Archive: News & Announcements 2023-2024

  • Valpo’s PA Program Challenge Bowl Team, led by Professors Claudine Ruzga and Jessica Bruskoski, competed in the AAPA National Medical Challenge Bowl at the AAPA Annual Conference in Nashville, Tennessee earlier this week. Members of the competing team included Tyler Bush, Libbie Sobieski and Peyton Westcott (all MSPA ’23); Victoria Cammarano and Maggie Maki (MSPA ’24) served as alternates. Valpo’s team was among the top 18 scoring teams out of the 89 competing.
  • The College of Nursing and Health Professions is proud to welcome Dr. Peixing Jiang and Dr. David Lantis and Exercise Science to our college.  Dr. Jiang will serve as program director.
  • Congratulations to Dr. Phrosini Samis-Smith on being named CONHP’s Assistant Dean for Health Professions.
  • Congrats to Dr. Scarlet Spain and Dr. Zheng Li for having their abstract, “Assessing Knowledge Change after Completion of an Online Learning Module on Back Pain and Injury in Industrial Workers” accepted for the APHA conference in September.
  • Congrats to Dr. Christine Paquin on being chosen to present her abstract, “Addressing Nursing Student Mental Health Stigma through Experiential Learning and Critical Reflection” at the APNA conference. Her abstract was chosen out of 470 abstracts submitted.
  • Congratulations to Dr. Theresa Kessler and Dr. Lynette Rayman for having their article, “The AVOID Plan: Model of Success to Limit Electronic Vaping Rates on a College Campus” published in the British Journal of Healthcare and Medical Research.
  • Congratulations to Lynette Rayman, DNP, RN, CNE, Assistant Dean for Undergraduate Nursing and Associate Professor of Nursing on being granted tenure.
  • Congratulations to Joseph Zaweski, MPAS, PA-C, Assistant Dean and Program Director for the Physician Assistant Program on being granted tenure and promotion to Associate Professor of Physician Assistant Studies.
  • Congratulations to Dr. Scarlet Spain who was elected to the Nation’s Health Advisory Committee through the American Public Health Association.
  • Congratulations to the undergraduate nursing research team, led by Dr. Theresa Kessler and Dr. Lynette Rayman, for having their research, “Elevated Blood Pressure and the Need for Education in Apparently Healthy College Students” published in STU Nurse. This research team was made up of senior nursing students (BSN ’24), Isabella Dietrich and Hannah LaFary, and junior nursing students (BSN ’25) Bryn Benzing, Alyssa Gonzalez, and Adalynn Harper.
  • Welcome to Evan Lines, MOT, OTR/L, CHT, who has joined the OT Program as a new faculty member.
  • Congratulations to Dr. Constance Sheets who has achieved associate professor.
  • Congratulations to Dr. Julie Brandy who presented a poster representing the work being completed with
    T. Kessler and G. Gass titled “Development of a Screening Instrument to Identify Risk of Depression in College Freshmen,” at the Midwest Nursing Research Society’s 39th Annual Research Conference in Minneapolis.
  • Congratulations to Professor Jessica Bruskoski who completed training at Mayo last summer, passed the Society for Simulation in Healthcare certification exam, and is now a certified simulation health care educator. 
  • Congratulations to the entry-level occupational therapy program as it has been ranked in US News and World Report as one of the best OT programs in the country.
  • Congratulations to Dr. Christina Cavinder, who has been invited to be part of the DNP Academy and will be one of the editors for their journal.
  • Congratulations to Dr. Kelly Migler, who was the March 2024 recipient of the Zeta Iota Chapter of Gamma Phi Beta’s ‘Empowered Women Empower Women’ campaign.
  • Congratulations to Professor Claudine Ruzga for winning ‘Outstanding Advisor of the Year’ for her role as a faculty advisor for VUPASS.
  • Congratulations to Dr. Theresa Carroll and to Dr. Reva Johnson (COE) for their work on the inaugural Go Baby Go Valpo event. Students from occupational therapy and bioengineering worked together to modify commercially available ride-on vehicles for children with disabilities. Their launch provided four local children with adapted ride-on vehicles.