IMPORTANT NOTE: These are the archived stories for Belmont News & Achievements prior to June 26, 2023. To see current stories, click here.

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Coach, Alumnus Compete Well at USA Championships

April Hefner
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Coach, Alumnus Compete Well at USA Championships

Belmont Athletics had a strong showing at the recent USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, held at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa June 21-24. Alumnus and Assistant Track and Field Coach Joe Frye placed 15th in the hammer throw while

Frye, who graduated in 2010 and now coaches the Bruins’ throwers, unleashed a throw of 67.27 meters (220 feet, 8 inches) on his first attempt at Drake Stadium in Des Moines, Iowa. He also had throws of 65.87 and 66.29 meters while competing for the Music City Mavericks club team. Friday marked Frye’s fourth trip to the USA Championships, all coming after the conclusion of his collegiate career at Belmont. Frye won three Atlantic Sun Conference championships in the hammer as a member of the Bruins track and field team from 2007-11. The Roscommon, Michigan, native placed 13th at last year’s USA Championships but did so with a shorter throw of 63.95 meters.

Frye was joined by Belmont men’s track team member Caleb Corprew at the USA Championships. The senior hurdler finished 24th on Thursday in the 400-meter hurdles to cap a stellar collegiate career that included three school records, two conference championships and one All-America honorable mention.

The Belmont University athlete ran to 24th place during the first round of the 400-meter hurdles on Thursday, finishing in 52.45 seconds as just the second active Bruin to ever compete at the national championships. A Midwest City, Oklahoma native, Corprew has now concluded his decorated Belmont career. His final race as a Bruin, the first of four star-studded heats in the event, featured former Olympic medalist Bershawn Jackson and recent NCAA champion Eric Futch.

Corprew was 20th in the 400 hurdles at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships in May to earn an All-America honorable mention, but it was his performance at the NCAA East Preliminary Championships two weeks prior that earned him a spot among the United States’ elites at the USA Championships. He ran 50.50, a Belmont record, to match the championships’ qualifying standard.

Corprew was also the Ohio Valley Conference gold medalist in both the 400- and 110-meter hurdles.

Student Lands “Dream Internship” at Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute this Summer

Hope Buckner
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Student Lands “Dream Internship” at Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute this Summer

“Each morning, I walk across a bridge made of nothing but windows on my way to the lab, and I’m greeted by Humpback and Grey Whale flukes splashing the water and fins waving good morning. It’s that perfect.” 

Beginning her days with the sights and sounds of whales, Belmont senior and biology (marine biology emphasis) and publishing double major Samantha Rodriguez is spending the summer at the deep sea bioluminescence lab at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) in Moss Landing, California. After arriving there 3 weeks ago, Rodriguez said she’s been immersed in a unique environment, with an underwater canyon, that provides easy access to the deep sea. This is what allows her commuting buddies — the whales — to greet her each morning.

Thanks to the canyon’s existence, Rodriguez and her supervisor Dr. Steve Haddock have easy access to Chaetognaths, predatory marine worms that expel bioluminescent particles when threatened by prey, and are able to study their habits. Thanks to one of Haddock’s recent studies, we know that roughly 75 percent of deep sea organisms are bioluminescent, meaning they can produce light in places where there is none. Despite growing knowledge of these light-producing organisms, there is still so much to be learned. Rodriguez’s goal for the remainder of the summer is to grow that understanding by identifying the gene that allows the worms to produce light.

Because these organisms don’t perform well in experiments if they have been frozen, researchers must conduct their work while they are still fresh. To ensure her skills are up to par, Rodriguez has been practicing her studies on frozen Chaetognath samples, preparing for the real thing. In just 3 weeks, she’s learned how to test the light output of a bioluminescent jellyfish, siphonophore and ctenophore, experiments that must be conducted in a dark room to avoid disturbing the bioluminescent samples.

“While I’m sure spending hours in a dark room isn’t exactly what most people consider fun,” Rodriguez said, “I think it’s absolutely fascinating. MBARI has been a dream of mine for quite some time and not just because of the whales and amazing location. It’s a very competitive internship, and I wouldn’t be there if it weren’t for the three years I’ve spent at Belmont.” With two unique majors — marine biology and publishing — Rodriguez said her time on campus has taught her so much about so many things including the importance of a keen attention to detail, asking key questions and developing a curious mind.

As she reflects on her time at Belmont, it’s her professors and their involvement in her academic career that stick out the most. “They have been nothing short of supportive when it comes to me pursuing these dreams,” Rodriguez said. “They have always encouraged me to chase the next big thing, and I owe a lot of my success to them for their continuous dedication to my journey.”

Sullenberger Published on Lifeway’s “Facts & Trends”

Hope Buckner
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Sullenberger Published on Lifeway’s “Facts & Trends”

Chair and Associate Professor of Social Work Dr. Sabrina Sullenberger was recently published on Lifeway’s Facts & Trends, a blog focused on providing Christian leaders with information and resources. Her piece, “I Can’t Keep My Children Safe,” details her desire to ensure her three daughters are protected from all that life will bring, but ultimately realizing her own limitations in providing that divine oversight.

“They are not mine in the eternal sense—they are God’s,” Sullenberger says. “I am a steward. I am entrusted to care for them and love them and do my best to keep them safe, but I ultimately am not in control of the world or the actions of others.”

To read the piece in its entirety, click here.

 

 

College of Theology and Christian Ministry Hosts Incoming Student Retreat, Compass Points

Hope Buckner
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College of Theology and Christian Ministry Hosts Incoming Student Retreat, Compass Points

Belmont’s College of Theology and Christian Ministry (CTCM) held Compass Points, the College’s vocation and faith retreat for incoming students, June 14-17. Focusing on the theme of making a home at Belmont and in Nashville, as well as storytelling as a vocational discernment practice, new CTCM students visited three non-profit sites where they learned about their work in Nashville for justice and heard the call stories of their founders including Brett Swayn of the Cookery, former CTCM alum Nicole Brandt of Poverty and the Arts and Tallu Schuyler Quinn of Nashville Food Project (NFP).

Students served in the NFP kitchen where they made over 200 meals and engaged with three formerly homeless artists at Poverty and the Arts.

Burks Named Second Place Finalist for American Prize in Conducting, Musical Theater Division

Hope Buckner
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Burks Named Second Place Finalist for American Prize in Conducting, Musical Theater Division

Jo Lynn Burks was recently named as the second place finalist for the American Prize in Conducting, Musical Theatre Division, for Belmont’s performance of “Parade.” Burks was selected from applications reviewed from all across the United States. The American Prize is a series of new, non-profit, competitions unique in scope and structure, designed to recognize and reward the best performing artists, ensembles and composers in the US based on submitted recordings. The American Prize was founded in 2009 and is awarded annually in many areas of the performing arts.

Burks received a Bachelor of Performing Arts in Music from the University of Alabama and then went on to receive her Master’s of Musical Theatre from the University of Miami, Florida. She now wears many hats as a musical director, orchestrator, singer, pianist and teacher. As a keyboard player/singer, Burks has toured with Gladys Knight, Lead Singers of the TEMPTATIONS, a solo tour with Roger Daltrey of The Who and with many Nashville touring artists including Laura Bell Bundy.

Solo pianist/singer engagements include New York City’s The Carlyle, the Waldorf-Astoria, The Plaza and fun, Pat O’Brien’s in New Orleans. On Broadway, she originated a principal role in “Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story.” Other Broadway credits include “Smokey Joe’s Café,” “Hairspray,” “All Shook Up” and “The Color Purple.” Her national tours include “Fame,” “Mamma Mia,” “Smokey Joe’s Café,”  “Jesus Christ Superstar,” “Hair” and “Fred Waring & The Pennsylvanians.”

Additional information about the American Prize can be found here.

Belmont University Musical Theatre Wins the American Prize in Musical Theater Performance for Parade

Hope Buckner
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Belmont University Musical Theatre Wins the American Prize in Musical Theater Performance for Parade

Belmont University’s Musical Theatre performance of “Parade” was recently announced as the 2017-18 winner of The American Prize in Musical Theater Performance. The show was selected from applications reviewed from all across the United States. The American Prize is a series of new, non-profit competitions unique in scope and structure, designed to recognize and reward the best performing artists, ensembles and composers in the US based on submitted recordings. The American Prize was founded in 2009 and is awarded annually in many areas of the performing arts.

Telling the tragic, true story of the trial and lynching story of a man wrongly accused of murder, Parade is brought to theatrical life with soaring music and a heart-wrenching story. The show offers a moral lesson about the dangers of prejudice and ignorance. Belmont’s production ran for four performances in Massey Concert Hall November 2016.

Winners of the Prize receive cash prizes, professional adjudication and regional, national and international recognition based on recorded performances. In addition to monetary rewards and written evaluations from judges, winners are profiled on The American Prize websites, where links will lead to video and audio excerpts of winning performances.

The American Prize National Nonprofit Competitions in the Performing Arts grew from the belief that a great deal of excellent music being made in this country goes unrecognized and unheralded, not only in our major cities, but all across the country: in schools and churches, in colleges and universities, and by community and professional musicians. The Prizes are selected by a panel of judges, representing a variety of backgrounds and experience, including distinguished musicians, professional vocalists, conductors, composers and pianists, tenured professors and orchestra, band and choral musicians.

“Most artists may never win a Grammy award, or a Pulitzer, or a Tony, or perhaps ever even be nominated,” Chief Judge of The American Prize Katz said. “But that does not mean that they are not worthy of recognition and reward. Quality in the arts is not limited to the coasts, or to the familiar names, or only to graduates of a few schools. It is on view all over the United States, if you take the time to look for it. The American Prize exists to encourage and herald that excellence.”

Belmont Hosts Health Academy Summer Camp

Hope Buckner
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Belmont Hosts Health Academy Summer Camp

Belmont College of Health Sciences and Nursing and College of Pharmacy recently hosted a Health Academy Summer camp, a week-long experience for middle schoolers that provided exposure to a wide variety of health professions and hands-on experience with a variety of health skills. The campers learned about EMT, Respiratory therapy, nursing, physical therapy, occupational therapy, pharmacy, speech–language pathology and many other health professions.

Students pose for a photo with Layla, the therapy dog! They learned to take vital signs, complete CPR, work with “patients” in the nursing simulation labs, formulate troche and extract DNA from strawberries in the Pharmacy labs and work on their mobility skills in the physical and occupational therapy labs. The highlight of the week was the visit from Layla, the rehab Labrador Retriever who helped students learn about pet therapy, service animals and emotional support animals.

Exposure to this wide variety of health professions helps to generate enthusiasm in middle schoolers for the sciences and possible to pursue careers in health professions.

Students, Alumni Work CMA Fest 2018

Hope Buckner
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Students, Alumni Work CMA Fest 2018

CMA Fest is a traditionally busy time in Nashville with multiple performance stages set up all over downtown, a bevy of country music stars taking the stage at various locations at any one given time and an influx of thousands of country music fans from across the country for the four-day long event. It takes a substantial crew of Audio Engineers, Lighting Crew and Stage Hands to pull it all off successfully. This year, as in years past, both current and former Belmont students played huge roles in the success of the event. Many visiting artists had Belmont alumni on their crew in various capacities, and many of the stages had current Belmont students as well as alumni on the crew.

Students, alumni work at CMA Fest this yearThe three Music City Center stages for Fan Fair X were almost entirely staffed by both current and former Belmont students under the direction of Lecturer of Audio Engineering Technology Scott Munsell, who was audio crew chief for the Music City Center. “It was great to see our University and the Curb College represented in so many ways during the festival,” said Munsell. “I not only had several recent grads and current students working Fan Fair X in the Music City Center, but I also encountered other Belmont students and Alum working at the River Stage as well as at Ascend Amphitheater and other stages around town.”

All photos provided by Collin Nixon.

Lunsford, Barton-Arwood Present at Blending Learning in the Liberal Arts Conference

Hope Buckner
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Dr. Lauren Lunsford, associate dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, and Dr. Sally Barton-Arwood, professor of education, recently presented their research at Bryn Mawr University’s annual Blended Learning in the Liberal Arts conference.

Their presentation, “Using Blended Learning to Support Interdisciplinary Professional Development for Teachers” was a demonstration of the work they have been doing with area school districts and a team of interdisciplinary faculty at Belmont.

College of Pharmacy Healthcare Informatics Students Create Artificial Intelligence Software for Amazon Alexa

Hope Buckner
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College of Pharmacy Healthcare Informatics Students Create Artificial Intelligence Software for Amazon Alexa

Belmont University College of Pharmacy third-year students Dominic Paolella, David Luong, Abdul Mohammed, Jonathan Ashton and Aziz Afzali recently undertook the challenge of developing a new and exciting telepharmacy access point for patients on the mend, understanding the importance of patients recovering in their own homes. In recent years, a growing body of scientific evidence suggests that patient recovery is more successful when they transition from dedicated healthcare facilities like hospitals, nursing homes and assisted living facilities into their own homes. But many patients require help to facilitate the change.

Amazon Alexa is a new artificially intelligent platform for accessing information and interacting with objects in the home including lights, music and medical devices. As part of the Introduction to Healthcare Informatics III and Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experiential (APPE) classes in the Doctor of Pharmacy curriculum at Belmont University, each student developed a voice activated application, or “skill,” for the Alexa platform. The skills can be downloaded and activated on demand, answering drug information questions with accurate medical information.

While enrolled in the College of Pharmacy, students discuss diseases states and the appropriate medication regimens for each. They are also trained to apply and communicate that knowledge to other healthcare providers and their patients. “As student pharmacists, we are trained to be experts in medication and disease state management.” said Paolella. “The Alexa platform offered us an opportunity to extend our patient care mission.”

Alexa’s artificial intelligence allows counseling to be taken out of the pharmacy and into the patient’s living room. This is especially beneficial when a home care nurse is not available. “In these cases, it would be convenient to have a small, inexpensive device at home which could be a conduit for patients to access answers to their healthcare questions at home and on-demand,” said Ashton.

Belmont’s sponsor of the Amazon Alexa Developer Initiative is Assistant Professor of Healthcare Informatics and Analytics Dr. Anthony Blash. To prepare student pharmacists in the healthcare informatics concentration to become future leaders in healthcare informatics, Blash has created a four-course sequence and one month intensive experiential rotations. “Through our partnership with Amazon, we are exploring new ways to provide telepharmacy services in innovative and inexpensive ways to large segments of the population,” Blash said.

Student pharmacists’ skills include:

  • Paolella, who was the first to receive Amazon certification with his skill “Lisinopril”
  • Luong, who created a skill called “Cephalexin”
  • Mohammed, who created a skill called “Fluconazole”
  • Ashton, who developed a skill called “DrugInfo3”
  • Afzail, who developed “Asthma Device Helper”

DrugInfo3 allows the user to ask about generic names of antibiotics to gather pertinent information for more than 35 antibiotics including ciprofloxacin, erythromycin and isoniazid. Asthma Device Helper provides step-by-step patient counseling on proper use of many common asthma inhalers.

“For me, the project was a proof of concept. While our project was limited to drug information, the technology could be applied to many aspects of care. There are lots of possibilities for future development with this artificial intelligence platform, and a lot of opportunities to help our patients in new and exciting ways.” said Mohammed.

For Afzali, the opportunity to focus on informatics has sparked an interest in post-graduation experiences devoted to the topic.“The Informatics Concentration allows me to combine my interests in information technology and pharmacy for the safety of patients worldwide,” he said. “I hope to continue to pursue my passion in a post-graduate informatics residency and career in Healthcare Informatics upon graduation.”

While none of these skills should replace a consultation with licensed healthcare professionals, the free skills can be accessed via the Amazon Skills store or through the Alexa app, available for Amazon Fire, Apple and Android devices. To download these skills onto Alexa, choose “Skills” from the Alexa app menu and search for the skill by name.

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