graduating workforce-ready students, and its College of Public Health—the first in Virginia—is dedicated to helping meet the critical need for health workers in Virginia.

Kendall Barrett. Photo provided.

The three, working under the guidance of Emily Ihara, professor and chair of the Department of Social Work, and co-PI of George Mason’s Geriatrics Workforce Enhancement Program, studied the effects of ageism in health care and how both education and intergenerational contact can decrease this form of discrimination. As the students learned, the research improves empathy and understanding from both younger and older individuals within the health care system.

For the study, the students went to assisted living facilities to interview residents using open-ended questions and took detailed notes.

“This was a very important research project to me because there was a lot of focus on alternative and creative ways to support older people, which is a particular interest of mine,” said Barrett, MSW ’22, who was paired with Ihara as a student research assistant at George Mason’s Social Work integrated Research Lab (SWiRL).

“It was very interactive, and we were trying to show that we heard them and that their contribution was important,” said Barrett, who is now works as a psychotherapist with people of all ages.

Harveen Pantleay. Photo provided.

“I was really nervous in the beginning because we were going into somebody's private space and didn't always know what [to expect], but it ended up being a wonderful experience and great for my own personal growth about sitting with things that can be uncomfortable,” said Barrett.

Both the George Mason students and the older adults benefitted from the Senior Mentor Program approach, and Ihara said the college hopes to expand it to other health professional students.

“One of the biggest things that I took away from my time in George Mason’s social work program was seeing people as individuals before you see whatever their struggle is,” said Barrett.

Pantleay, MSW ’22, also worked alongside Barrett and Ihara in SWiRL and was involved in many projects specifically focusing on gerontology.

“I gained a lot of valuable knowledge about qualitative data and how to classify that data into categories [through] analyzing the data and identifying what codes would be associated with the responses that were given by the mentors and participants,” said Pantleay.

Pantleay’s favorite part about the research project was learning about gerontology as it was a part of social work that she did not have much experience in at the time, she said.

Madeline Holden. Photo provided.

“A lot of what I learned through the work and research in SWiRL wasn't covered in my classes necessarily, so this experience allowed me to learn a lot more about this community and the negative effects of ageism in health care,” said Holden, MSW ’22.

“I think the main takeaway from the research is that people make a lot of assumptions about older adults that they shouldn’t,” said Holden, who also conducted clinical research for Inova Hospital for three years before enrolling for her master’s of social work at George Mason.

Holden said now uses her experience from this project in her work at an affordable housing corporation. “I work with all ages, including seniors, providing wraparound services to them. The empathy and understanding the team had for their participants throughout this project was great practice for that.”

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College of Public Health

Students

Department of Social Work

Research

Healthcare Workforce Development

CPH research

master of social work

George Mason receives $1.2 million to revolutionize Lyme disease testing

Colleen Rich — Wed, 15 May 2024 18:42:12 +0000

George Mason receives $1.2 million to revolutionize Lyme disease testing Colleen Rich Wed, 05/15/2024 - 14:42

��AV researchers have received $1.2 million in federal funding from the U.S. Department of the Army to revolutionize Lyme disease detection and diagnosis with urine testing. Scientists from George Mason’s College of Science and College of Public Health aim to harness the many advantages of urine testing over other methods and increase mainstream adoption.

Photo by Getty Images

“We have developed a urine test for Lyme disease that detects the bacteria (Borrelia species) that causes Lyme disease, making it a direct test to confirm an infection soon after the tick bite,” said principal investigator Alessandra Luchini. "This leads to earlier treatment when necessary and could prevent the long-term debilitating effects of the disease.”

The current standard of care test for potential Lyme disease is an antibody blood test, which measures the immune system response to the bacteria that cause Lyme disease. In contrast, the George Mason test detects molecules derived from the bacteria themselves, which have the advantage of high specificity (accuracy) and early detection. The test matches the exact amino acid sequences (the building blocks of the bacterial molecules) that are found only in Borrelia and not in other organisms. For example, one of the proteins the George Mason scientists studied is part of the Borrelia flagellum, which allows the bacterium to move around the body.

In Mason’s clinical research trials, urine tests had a 90% true positive rate (sensitivity) and close to 100% specificity (true negative rate).

Researchers will use banked samples from cross-sectional and longitudinal studies of acute Lyme patients from the Lyme Disease Biobank and banked specimens from Johns Hopkins University, respectively, who are recognized leader in clinical Lyme disease research.

Utilizing her 15 years of Lyme disease bacteria (Borrelia) research, Ashley Groshong, PhD, unit chief of the Bacterial Physiology and Metabolism Section of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, a part of the National Institutes of Health, is collaborating on the project by evaluating the suitability of diagnostic indicators based on bacterial physiology.

Additionally, the George Mason study will pilot a collapsible urine collection cup shipped to a lab through the mail, making collection and diagnosis easier for more people to access through telehealth.

"A urine cup will offer a private, comfortable and convenient way to collect the sample at home without compromising the accuracy of the lab test,” said Lance Liotta, professor in the College of Science, co-director of Mason’s Center for Applied Proteomics and Molecular Medicine, and co-principal investigator on the study. “Shipped in a semi-dry state that will preserve target proteins and protects again specimen degradation, this approach will improve specificity, which has been a weakness of previous testing approaches."

Lyme disease is the most common animal-to-human transmitted disease in the United States with approximately 476,000 people diagnosed and treated each year—and it is on the rise. If not treated quickly and properly, those bitten can suffer from prolonged symptoms (called Post-Treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome), such as concentration and memory issues, dizziness, fatigue, body aches, depression, and difficulty sleeping.

“This is a significant collaboration to advance diagnostics for Lyme disease,” said Melissa J. Perry, dean of the College of Public Health and co-investigator of the study. “This study will have a major impact on the timely diagnosis of Lyme. In my capacity as an epidemiologist, I am thrilled to work with Drs. Luchini, Liotta, and [Virginia] Espina, and Dr. [Jenna] Krall in her capacity as a biostatistician.”

This three-year study will take place in the same Mason CAP/CLIA Clinical Proteomics Laboratory that implemented the innovative saliva COVID test. The lab is run by Espina, who is a collaborator on the grant.

In 2022, Luchini, Liotta, and the CAPMM team were one of 10 Phase 1 winners of the LymeX Diagnostics Prize by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Steven and Alexandra Cohen Foundation.

In early 2023, CAPMM received $820,000 in federal funding to establish a clinic that will help combat Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses. The project, championed by U.S. Representative Jennifer Wexton, was part of the federal omnibus appropriations bill that President Biden signed into law to fund the government through Fiscal Year 2023. The federal funds will be used to launch the clinical deployment of diagnostic testing that will allow for a quicker and more efficient diagnosis.

This work will be supported by the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs through the Tick-Borne Disease Research Program, endorsed by the Department of Defense. Opinions, interpretations, conclusions, and recommendations are those of the author and are not necessarily endorsed by the Department of Defense.

Did you know...

George Mason's Lyme disease test started as a student project in the Aspiring Scientists Summer Internship Program. Watch our original discussion with Temple Douglas on our YouTube channel.

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Research

College of Public Health

College of Science

Center for Applied Proteomics and Molecular Medicine (CAPMM)

Strategic Direction

Mason Momentum

Kim McNally becomes George Mason’s first PhD in public health

Taylor Thomas — Thu, 02 May 2024 15:50:40 +0000

Kim McNally becomes George Mason’s first PhD in public health Taylor Thomas Thu, 05/02/2024 - 11:50

��AV's College of Public Health started its new PhD in Public Health in 2021 with a cohort of six students. Just three and a half years later, Fairfax County Health Department School Nurse Kim McNally will be the program's first PhD to walk across the Commencement stage at EagleBank Arena this May.

By training the future public health workforce, including epidemiologists, nurses, nutritionists, health administrators, and social workers, George Mason’s College of Public Health—the first in Virginia—helps reduce the public health worker shortage, and its students and graduates help individuals and communities get healthy and stay healthy. Since the PhD program's inception, the college has accepted 27 students.

Kim McNally (center) with her mentors Professor Ali Weinstein and Professor Amira Roess. Photo provided

After receiving her bachelor's in social work from Rutgers University, McNally went to work in child protective services, ultimately deciding it was not for her. She went back to school, earning her bachelor's in nursing and master's in nursing education from Western Carolina University. After a year working in a hospital, she realized her love of public health, which led to her applying to George Mason’s brand-new PhD program in public health. McNally successfully defended her dissertation in April.

Throughout her studies, McNally continued to work full time as a public health school nurse for the Fairfax County Health Department as part of the School Health program, which provides schools with school health aides and public health nurses. Her current position as a school health nurse in Fairfax County has been instrumental to PhD goals.

McNally’s primary research during her PhD was looking at ways to improve HPV vaccine compliance, particularly among seventh graders. In fact, it was this goal that led her to getting her PhD in the first place:

“I really wanted to jump right in and do an intervention. But then I had to take a step back when I realized that we didn’t have the research to support developing one intervention over another. And so that’s where it started. [It] was just looking at a way to empower school nurses in particular,” said McNally.

As for what she plans to do now that she’s completed her degree, McNally still isn’t sure.

“I love my job,” she said. “It’s an amazing job. I work with amazing people so I would love to stay in school health.”

However, she also would like to work with schools and the health department to support school health nurses because the one thing she has heard over and over again is that school nurses are overburdened.

McNally is also very passionate about mobile health clinics. She says in the years she has been working in schools in Northern Virginia, she has never seen a mobile health clinic on a registration day or during an open house that offered the HPV vaccine and other immunizations required by Virginia state law for students in public schools.

As she looks toward Commencement this May, McNally said she couldn’t have reached her goals without George Mason and her mentors. McNally’s family, mentors, and well-wishers from the College of Public Health were in attendance as she defended her dissertation.

“Dr. [Amira] Roess [professor of Global Health and Epidemiology] has been my faculty mentor since day one and she’s been really amazing, really supportive. Guiding when guiding was needed but also letting me grow on my own,” McNally said.

She also took inspiration from her mentor Ali Weinstein, a professor in the Department of Global and Community Health, and how well she balanced the research aspect with the people aspect.

“We definitely need numbers and rates, but we also need to understand why people choose to vaccinate or choose not to vaccinate. I do feel like it definitely prepared me for my future goals," McNally said.

“I’m excited to see how Kim will continue to impact the fields of school nursing and public health,” said Roess. “She is a terrific role model for our current and future doctoral students.”

Adds Weinstein: “Her work is impactful and meaningful because of the combination of practical knowledge that highlighted a gap in public health practice.”

Learn more about the PhD in Public Health program here.

In This Story

Ali Weinstein, PhD

Amira Roess, PhD, MPH

Topics

PhD in Public Health

Public Health Students

Department of Global and Community Health

Child and Adolescent Health

vaccinations

School Nursing

Students

College of Public Health

Student Spotlight

��AV receives over $1.1 million to revolutionize Lyme disease testing

Mary Cunningham — Wed, 24 Apr 2024 22:02:01 +0000

��AV receives over $1.1 million to revolutionize Lyme disease testing Mary Cunningham Wed, 04/24/2024 - 18:02

With tick bites on the rise, College of Science and College of Public Health are collaborating to improve detection, diagnosis, and treatment with urine testing

��AV researchers have received a $1,176,645 grant in federal funding from the U.S. Department of the Army to revolutionize Lyme disease detection and diagnosis with urine testing. The College of Science and College of Public Health aim to harness the many advantages of urine testing over other methods and increase mainstream adoption.

Alessandra Luchini, systems biology professor in the College of Science and Mason’s principal investigator.

“We have developed a urine test for Lyme disease that detects the bacteria (Borrelia species) that causes Lyme disease, making it a direct test to confirm an infection soon after the tick bite. This leads to earlier treatment when necessary and could prevent the long-term debilitating effects of the disease,” said Alessandra Luchini, systems biology professor in the College of Science and George Mason’s principal investigator.

The current standard of care test for potential Lyme disease is an antibody blood test, which measures the immune system response to the bacteria that cause Lyme disease. In contrast, the Mason test detects molecules derived from the bacteria themselves, which have the advantage of high specificity (accuracy) and early detection. The Mason test matches the exact amino acid sequences (the building blocks of the bacterial molecules) that are found only in Borrelia and not in other organisms. For example, one of the proteins the Mason scientists studied is part of the Borrelia flagellum, which allows the bacterium to move around the body.

In Mason’s clinical research trials, urine tests had a 90% true positive rate (sensitivity) and close to 100% specificity (true negative rate). Researchers will use banked samples from cross-sectional and longitudinal studies of acute Lyme patients from the Lyme Disease Biobank and banked specimens from Johns Hopkins University, respectively, who are recognized leader in clinical Lyme disease research.

Additionally, the Mason study will pilot a collapsible urine collection cup shipped to a lab through the mail, making collection and diagnosis easier for more people to access through telehealth.

Lance Liotta, professor in the College of Science, co-director of Mason’s Center for Applied Proteomics and Molecular Medicine, and co-investigator on the study.

"A urine cup will offer a private, comfortable and convenient way to collect the sample at home without compromising the accuracy of the lab test,” said Lance Liotta, professor in the College of Science, co-director of Mason’s Center for Applied Proteomics and Molecular Medicine, and co-investigator on the study. “Shipped in a semi-dry state that will preserve target proteins and protects again specimen degradation, this approach will improve specificity which has been a weakness of previous testing approaches."

Melissa J. Perry, dean of the College of Public Health and co-investigator of the study.

“This is a significant collaboration to advance diagnostics for Lyme disease. In my capacity as an epidemiologist, I am thrilled to work with Drs. Luchini, Liotta, and Espina, and Dr. Krall in her capacity as a biostatistician. This study will have a major impact on the timely diagnosis of Lyme,” said Melissa J. Perry, dean of the College of Public Health and co-investigator of the study.

This three-year study will take place in the same Mason CAP/CLIA Clinical Proteomics Laboratory that implemented the innovative saliva COVID test. The lab is run by Virginia Espina, who is a collaborator on the grant.

This work will be supported by the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs through the Tick-Borne Disease Research Program, endorsed by the Department of Defense. Opinions, interpretations, conclusions and recommendations are those of the author and are not necessarily endorsed by the Department of Defense.

About ��AV
��AV is Virginia’s largest public research university. Located near Washington, D.C., Mason enrolls more than 40,000 students from 130 countries and all 50 states. Mason has grown rapidly over the past half-century and is recognized for its innovation and entrepreneurship, remarkable diversity, and commitment to accessibility. In 2023, the university launched Mason Now: Power the Possible, a one-billion-dollar comprehensive campaign to support student success, research, innovation, community, and stewardship. Learn more at gmu.edu.

About the College of Science
Mason’s College of Science is a leader in scientific discovery and a creator of innovative solutions for the rapidly-changing needs of today’s world. The college prides itself in being home to a diverse population of more than 4,200 students and researchers serving as a magnet for all scientific minds. With new discoveries, our scientists continue to grow Mason’s portfolio of patents, licenses, partnerships, and spin off companies.

The college blends traditional science education with sought-after programs at all levels across a dozen departments to challenge and engage in disciplines including personalized medicine, infectious diseases, drug discovery, climate dynamics, environmental justice and conservation, materials science, astronomy, forensic science, computational science, and applied mathematics. Learn more at science.gmu.edu.

About the College of Public Health
Mason’s College of Public Health—the first College of Public Health in Virginia—enrolls more than 1,900 undergraduate and 1,300 graduate students in its nationally recognized programs, including six undergraduate degrees, eight master’s degrees, five doctoral degrees, and six professional certificate programs. Comprising the School of Nursing and the Departments of Global and Community Health, Health Administration and Policy, Nutrition and Food Studies, and Social Work, the college also conducts transdisciplinary research that seeks to understand the many factors that influence the public health and well-being throughout the lifespan. With more than 500 partners, the college serves the community and engages its students through research, practice, and clinical care.

In This Story

Melissa J. Perry, Sc.D., MHS

Jenna Krall, PhD

Lance A. Liotta

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Mason tapped by HRSA to lead health workforce initiatives in Virginia

Colleen Rich — Mon, 22 Apr 2024 17:09:32 +0000

Mason tapped by HRSA to lead health workforce initiatives in Virginia Colleen Rich Mon, 04/22/2024 - 13:09

As part of a federal priority to address health care workforce shortages, ��AV’s Center for Health Workforce has received $921,000 in federal funding from the Health Services Research Administration (HRSA) to serve as a catalyst and facilitator for regional health workforce planning and development.

Peterson Hall on Mason's Fairfax Campus. Photo by Evan Cantwell/Office of University Branding

The center uses data and a collaborative model involving health and educational organizations, policy makers, community planners, and other regional stakeholders to understand local challenges related to the supply, demand, distribution, and deployment of health workers in Virginia.

This funding was allocated in the Fiscal Year 2024 Labor, Health, and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies appropriations bill, by Virginia Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine.

"Virginia urgently needs to expand its health workforce to meet community needs and ensure local businesses can supply essential health care services, and we appreciate the efforts of Senator Warner and Senator Kaine for moving our proposal through the Senate,” said Caroline Sutter, co-director of Mason’s Center for Health Workforce and a professor of nursing.

This strategic investment in Mason’s Center for Health Workforce will address this critical need to grow and retain the health workforce by prioritizing regional and population health recruitment and retention through evidence-based planning and targeted interventions. These targeted interventions will help regional educational and training programs identify future workers who want to stay in the area to give back and improve the region that trained them.

The new funds will help the center expand from supporting three GO Virginia regions to all nine GO Virginia regions. GO Virginia is a bipartisan, business-led economic development initiative focused on changing the way Virginia’s diverse regions collaborate on economic and workforce development activities.

"Virginia's health care system is grappling with both immediate workforce shortages and the imperative need for long-term strategic planning to build a sustainable workforce," said Sutter. "These shortages threaten to exacerbate existing health disparities and impede access to quality care in Viriginia.”

Nurses, physicians, allied health professionals, and support staff are in short supply due to increased demand from chronic staffing shortages, unfavorable or unsafe work environments, and unrelenting workloads, leading to overworked personnel and compromised patient care. Demand for health care is skyrocketing while the workforce is shrinking; in fact, 23% of physicians and at least 30% of nurses reported they would leave their jobs if they could and 50% of workers said they plan to leave their health care jobs in the next few years.

“Mason is stepping up as a leader to respond to the needs in health care workforce development in Virginia, setting a precedent for effective planning and collaboration across sub-state regions,” said Melissa J. Perry, dean of the College of Public Health.

Additionally, the center will support the development of employer-led public-private partnerships that can leverage private resources and address barriers in public needs.

“This funding will allow our teams to identify and increase bi-directional communication between employers and academic institutions or programs that train future health workers, so that future employees feel prepared and supported in their workplace, thereby retaining great talent,” said P.J. Maddox, center co-director and professor of health administration and policy at Mason.

The center has the only integrated data system in the commonwealth to help strategize with data-based decisions around health workforce recruitment and retention that employers and academic institutions can employ in each region. For example, the center has analyzed the supply and demand for today and in 10 years for behavioral health specialists for a specific region. With this information, regions can better target their recruitment and retention strategies to help keep the future workers they train in their area when they are ready to practice.

“As the first College of Public Health in Virginia and home to the highly ranked School of Nursing, Mason is bringing together education, research, and community partners for the health and well-being of all, everything that we do. We are grateful to Senators Warner and Kaine recognizing the impact the center has already had in three of Virginia’s regions and for supporting our efforts to further support our roles as an integral hub for additional health workforce centers and organizations seeking to increase health workforce across the commonwealth,” said Perry.

Because population health needs, economic conditions, and resources vary widely by region (rural, suburban, and urban), there is no one-size-fits-all set of strategies to address regional health workforce needs and population health priorities. More importantly, regional problem solving is necessary to develop strategies for improving education and career development to meet employer’s needs, expand supply, and improve retention.

In This Story

Melissa J. Perry, Sc.D., MHS

PJ Maddox, EdD, MSN, RN

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