Faculty Research

DEPARTMENT CHAIR - ARIF RANA

The medical education and bioinformatics department provides support for the design, development, and delivery of high-quality instruction and assessment in medical education for medical students, interns, residents, physicians, and other health professionals. The medical education department, which provides resources and expertise in education, assessment, and data analysis, use a variety of state-of-the-art technology tools and focus on research efforts to improve clinical practice management and patient care.

HIGHLIGHTED RESEARCH

Steve Bronsburg, Ph.D., M.S., M.H.S.A., is an assistant professor and continues his research in utilizing technology as a tool to address health care issues. Specifically, his current research efforts aim to explore the role of text messaging and Fitbit on chronic disease self-management among underserved populations. Bronsburg has also explored the use of text messaging and motivational interviewing to enhance a tobacco cessation program aimed at increasing quit rates.

Robin J. Jacobs, PhD, MSW, MS, MPH is a professor in Biomedical Informatics and Medical Education and the Director of Graduate Medical Education. She also serves as a statistical Consultant for the HPD Statistical Consulting Center and Institutional Review Board (IRB) College Representative. Dr. Jacobs completed her doctoral training in social welfare at the FIU under a two-year research fellowship and has earned master’s degrees in biomedical informatics, public health, and social work, a bachelor’s degree in community health education and promotion, and a specialist degree in complementary alternative medicine. Dr. Jacobs is an internationally known researcher whose work includes 225 scholarly works including more than 100 peer-reviewed publications on various topics as well as two book chapters on evidence-based practice. She has served as a principal investigator, co-investigator, and statistical analyst with extensive experience in developing or being part of the development/implementation of several NIH- and CDC-funded research projects involving technology-driven platforms addressing health literacy, chronic disease self-management, and HIV. She has served on numerous Patient Centered Outcome Research Institute (PCORI) and Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) scientific review committees and peer-review scientific editorial boards. Additionally, she served as a reviewer for the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI). She has a varied research background in health informatics and eHealth, behavioral health, medical education, public health, pharmacy education, and the social sciences. She currently serves as co-investigator on a multi-year project supported by the US National Institutes of Health to create health literacy tools to help people find, understand, and use information to maintain and improve their health. Her research focus has recently pivoted to medical education research, specifically to assess and reform the culture underlying medical education vis a vis undergraduate and graduate research training.

DEPARTMENT CHAIR - CYRIL BLAVO

The public health department focuses on health of the population through education, research, and service, with emphasis on multicultural and underserved populations. The departments research efforts are geared toward defining, critically assessing, and resolving public health problems globally. The department aims to promote health, prevent disease, develop and evaluate programs, and enhance clinical practice through their research efforts and clinical practice.

HIGHLIGHTED RESEARCH

Cyril Blavo, DO, MPH, TM, FACOP, is a practicing board-certified Pediatrician, as well as, Director of the Public Health Program. His initiatives and research efforts focus on promoting, developing and supporting health promotion and disease prevention for underserved populations, both domestically and globally. Dr. Blavo’s board based research efforts aim to address emerging and re-emerging diseases, environmental health concerns, health care reform, proliferation of agents and weapons of mass destruction, sociopolitical factors affecting the nation’s health and health care systems, and the expansion of global health issues. Specifically, he has focused on beliefs and behaviors of diabetic patients related to foot care, health promotion initiative to increase awareness of breast cancer and its de-stigmatization among individuals residing in Zambia, cervical cancer knowledge among college women, hospital utilization costs tied to treatment of hyperlipidemia, and long-term complications tied to diabetes.

Nicole Cook, PhD, MPA, focuses on research assessing experience of care of vulnerable  populations, developing a social media campaign using empathy mapping for people with  fecal incontinence, and managing and evaluating care management and disease  management programs for publically-funded and health center patients including asthma,  behavioral health and diabetes. She continues to participate in research and community-  based initiatives including patient experience, virtual world applications for health care, and technology-based quality improvement. She currently serves as the Project Director of a PCORI funded Tier 1 award to develop a Fecal Incontinence in Primary Care consortium. In this role, she works closely with patients, caregivers, researchers, primary care providers (including nurses, pharmacists and dieticians) and other stakeholders who are passionate about improving knowledge and science for people with this condition.

DEPARTMENT CHAIR - BARBARA ARCOS

Barbara Arcos is an associate professor and chair of the Department of Family Medicine. The focus of her department is to bring together clinical practice medicine and research efforts.

HIGHLIGHTED RESEARCH

Marie Florent-Carre, DO, MPH, is the director of the Department of Rural and Urban Underserved Medicine. Her research efforts focus on foreign borne illnesses including Zika, Dengue Fever, and Ebola. She is currently the Principle Investigator of a grant cosponsored by Broward Regional Health Planning Council for the Transforming Our Community’s Health project. She is also involved in outreach that has aided in her research efforts including international outreach trips to Jamaica, Haiti, and Ecuador. Her research efforts have received extensive recognition, especially tied to her expertise in Zika virus, where she has been involved in multiple panels attended by health care professionals and public officials.

DEPARTMENT CHAIR - NAUSHIRA PANDYA

The Department of Geriatrics aims to improve the care of older adults and the elderly population. They seek to bring awareness to illnesses and co-morbid conditions that impact the aging population. The research efforts of this department aim to improve older adult patient care, increase awareness of conditions affecting this population, and increase the potential for earlier prevention.

HIGHLIGHTED RESEARCH

Naushira Pandya

DEPARTMENT CHAIRS - GARY MERLINO AND SAMUEL SNYDER

The Department of Internal Medicine aims to improve care for adults. They seek to bring awareness to illnesses that impact the adult population and practice in both the inpatient hospital setting, as well as, in the outpatient setting. The research efforts of this department focus on preventative medicine strategies, as well as, illness management. The department aims to improve conditions affecting adults and increase the potential for earlier prevention and intervention to reduce the development of co-morbid complication as these individuals age.

HIGHLIGHTED RESEARCH

Samuel Snyder, DO is Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Internal Medicine. His research efforts focus on gaining insight into the effectiveness of internal medicine programs and understanding unmet needs.

DEPARTMENT CHAIRS - BRUCE PETERS AND MARK GABAY

The Department of Pediatrics aims to improve the care of adolescents and young adults. They seek to bring awareness to illnesses and conditions that impact a younger generation of patients. The research efforts of this department aim to improve young adult and adolescent patient care, increase awareness of conditions affecting this population, and increase the potential for prevention.

HIGHLIGHTED RESEARCH

DEPARTMENT CHAIRS - KENNETH JOHNSON JR AND RENEE ALEXIS

The Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology aims to aid in the care of women before, during, and after pregnancy. The research efforts of this department focus on illness that impact the urinary, endocrine, and reproductive systems.

HIGHLIGHTED RESEARCH

ASSISTANT DEAN - NANCY G. KLIMAS, MD

The department of immunology, as part of the Institute for Neuro Immune Medicine aims to provide insight into complex, poorly understood neuro-inflammatory illnesses through the integration of research, clinical care, and education. Current research focuses at the Institute for Neuro Immune Medicine (INIM) includes Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) and Gulf War Illness (GWI). Investigators, clinicians, and educators are committed to applying scientific advances to promote efficiency, enhance patient care, and improve clinical utility. This advancement is done through clinical, laboratory, computational, and integrative cardiovascular immunological research, all of which are conducted at the INIM by renowned researchers in their respective fields.

HIGHLIGHTED RESEARCH

Nancy G. Klimas, MD is internationally recognized for her research and clinical efforts in multi-symptom disorders, Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS), Gulf War illness (GWI), Parkinson’s disease, and Fibromyalgia. Under her leadership, NSU’s Institute for Neuro-Immune Medicine was established and has grown to more than 60 employees and more than $20 million in external federal funding (sponsored research, training, and service programs). Among many other honors, Klimas was the recipient of the 2014 Perpich Award by the International Association for CFS/ME (IACFS/ME) for distinguished community service. She also was featured as a “Woman to Watch” on WFOR CBS 4. She is also professor emerita at the University of Miami School of Medicine, director of clinical immunology research at the Miami Veterans Affairs Medical Center (VAMC), and leads the GWI and ME/CFS clinical and research program at the Miami VA. Klimas is a diplomate of the American Board of Internal Medicine and a diplomate in diagnostic laboratory immunology. She is a past president of the IACFS/ME and is also a member of the VA Research Advisory Committee for GWI, the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) P2P CFS committee, and served on the Institute of Medicine’s ME/CFS review panel. She has advised three U.S. secretaries of health and human services during her repeated service on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services CFS Advisory Committee. She is currently funded by the VA, Department of Defense, and NIH to study these complex disorders using a systems biology approach with a strong focus on illness models that lead to therapeutic targets and clinical trials.

Lubov Nathanson, PhD is assistant professor in the College of Osteopathic Medicine’s Institute for Neuro-Immune Medicine (INIM). Her research efforts focus on understanding complex, poorly understood neuroimmune conditions including ME/CFS and GWI using modern genomic technologies, such as an RNA sequencing, copy number variation, and genomic DNA methylation to identify underlying mechanisms of disease activity and target treatment more effectively. She is well funded through the NIH for her research efforts in ME/CFS as well as through the VA an DoD for her efforts tied to GWI.

DEPARTMENT CHAIR - RAYMOND OWNBY, MD, PHD, MBA

The Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine focuses on the evaluation, identification and management of psychiatric conditions. The department combines clinical practice expertise with research efforts to gain insight into the dynamics of psychiatric conditions and gain insight into improved diagnosis and treatment. While the medical specialty of psychiatry utilizes research in the field of neuroscience, psychology, medicine, biology, biochemistry, and pharmacology, it has generally been considered a middle ground between neurology and psychology. Psychiatrists at NSU use a combination approach to treatment and in their research efforts including drug therapy, laboratory testing, neuroimaging techniques, and physical examinations.

HIGHLIGHTED RESEARCH