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  • Virtual Student Scholars Symposium

ORGANIZING COMMITTEE

The following Sigma Xi members are making the Virtual Student Scholars Symposium possible! 


Francis C. Dane


Dr. Francis C. (Frank) Dane is a social psychologist (PhD, University of Kansas, 1979) whose research encompasses mindfulness, mathematical models of medical outcomes, and environmental determinants of learning through simulation. One specific focus of his research is the concept of psychological fidelity, the extent to which an individual perceives a simulation experience to be analogous to actual experience. He is professor and chair of Arts & Sciences at Jefferson College of Health Sciences in Roanoke, Virginia, and holds secondary faculty appointments at Mercer University School of Medicine (Macon, Georgia) and Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine (Roanoke, Virginia).

Dane serves on the Institutional Review Board (IRB) at Carilion Clinic, has an appointment at the Center for Healthcare Simulation Research, is a member of the Board of Directors of Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Honor Society, and a member of the Board of Directors of the Mindfulness Institute of the Roanoke Valley. In addition to charter memberships in the Association for Psychological Science and the Virginia State Simulation Alliance, he is a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Conference of Academic Deans, the American Statistical Association, and the Society for Simulation in Healthcare, and is a Fellow of the Royal Statistical Society. He also serves on the editorial boards of Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy and Critical Care.


Marijo Kent-First


Marijo Kent-First serves as assistant professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Florida A&M University, where she teaches a range of classes and engages undergraduate and graduate students in research aimed at determining the mechanism of genomic instability in ROS induced cell lines in vitro. Additionally, students with an interest in gender determination and veterinary medicine can engage in research focused on the XY Sex Reversal Syndrome in the horse as a model for human. Kent-First earned the MS degree in anatomy and cytogenetics and the PhD degree in physiology and genetics at the University of Minnesota Graduate School and College of Veterinary Medicine. Kent-First has published a body of more than 50 peer reviewed articles, 12 book chapters, 8 patents and numerous abstracts and non-peer reviewed publications. She has trained many graduate students and undergraduate students who are currently in successful careers in science.  


Vishal Shah

 

Vishal Shah is the associate dean for the College of the Sciences and Mathematics as well as interim vice president for the Center of International Programs at West Chester University. With research experience across three continents, Shah’s work involves developing innovative microorganisms-based technologies that directly influence current human needs and health.  Some of the topics of research his laboratory is currently engaged in includes developing predictive models for assessing impacts of nanoparticles on the microbial biota, understanding the relationship between human health and human microbiome, and understanding the impacts of natural disasters on soil microbial biota.
 
Apart from graduate and undergraduate students, Shah’s laboratory is known for engaging elementary, middle, and high school students in peer-reviewed research. He is on the editorial board for the Journal of Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, Chronicle of the New Researcher, and Frontiers for Young Minds.


Malgosia Wilk-Blaszczak


Malgosia Wilk-Blaszczak is a professor of instruction in the Department of Biology at the University of Texas at Arlington, Texas. She graduated from the Medical University of Warsaw with MD and PhD degrees in neuroscience. She is an ardent advocate for open pedagogy and affordability of educational materials. She is the author of two Open Educational Resources (OER) textbooks that are available for free under Creative Commons by licence. 

Wilk-Blaszczak has been a member of Sigma Xi since 2004. She enjoys interacting with future scientists and has been a judge at multiple Student Research Conferences and Intel International Science and Engineering Fairs.  
   
She loves hiking and is a big supporter of national parks. She is a vegetarian foodie, and you can follow her culinary adventures @eatwithdrwilk. 

 

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