Research News

The unexpected transition to remote learning during the spring semester challenged faculty across RIT to experiment, create, and deploy new methods of instruction to ensure student success. As the university gears up for in-person and online classes—or a combination of both—faculty members are applying a wide range of lessons learned from the spring to keep academic momentum moving forward in the fall.

Residents of a homeless shelter in Rochester are continuing to receive therapy during the coronavirus pandemic from a team of therapists in a clinical internship program at RIT. The doctoral training program began as an exercise in using telepsychology to deliver care to a marginalized and underserved population. When New York shut down in March to stem the spreading virus, the therapists were already prepared to apply the telehealth protocols in the crisis.

RIT honored its 2020 class of Distinguished Faculty—Manuela Campanelli, Satish Kandlikar and James Perkins. The Distinguished Professor designation is given to tenured faculty who have shown continued excellence over their careers in teaching, scholarly contributions, lasting contributions in creative and professional work and service to both the university and community.

When the coronavirus pandemic spread to the United States, RIT faculty member Dr. Laurence Sugarman asked his students to apply their knowledge of placebos and the power of suggestion to the unfolding health crisis.

RIT is seeking individuals diagnosed with metabolic syndrome to participate in a national clinical trial. The study will evaluate a wellness program designed to reverse conditions leading to heart disease, Type 2 diabetes and stroke.

The Rochester Beacon talks to Caroline Easton, professor in RIT’s School of Behavioral Health Sciences, about a new program to help the homeless with opioid addiction and mental illness.

Research is underway at RIT to create an app that will serve as a resource to help young mothers answer questions about raising a child, connect them with programs and resources, as well as foster a virtual parenting community.

Making addiction treatment and mental health services accessible to homeless people via TeleHealth is the focus of a federally funded program at RIT.

Three students from the biomedical sciences program traveled with RIT Professor Bolaji Thomas to his native Nigeria to understand the impact tropical diseases such as malaria have on the population and the medical protocols used in treatment.

The United States Department of Health and Human Services (HRSA) awarded Dr. Caroline Easton close to $1.4 Million Dollars. HRSA designated her as an awardee for the Graduate Psychology Education (GPE) Program designed to Advance the Field of Addiction Treatments within the Profession of Clinical Psychology.

RIT researchers are studying the genetic switch that could make cattle resistant to the wasting disease known as “sleeping sickness.” Bolaji Thomas, professor of biomedical sciences in RIT’s College of Health Sciences and Technology, is examining different immune responses to bovine trypanosomiasis within the same species of cattle in Nigeria.

Elena Zambito will graduate this May from RIT’s diagnostic medical sonography program, and she is already finding ways to enhance her new field. Her goal is to land a cardiac sonographer position at a leading research hospital like the Mayo Clinic and discover ways to reduce the high rates of injury among sonographers.