Faculty Experts Roundup

A team of OHIO researchers from the College of Arts and Sciences and the Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine published the article “A helical peptide antagonist of the human growth hormone receptor” in the journal Endocrinology. The authors:

• Khairun Nahar, Ph.D. ‘24 
• Reetobrata Basu, research assistant professor in molecular and cellular biology and the Institute for Molecular Medicine and Aging 
• Arshad Ahmad, postdoctoral researcher in the Institute for Molecular Medicine and Aging
• Joseph A Pettis, BS ‘23
• Udani Gamage, graduate student in the Department of Chemistry
• Justin M. Holub, associate professor and online graduate recruitment chair in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and the Institute for Molecular Medicine and Aging
• John J. Kopchick, Principal Investigator, Institute for Molecular Medicine and Aging, Distinguished Professor and Goll-Ohio Eminent Scholar

• The 2026 Ernst & Young Foundation Innovation in Accounting Education Award was presented to a group of OHIO researchers for their innovation, “Scoreboard for Excel: The Design and Implementation of Software to Advance Active Learning, Automate Grading, and Reduce Cheating,” published in the August 2025 issue of Issues in Accounting Education in 2025. The researchers included OHIO faculty members in Analytics and Information Systems Professor Raymond D. Frost; Ellen R. Gordon, associate professor of instruction; Lauren N. Kenyo, assistant professor of instruction; Professor Vic A. Matta; and Honors Tutorial College alumna Madelyn E. Raisch, BBA ‘24. 

  The award is “intended to encourage innovation and improvement in accounting education" according to a press release. "It recognizes significant programmatic changes or a significant activity, concept, or set of educational materials. Submissions are judged by their innovation, demonstrated educational benefits, value or impact, and adaptability by other academic institutions or to other situations.”

• Jacob Hiler, Fox associate professor of Marketing and executive director of the Center for Consumer Research & Analytics, was a featured guest on the podcast Marketing, Machines and Mischief, discussing his “Influencer 101” course. Hiler was also interviewed for an article in Net Influencer titled “What brands keep getting wrong about creators, according to the professor who studies both sides.”

• Three CHSP faculty members developed and presented a six-part webinar series on artificial intelligence across the nursing curriculum for NurseTim, a national provider of nursing education and faculty development. Dr. Sherleena Buchman, associate dean of curriculum and academic affairs and associate professor, and interim director of the Department of Interdisciplinary Health Studies; Dr. Char Miller, executive director of the School of Nursing and associate professor; and Dr. Melvina Brandau, associate professor and co-director of the Nurse Educator program, created the series, which guided nursing faculty across the country in integrating AI into teaching, coursework, and clinical education. The work positions Ohio University's School of Nursing as a leader in this space at a time when AI in health professions education is a major national conversation.

• Kevin Bethell, Aspire instructor in the Stevens Center for Literacy and STEM Education, presented “Back to the Agora: Ancient Greek Pedagogy in the Modern Classroom” at the 2026 COABE (Coalition on Adult Basic Education) Conference in Indianapolis. Bethell’s session explored how the ancient practice of Socratic dialogue and peripatetic (walking) learning can inspire educators and transform today’s adult classrooms.

• On May 21, Dan Farkas, visiting professor of strategic communication in the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism, won the Tom Poling Practitioner of the Year of award from Central Ohio Public Relations Society of America. It’s the top honor the chapter gives. In doing so, Farkas became the second person in the 76 year history of Central Ohio PRSA to win both Practitioner of the Year and the Walt Seifert Award for Outstanding Service to PRSSA., the Public Relations Student Society of America
• A team of Ohio University researchers led by E.W. Scripps School of Journalism Director Dr. Hans Meyer conducted a year-long project checking compliance with Ohio’s Public Records Act. The team asked public agencies in all 88 of Ohio’s counties for eight records that under Ohio’s Public Records Act should be easily accessible. Research assistants were all graduate students in the school: Prakash Acharya, Nguyen Quang and Patricia Marcano Meza.
• Tom Suddes, assistant instructor and coordinator of the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism Statehouse News Bureau fellowships, received the Citizen of the Year award from the Ohio Library Council. The council praised Suddes's editorial writing bringing "clarity and context to issues affecting Ohio communities" and highlighting "the value of strong public institutions,” specifically during the 2025 state budget process, when Suddes’s “columns helped readers understand why Ohio’s public libraries have long been recognized as a national model and highlighted how funding decisions could affect the services and resources