2020-2021 Fellows
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 Viviana Ferreira
Dr. Ferreira is an Associate Professor in the Department of Medical Microbiology and
Immunology in the College of Medicine and Life Sciences (COMLS). She received her
D.V.M. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Chile and completed postdoctoral training
at the University of Texas. Dr. Ferreira joined COMLS in 2009 as an Assistant Professor
and was promoted to Associate Professor with tenure in 2015. Dr. Ferreira's research,
which focusses on part of innate immunity (i.e. the complement system), has been published
in internationally-recognized scientific journals and has been continuously funded
over the years, mainly by the American Heart Association and the National Institutes
of Health. She has recently completed a 4 year term as a standing member on an NIH
study section panel. Dr. Ferreira also has a passion for teaching and mentoring; thus,
she has served as major advisor to graduate students while pursuing their Ph.D., M.D./Ph.D.,
and Masters degrees, she participates in the COMLS teaching mission for Medical School
and Graduate students, and serves as mentor for underrepresented students. Dr. Ferreira
has obtained the 2013 Dean's Teaching Excellence and the 2014 Dean's Research Excellence
Awards, and was named a 2019 American Association of Immunology Career in Immunology
Fellow. She participates in several leadership roles at UToledo and in the national
and international scientific communities including, but not limited to, co-direction
of the Infections course for M1 students, direction of the Advanced Immunology graduate
course, Councilor on the International Complement Society Board, and Program Committee
member for the American Association of Immunologists.
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Tavis J. Glassman
Tavis J. Glassman, PhD, MSEd, MPH, CHES, CCPH serves as a professor at The University
of Toledo in the School of Population Health. He earned his doctorate from the University
of Florida and Masters in Public Health from The Ohio State University. He is a Master
Certified Health Education Specialist and a Certified Communicator in Public Health.
He teaches Drug Awareness, Human Sexuality, Mental Health, Social Marketing, Health
Communication and Health Behavior courses. His research interests involve the prevention
of high-risk behaviors among college students. For example, he has designed interventions
to reduce the excessive alcohol consumption associated with tailgating on game-day,
21st birthday celebrations, spring break, etc. Further, he designs, implements, and evaluates
health communication messages, which promote healthy lifestyles. He is an inductee
of the Start High School Hall of Fame and a Jefferson Community Service Awardee. In
January 2021, Dr. Glassman will begin his appointment as Associate Chair.
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 Marty Sexton
Dr. Marty Sexton serves as the Associate Dean of Academic Affairs and Interim Director
of the Learning Resource Center, Simulation and Interprofessional Education in the
College of Nursing (CON). She also served the college as Chair of the Department of
Adult, Family and Population Health for 4 years. Recently, she led the CON 2019 Commission
on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE) Accreditation self-study and on-site visit.
Maximal accreditation was granted to all programs. Dr. Sexton has been a leader in
the development, implementation and evaluation of the University’s Interprofessional
Education Program (IPE) which provides didactics, simulation and experiential opportunities
for over 550 students from 11 different healthscience disciplines every year. She
is active in the American Interprofessional Health Collaborative (AIHC) and National
Academies of Practice (NAP) serving in leadership roles in both organizations. The
focus of Dr. Sexton’s research has an overarching purpose of improving interprofessional
education and collaborative practice (IPE/C). Within that domain she has published
and presented with colleagues on topics such as: interprofessional education pedagogy,
interprofessional conflict resolution, emergent evacuation techniques, and active
shooter awareness. She is the Co-PI of a joint CON and COMSL Collaboration Grant entitled”
Assessing and Evaluating the Effectiveness of a Simulation-based, Comprehensive Approach
to Active Shooter Training”. In addition, Dr. Sexton is the principle investigator
for an Ohio Board of Nursing Education Grant entitled “Increasing Enrollment in the
University of Toledo’s Competency-Based (CBE) RN to BSN Program”.
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 Youssef Sari
Dr. Youssef Sari received his MS in Biomechanics and Physiology of Movement from Orsay
University (France) and his Ph.D. in Neuroscience from Pierre and Marie Curie University
(Sorbonne University), Institute of Neurosciences (France). He subsequently held postdoctoral
fellowship and faculty research positions at Indiana University School of Medicine,
Indianapolis and Bloomington, Indiana. He then moved to The University of Toledo in
2010. Dr. Sari is a Professor of Pharmacology and Vice Chair of the Department of
Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics at the College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical
Sciences. He is currently severing as Director of Graduate Program in his Department.
He has been also serving as the Chair of the department’s personnel committee over
the past six years, and this involves promotion and tenure processes as well as faculty
mentoring. He has been active and successful in the recruitment of talented international
students to the graduate programs in the College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.
He is also teaching pharmacology to medical students in the College of Medicine, and
he has just been assigned as a Mission Director to mentor medical students. Dr. Sari’s
research has contributed significantly to the field of drugs of abuse, including alcohol,
nicotine, cocaine, opioids, and methamphetamine. He has over 105 publications in good-
to high-quality, peer-reviewed research journals and over seven published book chapters.
Based in his outstanding achievement in his field, he is now listed as Top #1 Expert Worldwide in the area of Excitatory Amino Acid Transporter 2 in the brain by Expertscape Inc.
He has received several awards and honors in recognition of his excellent contributions
to the scientific literature in the field of drugs of abuse. Among these awards are
the Sigma Xi Young Investigator Award, the President’s Research and Scholarship Award,
Shining Star Award, and the Outstanding Faculty Research and Scholarship Award. Dr.
Sari’s research programs have been funded for several years by prestigious awards
from the National Institutes of Health. Based on his meritorious scientific achievements,
he has secured several NIH funding for the last 15 years. He is member of several
editorial boards, including Frontiers in Neuropharmacology. He has an incredible record
of mentoring and tirelessly interacting with his mentees and other junior colleagues
in and outside the laboratory. Most of his mentees are currently holding the title
of Assistant Professor or Assistant Professor/Head of the Department at International
Universities.
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2019-2020 Fellows
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 Jonathan Bossenbroek
Dr. Jonathan Bossenbroek is a Professor of Environmental Sciences at the University
of Toledo and serves as the Director of the Office of Competitive Fellowships and
Undergraduate Research. He earned his undergraduate degree from Calvin College, his
M.S. from the Univ. of Wisconsin – Green Bay, and Ph.D. in ecology from Colorado State
University. Prior to coming to Toledo, he had a post-doctoral fellowship at the University
of Notre Dame. During the 2013-14 academic year, he spent his sabbatical in Trinidad
and Tobago on a Fulbright Scholarship. His research focuses on applying the theories
and concepts of landscape ecology to investigate issues such as invasive species biology,
conservation biology and ecosystem management. The investigative approach of his lab
is primarily based on predictive modeling and then linking these predictions with
field and laboratory studies. Through this approach, he has undertaking projects on
zebra mussels, emerald ash borer, hydrilla, yellow perch, and lake sturgeon. The
applied nature of Dr. Bossenbroek's work has enabled him to interact with regional,
state, and federal agencies and non-governmental organizations to improve the management
and policies that influence the regions natural resources.
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 Maria Coleman
Dr. Maria Coleman received her B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Louisiana Tech University
and Ph.D. from The University of Texas at Austin. She is a Professor and Chair of
Chemical Engineering and Associate Director of the Polymer Institute at the University
of Toledo. She is committed to student learning and development and has been very
involved in mentoring graduate students and young faculty. Her research focuses on
polymers and nanocomposites and has been funded through federal, state and industrial
sources including the prestigious NSF Presidential Faculty Fellowship. She currently
works with multidisciplinary teams to develop renewable, recyclable polymers aimed
at reducing the environmental impacts of plastics.
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 Scott Molitor
Dr. Scott Molitor earned his B.S.E. in Engineering Science at the University of Michigan
and later earned his Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering at the Johns Hopkins University
School of Medicine. Following his Ph.D., he completed two postdoctoral fellowships
in otolaryngology - head and neck surgery; the first at the Johns Hopkins University
School of Medicine and the second at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Dr. Molitor joined the University of Toledo Department of Bioengineering in 2000.
He was named as the Bioengineering Undergraduate Program Director in 2001, was promoted
to Associate Professor in 2006 and Professor in 2018. Between July 2014 – January
2019, he served as the Associate Dean of Undergraduate Studies for the University
of Toledo College of Engineering. As of February 2019, Dr. Molitor has been serving
as the Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs. Dr. Molitor's previous research
interests include molecular mechanisms of cellular excitability, computational modeling
of neuronal function, auditory neuroscience and treatments for traumatic brain injury.
He has supervised the thesis and dissertation work of numerous graduate students working
in these research areas. Besides his teaching and administrative responsibilities
in the College of Engineering, his current educational interests include preparing
high school and first year college students to study engineering mathematics, and
the teaching of science and engineering to young children.
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 Rebecca Schneider
Dr. Rebecca Schneider is a Professor of science and teacher education, and Associate
Dean of Graduate Studies for the Judith Herb College of Education at the University
of Toledo. She received her Ph.D. in Science Education from The University of Michigan
and is a Judith Daso-Herb Endowed Co-Chair in School-University Partnerships in Teacher
Education. Her design-based research explores how teachers and those who educate them
gain the knowledge and skills necessary to be effective and how guidance can support
their development. Her work includes examining pedagogical content knowledge as a
construct from a teacher educator's perspective and within a learning progression
framework; developing programs to prepare teachers to be culturally responsive and
ambitious educators who can meet the learning needs of all their students; and exploring
how e-learning environments can support professional conversations, learning, and
partnerships for novices and their mentors.
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2018-2019 Fellows
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 Jason Huntley
Jason Huntley received both his M.S. in Microbiology and Ph.D. in Veterinary Pathology
from Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa. Following a postdoctoral fellowship at
the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, Texas, Dr. Huntley
joined the faculty in the Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology at the
University of Toledo College of Medicine and Life Sciences in 2010. Dr. Huntley currently
is a tenured Associate Professor and leads research studies funded by the National
Institutes of Health (NIH), Department of Defense, and Ohio SeaGrant to develop new
vaccines/ treatments against bacterial pneumonia and to develop new methods to remove
the harmful algal bloom toxin microcystin (MC-LR) from drinking water supplies.
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 Cyndee Gruden
Dr. Cyndee Gruden is a Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University
of Toledo and presently the Associate Dean of Academic and Student Affairs in the
College of Graduate Studies. She was raised and educated in New Hampshire. She obtained
her doctorate in Civil Engineering at the University of Colorado at Boulder in 2000
and subsequently served as a postdoctoral associate at the University of Michigan
in Environmental and Water Resources Engineering. In 2003, she became a member of
the faculty in the College of Engineering at the University of Toledo to pursue her
passion for teaching and mentoring students. Dr. Gruden and her students study urban
stormwater management and modeling in the Western Basin of Lake Erie. She advocates
for the implementation and optimization of green stormwater infrastructure. Her research
group collaborates widely with non-profits, municipalities, community members, private
sector consultants, and other academic institutions. She is engaged in extensive
service to her profession through mentoring and outreach activities toward the inclusion
of diverse groups in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math.
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 Kristen Keith
Dr. Kristen Keith is an Associate Professor of economics at the University of Toledo
where she also serves as assistant to the EVP/CFO of Finance and Administration and
Faculty Associate. She earned her undergraduate degree in economics at the University
of Montana and her M.A. and Ph.D. in economics from The Ohio State University. As
a microeconomist, whose field of specialty is labor economics, her research has focused
on the impact of individual behavior on labor market outcomes such as employment and
earnings. She has published in highly ranked economic journals including The Review
of Economic and Statistics and Economic Inquiry. As a member of the department of
economics, she served as its undergraduate advisor and won the University's Outstanding
Adviser Award in 2013. She has held several faculty leadership positons including
chair of LLSS's College Council, chair of the Outstanding Advisor Award Committee,
president of Faculty Senate, chair of the Senate Committee on Academic Regulations,
and faculty representative for the Tuition Guarantee Taskforce.
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2017-2018 Fellows
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 Holly Monsos
Holly Monsos joined the Department of Theatre and Film in 1991. She received an MFA
in costume design from the University of Montana and a BA in theatre with secondary
teaching certification from Michigan State University. Before joining the UT faculty,
she taught and designed at the Dillard School of Performing Arts in Fort Lauderdale,
Florida and spent several years as a cutter/draper in professional theatre including
work with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Actor's Theatre of Louisville, and the
San Francisco Opera. Her design work has been seen locally at the Toledo Rep. She
has designed for Ms. Unseen Productions in New Zealand, for the Montana Repertory
Theatre, and for the Glacity Theatre Collective here in Toledo, where she also serves
as Executive Director. Holly Monsos is active in her professional organization, the
United States Institute for Theatre Technology (USITT).
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 Amy Thompson
Dr. Amy Thompson is the Vice Provost of Faculty Affairs at the University of Toledo.
She is the former UT Faculty Senate President, has co-chaired the UT Sexual Assault
Prevention Taskforce, and is the current co-chair for UT Opioid Taskforce. In 2017-2018,
she was selected into the prestigious MAC Leadership Program, where she represented
UT at various leadership trainings. She has served as the Office of Research and Sponsored
Programs Fellow and the Provost's Fellow. In these roles, she helped to create such
programs as the Scholar Institute Program (SIP) and the Associate to Professor Program
(ATP). Dr. Thompson received her B.S. in Public Health from Central Michigan University,
her MS & Ed. in Public Health and her Ph.D in Health Education from the University
of Toledo. In addition to her nine years of service at the University of Toledo, she
was also a faculty member at Mississippi State University and Kent State University.
Dr. Thompson is the former national president of Eta Sigma Gamma, Health Education
Honorary and is the current National Advocacy Trustee for the Society for Public Health
Education (SOPHE). She has published over 70 peer reviewed journal articles and secured
nearly $800,000 in grant funding. Her work has been presented and published both nationally
and internationally.
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