OPT Visionary - Winter/Spring 2015

PAGE 21 Because NSU serves as an Hispanic-Serving Insti- tution (HSI) as defined by the U.S. Department of Edu- cation, the grant will allow Hispanic and Latino students at NSU—as well as students from other underrepre- sented populations—to benefit from sustainable changes to curriculum content and instructional ap- proaches. Students will also benefit from an expanded support model that identifies and effectively addresses student needs upon admission through graduation. The U.S. Department of Education’s Title V program provides grants to assist HSIs to expand educational opportunities for, and improve the attainment of, His- panic students. These grants also enable HSIs to ex- pand and enhance their academic offerings, program quality, and institutional stability. nSu Opens regional Campus in Puerto rico NSU reconfirmed its commitment to Puerto Rico with the grand opening of a new regional campus in San Juan, which represents an expansion of its educational offerings and also provides increased opportunities for students university-wide. A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held at the campus on August 28 to celebrate the open- ing of a new four-story, state-of-the-art building that will be offering master’s and doctoral degrees in pharmacy and education at the campus located in San Juan’s Pro- fessional Offices Park IV. It is estimated that the regional campus will have a $27 million economic impact on the island this fiscal year. NSU has additional regional campuses in Miami, Miramar, Fort Myers, Palm Beach, Orlando, Tampa and Jacksonville. nSu Oceanographic researchers receive nearly $8.5 Million for Oil-Spill research NSU’s Oceanographic Center is home to some of the world’s top marine biology and ocean ecosystem re- searchers and experts. Now, those research efforts are being given a boost thanks to a financial award from the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative. NSU is one of just 12 organizations selected to receive a portion of the $140 million allocated for continued research in the area of oil spills and how we respond to them. The NSU-led research consortium, titled Deep- Pelagic Nekton Dynamics of the Gulf of Mexico (DEEP- END), will focus on the pelagic (open ocean) realm, from the surface to depths of over one mile, which is by far the largest ecosystem component of the Gulf of Mexico. The consortium will examine the biological communities of the deep Gulf with respect to space and time, using a variety of techniques, and relate these findings to dis- turbances both natural and human-made in order to un- derstand the short- and long-term consequences of such events on the health of the Gulf. College of Osteopathic Medicine receives $1.95 Million grant to investigate CFS/Me Mary Ann Fletcher, Ph.D., Schemel Professor for the Institute for Neuro-Immune Medicine at NSU’s College of Osteopathic Medicine, and her research team were awarded a $1.95 million grant from the National Insti- tutes of Health (NIH)/National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke to study complex biomarkers of chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME) in men. Dr. Fletcher and her team will combine the findings from this 100 percent federally funded four-year study with data the team previously compiled from its other sponsored programs in Gulf War Illness, a related neuro-immune disorder. Grants for these four studies total nearly $10 million and have been funded by the U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Department of Vet- erans Affairs, and the NIH. Men between the ages of 18 and 75 who are interested in enrolling in the study can call (305) 275-5450. Pictured at the ribbon-cutting ceremony (from left) are: Winel Segarra, NSU College of Pharmacy student; Andrés Malavé, Ph.D., executive director of NSU’s Puerto Rico Regional Campus in San Juan; George L. Hanbury II, Ph.D., NSU president and CEO; Jacqueline Travisano, M.B.A., CPA, NSU executive vice president and chief operating officer; and Alexis-Morales- Fresse, NSU Abraham S. Fischler School of Education student. Dr. Fletcher