NSU Horizons Spring 2014

the Knight Foundation, 1 of 34 recipients out of 1,162 who applied. He hopes the visibility and reputation that the awards and grants have helped build will lead to more funding. Tatiana Hernandez, program officer for arts at the Knight Foundation, said the award speaks to Soledade’s work and reputation in the dance community. “Dance is growing in South Florida. Choreographers are creating new companies. We wanted to encourage him.” Soledade’s company also is a boost for NSU. Four student interns have worked for Brazzdance, gaining real-world experience in marketing, graphic design, and dance. One dance student, Camille Arroyo, per- formed on stage. Michael Caldwell, D.M.A., director of the Division of Performing and Visual Arts in the Farquhar College of Arts and Sciences, said Soledade enriches the depart- ment and NSU’s standing in the arts through his reputa- tion as an artist/teacher, his dance troupe’s accessibility, and his awards, such as the Guggenheim Fellowship in choreography. “He has worked to make sure students have benefitted from having access to his troupe. This makes all the difference,” Caldwell said. “Arts are about real-world experience. He is on the cutting edge of what we’re doing.” Back in the NSU studio, the students rehearse more movements that Soledade cobbled together. Marina Poupart, a freshman dance major, is slightly off pace. Soledade stops the class to give her individual atten- tion. “He is always willing to work with us no matter what. If someone has a problem, he will speak with them privately. He’s respectful like that,” said Poupart, who aspires to be a production choreographer. That attentiveness is part of what endears Soledade to students and peers, like Michelle Murray, a former board member of Brazzdance. “He stops and breaks down info for the students. That’s not an attribute that everybody has,” Murray said. Soledade takes the accolades in stride. “For someone who started dancing so late, I’ve been blessed to get so far,” he said. n around NSU NSU Researcher Receives U.S. Patent for Developing Fall Prevention Model Patrick Hardigan , Ph.D., executive director for Health Professions Division research at NSU, has received a U.S. patent for an algorithm he developed called the Stat- istical Model for Predicting Falling in Humans, also known as the Fall Model. The Fall Model will be used to help predict the impact of medication and dosage on injurious falling. “Our goal is to develop a multidisciplinary fall prevention program and ultimately reduce the number of deaths and serious injuries due to falls,” said Hardigan. The Fall Model uses a robust amount of unidentified patient information from the state of Florida and other public sources—such as height, weight, and age—combined with each respective patient’s clinical diagnosis and prescription medication regimen to determine the patient’s likelihood of falling. The result is a “likely” or “not likely” determination. This model will eventually be computerized in an easy-to-use template for use in health care settings, including hospitals, pharmacies, nursing homes, and clinics. Hardigan also was elected president of the Association for the Behavioral Sciences in Medical Education—a national association of interdisciplinary educators focused on the behavioral side of medicine and health care education. n Patrick Hardigan’s Fall Model will be used to help predict the impact of medication and dosage on injurious falling. 29 HORIZONS