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S20, E19: SCOTUS Eras: The Fuller Court (Aired 12/5/2025)
No full textAughie and Nia discuss the Fuller Court, years 1888 - 1910. Melville Fuller was widely regarded as an adequate administrator but not a great intellectual. His court followed in the conservative steps of the Waite Court.https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/civil_discourse/1299/thumbnail.jp
Junior Recital, Allison Estabrook, piano
No full textJunior RecitalAllison Estabrook, pianoFriday, August 22, 2025 at 6:00 p.m.Recital HallJames W. Black Music Center1015 Grove Avenue | Richmond, VirginiaThe presentation of this junior recital will fulfill in part the requirements for the Bachelor of Music degree in Performance. Allison Estabrook studies piano with Dr. Magdalena Adamek
Inshallah
No full textSet during a deployment in Iraq, Inshallah follows a U.S. Army medic reflecting on the chaos, camaraderie, and moral ambiguity of war. As his platoon conducts a routine patrol, they encounter violence, uncertainty, and a wounded enemy combatant whose life hangs in the medic’s hands. Through moments of tension, dark humor, and introspection, the story explores the psychological toll of combat and the fragile line between duty and humanity. Ultimately, the medic chooses compassion over vengeance, leaving the outcome to fate—Inshallah, if God wills it.
Articles, stories, and other compositions in this archive were written by participants in the Mighty Pen Project. The program, developed by author David L. Robbins, and in partnership with Virginia Commonwealth University and the Virginia War Memorial in Richmond, Virginia, offers veterans and their family members a customized twelve-week writing class, free of charge. The program encourages, supports, and assists participants in sharing their stories and experiences of military experience so both writer and audience may benefit
Senior Recital, Emily Speight, flute, video
No full textSenior Recital videoEmily Speight, fluteBrent te Velde, pianoSunday, November 9, 2025 at 6:00 p.m.Recital HallJames W. Black Music Center1015 Grove Avenue | Richmond, VirginiaThe presentation of this senior recital will fulfill in part the requirements for the Bachelor of Music degree in Performance. Emily Speight studies flute with Dr. Tabatha Easley
Senior Recital, Emily Hettervig, soprano
No full textSenior RecitalEmily Hettervig, sopranoCharles Lindsey, pianoSaturday, November 15, 2025 at 6:00 p.m.Recital HallJames W. Black Music Center1015 Grove Avenue | Richmond, VirginiaThe presentation of this senior recital will fulfill in part the requirements of the Bachelor of Music degree in Performance. Emily Hettervig studies voice with Cynthia Donnell and receives vocal coaching from Melanie Kohn Day, emerita faculty
MAPPING CELLULAR DIVERSITY AND THERAPEUTIC VULNERABILITIES IN TRIPLE-NEGATIVE BREAST CANCER: FROM SINGLE-CELL TRANSCRIPTIONAL ATLAS TO MECHANISMS OF CARBOPLATIN RESISTANCE
No full textRecent advancements in the genetic characterization of breast cancer subtypes provide critical insights into the molecular diversity of this malignancy and have led to more effective treatments for HER2-enriched and hormone receptor driven malignancies. Despite these advancements, triple-negative breast cancers (TNBCs) remain challenging to treat, due to limited options for targeted therapy. Carboplatin, a platinum-based chemotherapy agent, has emerged as a frontline therapy for TNBC. Unfortunately, the development of acquired resistance to carboplatin, remains a significant clinical challenge, demonstrating an increased need for better first and second line agents to treat TNBCs. This proposal aims to address this issue by identifying and targeting pathways that mediate carboplatin-resistance (CR). I hypothesize that pathways which are activated in CR disease are important for cancer cell survival and that inhibiting these pathways will increase cytotoxicity to cancer cells. This study will identify activated pathways which mediate carboplatin resistance and inhibit them. Additionally, we hope to potentiate the anti-cancer effects of the second-line therapy Sacituzumab govitecan (SG) through combination with inhibitors that exhibit cytotoxic activity; my hypothesis is that these combinations will be less toxic and more effective than mono-agent therapies.
To help address this challenge, I have developed isogenic pairs of carboplatin-sensitive (CS) and CR disease, derived from diverse TNBC patient-derived xenograft (PDX) models. Preliminary studies with these models show divergent responses to targeted therapeutics between CS and CR pairs, with CR models demonstrating reduced susceptibility to many common anti-cancer agents, similar to what is seen clinically in CR patients. We will utilize these models and a multi-omics approach to reveal unique genetic and proteomic profiles associated with acquired resistance to carboplatin. Defined expression and protein profiles associated with resistance will allow for identification of targetable pathways and therapeutic agents for the treatment of CR TNBC.
Antibody drug conjugates (ADCs) are a promising approach to targeted cancer treatment. SG, an ADC targeting trophoblast cell-surface antigen 2 (Trop-2), has gained approval as a second line therapy, treating advanced/metastatic TNBC. Interestingly, our initial studies showed decreased responsiveness to SG post-acquired resistance to carboplatin. This reflects a major obstacle for patients with TNBC as SG is often given following acquired resistance to standard chemotherapies. To address this challenge, this study will identify synergistic agents to heighten SG efficacy in CR models via high throughput drug screening. Extensive testing of drugs from a variety of cancer targeting pathways with SG will identify synergistic agents to help increase drug efficacy in CR TNBCs and aid in the elucidation of pathways involved in SG response
Enhancing Pharmaceutical Processes: An Automated Platform for Advanced Control and Impurity Management
No full textContinuous-flow synthesis offers major advantages in pharmaceutical manufacturing, including improved heat and mass transfer, enhanced safety, and the potential for real-time process control. However, impurity formation remains a central challenge, particularly in strongly acidic solvolysis systems where side reactions are highly sensitive to temperature, acid loading, and residence time. This thesis develops an end-to-end workflow for impurity understanding, prediction, and control in continuous-flow processing, using the di-alkylation of 4-hydroxybenzoic acid as a representative case. First, a systematic process optimization campaign mapped the influence of key operating variables on yield and impurity formation. Mechanistically informed kinetic modeling was then used to characterize the primary pathways leading to desired and undesired products, establishing how impurity formation evolves across process conditions.
Building on these mechanistic insights, machine-learning models were trained to predict critical impurity concentrations directly from process variables, enabling accurate, condition-dependent impurity forecasting without requiring full ODE model evaluation. These predictive models were subsequently integrated into a fully automated flow platform that executed real-time diversion of off-specification material based on live temperature, flow, and residence-time data. The resulting system-maintained product quality under both steady-state and perturbed conditions, demonstrating closed-loop, impurity-aware process control. Together, these developments illustrate a pathway toward predictive, self-correcting continuous manufacturing systems in which quality control is embedded directly into process operation, supporting the broader goals of Quality by Design and advancing the field toward autonomous pharmaceutical production
Increasing Uptake of Statewide Protocols and Medicaid Billing of Community-based Pharmacist Services in Virginia
No full textBackground: The United States faces a significant healthcare provider shortage, with projections indicating a deficit of 124,000 physicians by 2034, disproportionately impacting underserved communities. Community-based pharmacists, with their clinical training, widespread geographic distribution, and extended accessibility, represent an underutilized resource for expanding healthcare access. Virginia has taken legislative steps to expand pharmacist prescriptive authority through statewide protocols since 2020 and mandated Medicaid payment for pharmacist services in 2023. Despite these progressive policies, utilization remains limited, with only 24% of Virginia pharmacists reporting use of at least one statewide protocol, and pharmacist registration as Medicaid providers remain extremely low. The disconnect between policy authorization and practical implementation highlights critical gaps in understanding the complex factors that influence healthcare innovation adoption. Therefore, this dissertation aimed to systematically examine barriers to expanded pharmacist services in Virginia and develop evidence-based solutions to address identified implementation challenges.
Methods: A sequential, mixed-methods approach was employed across three interconnected aims. For Aims 1 and 2, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 16 Virginia community-based pharmacists between November 2024 and May 2025, guided by the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR) 2.0. Interviews explored contextual factors affecting implementation of statewide protocols (Aim 1) and Medicaid provider enrollment and billing (Aim 2). Data were analyzed using two-phase inductive and deductive coding, with themes mapped to CFIR domains and constructs. Each construct was rated for valence (direction of influence) and strength (magnitude of influence) on implementation outcomes. For Aim 3, a comprehensive Medicaid provider enrollment toolkit was developed using human-centered design principles guided by the design thinking framework. The development process included stakeholder engagement (n=7), prototype development with expert review (n=9), pilot testing with pharmacy residents (n=3), and final refinement based on iterative feedback. Pilot participants completed surveys assessing toolkit usability, perceived utility, and areas for improvement using 5-point Likert scales and open-ended questions.
Results: For Aim 1, statewide protocol implementation was facilitated by clear relative advantage in improving patient access and strong alignment with pharmacists\u27 professional mission. Key barriers included resource limitations, particularly staffing and time constraints, complexity, and structural characteristics including physical space and workflow integration challenges. Notable differences emerged between pharmacy settings, with independent pharmacists reporting greater implementation autonomy compared to chain pharmacists who faced corporate constraints. Rural pharmacists emerged as innovators when protocols addressed critical healthcare access gaps despite facing unique challenges.
For Aim 2, Medicaid billing implementation faced substantial obstacles across all CFIR domains. The innovation domain revealed procedural complexity, high implementation costs, and poor system design as major barriers, despite recognition of potential financial benefits. Inner setting barriers included inadequate technical infrastructure, insufficient organizational resources, and significant knowledge deficits regarding credentialing and billing procedures. Individual-level factors highlighted pharmacists\u27 lack of opportunity for implementation due to competing priorities and unfamiliarity with medical billing processes. Implementation processes were consistently problematic across planning, strategy development, execution, and evaluation phases, indicating that Medicaid billing remains in the innovator stage of adoption.
For Aim 3, the human-centered design process successfully translated identified barriers into a 35-page toolkit addressing procedural complexity, information accessibility, and implementation support needs. All three pilot participants rated the toolkit positively across all evaluation dimensions, with all reporting they were extremely likely to recommend it to other pharmacists. Most importantly, all participants successfully completed DMAS provider enrollment within six weeks using the toolkit as their primary guide. However, complete enrollment data including MCO credentialing completion and billing activity were not available at the time of analysis.
Conclusions: Legislative authorization alone is insufficient to drive widespread implementation of expanded pharmacist services. Statewide protocols show promises for expanding healthcare access but require targeted interventions addressing resource constraints, workflow integration challenges, and tailored support for different pharmacy settings. Medicaid billing implementation faces even more substantial barriers, particularly around procedural complexity, knowledge deficits, and inadequate infrastructure. The user-centered toolkit developed through human-centered design principles demonstrates initial promise in addressing enrollment barriers, though broader evaluation is needed. Implementation strategies must address multiple levels simultaneously: individual (education and training), organizational (resources and workflow support), and system (streamlined credentialing processes and technical infrastructure). Future research should evaluate the effectiveness of specific implementation strategies, conduct longitudinal follow-up to assess sustained adoption, and examine whether increased pharmacist participation translates into improved healthcare access for vulnerable populations. This work provides a model for systematically examining healthcare innovation implementation and developing practical, evidence-based solutions to bridge the gap between policy intention and real-world practice
Testing for Conformity with Parametric Distributions Using Level Sets: A Topological Data Analysis Approach
No full textTesting conformity of observed data with theoretical probability distributions is fundamental to statistical modeling, yet current methods face significant limitations when extending to multivariate settings where geometric structure and interpretability become increasingly important. This dissertation develops a novel Topological Data Analysis (TDA) framework that uses probability density level sets, regions where density exceeds specified thresholds, to test distributional conformity across dimensions. By quantifying the overlap between observed and reference level sets using the Dice Similarity Coefficient (DSC), we create a geometrically-motivated measure of distributional agreement that naturally scales from univariate to multivariate applications. The methodology employs adaptive permutation-based bootstrap procedures for statistical inference, with computational optimizations including early stopping criteria that reduce bootstrap replications by 35-40% while maintaining rigorous Type I error control at nominal levels. Through extensive simulations with 10,000 replications across multiple sample sizes and dimensionalities, the TDA-based approach demonstrates competitive performance against established tests including Shapiro-Wilk, Anderson-Darling, Henze-Zirkler, and the energy-based E-statistic, with particular advantages for detecting non-elliptical departures from normality showing power gains of 40-96% for skewed alternatives. Real-world applications to NHANES, Pima Indians diabetes, and Cleveland Heart Disease datasets reveal clinically meaningful patterns undetected by traditional methods, including metabolic heterogeneity in glucose-insulin relationships and age-related decoupling of cardiovascular risk factors. The framework provides unique geometric interpretability through visualization of spatially-specific distributional differences, offers a bounded effect size metric complementing hypothesis testing, and extends naturally to three-dimensional settings despite computational challenges. This work bridges topological thinking with statistical inference, providing practitioners with powerful tools for precision medicine where understanding distributional shape characteristics can identify at-risk individuals within ostensibly normal parameter ranges and enable more targeted therapeutic strategies
Bridging Generations Through Art: Community, Creativity, and Wellbeing
No full textBridging Generations Through Art: Community, Creativity, and Wellbeing
Abstract
This article documents an intergenerational Art Day event that brought together participants of all ages to engage in a shared community art experience. Hosted in a community setting and facilitated by graduate students, the event emphasized intergenerational artmaking as a way to foster connection, creativity, mutual leaning, and wellbeing across generations. Through activities such as mindful pattern-making, montage, linoleum block printing, and weaving, participants collaborated, exchanged skills, and created artworks. Each art station was designed to support personal reflection, exploration, and participants across ages and abilities, and was informed by research in art education, community arts, and lifelong learning. The Art Day offered a community-based and intergenerational art experience that supported creative growth and social connections across the lifespan, illustrating how art can bridge generations.
Keywords: Intergenerational artmaking, Community-based art, Lifelong engagement, Wellbein