Full Professor Research Articles

Strategies to enhance immune cell activation & cancer cell killing

Abigail Pinchbeck, Assistant Editor, BioInsights, speaks to Karine Breckpot, Director, Laboratory for Molecular and Cellular Therapy (LMCT), Vrije Universiteit BrusselKarine Breckpot obtained a MSc in Biomedical Sciences in 1998 and a PhD in Medical Sciences in 2004, all at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB, Belgium). Following a postdoctoral stay at the Division of Infection and Immunity at the University College London (United Kingdom), she became a group leader and Assistant Professor in 2010 at the Laboratory for Molecular and Cellular Therapy (LMCT), VUB. She became a Tenured Professor in 2014 and Full Professor in 2019 at which point she became director of the research group LMCT. Her research is focused on cancer immunology and immunotherapy, designing novel immunotherapies focused on T cell activation using technologies such as mRNA, lentiviral vectors and antibodies, including camelid single domain antibodies. She was laureate of the Fund for Biotechnology award in 2005, received the Dr Karel-Lodewijk Verleysen award of the Belgian Royal Academy of Medicine in 2011, the Melanoma Research Alliance young investigator award in 2017 and the BCLAS award in honor of Jean-René Maisin in 2019. She is (co)promotor of 15 defended and 16 ongoing doctoral theses and author on more than 135 Q1 publications.Technologies such as mRNA, lentiviral vectors, and nanobodies are vital tools in the immuno-oncology arsenal. In this article, Karine Breckpot, the director of the Laboratory for Molecular and Cellular Therapy (LMCT), explains how she applies the latest technology to her work in engineering dendritic cells for immune activation and T cells for cancer cell rejection – and her predictions for 2023 and beyond.

Wondering If I'd Get There Quicker If I Was a Man: Factors Contributing to Delayed Academic Advancement of Women in Infectious Diseases.

Gender inequities in academic advancement persist in many specialties, including Infectious Diseases (ID). Prior studies of advancement disparities have been predominantly quantitative, utilizing large physician databases or surveys. We used qualitative methods to explore ID physicians' experiences and beliefs about causes and ways to mitigate gender inequities in advancement. We conducted semistructured focus group discussions with academic ID physicians in the United States at IDWeek 2019 to explore perceived barriers and facilitators to academic advancement. Participants were assigned to focus groups based on their academic rank and gender. We analyzed focus group transcripts using content analysis to summarize emergent themes. We convened 3 women-only focus groups (1 for instructors/assistant professors, 1 for associate professors, and 1 for full professors) and 1 men-only focus group of full professors (total N = 50). Our analyses identified several major themes on barriers to equitable academic advancement, including (1) interpersonal and institutional gender bias, (2) difficulty balancing the demands of family life with work life, and (3) gender differences in negotiation strategies. Barriers to gender equity in academic advancement are myriad and enduring and span the professional and personal lives of ID physicians. In addition to swift enactment of policy changes directed at critical issues such as ending workplace harassment and ensuring adequate parental leaves for birth and nonbirth parents, leaders in academic medicine must shine a bright light on biases within the system at large and within themselves to correct these disparities with the urgency required.

How Is Endodontics Taught in Italy? A Survey of Italian Dental Schools

The aim of our study was to investigate how endodontics is taught in Italian universities. An online survey was conducted from August to December 2021. A comparison between courses led by full or associate professors (Group 1) versus courses led by other figures, such as researchers or temporary lecturers (Group 2), was made. A total of 28 out of 36 schools participated (78%). In most schools, endodontics is taught in the fifth year to 15-29 students. All schools planned pre-clinical endodontic training, and in 25/28 schools (89.3%), clinical endodontic training was also provided. The course programs varied among schools, and significantly more hours were allocated to teaching nonsurgical root canal treatment in Group 1 schools than in Group 2 schools. The average numbers of hours of preclinical and clinical training were 34.3 ± 23.6 and 84.1 ± 76.7, respectively. All schools used rotary NiTi files in their clinical training, and the vertical condensation of hot gutta-percha was the most frequently taught obturation technique. As expected, the scenario of endodontic education in Italian universities was variable and needs harmonization. Courses led by full or associate professors seem to be better structured.

After Liberalism

Author(s): Katerina Kolozova Title (English): After Liberalism Journal Reference: Identities: Journal for Politics, Gender and Culture, Vol. 19, No. 1-2 (2022). Publisher: Institute of Social Sciences and Humanities - Skopje Page Range: 40-47 Page Count: 7 Citation (English): Katerina Kolozova, "After Liberalism,” Identities: Journal for Politics, Gender and Culture, Vol. 19, No. 1-2 (2022): 40-47. Author Biography Katerina Kolozova, Institute of Social Sciences and Humanities, Skopje Dr. Katerina Kolozova is Executive Director, senior researcher and full professor at the Institute of Social Sciences and Humanities, Skopje, and a professor of political philosophy at FMK-Belgrade. She has published many influential articles in a number of international journals, as well as several books. These include: Capitalism’s Holocaust of Animals: A Non-Marxist Critique of Capital, Philosophy and Patriarchy (Bloomsbury Academic), as well as Cut of the Real: Subjectivity in Poststructuralist Philosophy (Columbia University Press).

The Swerve and Ancient Materialism

Author(s): Thomas Nail and Katerina Kolozova Title (English): The Swerve and Ancient Materialism Journal Reference: Identities: Journal for Politics, Gender and Culture, Vol. 19, No. 1-2 (2022). Publisher: Institute of Social Sciences and Humanities - Skopje Page Range: 58-71 Page Count: 13 Citation (English): Thomas Nail and Katerina Kolozova, “The Swerve and Ancient Materialism,” Identities: Journal for Politics, Gender and Culture, Vol. 19, No. 1-2 (2022): 58-71. Author(s) Biography Thomas Nail, University of Denver Thomas Nail is a Distinguished Scholar and Professor of Philosophy at the University of Denver and author of numerous books, including The Figure of the Migrant, Theory of the Border, Marx in Motion, Theory of the Image, Theory of the Object, Theory of the Earth, Lucretius I, II, III, Returning to Revolution, and Being and Motion. His research focuses on the philosophy of movement. Katerina Kolozova, Institute of Social Sciences and Humanities, Skopje Dr. Katerina Kolozova is Executive Director, senior researcher and full professor at the Institute of Social Sciences and Humanities, Skopje, and a professor of political philosophy at FMK-Belgrade. She has published many influential articles in a number of international journals, as well as several books. These include: Capitalism’s Holocaust of Animals: A Non-Marxist Critique of Capital, Philosophy and Patriarchy (Bloomsbury Academic), as well as Cut of the Real: Subjectivity in Poststructuralist Philosophy (Columbia University Press).

Scholarly Networks, Gender Sociology, and Knowledge Production in Aegean Survey and Eastern Mediterranean Archaeology

Scholarly Networks, Gender Sociology, and Knowledge Production in Aegean Survey and Eastern Mediterranean Archaeology

A positive correlation of leadership, faculty, and fellow gender and racial diversity in US academic hand surgery

Gender and racial disparities remain prevalent in academic surgery. Moreover, reports on racial distributions are scarce. We aim to assess the state of diversity among faculty and fellowship trainees in academic hand surgery and identify if program faculty diversity correlates with trainee diversity. Working from the American Society for Surgery of the Hand (ASSH) fellowship list, a database of 84 hand fellowship programs, 622 faculty, and 582 recently graduated fellows was created. ASSH and American Association for Hand Surgery (AAHS) membership databases and clinical and research websites were accessed to determine gender, race (white or person of color [POC]), and practice and training details, for each faculty and fellow. Women comprise 17% of the faculty cohort and 25% of fellows. Gender disparity was similar between orthopedic surgery-trained and plastic surgery-trained faculty and fellows. Women represented 24% assistant, 16% associate, and 9% full professor faculty positions (p=0.002). White race was assigned to 75% and 71% of faculty and fellows, respectively. POC accounted for 28%, 27%, and 21% of assistant, associate, and professor positions, respectively (p>0.05). Female and POC leadership correlated with significantly more female and POC faculty/fellows, respectively. Relative to medical school and academic medicine, females and racial minorities are under-represented in academic hand surgery, especially with higher academic rank and in leadership positions. Diversity in leadership and related allyship may be an important strategy for increasing diversity at all levels. • Programs having a female or person of color chair correlates with gender and racial diversity. • Women and racial minorities are under-represented in academic hand surgery. • Gender and racial is lacking with higher academic rank and in leadership positions. • Diversity in leadership may be an important strategy for increasing diversity at all levels.

Boundless Choices [Women in Engineering

I am honored and excited to contribute to this column. First, I would like to thank Francesca Vipiana for the invitation, and I am happy to share my personal experience as a female microwave professor at the Alma Mater Studiorum—Università di Bologna, Italy, where I started my career as a student and continued it until I reached the role of full professor in 2018.

Gender Disparities in Academic Pain Medicine: A Retrospective, Cross-Sectional Bibliometric Analysis.

This study was conducted to characterizethe gender disparities within academic pain management departments in the United States, specifically focusing on its relation to research andacademic leadership. This will allow for targeted improvements in efforts made to reduce gender gaps within academic pain medicine. This is a retrospective, cross-sectional analysis study evaluating pain management faculty of various positions at academicinstitutionsacrossthe United States. Weutilizedpublicly available data on faculty positions and sex to analyze research impact, H-index, number of publications and citations through bibliometric and linear regression analysis. Our analysis found thatfemalefaculty hadsignificantlyless research output to male faculty. The three research measurement indices used in this study including H-index, number of publications, and number of citations were significantly lower in females than in males among associate and full professor faculty ranking. Multivariable analysis did not display any significant disparities of research output at the division director and department chair level. As in many areas of medicine, there continues to be a significant gender disparity in academic pain management departments, particularly with regard to leadership positions and research impact within the field.Our study found that female pain physicians had a significantly less research output based on the three variables of H indices, number of publications, and number of citations compared to their male counterparts. This has been shown to have the impact on discrepancies in female faculty ranking. Interestingly, these variables were not significantly different between male and female faculty members of the same level of leadership except for program director. There are various contributory reasons for these disparities, including implicit biases, lack of mentorship, and familial obligations. Addressing some of these factors can help narrow theschism and promote greater gender equality within academic pain management.

Gender disparity in academic advancement: exploring differences among adult and pediatric radiologists.

Gender imbalance in research output and academic rank in academic radiology is well-documented and long-standing. Less is known regarding this imbalance among pediatric radiologists. To characterize gender differences for academic rank and scholarly productivity of pediatric radiologists relative to adult radiologists. During summer 2021, faculty data for the top 10 U.S. News & World Report ranked adult radiology programs and the top 12 largest pediatric hospital radiology departments were collected. Information regarding self-reported gender, age, years of practice and academic rank was accessed from institutional websites and public provider databases. The h-index and the number of publications were acquired via Scopus. Group comparisons were performed using Mann-Whitney and chi-square tests. Three hundred and sixty-four (160 women) pediatric and 1,170 (468 women) adult radiologists were included. Compared to adult radiologists, there were significantly fewer pediatric radiologists in advanced ranks (associate or full professor) (P = 0.024), driven by differences between male (P = 0.033) but not female radiologists (P = 0.67).Among pediatric radiologists, there was no significant difference in years in practice (P = 0.29) between males and females. There also was no significant difference in academic rank by gender (P = 0.37), different from adult radiology where men outnumber women in advanced ranks (P < 0.001). Male pediatric radiologists displayed higher academic productivity (h-index: 9.0 vs. 7.0; P = 0.01 and number of publications: 31 vs. 18; P = 0.003) than their female colleagues. Academic pediatric radiology seems to have more equitable academic advancement than academic adult radiology. Despite similar time in the workforce, academic output among female pediatric radiologists lags that of their male colleagues.

Beyond the neoliberalized academy: caring and careful practices of women full professors

ABSTRACT This article reveals how some women full professors have developed caring and careful practices with their students despite the neoliberalization of public higher education, thus, avoiding individualization and establishing trust and solidarity. It presents interviews with 24 women full professors from a Colombian public university, an ethnographic study with three of them and nineteen interviews with their students and colleagues. The content analysis of the fieldwork shows that the professors have caring practices, which include rebuscarse to ensure the well-being of the students and providing financial support, as well as careful practices such as intervening to prevent harm and being open to listening. Caring and careful practices of the professors serve to improve the lives of the people that are close to them and to build a much friendlier and more supportive university. However, care activities are complex, undervalued and represent a double burden, which is why modifying university policies is an urgent task.

Introduction to Editor in Chief

Dr. Jianbo Xiao is current a full professor of University of Vigo (Spain). He received PhD degree in nutrition from Okayama Prefectural University (Japan) in 2009. He worked as a Postdoc supported by AvH foundation at University of Würzbug, Germany (April 2013-May 2015) and then worked as an assistant professor in University of Macau (October 2015-December 2020). Dr. Xiao has been selected as Clarivate Analytics Highly Cited Researchers (2016, 2017, 2019, 2020 and 2021). His research is focusing on natural polyphenols. He has accepted and published more than 300 peer reviewed papers including Nature Reviews Drug Discovery, Seminars in Cancer Biology, Biotechnology Advances, Trends in Food Science &amp; Technology, Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition, Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica B, Pharmacological Research, Journal of Advanced Research, Food Chemistry, and so on (Citation: 17100, H-index 67).&#x0D; He also works as the chairman to organize ISPMF2015, 2-ISPMF (2017), 3-ISPMF (2018), 4-ISPMF (2020) and 4-ISPMF (2021). Dr. Xiao is the editor-in-chief of Food Frontiers (Wiley) and World Journal of Diabetes (IF 4.56), the Associate Editor of Journal of Advanced Research (IF 12.822), Frontiers in Pharmacology (IF 5.988), Journal of Berry Research (IF 2.156), and Phytomedicine Plus (Elsevier), the academic editor of Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity (IF 7.31), the section editor of Current Neuropharmacology (IF 7.708), and the editorial board member of Trends in Food Science &amp; Technology (IF 16.002), Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition (IF 11.208), Food Science and Human Wellness (IF 8.022), Phytomedicine (IF 6.656), Industrial Crops and Products (IF 6.449), Current Research in Food Science (IF 6.269), International Journal of Molecular Sciences (IF 6.208), Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry (IF 6.117), Molecules (IF 12.882), Foods (IF 5.561), Current Drug Metabolism (IF 3.408), Anti-Cancer Agents in Medicinal Chemistry (IF 2.505), Food Chemistry: Molecular Sciences, and so on.

Evaluating the research productivity of academic dermatologists based on the NIH-supported relative citation ratio.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) recently developed an article-level metric called the relative citation ratio (RCR). It improves upon prior metrics such as the h-index in that it is field-normalized, allowing for more accurate comparisons of author productivity between fields. The RCR is also a more accurate metric for evaluating early-career stage investigators. We sought to provide benchmark RCR data of academic dermatologists and examine how factors such as gender, degrees, and academic rank impact RCR scores. Academic dermatologists were indexed using the NIH iCite database. Gender, additional degrees, academic rank, total number of publications, mean RCR, and weighted RCR were collected for each dermatologist. Mean and weighted RCR scoreswerecompared by gender, degrees, and academic rank, with Pvalues based on multiple linear regression. 1899 dermatology faculty members were included in the analysis. Academic dermatologists had a median mean RCR of 1.12 (interquartile range/IQR 0.65-1.73) and a median weighted RCR of 18.89 (IQR 4.67-62.18). Full professorship as well as Doctor of Philosophy acquisition were associated with an increase in mean and weighted RCR scores. Male gender was associated with an increase in weighted RCR scores. Interestingly, male and female academic dermatologists along with assistant and associate professors had similar mean RCR scores. Limitations of the study include the inability to differentiate dermatologists with the same name. The iCite website also only includes PubMed-listed articles from 1995 to 2021. Overall, academic dermatologists have a median mean RCR value greater than the NIH benchmark value of 1.00, suggesting that their publications are more impactful compared to those published by the general scientific community. The benchmark data from this study may prove useful for self-evaluation and also grant, hiring, and promotional decisions.

Shaquita Bell: Changing the conversation on race and health

Shaquita Bell, who is both Black and Indigenous, recently became the 33rd Native-identifying full professor of medicine in the USA. “I realise how under-represented we [Indigenous people] are in medicine, and that means that our children are not at the forefront of this work,” she says, “I take it as part of my responsibility to my people and my community to address that.”

Do open citations give insights on the qualitative peer-review evaluation in research assessments? An analysis of the Italian National Scientific Qualification

In the past, several works have investigated ways for combining quantitative and qualitative methods in research assessment exercises. Indeed, the Italian National Scientific Qualification (NSQ), i.e. the national assessment exercise which aims at deciding whether a scholar can apply to professorial academic positions as Associate Professor and Full Professor, adopts a quantitative and qualitative evaluation process: it makes use of bibliometrics followed by a peer-review process of candidates’ CVs. The NSQ divides academic disciplines into two categories, i.e. citation-based disciplines (CDs) and non-citation-based disciplines (NDs), a division that affects the metrics used for assessing the candidates of that discipline in the first part of the process, which is based on bibliometrics. In this work, we aim at exploring whether citation-based metrics, calculated only considering open bibliographic and citation data, can support the human peer-review of NDs and yield insights on how it is conducted. To understand if and what citation-based (and, possibly, other) metrics provide relevant information, we created a series of machine learning models to replicate the decisions of the NSQ committees. As one of the main outcomes of our study, we noticed that the strength of the citational relationship between the candidate and the commission in charge of assessing his/her CV seems to play a role in the peer-review phase of the NSQ of NDs.

Current Trends in Subspecialty Fellowship Training for 1691 Academic Neurological Surgeons

Neurosurgical subspecialty fellowship training has become increasingly popular in recent decades. However, few studies have evaluated recent trends in postgraduate subspecialty education. This study aims to provide a detailed cross-sectional analysis of subspecialty fellowship training completion trends and demographics among U.S. academic neurosurgeons. Academic clinical faculty (M.D. or D.O.) teaching at accredited neurosurgery programs were included. Demographic, career, and fellowship data were collected from departmental physician profiles and the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) membership database. Relative citation ratio scores were retrieved using the National Institutes of Health iCite tool. This study included 1691 surgeons (1756 fellowships) from 125 institutions. The majority (79.13%) reported fellowship training. Fellowship completion was more common among recent graduates (residency year >2000), as was training in multiple subspecialties (P < 0.0001). Spine was the most popular subspecialty (16.04%), followed by pediatrics (11.18%), and cerebrovascular (9.46%). The least common were trauma/critical care (2.52%) and peripheral nerve (1.26%). Spine, neuroradiology, and endovascular subspecialties grew in popularity over time. Pediatrics and spine were the most popular for females and males, respectively. Epilepsy and cerebrovascular had the most full professors, while endovascular and spine had the most assistant professors. Stereotactic/functional and epilepsy had the most Ph.Ds. Fellowship training correlated with higher weighted, but not mean, relative citation ratio scores among associate (P= 0.002) and full professors (P= 0.005). There is an emerging proclivity for additional fellowship training among young neurosurgeons, often in multiple subspecialties. These findings are intended to help guide professional decision-making and optimize the delivery of postgraduate education.

Implementing pathways to anesthesiology: Promoting diversity, equity, inclusion, and success.

Implementing pathways to anesthesiology: Promoting diversity, equity, inclusion, and success.

Gender and Ethnic Diversity in Academic Facial Plastic Surgery.

Characterize academic facial plastic surgeons by demographics, time in practice, academic productivity, and faculty position. Cross-sectional study. Facial plastic surgery faculty in US otolaryngology residencies with a title of assistant professor, associate professor, or professor were identified. Demographics and academic data were obtained from public profiles and Scopus. One hundred sixty-eight surgeons were identified. Females comprised 25.6%. Most surgeons were White (69.6%), followed by Asian (25%), Hispanic (3.6%), and Black (1.8%). Mean h-index was similar between sexes when controlling for years in practice (1.13 vs. 1.14, p=0.575). Female representation was greater among early-career surgeons (41%) than among mid- or late-career surgeons (24% and 13%, respectively) (p=0.006). The correlation of years in practice with academic title was similar between sexes. There was no difference in h-index (p=0.384) or distribution of academic positions (p=0.658) between White and non-White surgeons. There was no statistical difference in full professorship (p=1.0) or research productivity (p=0.974) between late-career White and non-White academic facial plastic surgeons. There was no statistical difference in promotion from assistant professorship (p=0.506) or research productivity (p=0.857) between White and non-White surgeons in practice for over 5 years. Female representation in academic facial plastic surgery is low, though greater gender parity among younger surgeons suggests an improving trend. Hispanic and Black surgeons remain significantly underrepresented in the field. Although increased diversity is needed in academic facial plastic surgery, established minority surgeons have experienced similar research productivity and advancement through academic ranks as their majority counterparts. N/A Laryngoscope, 133:1869-1874, 2023.

An Empirical Study of Promotion Pressure among University Teachers in China Using Event History Analysis

We sought to understand the status of promotion pressure among university teachers in China. This study explored the promotion duration and influencing factors among teachers in different disciplines of the social sciences. Using event history analysis, this study collected data regarding university teachers of China. The sample included 536 teachers who had been promoted from assistant to associate professor and 243 teachers promoted from associate to full professor. Our results revealed that the overall time required for promotion in the social sciences is relatively long. For those promoted from assistant to associate professor, the mean time for promotion was 14.155 years, with a median of 11 years, while for the transition from associate to full professor, the mean was 13.904 years with a median of nine years. Furthermore, in the survival function of the promotion duration, there is a stage pattern for both assistant to associate professor and associate to full professor. In addition, the Kaplan-Meier results showed that the mean promotion time in economics was the shortest. The Cox regression results indicated that males had a higher chance of promotion than females, and faculty members with doctoral degrees had a higher likelihood of promotion than those without. For those advancing from assistant to associate professor, the university of employment had significant positive effects on promotion. This paper provides empirical support for the current societal concerns regarding promotion pressure among university teachers.

Health-related quality of life of young academics: A cross-sectional survey of universities in Wuhan, China.

This study aimed to assess the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of young academics in Wuhan, China, and its determinants. A multistage stratified cluster sampling strategy was employed to recruit study participants (young academics <40 years old) from 12 universities in Wuhan. A total of 301 respondents returned a self-complete questionnaire that contained the EQ-5D-5L. Multivariate linear and Tobit regression models were established to determine the sociodemographic and job predictors of the visual analogue scale (VAS) score and the EQ-5D utility index, respectively. The study participants reported a mean VAS value of 79.42 (SD = 10.51) and a mean EQ-5D utility index of 0.915 (SD = 0.090). Anxiety/depression was the most frequently reported problem (65.12%), followed by pain/discomfort (43.52%). Transitioning towards a full professorship in national key universities (p < 0.001), lower income (p < 0.05) and too much pressure for academic promotion (p < 0.001) were significant predictors of lower HRQoL; whereas, maintaining routines in physical activities (p < 0.001), sleep (p < 0.001) and meals (p < 0.001), a good relationship with colleagues and family members (p < 0.001), and social activities (p < 0.01) were significant predictors of higher HRQoL. Low HRQoL of young academics in China is evident, as indicated by the 7.08 and 0.049 gap in VAS and utility index, respectively, compared to the general population at the same age. Work and career pressures are associated with the low HRQoL of young academics. The findings of this study highlight the importance of work-life balance in promoting HRQoL of young academics in universities in China.