Monday
Daniel Robinson – University of Texas at Arlington
Testing and the Paradox of Fairness
Dan Robinson is currently the Interim Chair of the Department of Higher Education, Adult Learning, and Organizational Studies and also the K-16 Mind, Brain and Education Endowed Chair at the University of Texas at Arlington. Previously, he served as Associate Dean of Research from 2020-2024 and Chair of the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at UTA from 2017-2020, and as Director of the School of Education at Colorado State University 2012-2013. He received his Ph.D. in Educational Psychology in 1993 from the University of Nebraska where he majored in both learning/cognition and statistics/research.
Tuesday
Jason DeFreitas – Syracuse University
Strength Training May Improve Nerve Health and Slow Aging Process
Dr. DeFreitas is a professor and department chair in exercise science at Syracuse University. His lab’s research focuses on how the brain controls the body, and how that control system changes with aging and/or training. The lab is also trying to reduce fall risk in older adults through physical activity interventions and improved testing.
Wednesday
Catherine Walker – Union College
Focus on What Your Body Does Rather Than How It Looks
Catherine Walker is an associate professor of psychology at Union College, a small liberal arts college in Schenectady, NY. She is also a licensed clinical psychologist with a small part time practice. Her research and clinical focus is on eating disorders, weight, and body image, in particular, she focuses on body image interventions.
Thursday
Trudy G. Oliver – Duke University
Small Cell Lung Cancer
Trudy G. Oliver, PhD, is a Professor of Pharmacology & Cancer Biology at Duke University and a Duke Science & Technology Scholar. A first-generation college graduate from rural Oklahoma, she was inspired to pursue cancer research after witnessing family members battle the disease. Dr. Oliver earned her PhD in Cancer Biology at Duke, followed by postdoctoral training at MIT, and launched her independent career at the University of Utah before being recruited back to Duke in 2022. Her laboratory has developed pioneering mouse and organoid models that revealed new insights into small cell lung cancer (SCLC) subtypes, metabolic vulnerabilities, therapy resistance, and most recently, the surprising basal cell origin of SCLC. She has received numerous awards, including honors from the Lung Cancer Research Foundation, the IASLC, Mark Foundation and the American Cancer Society, and serves as co-PI of the NCI SCLC Research Consortium Coordinating Center. Dr. Oliver is dedicated to mentoring the next generation of scientists while advancing research to improve outcomes for patients with aggressive lung cancers.
Friday
Obinna Ekwunife – University at Buffalo
Why Education Matters for Heart and Metabolic Health
Dr. Obinna Ekwunife is an Implementation Scientist and Health Economist, currently serving as an Assistant Professor in the Division of Population Health, Department of Medicine, at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University at Buffalo (UB). His research focuses on developing, testing, and implementing cost-effective strategies to improve the adoption of evidence-based interventions among adults with chronic diseases, with a particular emphasis on cardiometabolic disease prevention.
