From promoting voter registration, to inspiring informed engagement, and providing support for students, faculty and staff, Stony Brook University has been reaching out to the entire campus community with programs, services, messages and campaigns designed to ensure civil discourse and debate during one of the most challenging times in our nation’s history.

This episode of Beyond the Expected podcast, titled “Election 2020 -- Preparing for the Day After,” looks at why it’s so important that the community come together with empathy as a community, to bridge the partisan divide. Three University experts speak about the programs and services planned for the day -- and days -- after this historic election. In addition, the panel looks at the psychology behind today’s political climate … why people feel the way they do … and how the population can work through divisions, fear, anxiety and uncertainty, all of which have risen to fever pitch this year.

Laura Lindenfeld, the Dean of Stony Brook’s School of Journalism and executive director of the Alda Center for Communicating Science, serves as moderator of this episode of “Beyond the Expected.”

Jeff Barnett is Interim Assistant Dean of Students. In this role, he’s responsible for areas such as community-building initiatives, large-scale programming, policy development, and student crisis response and case management, and he’ll talk about specific post-Election programs.

Cathrine Duffy is Director of Stony Brook University's Healthier U initiative. In her role, she implements a full suite of programs designed to support a healthy work environment, and provide opportunities for staff and faculty to enhance their physical, fiscal and mental health. Like Jeff, she will share with us the post-Election services and support that will be available.

Yanna Krupnikov is an associate professor in the Department of Political Science. She integrates psychology and political science to identify points at which new information can have the most profound effect on the way people form political opinions, make political choices and, ultimately, take political actions.

Production Credits

Moderator/Host: Laura Lindenfeld

Guests/panelists: Jeffrey Barnett, Cathrine Duffy, Yanna Krunikov

Interim Vice President for Marketing and Communication: Teresa Flannery

Producer: Ellen Cooke

Advisor: Lauren Sheprow

Art Director: Karen Leibowitz

Facebook Live and Social Media: Meryl Altuch, Casey Borchick, Veronica Brown

Media Relations: Emily Cappiello

Production Assistant: Joan Behan-Duncan

YouTube Technician: Dennis Murray

Vodcast Director: Jan Diskin-Zimmerman

Engineer/Technical Director: Phil Altiere

Production Manager/Editor: Tony Fabrizio

Camera/Lighting Director: Jim Oderwald

Camera: Frank D'Aurio and Frank Imperiale

Special thanks to the School of Journalism for use of its podcast studio

As students have been returning to college campuses, we have seen a large spike in Coronavirus cases. However, cases at Stony Brook University have remained minimal and manageable. While the University has put rigorous testing protocols in place — even partnering with an outside lab to provide rapid tests — the onus of this success has been on the students. Their compliance, as well as their persistent urging of the entire campus community to follow safety protocols, continues to help maintain our low infection rate.  This episode of Beyond the Expected Podcast -- Coming Back Safe and Strong: Students Step Up! -- celebrates student and University successes to date and looks to our future plans for fall, winter and beyond.

Moderated by Lawrence M. Zacarese, JD, MPA; Interim Chief of Police and Assistant Vice President for Campus Safety, Stony Brook University Police; this panel looks at the keys to our success to date, including the role students have played to keep our campus safe and maintain our carefully designed hybrid learning model.

Guests include:

Production Credits

Moderator/Host/Panelist: Lawrence M. Zacarese, JD, MPA

Producer: Lauren Sheprow

Art Director: Karen Leibowitz

Assistant Producer: Ellen Cooke

Facebook Live and Social Media: Meryl Altuch, Veronica Brown, Casey Borchick, Emily Cappiello

Production Assistant: Joan Behan-Duncan

YouTube Technician: Dennis Murray

Vodcast Director: Jan Diskin-Zimmerman

Engineer/Technical Director: Phil Altiere

Production Manager/Editor: Tony Fabrizio

Camera/Lighting Director: Jim Oderwald

Camera: Frank D'Aurio and Frank Imperiale

Special thanks to the School of Journalism for use of its podcast studio

Christopher Paparo has been exploring the wilds of Long Island’s marine estuaries for over 30 years, and in this episode of "Beyond the Expected," guest host Alan Inkles speaks with Chris as he shares his experiences snapping fascinating images of marine wildlife, as a naturalist and as the manager and public outreach coordinator for the Stony Brook Southampton Marine Science Center. Chris maintains the Center’s computerized, 5,000 square foot state-of-the-art indoor/outdoor seawater lab that contains three different seawater scenarios. He also actively assists graduate students and research faculty with their research projects.

Stony Brook’s public outreach programs are vital to spreading the word about the important research taking place at SoMAS, and fostering interest in the next generation of marine biologists. As the Center’s naturalist, Chris gives tours of Shinnecock Bay to members of the community -- from elementary school children to adults.

Born and raised on Long Island, Chris has been exploring the wilds of the island for over 30 years. He started the wildlife photography website, “Fish Guy Photos” (Instagram: #FishGuyPhotos) and is an award-winning member of the Outdoor Writers Association of America and the New York State Outdoor Writers Association. Heis a freelance writer for several fishing and wildlife related publications, and although his work tends to focus on marine life, Chris says, “everything in the natural world is fair game.”

Production Credits

Guest Host: Alan Inkles, Director of the Staller Center for the Arts at Stony Brook University

In the workplace, in the classroom, in personal relationships and in everyday life, being an ally means being in tune with the people around you. Respecting their views. Listening to them. Empathizing and caring. It means taking the responsibility to provide support through action -- even if you don’t look like the person or group you’re advocating for, or share the same background. You need to take on the struggle as your own and truly understand where they’re coming from to give their movement -- big or small -- a voice. On this episode of “Beyond the Expected -- Bridging the Racial Divide,” moderator and panelist Dr. Judith Brown Clarke, Stony Brook University Chief Diversity Officer and Vice President of Equity and Inclusion talks about being an ally -- what it is, how to do it and why it’s so important in today’s racially ... ethnically … politically divided society.

Guests:

Adam Gonzalez is a licensed clinical psychologist and the Founding Director of the Mind-Body Clinical Research Center. He is an expert in cognitive behavioral treatment for mood and anxiety disorders, dialectical behavior therapy, relaxation/mindfulness-based treatments and behavioral medicine. His program of research focuses on understanding the interplay of cognitive, emotional and behavioral health factors that may affect physical and mental health, as well as disease management among chronically ill populations. In addition to his responsibilities with the Mind-Body Clinical Research Center, Dr. Gonzalez is also the Co-Director of the Stony Brook University Consortium Pre- and Post-Doctoral Training programs in clinical psychology and the Co-Director of the Center for Disaster Health, Trauma & Resilience.

Juliette Passer is a practicing New York attorney, corporate diversity director, and Stony Brook University professor in the Political Science department who teaches courses on diversity, gender and inclusion. Juliette brings to the equation an extensive background in working with governments, and political organizations as well as multilateral institutions, to achieve these corporate goals for private companies. As such, she brings a unique business and legal understanding of international business transactions and business and political environments in architecting cross-border investments.

Production Credits

Moderator/Host/Panelist: Judith Brown Clarke, PhD

Executive Producer: Nicholas Scibetta

Producer: Lauren Sheprow

Art Director: Karen Leibowitz

Assistant producer: Ellen Cooke

Assistant producer: Emily Cappiello

Topic Co-Creators: Veronica Brown, Emily Cappiello

Facebook Live and Social Media: Meryl Altuch, Emily Cappiello, Casey Borchick, Veronica Brown

Production Assistant: Joan Behan-Duncan

YouTube Technician: Dennis Murray

Vodcast Director: Jan Diskin-Zimmerman

Engineer/Technical Director: Phil Altiere

Production Manager/Editor: Tony Fabrizio

Camera/Lighting Director: Jim Oderwald

Camera: Brian DiLeo

Special thanks to the School of Journalism for use of its podcast studio

The killing of George Floyd and similar tragic incidents have widened the racial divide in America and caused national unrest. At the same time, they’ve opened up a bigger conversation across the country about structural and systemic racism as it exists today. They’ve brought some of the critical issues of our times -- from implicit bias to negative stereotypes and far worse -- to the forefront of our consciousness.

Dr. Judith Brown Clarke, Chief Diversity Officer at Stony Brook University, serves as Moderator in this episode of the “Beyond the Expected” podcast.  She and her guests look at what Stony Brook is doing -- around campus and across disciplines -- to deal with these types of issues and how to be accountable for change and growth, with everyone playing a role. Dr. Brown Clarke is working to ensure the University provides a campus environment that is just, equitable and tolerant.

As the University is enhancing its Diversity Plan, we will get to hear from three distinguished panelists from the University’s faculty/staff who will give insight into what’s happening in their areas of academia, front-line medical care and procurement. They’ll also share the barriers they’ve had to break, both personally and professionally, as people of color, to get where they are today.

Guests:

Carmen Gonzalez is Stony Brook University’s Assistant Vice President for Procurement. She has held U.S. and global supply chain roles in both the higher education and corporate sectors. As part of her role at Stony Brook, she leads the areas of Minority and Women-Owned Business Enterprises and Service Disabled Veteran-Owned Business, which are integral components of our commitment to supplier diversity. It’s how we ensure we not only have a diverse student and faculty population, but that we are giving our diverse vendors the opportunities to partner with us and thrive.

Dr. Zebulon Vance Miletsky is an Assistant Professor of Africana Studies and a historian specializing in recent African-American History, Civil Rights and Black Power, Urban History, Mixed Race and Biracial identity, and Hip-Hop Studies. His research interests include: African-Americans in Boston; Northern freedom movements outside of the South; mixed race history in the U.S.; and the Afro-Latin diaspora. He is the author of numerous articles, reviews, essays and book chapters and is currently working on a manuscript on the civil rights movement in Boston.

Dr. Jedan Phillips, MD is a family medicine specialist and full-time faculty member at Stony Brook Medicine, where he treats patients and is involved with medical education and leading-edge research. Dr. Phillips also serves as the Medical Director for Stony Brook Medicine’s Home Outreach and Medical Education -- or HOME -- program. This is a walk-in medical clinic for the uninsured that provides learning opportunities to medical students, and healthcare to the community -- a program that helps address some of the racial disparity issues in our current healthcare system.

Production Credits

Moderator/Host: Judi Brown Clarke, PhD

Executive Producer: Nicholas Scibetta

Producer: Lauren Sheprow

Art Director: Karen Leibowitz

Assistant producer: Ellen Cooke

Topic Co-Creators: Veronica Brown, Emily Cappiello

Facebook Live and Social Media: Meryl Altuch, Emily Cappiello, Casey Borchick, Veronica Brown

Production Assistant: Joan Behan-Duncan

YouTube Technician: Dennis Murray

Vodcast Director: Jan Diskin-Zimmerman

Engineer/Technical Director: Phil Altiere

Production Manager/Editor: Tony Fabrizio

Camera/Lighting Director: Jim Oderwald

Camera: Brian DiLeo

Special thanks to the School of Journalism for use of its podcast studio

With the world turning its attention more to treatment solutions and even potential COVID-19 cures, Stony Brook University has been leading antibody screening, enrolling patients in a convalescent plasma trial and conducting more than 180 dedicated research projects across all disciplines … all with the aim of winning the long-term Coronavirus battle. Stony Brook University Interim President Michael Bernstein hosts this episode of Beyond the Expected podcast and is joined by three Stony Brook guests to talk about how our researchers have stepped up and responded, about the research they're doing, and about the latest thinking on what antibodies can and can’t tell us about this disease.

Guests:

Dr. Elliot Bennett-Guerrero is Medical Director for Perioperative Quality and Patient Safety for Stony Brook Medicine. He’s also Professor and Vice Chairman for Clinical Research in the Department of Anesthesiology in Stony Brook University’s Renaissance School of Medicine. Dr. Bennett-Guerrero has been involved in research projects running the gamut from the safety and effectiveness of blood transfusion, to surgical site infection, postoperative morbidity and cancer recurrence. Most recently, he launched a clinical trial of donated, post-convalescent plasma from up to 500 COVID-19 patients and is also conducting antibody testing with 500 healthcare workers.

Dr. Bettina Fries is Chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases at Stony Brook Medicine, and is nationally recognized as a physician-scientist in the field of microbiology. She is a Professor of Medicine, Microbiology and Immunology at the Renaissance School of Medicine. She is also an attending at the Northport Veterans Affairs Medical Center and a Fellow of the Infectious Disease Society as well as the American Academy of Microbiology. A primary focus of her research has been on the development of antibodies against multidrug-resistant bacteria and on Cryptococcus neoformans. During this pandemic, Dr. Fries has consulted on COVID-19 infected patients and chairs the clinical trial task force that reports to our Hospital Incident Command System. 

Dr. Richard Reeder is Vice President for Research and serves as Associate Vice President for Brookhaven National Laboratory Affairs, acting as Stony Brook’s liaison to the nearby Department of Energy laboratory co-managed by Stony Brook University and Battelle Memorial Institute. He is also a member of the Brookhaven Science Associates Board of Directors and retains the position of Professor of Geochemistry in the Department of Geosciences, where he served as Chair for 2008-2013. Dr. Reeder’s research interests have spanned several primarily environmental-based areas. 

Production Credits

Guest Host: Michael Bernstein

Executive Producer: Nicholas Scibetta

Producer: Lauren Sheprow

Art Director: Karen Leibowitz

Assistant producer: Ellen Cooke

Facebook Live and Social Media: Meryl Altuch, Emily Cappiello, Casey Borchick, Veronica Brown

Production assistant: Joan Behan-Duncan

YouTube Technician: Dennis Murray

Vodcast Director: Jan Diskin-Zimmerman

Engineer/Technical Director: Phil Altiere

Production Manager/Editor: Tony Fabrizio

Camera/Lighting Director: Jim Oderwald

Camera: Brian DiLeo

Original score: “Mutti Bug” provided by Professor Tom Manuel

Special thanks to the School of Journalism for use of its podcast studio

https://renaissance.stonybrookmedicine.edu/COVID_DonatePlasma

With graduation, commencement and impending job searches in the air, Stony Brook University is bringing to bear the full breadth of its resources to create the best possible experience for soon-to-be alumni, in our true ‘Stony Brook Strong’ spirit. In this episode of Beyond the Expected: The Coronavirus Effect, we'll see how professionals across our campus are working to deliver the special celebrations the Class of 2020 deserve, the career assistance they need in an unpredictable economic climate, and the overall support the SBU alumni network offers to help this unique class transition from students to alumni.

Diana Hannan, Executive Director, SBU Conferences & Special Events

Kimberly Joy Dixon, Director of Employer Engagement and Diversity Recruitment, Career Center

As Director of Employer Engagement and Diversity Recruitment at the Career Center, Kimberly Joy Dixon builds and maintains relationships with employers from various industries who seek to recruit students for internships, full-time jobs, part-time positions and volunteer opportunities. She also develops programs to connect students to employers that want to diversify their workforce and prepares students for national diversity-related internship programs. We’ll get to hear about unique challenges -- but also heartening successes and reasons for optimism -- as the Career Center is connecting the class of 2020 with employers and helping guide them toward their chosen career paths in the wake of COVID-19.

Matthew Colson, Executive Director of Alumni Relations and Alumni Association

Credits

Guest Host: Michael Bernstein

Executive Producer: Nicholas Scibetta

Producer: Lauren Sheprow

Art Director: Karen Leibowitz

Assistant producer: Ellen Cooke

Facebook Live and Social Media: Meryl Altuch, Emily Cappiello, Casey Borchick, Veronica Brown

Production assistant: Joan Behan-Duncan

YouTube Technician: Dennis Murray

Vodcast Director: Jan Diskin-Zimmerman

Engineer/Technical Director: Phil Altiere

Production Manager/Editor: Tony Fabrizio

Camera/Lighting Director: Jim Oderwald

Camera: Brian DiLeo

Original score: “Mutti Bug” provided by Professor Tom Manuel

Special thanks to the School of Journalism for use of its podcast studio.

Ingenuity, innovation and cross-campus collaboration have been keeping patients more comfortable, care providers better protected and, bottom line, saving lives as we enter the third month of the COVID battle here at Stony Brook University. I’m Interim President Michael Bernstein and host of this podcast series, Beyond the Expected -- The Coronavirus Effect. Today, we will talk with two experts from Stony Brook University whose areas have been driving results through engineering-driven medicine, which is in partnership with Stony Brook Medicine. They’ve been redesigning ventilators, improving respirators and making hand sanitizer ... all at the rapid pace pandemic conditions have necessitated. To give you an idea of the magnitude of the effort, 9,000 faculty and staff have helped care for 5,000 symptomatic patients who have come through our doors since we saw our first COVID-suspected patient back in February. Let’s hear more about the unparalleled work they’ve been doing across campus, together, to meet the challenge

Fotis Sotiropoulos serves as Dean of the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences at Stony Brook University and is a SUNY Distinguished Professor of Civil Engineering. Since joining the faculty in October of 2015, Dean Sotiropoulos has steered the College towards tackling major societal grand challenges by advancing convergence science initiatives in collaboration with the School of Medicine, the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, the College of Arts and Sciences and Brookhaven National Laboratory. He is driving University-wide initiatives in Engineering-Driven Medicine and Artificial Intelligence and is at the forefront of the College’s strategic commitment to expand diversity and invent the future of engineering education in the era of exponential technologies.

Peter Tonge is the Chair of the Department of Chemistry and a SUNY Distinguished Professor of Chemistry and Radiology at Stony Brook University. Dr. Tonge is a founding member of the Institute of Chemical-Biology and Drug Discovery, co-Directs the NIH-funded chemical biology training program, and has strongly supported initiatives to build the infrastructure for non-invasive positron emission tomography (PET) human imaging that links chemistry with life science departments and the School of Medicine.  He is also the Director of the Center for Advanced Study of Drug Action, whose mission is to improve the prediction of drug activity in humans, thereby increasing the success rate of new drug approvals. He will talk with us about the research and solutions the Department of Chemistry has been offering to help deal with the pandemic crisis

Production Credits

Guest Host: Michael Bernstein

Executive Producer: Nicholas Scibetta

Producer: Lauren Sheprow

Art Director: Karen Leibowitz

Assistant producer: Ellen Cooke

Facebook Live and Social Media: Meryl Altuch, Emily Cappiello, Casey Borchick, Veronica Brown

Production assistant: Joan Behan-Duncan

YouTube Technician: Dennis Murray

Vodcast Director: Jan Diskin-Zimmerman

Engineer/Technical Director: Phil Altiere

Production Manager: Tony Fabrizio

Camera/Lighting Director: Jim Oderwald

Camera: Brian DiLeo

Editor: Tony Fabrizio

Original score: “Mutti Bug” provided by Professor Tom Manuel

Special thanks to the Stony Brook University School of Journalism for use of its podcast studio.

Stony Brook University Hospital has cared for more than 5,000 potential coronavirus patients. For 59 days, and counting, the Hospital has drawn on the full force of its resources and expertise to battle this disease. In this edition of Beyond the Expected -- The Coronavirus Effect: Nursing Response, Interim President Michael Bernstein talks to three dedicated Stony Brook nurses who will share their experiences, their stories, and what it has meant to be on the frontline of the surge both professionally and personally.

About the Guests

Cindyann Beck, BS, RN, Nursing Policy Coordinator, Department of Regulatory Affairs

Cindyann Beck has been with the Hospital for 15 years, originally as a Neonatal Intensive Care Registered Nurse (RN). For the past 10 years, she has been responsible for the oversight of nursing policies and standards of care, and more recently joined the Department of Regulatory Affairs to help the Hospital maintain regulatory readiness and compliance. Some of her COVID-related responsibilities have included making rapid adjustments to policies and procedures in response to the unique care environment as well as disruptions to the supply chain brought on by the pandemic. She has also taken on special projects and tasks as needed to support the nursing staff during these difficult and uncertain times.

Lesley Pronesti, RN, Teaching &Research Center Nurse III, Surgical Oncology

Alison L. Rowe, MS, RN, NEA-BC, CEN, Associate Director of Nursing, Department of Emergency and Cardiac Services

Board certified in Nursing Administration, Alison Rowe has held a leadership position at Stony Brook University Hospital for more than 10 years, serving as the Associate Director of Nursing for Emergency and Cardiac Services for the past five years. She manages more than 500 staff members caring for patients in inpatient and outpatient departments. Her expertise includes nursing administration, regulatory requirements and nursing across diverse patient populations.

Production Credits

Guest Host: Michael Bernstein

Special thanks to the Stony Brook University School of Journalism for use of its podcast studio.