Each month, the work of California State University, Northridge faculty and staff members is recognized in a variety of ways, including:

• Funding from outside organizations to support unique programs and cutting-edge research facilitated on campus.
• Publications of books or articles.
• Professional awards.
• Presentations at conferences.
• Appointments and elections to governing boards.

Please use this link to announce your achievements for publication in CSUN Today. 

Below is a list of the individuals whose work was recognized in spring and summer 2019:

Awards and Honors:

Jonathan Clayden (Tseng College) has earned the Strategic Enrollment Management Endorsement from the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admission Officers (AACRAO). AACRAO is a nonprofit, voluntary, professional association of more than 11,000 higher education professionals who represent approximately 2,600 institutions in more than 40 countries. Clayden is one of 28 individuals internationally to earn this endorsement.

Alexis Krasilovsky (Cinema and Television Arts) won second place in the 2019 International Writers Awards, administered by ifers.org, for her book “Great Adaptations: Screenwriting and Global Storytelling.”

CSUN’s Association of Latino Professionals for America (ALPFA) chapter was named Western Region Chapter of the Year. Paul Lazarony and Jun Zhan (David Nazarian College of Business and Economics) are faculty advisors of CSUN’s ALPFA chapter.

​​Frank Muniz ​(EOP/TRIO Student Support Services) has been elected chairman of the board for the San Fernando Valley Community Mental Health Center. The center is a nonprofit organization that provides mental health services through 30 different programs in the San Fernando Valley. Muniz has served on the board since 2011.

Mayra Plascencia (Veterans Resource Center) received the JVS SoCal Inspiration Award at the 22nd Annual Jobs Vision Success Strictly Business SoCal Awards Dinner: An Evening of Inspiration and Impact, at the Skirball Cultural Center, in honor of how far she’s come as a veteran and a JVS client. JVS SoCal is an organization that empowers individuals to achieve dignity and economic independence through sustainable employment.

CSUN received a formal certificate of appreciation from the U.S. Department of Commerce — International Trade Administration, U.S. Commercial Services for CSUN’s commitment to quality education for international students. The honor was given at the NAFSA: Association of International Educators conference in Washington, D.C.

Publications:

Ray Calnan, Debi Cours and Melanie Williams (Business Law) published an article in the Journal of Education for Business, “Connecting to the Real World: Incorporating Student Consulting Projects in Real Estate Programs,” which explores the significant opportunities for real estate students to conduct consulting projects through which they can develop and apply academic concepts, give meaningful assistance to small businesses, and foster constructive relationships between universities and the larger business community.

Virginia Huynh (Child and Adolescent Development) published an article in the Journal of Health Psychology, “Discrimination and Health: A Dyadic Approach,” about how discrimination changes over time, how discrimination is related to health and substance use, and whether discrimination spills over to affect the health of family members.

Kristin King (Family and Consumer Sciences) published an article in Universal Design.

Ana Sánchez-Muñoz (Chicana/o Studies) published an article in Biculturalism and Spanish in Contact: Sociolinguistic Case Studies, “Bilingualism in California: The Case of Los Angeles.” Sánchez-Muñoz also published an article in Chiricú Journal: Latina/o Literatures, Arts, and Cultures, “Spanish as a Tool of Latinx Resistance Against Repression in a Hostile Political Climate.” She also published an article in Spanish Perspectives on Chicano Literature: Literary and Cultural Essays, “Tempted by the Words of Another: Linguistic Choices of Chicanas/os and Other Latinos in Los Angeles.”

Kurt M. Saunders (Business Law) published an article in William & Mary Business Law Review, “Criminal Trade Secret Theft Cases Against Judgment Proof Defendants in Texas and California.” Saunders also published an article in the New York University Journal of Law & Business, “Skill or Secret? – The Line Between Trade Secrets and Employee General Skills and Knowledge.” These articles are part of a recent series of articles analyzing the importance of trade secret protection in business.

Presentations:

Louis Rubino (Health Sciences) moderated a discussion on Ethics in Healthcare featuring Keith Hobbs (chief executive officer of USC Verdugo Hills Hospital) and Richard Trogman (chief operations officer of Kaiser Permanente Woodland Hills).

Ana Sánchez-Muñoz (Chicana/o Studies) gave numerous presentations at prestigious events in 2018 and 2019. These presentations included: “MUROS as Linguistic Walls: Spanish Language Use in ‘The Land of the Free’” on May 5, 2019, at the Universidad Miguel Hernández, in Elche, Alicante, Spain; “Attractive Image/Repulsive Words: When Inclusion in Hollywood Stays at the Surface” on April 15, 2019, at the Interamerican University of Puerto Rico; “When Speaking Spanish Becomes a Tool of Resistance: Language Attitudes and Ideologies Among 2nd Generation Heritage” on April 13, 2019, at the University of Massachusetts; “When Fear Is Louder Than Words” on Feb. 22, 2019, at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley; “Resisting Linguistic Terrorism: Spanish Language Use in the Trump Era” on July 6, 2018, at the fourth International Colloquium on Languages, Cultures, Identity, in Schools and Society, in Soria, Spain; “Bilingualism: Myths and Truths” on May 7, 2018, at the Glendale Public Library; “Y No Nos Callamos! The Status of Spanish in the U.S. and Its Use as a Tool Against Linguistic Suppression” on April 26, 2018, at San Diego State; “Linguistic Resistance: Spanish Language Use in Latino Communities” on April 5, 2018, in Minneapolis.

Research and Sponsored Projects:

Elizabeth T. Adams (Undergraduate Studies) received $972,000 from The James Irvine Foundation in support of the project “CSU Consortium on Artificial Intelligence Chatbots for Student Success and Engagement.” 

Alyssa Arentoft (Psychology) has received $145,000 from the National Institutes of Health in continuing support of the project “Predicting Risk Behavior in HIV+ Individuals: Examining a Neurocognitive Model.”

Meeta Banerjee (Psychology) received $145,000 from the National Institutes of Health in support of the project “The Relations Between Neighborhood and Family Factors in the Healthy Development of African American Youth.”

Behzad Bavarian (Manufacturing Systems Engineering Management) received $18,050 from Atevia USA (doing business as Lucid Motors Inc.) in support of the project “Metallurgical Analysis and Microstructural Studies of Different Multi-Metal Joints.”

Susan Belgrad (Elementary Education) and Norm Herr (Secondary Education) have received $30,000 from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in support of the project “Empowering California K-12 Educators to Address the Health of Planet Earth.”

Igor Beloborodov (Physics and Astronomy) received $7,823 from UCLA in support of the project “Nanosystems Engineering Research Center for Translational Applications of Nanoscale Multiferroic Systems TANMS.”

Annette Besnilian (Family and Consumer Sciences) received $60,000 from the Northeast Valley Health Corporation in support of the project “WIC-based Dietetic Internship Program.”

Annette Besnilian (Family and Consumer Sciences) and David Boyns (Institute for Community Health and Wellbeing) received $290,000 from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health in support of the project “Champions for Change: Healthy Communities Initiative.”

Soheil Boroushaki (Geography and Environmental Studies) received $39,424 from CSU San Bernardino in support of the project “Development of Multicriteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) Algorithms (Task 5).”

David Boyns (Institute for Community Health and Wellbeing), Nathan Martin (Recreation and Tourism Management) and ​Teri Todd​ (Kinesiology) received multiple grants in support of the project “ValleyGO! Adaptive Sports Program.” They have received $60,084 from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and $72,951 from the Craig H. Neilsen Foundation.

David Boyns (Institute for Community Health and Wellbeing) and Stephan Chung (Health Sciences) received $115,947 from ONEgeneration in support of the project “Alzheimer’s Disease Programs to States and Communities.”

Tissyana Camacho (Child and Adolescent Development) received $21,236 from the American Psychological Association in support of the project “APA Summer Undergraduate Psychology Research Experience Grants.”

Mary R. Cecil (Geological Sciences) received $14,571 from the National Science Foundation in support of the project “Acquisition of New Excimer Laser Ablation System for a High Resolution Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) Facility.”

Damian Christian (Physics and Astronomy) received $53,000 from the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in support of the project “A New Coronal Diagnostic Using a Photopumped X-ray Line.”

Karin Crowhurst (Chemistry and Biochemistry) received $108,750 from the National Institutes of Health in support of the project “In Vitro and In-cell Investigation of the Acid-Stress Chaperone HdeA.”

The Department of Child and Adolescent Development is the recipient of an American Psychological Association 2019 Summer Undergraduate Psychology Research Experience grant. CSUN is one of only nine colleges/universities across the U.S. that were awarded funding for this summer research program. Tissyana Camacho will serve as the principal investigator for this grant.

Maria-Rita D’Orsogna (Mathematics) received $115,100 from the U.S. Army, in support of the project “Mathematical modeling of limbic system dynamics, pathophysiology, and response to stress.” D’Orsogna also received $90,000 from the U.S. Army in support of the project “Predicting and Managing Migration: Insights from Age-Structured, Game-Theoretic, and Network Models.”

Peter Edmunds (Biology) has received $25,965 from the National Science Foundation in support of the project “Collaborative Research: Pattern and Process in the Abundance and Recruitment of Caribbean Octocorals.”

Rafi Efrat (Accounting and Information Systems) has received numerous grants in support of taxpayer-assistance initiatives. He received $344,250 from the state of California in support of the project “The CSU5+ VITA Initiative.” He received $23,750 and $71,250 in separate funds from the U.S. Department of the Treasury in support of the Bookstein Low Income Taxpayer Clinic. He received $16,750 from New Economics for Women in support of the project “Van Nuys FamilySource Center,” and $16,000 from Friends of the Family in support of the project “The CSUN VITA Clinic @ Friends of the Family.”

Paula Fischhaber (Chemistry and Biochemistry) received $306,228 from the National Institutes of Health, in support of the project “SLX4 in Nuclease Recruitment.”

Rachel Friedman-Narr (Special Education) received $41,250 from the California Department of Education in supplemental support of the project “Parentlinks.”

Kim Goldberg-Roth (Educational Psychology and Counseling) received $500,000 from the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services in support of the project “Family Preservation – San Fernando Valley.” Goldberg-Roth also received $250,000 from the California Office of Emergency Services, in support of the project “CalOES Child Advocacy Centers (KC).”

Jina Gonzalez and ​Shiva Parsa ​(​EOP/TRIO Student Support Services) received $70,000 from the Anthony Jeanne Pritzker Family Foundation/Pritzker Foster Care Initiative, in support of the project “College Pathways San Fernando Valley Network.”

Ray Hong (Biology) received $108,750 from the National Institutes of Health in support of the project “The Mode-of-Action for Pheromone-Induced Paralysis in Pristionchus Pacificus.”

Nola Kennedy (Environmental and Occupational Health) received $106,636 from the National Institutes of Health in support of the project “Student-to-Scientist Bridge Program in Environmental Health Science (S2S Bridge).”

Nicholas Kioussis (Physics and Astronomy) received numerous grants in support of multiple projects. He received two grants, $140,000 and $7,823, from UCLA, in support of the project “NSF Nanosystems Engineering Research Center for Translational Applications of Nanoscale Multiferroic Systems (TANMS).” He also received $30,000 from the U.S. Army, in support of the project “Identification of Surface Defect Candidates and Their Passivation in Strained-Layer Type-II Superlattices for Infrared Detectors”

Mariano Loza-Coll (Biology) received $145,000 from the National Institutes of Health in support of the project “Genetic Co-regulation by Master Transcription Factors in Drosophila Intestinal Stem Cells.”

Wladimir Lyra (Physics and Astronomy) received $42,398 from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, in support of the project “Chemical Tracers of Vortices in Disks.”

Regan Maas (Geography and Environmental Studies) and Danielle Bram (Center for Geospatial Science and Technology) have received $52,482 in supplemental funding from CSU San Bernardino, in support of the project “Developing a Standardized Statewide Geospatial Dataset of Water Agencies for California.”

Rachel Mackelprang (Biology) received $17,499 from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, in support of the project “Enhancing Undergraduate Research Opportunities (EURO): Planetary Protection Seminar Series Road Tour and Laboratory Training.”

Ariel Malka and Richard Moore (Management) received $150,000 from the City of Los Angeles, in continuing support of the project “L.A. City Gang Injunction Settlement Evaluation.”

Jonathan Martinez (Psychology) has received $24,766 from the County of Santa Barbara, in continuing support of the project “Training SCRP Sites in Implementing and Assessing Evidence-Based, Culturally-Responsive Strategies for Engaging Ethnic Minority Families in Mental Health Services.”

Abhijit Mukherjee (Mechanical Engineering) received $30,120 from Eco Air LLC, in support of the project “Study of Building Energy Efficiencies with Digicontrol Systems.”

Sean Murray (Biology) received $108,750 from the National Institutes of Health, in support of the project “Identification and Characterization of Factors Affecting Cytoskeletal Proteins — the Mediators of Bacterial Cell Shape.”

Jennifer Pemberton and Kim Goldberg-Roth (Educational Psychology and Counseling) received $680,902 from the California Victim Compensation Board, in support of the project “CalVCB California Trauma Recovery Center Grant.”

Miroslav Peric (Physics and Astronomy) received $125,000 from the National Science Foundation, in support of the project “RUI: Bimolecular Collisions in Ionic Liquids.”

Hendrik Postma (Physics and Astronomy) received $232,763 from the National Institutes of Health, in support of the project “Improving Read Length, Accuracy, and Availability of Single-Molecule DNA Sequencing.”

Radha Ranganathan (Physics and Astronomy) received $108,750 from the National Institutes of Health, in support of the project “Membrane Deformation and Mechanism of Stimulation of Phospholipase A2 by Oxidized Lipids.”

Luca Ricci (Physics and Astronomy) received multiple grants in support of multiple projects. She received $16,169 from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), in support of the project “Following the Multi-Isotope Trail to Understanding the Formation and Early Evolution of Our Solar System.” Ricci also received $40,000 from JPL, in support of the project “Witnessing the Birth of Solar System Analogs,” and $20,545 from the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, in support of the project “Investigating the Potential of the ngVLA to Map the Signatures of Forming Earth-Like Planets in Young Disks.”

Stevie Ruiz (Chicana/o Studies) received $15,000 from California Humanities, in support of the project “Migration, Environment, and the Search for Sanctuary.”

Yann Schrodi (Chemistry and Biochemistry) received $108,750 from the NationaI Institutes of Health, in support of the project “New Robust Olefin Metathesis Catalysts Based on Non-Toxic and Abundant Low-Valent Molybdenum.”

Joshua Schwartz (Geological Sciences) received $135,000 from the National Science Foundation, in support of the project “Evaluating the Role of MASH Processes and the Growth of Continental Crust.”

Sue Sears (Special Education) received $30,000 from the Napa County Office of Education, in support of the project “California Adolescent Literacy Initiative (CALI).”

Donna Sheng (Physics and Astronomy) received $120,000 from the Department of Energy, in support of the project “Fractional Topological States in Disorder Quantum Hall and Graphene Based Super-Lattice Systems.”

Jackie Stallcup (College of Humanities) received $72,128 from the University of Pennsylvania, in continuing support of the project “Hispanic Serving Institutions: Pathways to the Professoriate.”

Katherine Stevenson (Mathematics) received $290,000 from the College Futures Foundation, in support of the project “Development of a 12th Grade Math Course in Partnership with Local K-12 Districts.”

Shari Tarver-Behring (Michael D. Eisner College of Education) received $4,166 from the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce, in support of the project “Los Angeles Educator Pathways Partnership.” Tarver-Behring also received $2,498 from the Los Angeles Unified School District, in support of the project “Professional Development Services in Support of Private Schools.”

Shari Tarver-Behring and Kim Goldberg-Roth (Educational Psychology and Counseling) received $146,496 from the City of Los Angeles, in support of the project “L.A. City Victim Services (XC) Program.”

John Valdovinos (Electrical and Computer Engineering) received $145,000 from the National Institutes of Health, in support of the project “Methods to Wirelessly Power Fully Implantable Intravascular Blood Pumps.”

Virginia Oberholzer Vandergon (Biology), Brian Foley and ​​Norman Herr ​(Secondary Education) and Matthew d’Alessio (Geological Sciences) received two grants from the UC regents: They received $37,000 in support of the project “San Fernando Valley Science Project ESSA,” and $24,000 in support of the project “San Fernando Valley Science Project (State).” They also received $60,642 from Ten Strands, in support of the project “California Science Project Environmental Literacy Institutes 2017-19.”

Jessica Vey (Chemistry and Biochemistry) received $105,150 from the National Institutes of Health, in support of the project “Mechanistic Studies to Enable Rational Design of Isobutylamine N-Hydroxylase.”

Ivor Weiner (Special Education) received $127,924 from the North Los Angeles County Regional Center, in continuing support of the project “Family Empowerment Team in Action (FETA).”

Maria Elena Zavala (Biology) received $28,833 from the American Society for Cell Biology, in support of the project “Improving Diversity and Career Transitions through Society Support.”

Achievements