Water Online Features Sanaei Research, NSF Grant

Sep 09, 2021

Assistant Professor of Mathematics Pejman Sanaei, Ph.D.’s National Science Foundation (NSF) grant funding work intending to improve and optimize membrane filter performance and manufacturing costs is featured in Water Online.  Sanaei will engage a team of undergraduate students to study the performance of membrane filters using mathematical models and simulations. The research aims to formulate and analyze novel mathematical models to investigate how membrane filters with complex internal structures change over time, resulting in poor filtration.

Coverage also appeared in InnovateLI.

 

Jarkon Discusses Trauma on News 12

Sep 08, 2021

As seen on News 12 Long Island, psychiatrist Liat Jarkon, D.O., director of NYITCOM’s Center for Behavioral Health, discussed how the twentieth anniversary of September 11 may trigger relived trauma for some individuals. While many people experiencing these disturbances will be tempted to avoid reminders, Jarkon notes that these feelings must be addressed head-on.

“It's important not to avoid it. A lot of people say, ‘I’m not going to put the news on, I'm not going to listen,’ and that’s not helping. You still have these memories, and they need to come out,” she says.

 

McNally Quoted on Value of Internship Experience

Sep 07, 2021

An Upjourney.com article quotes Director of Experiential Learning Adrienne McNally on the ways in which college internships provide valuable resumé experience.

“Do internships count as work experience? Yes! Professional work experience in all its forms is valued by employers. Internships, part-time jobs, and even volunteer work set a professional foundation,” she says. McNally also notes that these experiences set candidates apart because they instill behaviors such as adhering to professional standards, incorporating critical feedback, and responding to priority requests while also meeting regular deadlines.

 

Armstrong NSF Grant Featured in the Media

Sep 07, 2021

As seen in outlets such as InnovateLI, AZO Quantum, and Supercomputing Online, Assistant Professor of Physics Eve Armstrong, Ph.D. has received a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant to research how supernova stardust helped to form the universe. With the support of the newly awarded grant, Armstrong will perform the first known research project that uses weather prediction techniques to explain these cosmic events. If successful, her “forecasts” may allow scientists to determine which elements formed in the aftermath of giant star explosions. 

“Physicists have sought for years to understand how, in seconds, giant stars exploded and created the substances that led to our existence. A technique from another scientific field, meteorology, may help to explain an important piece of this puzzle that traditional tools render difficult to access,” Armstrong notes in AZO Quantum.

 

Raven Shares Insight on Climate Change and Urban Design

Sep 02, 2021

Jeffrey Raven, associate professor and graduate director in the School of Architecture and Design, was interviewed by CTV News Channel, Canada’s largest and most-watched 24-hour news channel. Following torrential rain in the tristate area, caused by the remnants of Hurricane Ida, Raven shared urban planning techniques to help ensure that flood-prone coastal cities, like New York City, become more resilient to the impacts of climate change.

“The issue here is that the city has to be designed and planned in a way that can configure dense urban environments that offset the undesirable outcomes of climate change through climate-sensitive urban planning and urban design,” said Raven. He noted that much innovation has been made in this area, including prototypes for sponge city projects, which, “enhance stormwater protection and hold water like a sponge, through natural systems that also reduce carbon emissions and enhance the benefit [to cities].” Raven also recommended depressing roadways, which can temporarily store stormwater.

 

Cybersecurity Article Highlights Nizich's Expertise

Sep 01, 2021

Michael Nizich, Ph.D., director of the Entrepreneurship and Technology Innovation Center, was interviewed by small business resource AdvisorSmith about the benefits of cyber liability insurance. Nizich discussed the growing market for this insurance and shared insight on the risk that cyberattacks can pose to smaller organizations. He notes that while insurance may provide a safety net, businesses both large and small should always be concerned about protecting their data.

“There are several components to managing risk, and any security expert will tell you that you are never 100 percent protected. The best you can do is to minimize your risk by constantly addressing and updating the latest security concerns and known vulnerabilities,” he said.

 

Daily News Publishes Hadjiargyrou Op-ed About Need to Build Biotech Talent Pipeline

Aug 25, 2021

In a Daily News op-ed, Michael Hadjiargyrou, Ph.D., professor and chair of Biological and Chemical Sciences, calls for companies, governments, and educators to work together to build the talent pipeline in the biotechnology sector, arguing that without a strong workforce to develop medicines and vaccines, we won't be able to end this current health crisis (or the next one).

Many biotech companies recognize that the looming talent crunch is a problem, but few have made strides to address it, he notes. “Part of the problem is that relatively few educational institutions offer degrees in biotechnology,” Hadjiargyrou writes. Only around 100 U.S. universities offer biotechnology degrees; New York Tech offers the only program on Long Island. “We also need more robust internship programs that give students the hands-on experience and skills needed for the ‘real world’,” he adds.

 

Geisler Interviewed on Ancient Whale Ancestor

Aug 25, 2021

NYITCOM’s Jonathan Geisler, Ph.D., associate professor and department chair of anatomy, was interviewed by the Associated Press and quoted in several outlets, including Live Science, on the discovery of a new fossil that could help explain how whales evolved to live in the sea. Scientists believe that the ancestors of today’s whales lived on land before gradually evolving into sea creatures, with the earliest known whale believed to have lived in modern-day Pakistan approximately 50 million years ago. Now, the discovery of this new fossil, found in Egypt, provides evidence of the land-to-sea transition, suggesting that a ferocious whale living 43 million years ago had the anatomy to both walk on land and swim in the water. 

“This fossil really starts to give us a sense of when whales moved out of the Indo-Pakistan ocean region and started dispersing across the world,” says Geisler.

 

Thompson's Latest Anatomy Study Featured in the News

Aug 20, 2021

As featured in a BBC podcast (interview begins at 13:59 and will available online until Sept. 22, 2021), Phys.org, New Scientist, and other news sites, research by NYITCOM Assistant Professor of Anatomy Nathan Thompson, Ph.D., suggests that chimpanzees may have longer strides than humans. For decades, scientists believed that humans evolved with the longest stride of any primate, allowing us to maximize our efficiency. However, Thompson’s new findings now suggest that humans’ strides are considerably shorter than that of our nearest cousins, chimpanzees, whose strides are 25 percent longer. As he notes in Phys.org, Thompson suspects that other factors may account for this difference.

"Humans have had about seven million years of selective pressure for economical bipedalism. This means that there has been a lot of time to experiment with the costs and benefits, so it might be worth it to walk with slightly shorter strides because whatever energy we lose, we might make up elsewhere," he says.

 

Speights Warns Residents About Dangers of Ivermectin Paste

Aug 04, 2021

As seen on ABC, NBC, and CW affiliate KAIT-8 TV, as well as many other outlets across the nation, NYITCOM-Arkansas Site Dean Shane Speights, D.O. warned of the dangers caused by using veterinary medication to treat COVID-19. Sales of Ivermectin paste, used to treat worms in animals, are on the rise at farm supply stores across the U.S., with some people believing that it can treat COVID-19. However, Speights notes the frightening repercussions that may occur if humans ingest the medication, stating, “Let’s say it was manufactured for a large horse, but a human takes it, it can create low blood pressure, rapid heart rates, seizures, there are even episodes where you can see layers of your skin fall off. It can damage the liver, and there’s vision loss that can be associated.”

He also explained that the drug is only meant to kill parasites—not viruses. “The way that it works is it actually paralysis the worm by attacking the nerve and muscle cells. COVID is a virus. COVID doesn’t have nerve or muscle cells, so the mechanism in which the drug works wouldn’t work for a virus.”