The College of Health Sciences Research Grand Rounds is designed to showcase the innovative research conducted by our faculty, as well as internationally recognized health sciences experts. Research Grand Rounds are held the second Thursday of each month from 12-1 p.m. in person and on zoom
These sessions help our faculty, students, and staff learn what COHS researchers do, and cross-fertilize research ideas to enhance funding opportunities and collaborative scientific output. Please contact Mike Christopher (michaelchristoph@boisestate.edu) to self-nominate or recommend an internal or external presenter.
Please register by the first of the month for each Grand Rounds presentation. Zoom link provided on registration.
Schedule
February 12: Cynthia Curl, PhD
Associate Professor, School of Public and Population Health, Boise State University
Title: Growing Food, Protecting Health: Reducing Pesticide Exposure in Agricultural Communities
Time/Date/Location: 12:00-1:00 p.m. Thursday, February 12 in the Student Union Jordan D Ballroom
Cynthia Curl, PhD, MS, studies how the work of growing food shapes human health. She is an Associate Professor at Boise State University, where she founded and directs the Agricultural Health Lab and leads the Center for Excellence in Environmental Health and Safety. Her research focuses on pesticide exposure in agricultural communities, especially among farmers, farmworkers, and their families in Idaho and Rwanda. She received her PhD and MS in Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences from the University of Washington School of Public Health.
March 12: Sarah Bowen, PhD
Research Associate Professor, Graduate School of Psychology, Pacific University
Title: A Mindfulness-Based Approach to Treating Addictive Behaviors
Time/Date/Location: 12:00-1:00 p.m. Thursday, March 12 in the Alumni and Friends Ballroom
Sarah Bowen, PhD, is a clinical psychologist and researcher, and has served on the faculties of University of Washington and Pacific University, Oregon. Her clinical and research interests over the past twenty years have focused on mindfulness-based approaches to addictive behaviors, with a primary concentration on substance use disorders. She has authored over 80 articles and is lead author of the Mindfulness-Based Relapse Prevention Clinicians Guide. Dr. Bowen has worked internationally, with colleagues in the UK, Sweden, China, Taiwan, and Brazil. She has conducted clinical trials in prisons, community treatment centers, and VA medical centers. Her work continues to center on high risk, low resource individuals, helping understand how certain behaviors function in their lives, and what changes might best serve them.
April 9: Nathaniel Williams, PhD
Boise State Foundation Board Endowed Professor of Health Sciences, School of Social Work
Title: Effects of a leadership-focused implementation strategy on uptake of digital measurement-based care in mental health clinics: A cluster randomized trial
Time/Date/Location: 12:00-1:00 p.m. Thursday, April 9 in the Student Union Hatch C/D ballroom
Nathaniel Williams is an Associate Professor in the School of Social Work at Boise State University, the Boise State Foundation Board Endowed Professor of Health Sciences, and a licensed clinical social worker in the State of Idaho. As an implementation scientist, Dr. Williams’ work focuses on improving the uptake and delivery of evidence-based practices in mental health settings that serve youth. He has substantive expertise in organizational culture, climate, and leadership and methodological expertise in the design of hybrid effectiveness-implementation trials and testing the mechanisms that explain how implementation strategies work. Dr. Williams is deeply committed to partnered research that generates meaningful improvements in human well-being. His work has been funded by the U.S. National Institute of Mental Health, the U.S. Institute of Education Sciences, and the State of Idaho.
May 14: Ryoko Kausler, PhD
Assistant Professor, School of Nursing, Boise State University
Title: Expanding Access to Perinatal Mental Health Care: Technology and Community Partnerships Across Rural and Urban Settings
Time/Date/Location: 12:00-1:00 p.m. Thursday, May 14 in the Student Union Hatch C/D ballroom.
Ryoko Kausler, PhD, is a tenure-track Assistant Professor at the School of Nursing and a Board-Certified Family Nurse Practitioner. Her research focuses on perinatal mental health, including depression and anxiety, birth trauma, substance use, and implementation science approaches to enhance care delivery. She explores innovative technology-based solutions such as telehealth and internet-based health education to increase accessibility for perinatal mental health prevention for vulnerable populations in both rural and urban settings. Dr. Kausler employs community-engaged and community-based participatory research methods, recently partnering with faith-based organizations to develop accessible perinatal mental health support systems. She is involved with multiple NIH-funded research studies on telehealth interventions for women with perinatal mental health risk. Dr. Kausler actively collaborates with community organizations and healthcare systems to advance evidence-based perinatal mental health initiatives and improve maternal outcomes.