Faculty honored at Distinguished Scholars Program

Arts & Sciences, Dentistry, Engineering, Health Sciences

Faculty honored at Distinguished Scholars Program

Twelve faculty members were honored on Thursday, March 27, at the Distinguished Scholars Program, which recognizes faculty for outstanding achievement in research and scholarship.

Lawrence G. Haggerty Faculty Award for Excellence in Research

Dr. Brian Bennett, professor of physics in the Klingler College of Arts and Sciences

Dr. Brian Bennett is an internationally recognized expert in the technique of electron paramagnetic resonance, an important tool for understanding molecular structure and catalytic mechanisms in a variety of important materials and chemical and life processes. Bennett's world-class research program is highly collaborative and interdisciplinary, at the intersection of physics, chemistry, biology and medicine.

His 30 years studying metalloenzymes has provided important knowledge about the molecular mechanisms of such processes as metabolism, hormone processing, tumor growth and metastasis, pathogenic infection, bacterial resistance, inherited genetic disease, pharmaceutical biosynthesis and bioremediation. His more recent work with cancer cell lines and biopsy tissue has impacted the understanding of cancer treatment and the molecular mechanisms of cancer genesis and proliferation.

Bennett's enterprise has resulted in almost $15 million in federal research support. He also continues to serve the Milwaukee scientific community as an adjunct professor at the Medical College of Wisconsin; as a collaborator of the Cancer Center, the Southeast Wisconsin Clinical and Translational Science Institute and Children's Research Institute; and as a regular dissertation committee member at Marquette, MCW and at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

"It is an honor to be inducted into a group that includes my esteemed scientific colleagues Bill Donaldson, Scott Reid, John Borg, Rosemary Stuart, Chieu Tran and Jim Kincaid," Bennett says. "The award is important by prompting us, on an annual basis, to reconsider the need and value of research to society and humanity at large, and to Marquette and our mission, in particular. In my own case, I feel it is a recognition of the increasing trend toward, and value of, multidisciplinary and collaborative research, and I gratefully accept it on behalf of my many mentors, colleagues, trainees and students over the years."

Way Klingler Fellowship

Dr. Lilly Campbell, associate professor of English in the Klingler College of Arts and Sciences

Dr. Lilly Campbell focuses on how we train health professionals to communicate with patients and one another and how that training incorporates embodied practices and intersects with new technologies. She engages with these topics in her book, "Patient Sense: Rhetorical Body Work in the Age of Technology," which is forthcoming from Ohio State University Press in July 2025. This book draws on fieldwork and interviews at three sites - a nursing simulation lab, a physical therapy lab and a virtual intensive care unit - to uncover the complex embodied, emotional and discursive work of providers as they mediate care through new technologies.

Her focus on three different health professions in the book - nursing, physical therapy and tele-observation - helped spark her interest in the growing field of interprofessional health education and her upcoming research project. Emerging health technologies are transforming the communication practices of future health care providers, necessitating new kinds of decision-making, patient interaction, and documentation of care. However, health care curriculum is sometimes slow to incorporate these new technologies into student training, especially training for interprofessional communication.

Her two-year project will begin by understanding student, instructor and community perspectives on the role of telehealth in interprofessional education through interviews and focus group conversations. Next, she will design three interprofessional telehealth interventions focused on virtually mediated care, charting communication, and algorithmic decision-making. And finally, she will implement interventions and collect assessment data, concluding the project by drafting publications to share the work more widely.

"I am truly honored to receive a Way Klinger Fellowship," Campbell says. "I believe my project's focus on making research-driven interventions into health curriculum at Marquette aligns with Helen Way Klinger's mission to provide transformative educational experiences for Marquette students. I also know how many of my colleagues are working on equally deserving projects, and I do not take likely this decision to invest in my research; I greatly look forward to the opportunity to advance my project over the next two years."

Dr. Chima Korieh, associate professor of history in the Klingler College of Arts and Sciences

Dr. Chima Korieh's project explores the use of West African contract labor on the Spanish plantations on the Island of Fernando Po during the first three quarters of the 20th century. He will connect the study of harrowing stories of forced recruitment, maltreatment, starvation, beating, enslavement and death - a recurring theme of West African labor in Fernando Po - to current debates on free and unfree labor.

The project will address important questions about the forced recruitment of West African laborers from the 1920s, the untold hardships emblematic of slavery they faced, the lived experiences and agency of the laborers themselves - how they navigated imperial boundaries, labor contracts and diplomatic wrangling - and how their experiences shaped the debate over free and unfree labor.

The project, titled "Hell's Island: West African Labor, Plantation Agriculture, and Violence on Spanish Fernando Po, 1920-1980," will offer a new perspective on the intersectionality of colonial collaboration, post-abolition labor practices, African migration, the ambivalent attitude of colonial regimes toward slavery and the struggle to abolish it and other forms of servitude in the post-abolition period.

"I am honored to receive this award," Korieh says. "It is an affirmation that African experiences matter and that these experiences are connected to the world outside of Africa, which is even more significant. The Way Klinger Fellowship award enables me to continue exploring African societies and their engagement with Europe during the colonial period and the impact on Africa's development path."

Dr. Brooke Mayer, professor of civil, construction and environmental engineering in the Opus College of Engineering

Dr. Brooke Mayer's research interests target the development and evaluation of sustainable water and wastewater treatment technologies. She leverages an integrated understanding of physical, chemical and biological processes and engineering design to assess the simultaneous mitigation of microbial and chemical contaminants using advanced water treatment processes, as well as recover valuable nutrients from used water.

The objective of her project is to investigate the effectiveness of UV/chlorine advanced oxidation processes for virus inactivation, with a focus on assessing their ability to neutralize a range of viral pathogens and contaminants commonly found in wastewater. By analyzing the interactions between UV irradiation and chlorine, her team will determine optimal treatment parameters, including UV doses and chlorine concentrations, for inactivating different types of viruses to ensure robust and efficient virus mitigation at a level suitable to meet water reuse goals.

The successful completion of this project will contribute significantly to the advancement of water reuse technologies, providing critical insights into the safety and effectiveness of UV/chlorine advanced oxidation processes for virus inactivation. This research promises not only to improve water reuse treatment practices but also to enhance global water sustainability efforts, with direct benefits for public health and environmental protection.

"It is a tremendous honor to be recognized with this Way Klingler Fellowship Award," Mayer says. "On behalf of my amazing research team, I am very grateful for this opportunity to contribute to Marquette's mission to advance the search for truth and the discovery and sharing of knowledge. This generous award allows us to develop and test advanced water treatment processes yielding protection of both public and environmental health."

Dr. Bing Yu, associate professor of biomedical engineering

Dr. Bing Yu's biophotonics program focuses on the development of novel optical imaging, spectroscopy and sensing technologies that will improve disease diagnostics and therapeutics, reduce healthcare costs and enhance biomedical research and education.

His approaches to achieve these goals include emphasizing collaborations, building multidisciplinary teams and taking advantage of the resource-rich environment of facilities, tools and educational opportunities offered by the Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering of Marquette University and the Medical College of Wisconsin.

The long-term goal of his fellowship project is to develop a new clinical tool to immediately evaluate a fresh biopsy specimen and inform the radiologist or surgeon if cancer is present without the need for a sophisticated, time-consuming and costly histopathology. More specifically, his team will develop a deep learning enabled, deep ultraviolet scanning microscope, called DDSM-BP, for rapid, accurate and nondestructive evaluation of fresh biopsy specimens for cancer.

I want to start by saying thank you to Helen and the Way Klingler family for your generous support through the awards," Yu said. "I hope to honor these awards' spirit of academic discovery and positive impact through my research in novel optical technologies to improve disease diagnosis and treatment."

Dr. Michael Zimmer, professor and vice chair of computer science in the Klingler College of Arts and Sciences and director of the Center for Data, Ethics, and Society

Dr. Michael Zimmer's current research program centers on analyzing the ethical challenges of big data by focusing on issues related to privacy, bias, power dynamics and broader societal impacts, and how to help researchers and practitioners think critically about the ethical implications of data they collect, process and share.

His project will develop a new conceptual and pedagogical framework for addressing the challenges of data ethics, incorporating the Jesuit principle of discernment. Data ethics is becoming increasingly critical as the use of data-driven technologies like artificial intelligence, machine learning and big data analytics rapidly expands. With these advancements come significant ethical challenges around privacy, bias, accountability, and the societal impacts of data use.

His work stresses the essential nature of training students and practitioners to think critically about the ethical implications of data before developing AI and other data-centric technologies.

"I'm deeply honored and grateful for this opportunity to pursue a project so closely aligned with my research and Marquette's mission," Zimmer says. "With the support of the Klingler family, I'm excited to develop new insights and tools that will support students, educators, and professionals in making ethical and just decisions in our increasingly data-driven world."

Way Klingler Early Career Award

Dr. Jacob Capin, assistant professor of physical therapy in the College of Health Sciences and director of the Life After Sport Trajectories (LAST) laboratory

Dr. Jacob Capin is a clinician-scientist driven to advance rehabilitation and health. His nontraditional aging research presents a paradigm shift from traditional sports medicine, focusing on long-term health in former athletes rather than short-term athletic goals. The mission of LAST Lab is to: 1) determine factors associated with poor long-term health outcomes in aging former athletes; 2) promote health and wellness in current and former athletes across the lifespan; and 3) transform the way providers rehabilitate, counsel and educate individuals for long-term health. Capin, his LAST Lab team and multidisciplinary collaborators are at the forefront of a largely untapped, innovative and impactful area of research.

Identifying and ultimately intervening on risk factors for early chronic diseases and compromised health and function long-term will benefit many millions of former athletes. Moreover, it will provide an efficient means to enhance healthspans not only in aging athletes but also in the population at large.

Capin has contributed over 40 peer-review publications, coauthored two book chapters, and given over 90 national or international presentations. Since coming to Marquette in September 2021, he has received three grants as principal investigator or co-PI, including a prestigious NIH Director's Early Independence Award, which is an NIH R01-equivalent. Capin also teaches kinesiology to physical therapy students and serves as a faculty advisor for the Marquette Challenge and the Marquette University Triathlon Club Team.

"I am delighted and honored to receive this generous award at a critical time in my career," Capin said. "My research team and I should finish recruitment and testing for my NIH Director's Early Independence Award research study within the next 12 months. I plan to use the dedicated time afforded by the Way Klingler Early Career Award to analyze data and develop manuscripts for the primary outcomes of this research study. I also plan to develop grants and launch new and innovative research studies to promote long-term health in athletes."

Dr. Anya Degenshein, assistant professor of social and cultural sciences in the Klingler College of Arts and Sciences

Dr. Anya Degenshein's interdisciplinary, sociolegal research engages qualitative data and discourse analysis to further our understanding of contemporary punishment and its consequences for social inequality. Criminal justice reform is notoriously difficult to achieve given myriad structural barriers. She shows, by examining court cases, legislative hearings and financial negotiations, how something as seemingly small as language choice affects the lives of justice-impacted individuals every day.

Her recent work centers on counterterrorism sting operations. Using archival methods on a dataset of over 350 defendants indicted on counterterrorism charges since 9/11, she analyzes the legal narratives used in these cases. By starting with legal arguments rather than case outcomes, Degenshein shows that aggressive preemptive crime control, like counterterrorism stings, is a product of what she terms threat thinking, or a perception of imminent harm - the product of professional intuition, which closely mirrors longstanding, racialized ideas about innate criminality.

She is currently working on a book manuscript titled "Speculative Justice: Adjudicating the Future in Counterterrorism Stings," in which she uses archival methods and narrative analysis to uncover the kinds of arguments, evidence and policies that purport to locate and neutralize would-be criminals in counterterrorism adjudication.

"It is an absolute honor to receive the Way Klingler Early Career Award," Degenshein says. "I know - and admire - many of the faculty members who have previously won the award, so I am humbled to share in this recognition. Additionally, the research leave provided will be indispensable in allowing me to finish my book in a timely manner."

Dr. Sam Nemanich, assistant professor of occupational therapy in the College of Health Sciences

Dr. Sam Nemanich is the principal investigator of the Pediatric Movement and Neuroscience Lab, which investigates motor skill performance and learning in children and how motor performance and learning are disrupted by injury to the central nervous system. His research reflects diverse training in biomedical engineering, neuroscience and translational science. Studies from the lab examine movement from a behavioral/kinematic perspective and complement this with non-invasive neurophysiological techniques.

Nemanich's work directly informs the field of occupational and physical therapy by pursuing questions related to children's movement and how this impacts their daily function. For children with specific neurologic and developmental diagnoses, such as cerebral palsy, impaired motor function leads to decreased quality of life and goal achievement. Occupational therapy provides a specific form of neurorehabilitation that allows for motor skill practice that is needed for play and to perform daily activities. However, there are many gaps in our understanding related to the neural basis for motor skill development, how skills are measured and evaluated and what interventions are most effective for promoting neuroplasticity to enhance skill development.

Nemanich strives to work directly and collaboratively with clinicians and community members to strengthen the translational impact of his work and to involve families and other stakeholders as research partners. He hopes his research has an influence on underrepresented and underserved populations, particularly children with physical disabilities.

"I am humbled and honored to receive the Helen Way Klingler Early Career Award, and to fulfill its mission of advancing research and discovery at Marquette," Nemanich says. "My lab has begun several lines of research investigating the development of motor skills in children at risk for motor delays that involve exciting new collaborations and applications. All of this work would not be possible without the tremendous effort and support from my laboratory team, my department, and the College of Health Sciences."

Dr. Kristi Streeter, assistant professor of physical therapy in the College of Health Sciences

Dr. Kristi Streeter's research is focused on understanding aspects of neural control breathing, particularly in understanding how sensory information from respiratory muscles influences breathing in health and disease.

These studies are important as clinical evidence indicates activation of sensory afferents are critical for motor rehabilitation and recovery following neurologic disease such as spinal cord injury. Since the primary inspiratory muscle in mammals is the diaphragm, her efforts are centered on investigating sensory afferents from the diaphragm muscle known as phrenic afferents.

Virtually nothing is known about the role of phrenic afferents in neuroplasticity or motor learning, which is defined as long-lasting changes in respiratory motor output based on a prior stimulus or experience. Thus, her team's fundamental goal is to understand the role of phrenic afferents in respiratory neuroplasticity in health and neurologic disease.

Her research program is divided into three main areas: 1) understanding the role of phrenic afferents in respiratory neural control; 2) identifying the mechanisms of phrenic afferent induced neuroplasticity; and 3) developing novel therapeutics to improve breathing after spinal cord injury.

"I am honored to receive this prestigious award. It not only recognizes the contribution of our work but also provides resources to allow us to focus our efforts on translating a new therapy designed to rehabilitate the respiratory system and enhance breathing into humans. I share these accomplishments with the incredible group of trainees who work in my lab and am excited to move our work forward."

Participating Faculty Research Award

Dr. Zaid Badr, clinical assistant professor and director of the Technological Innovation Center in the Marquette School of Dentistry

Dr. Zaid Badr works to advance digital dentistry by leveraging artificial intelligence and exploring innovative technologies. His research in the field of digital and restorative dentistry focuses on CAD/CAM materials, addressing critical gaps in understanding their clinical performance and applications while contributing to the development of evidence-based best practices for their use in clinical settings. He is also part of a research team working on democratizing computer vision applications in dental radiology by using auto-machine learning. This initiative makes advanced technology accessible to educators and clinicians, which has the potential to revolutionize diagnostic methods while enhancing dental education.

His contributions have been recognized through peer-reviewed publications, presentations at national and international conferences, and leadership roles as a session chair and reviewer for prestigious journals.

As director of the Technological Innovation Center, he has bridged research and practice by introducing innovative workflows and technologies to faculty, students and clinicians. Additionally, he has supervised research projects for predoctoral and graduate students, fostering an inclusive and supportive research environment.

"I am deeply humbled and honored to have received the Participating Faculty Research Achievement Award at the recent Distinguished Scholars reception," Badr said. "Early in my dental career, while I was intrigued by research, I never imagined that one day I would receive such recognition.

"I want to express my heartfelt gratitude to my students, colleagues, and mentors for their invaluable support. I'm also incredibly grateful for the remarkable research teams at Marquette University School of Dentistry and UNC Adams School of Dentistry, whose collaborative spirit continues to inspire me every day. I am especially grateful to Dr. Hamdan, whose exceptional expertise in AI profoundly guided and shaped my research journey, and Dr. Hodgson, whose thoughtful nomination made this recognition possible. Your mentorship and support have been invaluable."

Way Klingler Sabbatical Fellowship

Dr. Dmitri Babikov, professor and Pfletschinger-Habermann Distinguished Chair of Chemistry in the Klingler College of Arts and Sciences

Dr. Dmitri Babikov's upcoming sabbatical will build upon his existing research projects at Marquette related to quantum chemistry while also including two external collaborations, which will be established and strengthened through visits to national facilities with unique resources and research labs with unique expertise.

During his sabbatical, Babikov will visit the laboratory of Dr. François Lique at the Institut de Physique de Rennes - Université de Rennes (France), with the two researchers' teams joining to study several molecules that have never been studied before and are probably impossible to study using the standard methods because of their complexity.

Babikov will also visit Los Alamos National Laboratory in the spring of 2026, where he will be hosted by Dr. Brian Kendrick, his collaborator, on a joint National Science Foundation project. Babikov will supervise a joint postdoctoral research assistant who will use the unique capabilities of Los Alamos National Laboratory and the expertise of its scientists, to implement simulations of molecular motion on some of the newest quantum processor units.

"I would like to thank the Helen Way Klingler Foundation for this rare opportunity, because practical realization of my ambitious plan would not be possible without a full-year sabbatical," Babikov said. "I would also like to thank the department chair Dr. Fiedler for his support of my application, my chemistry colleagues, and all students in my group for their hard work that forms a solid foundation of my research program."

Related Articles