Faculty/Staff Newsletter

A pilot program led by Li-Mi Chen and Megumi Inoue used virtual scenarios to improve training for nursing home staff. 

Felicia Baez-Smith, MPH ’19, has built a powerful public health career rooted in community impact, leading initiatives from opioid overdose prevention to pandemic response and mental health advocacy.

The third International Conference on Public Health and Environment, co-hosted by the college, brought together researchers from nine countries to address urgent environmental and occupational health issues — from air pollution to antimicrobial resistance — and to explore cross-border solutions.

After six years with the college, Director of Information Technology Matthew Hicks will retire on July 24. Throughout his time with the college, he has played an essential role in advancing our technological capabilities to support teaching, research, and community engagement. His leadership, problem-solving skills, and commitment to excellence have had a lasting impact. His work has been behind the scenes in many of the college’s strategic initiatives. Thank you, Matthew!

Rene Ayala has kindly agreed to serve as the interim director during the search process. Please contact Ayala with any questions related to IT projects.

Congratulations to Larry Cheskin, who is the PI for a new multi-site, randomized, controlled clinical trial of a new injectable weekly medication of the GLP-1/GIP class for the treatment of obesity and type-2 diabetes. He will oversee the sites in the Population Health Center and at Capital Digestive Care in Potomac, MD, and he has already enrolled the first five patients.

A new NSF funding opportunity seeks to facilitate real-world applications in all areas of STEM. Successful outcomes of NSF TTP projects are varied and may include, but are not limited to: accelerated product, process or service maturation; open-source projects; standards setting; patents; the realization of pre-commercial or commercial products, processes or services; and startup or small business formation. Upcoming submission deadlines are September 16, 2025; January 20, 2026; and May 19, 2026. Register for webinars to learn more on July 22 and August 12.

NSF TTP has multiple "tracks" including:

NSF TTP-Translate (NSF TTP-T) is focused on translating research results into technological innovations with promising commercial, economic, and/or other impacts. The award provides up to $1,200,000 in total costs for up to 36 months.  
 
NSF TTP-Partner (NSF TTP-P) supports translational efforts that demand one or more partnerships for technology development and deployment (e.g., industry partners, government entities at all levels, philanthropies, international organizations, or other groups associated with large scale production and distribution). The program requires an “NSF-Catalyzed Partnership,” which is actually set up by the PI team. The award provides up to $2,000,000 in total costs for up to 48 months.  

George Mason has a new pre-award step during which Co-PIs must clarify what “percentage of credit” is being assigned to each person. This credit allocation is distinct from the Indirect Cost (IDC) distribution. Credit should align with each PI’s and Co-PI’s responsibilities, including research planning, oversight of research personnel, and overall project management. These credit percentages, defined at the proposal stage, will be confirmed at the award stage if the proposal is funded. Your pre-award person, Margo Thoresen or Andrew Furr, will request this information as part of your proposal submission.

The federal government has a new initiative around science standards. The director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy will be issuing guidance for agencies on implementation of “Gold Standard Science” in the conduct and management of their respective scientific activities. For the purposes of this order, Gold Standard Science means science conducted in a manner that is:
(i)     reproducible;
(ii)    transparent;
(iii)   communicative of error and uncertainty;
(iv)   collaborative and interdisciplinary;
(v)    skeptical of its findings and assumptions;
(vi)   structured for falsifiability of hypotheses;
(vii)  subject to unbiased peer review;
(viii) accepting of negative results as positive outcomes; and
(ix)   without conflicts of interest.
 
We will share more information as this policy evolves. 

The University Libraries provides a few ways to share open access research openly for the long-term. Using the Libraries' repositories makes George Mason research accessible and easily findable and includes works of scholarship such as articles, books, theses and dissertations, and data. 

Congratulations to Ellen Fink-Samnick (right), an adjunct faculty member in the Department of Social Work on two prestigious honors from the Case Management Society of America's Annual Conference!

2025 Case Manager of the Year for notable contributions and exceptional dedication that have provided a positive vision for the future of case management.

Research Award for Professional identity in Case Management: Exploring case manager's perceptions and looking forward. This research was conducted with two of Fink-Samnick's colleagues.

George Mason resources available to all:

George Mason's Graduate Division is looking for volunteer judges for its Research Poster Competition and Three Minute Thesis Competition.

To optimize storage growth, ITS is lowering storage quotas for OneDrive, Email, and Teams. The new quotas are as follows:

OneDrive: 50GB, down from 1TB
Email: 50GB, down from 100GB
Teams: 100GB, down from 1TB

New OneDrive quotas began to roll out on July 7. Email quotas will be lowered later this summer. Learn more about the new quotas and how to check your current storage usage on the ITS website.

Canvas, similar to Blackboard, uses a default grade scheme that may not match your program’s grade scheme. Learn how to add a grade scheme and send grades to Patriot Web from Canvas.

In case you are not aware, the CPH Staff Council is not yet an official council! Last year, we drafted the CPH Staff Council Bylaws to increase CPH staff support and representation within the College of Public Health. 

Unfortunately, a quorum was not met to ratify the bylaws as outlined in the current guidelines. Following a review, the leadership team revised the bylaws and now seeks your input. Please take a moment to review the updated draft and share your feedback by August 4. Your input is crucial to ensuring the bylaws accurately represent the needs and interest of all staff members.  

We’ll host a brown bag lunch and listening session on August 7 from 12:30 – 1:30 pm to address your questions and feedback.

For more information, contact the leadership team:

Allie McKay (NUTR, Chair), Kelly Beckwith (GCH), Katie Spaulding (NURS), Terri Ann Guingab (Dean’s Office)

August 27 | 11 am | Multipurpose Room

Join us to kick off the new academic year. Address followed by a lunch reception. RSVP to come.

Add these important dates and deadlines for the 2025–2026 academic year to your calendar now. This list will continue to be updated throughout the summer.

The newsletter will resume weekly publication in August.

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