Presenter Bios

Arif Ahmed is Associate Dean at the Henry W. Bloch School of Management.  He also has a courtesy faculty appointment at the UMKC School of Dentistry. He has completed the University of Missouri System Manuel T. Pacheco Leadership Development Program and has led three acclaimed executive education programs in healthcare leadership at the Bloch School. Previously, he served as the Department Chair for Public Affairs. Dr. Ahmed’s primary research interests are in cost, quality, and outcome implications of healthcare delivery system characteristics, neighborhood characteristics and health, and leadership development in healthcare. His research has appeared in preeminent medical and public health journals including Annals of Family Medicine, Public Health Reports, Journal of Public Health Dentistry, Medical Decision Making, and Nursing Research. He teaches courses in health policy, healthcare organizational leadership, healthcare financial management, and quality and safety in healthcare.

Cristina Albu is an art historian, educator, and writer focusing on crossovers between contemporary art, cognitive sciences, and technology. She is Associate Professor of Contemporary Art History at University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC). Albu is the author of Mirror Affect: Seeing Self, Observing Others in Contemporary Art (Minnesota University Press, 2016) and the co-editor (with Dawna Schuld) of Perception and Agency in Shared Spaces of Contemporary Art (Routledge, 2018). Her writings have appeared in scholarly anthologies (e.g. Nervous Systems, Hybrid Practices, Framings, The Permanence of the Transient, Crossing Cultures) and journals (e.g. Afterimage, Artnodes, Camera Obscura, and the Comparative Media Arts Journal). At UMKC, Albu teaches courses on global contemporary art, participatory and site-specific tendencies, museum studies, and the role of emotion in art reception. 

Dr. Kylie Barnes serves as the Director of Applied Skills Labs and OSCE Implementation within the School of Pharmacy. She has been with UMKC since 2013. As a CAFE Faculty Fellow, she has developed the CAFE Faculty Mentorship Program and enjoys working with faculty to cultivate collaborative relationships to increase connection and community.

Michael Bartkoski is a first-year medical student at the University of Kansas School of Medicine. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry and Microbiology from Kansas State University in 2024. Since June 2023, Michael has been a research assistant at Children’s Mercy Kansas City, collaborating with Dr. Stephani Stancil on various translational research projects. These initiatives focus on developing personalized therapeutic approaches to enhance the treatment of adolescents with psychiatric conditions. Michael aspires to pursue a career in academic medicine, with a particular interest in pediatrics and surgical specialties. 

Virginia Blanton is University of Missouri Curators’ Distinguished Professor. Her research focuses on medieval women, especially nuns, and their relationship with books, as writers, readers, singers, patrons, and book owners. Her most recent publications are a two-volume edition and study of Cambridge University Library, MS Additional 2604, Saints’ Lives for Medieval English Nuns, I and II, co-authored with Veronica O’Mara (Brepols, 2023–2024). She is also co-editor of the three-volume series Nuns’ Literacies in Medieval Europe (2013–2017) and a founding member of the multidisciplinary NEH-funded team, CODICES, which conducts optical and computational analyses of manuscripts and early printed books: http://daedalus.umkc.edu/CODICES/. Their current project focuses on inventorying the chant and recovering the palimpsests in a Spanish chantbook at UMKC, which has lead to her participation in the Digital Analysis of Chant Transmission project, where she is leading an international team to catalogue choirbooks in the Spanish diaspora; this project is Cantorales in the Americas and Beyond.

Anna Burns is a research assistant in the Stancil Lab at Children’s Mercy, focusing on treatments for adolescent mental health. She graduated from the University of Kansas in 2023 earning a Bachelor of Science in Interdisciplinary Computing with an emphasis in Biology and will be attending the University of Kansas School of Medicine in July 2025. With her background in computer science, she hopes to integrate technology and data-driven approaches into medical practice and clinical research.

Len Dobens is a Professor and the Associate Director of the Division of Biological and Biomedical Sciences at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. After completing his PhD at Dartmouth College, he received a March of Dimes postdoctoral fellowship to train in the lab of Fotis Kafatos, PhD at Harvard University. He developed his independent research as an Instructor at Harvard Medical School and joined UMKC in 2001 where he uses the fruit fly Drosophila to understand the mechanism of insulin signaling, studying genes connected to Type 2 diabetes blood cell cancers in humans. His research has been supported by the National Science Foundation and NIH and he has mentored seven PhD students and over 100 undergraduates who have gone on to professional schools and positions in industry and academia. 

Dr. Andrea Drew Hutchison serves as the Undergraduate Program Coordinator and Teaching Professor of Chemistry in the School of Science and Engineering at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. She specializes in teaching organic chemistry laboratories and human nutrition. Dr. Hutchison holds both a Bachelor of Science and a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of South Carolina. 

Simon Friedman is an interfacial Scientist, Writer and Artist.  He trained in Chemistry at MIT (SB), University of California-San Francisco (Ph.D.) and Caltech (NIH Postdoctoral Fellowship).  He is currently a Curators Distinguished Professor at the University of Missouri-Kansas City and heads an NIH supported laboratory focused on biomedical problems at the interface of chemistry and biology.  His work has been described in the pages of The Economist, The New York Times and on NPR.  Winner of Science Magazine’s “Visions of the Future” essay contest, featured writer for Nature Chemistry’s “In Your Element” series, multiple featured films in the New York City Food Film Festivals including a selection as “Best of the Decade” in 2016. He has also won the University of Missouri’s highest award for teaching, the Governor’s Award.  In addition to speaking internationally on his research, he has given talks on “Tradition” to the Creative Mornings Community and “The Role of Immigrants in American Science” to TED-x.

Izabel Galliera is an art historian, independent curator, and writer working at the intersection of art, activism, social movements, and politics in the contemporary period. She is the Dorthy and Dale Thompson Missouri Endowed Associate Professor of Art History at the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC). Previously she was Associate Professor of Art History and Associate Director of the Center of Teaching and Learning (CTL) at Susquehanna University in Pennsylvania. She is the author of Socially Engaged Art After Socialism: Art and Civil Society in Central and Eastern Europe (first published in 2017 and re-published in 2022 by Bloomsbury Press). Her writing has appeared in numerous scholarly anthologies (e.g. The Routledge Companion to Art and Activism in the Twenty-First Century; Social Practice in Turbulent Times: The Revolution Will Be Live and Creative Collaboration in Art Practice, Research and Pedagogy) and journals (e.g. Art Inquiries, Journal of Curatorial Studies, ARTMargins, and FIELD: A Journal of Socially Engaged Art Criticism). At UMKC, Galliera teaches courses on socially engaged art, history of exhibitions, museum studies and art activism.

Christine Suzanne Getz became the Dean of the School of Graduate Studies and a Professor in the Conservatory at the University of Missouri-Kansas City in July 2024. From 2017-2024 she served as the Associate Dean for Graduate Education in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (CLAS) at the University of Iowa. Beginning in 2020 she was further responsible as Associate Dean for supporting CLAS’s Outreach and Engagement initiatives. In 2019 Dean Getz trained as a Facilitating Mentor for Translational Research through the National Research Mentoring Network (NRMN) as part of a UI Graduate College initiative to advance mentoring of graduate students, postdocs, and faculty on the Iowa campus. 

Jane Greer is a Curators’ Distinguished Teaching Professor in the Department of English, and she is UMKC’s director of undergraduate research and creative scholarship.  Her research on mentoring has appeared in Innovative Higher Education; CUR Quarterly; and Mentoring and Tutoring, as well as in several edited collections. 

Amanda Grimes is an Associate Professor of Health Sciences. Her research focuses on physical activity and the associated health and social influences across demographic groups. Her recent work has focused on community-based interventions to address obesity and other chronic diseases particularly through physical activity and nutrition interventions. Notable projects include “Communities leading change: Advancing Black and Latino capacity to create nutrition and physical activity environmental and systems change” a CDC REACH funded project and “Active Lab: Public Health through Physical Activity” a Public Health AmeriCorps project. Dr. Grimes promotes student involvement in her research and currently has 10 undergrad and graduate students in her lab. She is a recipient of the Award for Excellence in Mentoring Undergraduate Researchers, Scholars and Artists. 

Lorie has earned three degrees from UMKC including a bachelor’s and master’s degree and most recently a PhD in Curriculum & Instruction with a focus on culturally responsive pedagogy and faculty/professional development. Lorie has been serving as the pillar lead for Faculty Life and Leadership in the Diane Filion Center for Advancing Faculty Excellence (CAFE) since 2021.

Dr. Lena Hoober-Burkhardt teaches general chemistry and physical chemistry lab and lecture courses and is a faculty mentor for undergraduate chemistry majors. During her time at UMKC she has enjoyed mentoring and teaching a wide range of students throughout their undergraduate careers as they planned for their post-college career or graduate or professional school admission. She joined UMKC in 2017, and she received her Ph.D. from the University of Southern California and her B.A. degree from Princeton University. 

Marsha Huber is an Associate Teaching Professor of Accounting at UMKC. She joins us from her previous role serving as Research Director at the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA) and from her full professor role at Youngstown State University. Dr. Huber's research specializes in educational innovations and professional well-being. She has been recognized with several teaching awards, including the prestigious Cook Prize from the American Accounting Association. Dr. Huber holds a Ph.D. in Hospitality Management from The Ohio State University, an M.B.A. in Accounting from Miami University (Oxford, OH), a Master of Liberal Arts in Journalism from Harvard University, a Master of Applied Positive Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania, and a Master of Creativity and Change Leadership from Buffalo State University. 

Z Kemp is a current UMKC undergraduate student studying civil engineering and communications. They are the founder and current president of the UMKC Neurodivergent Student Union (NSU), an organization that strives to bring a sense of community and belonging to the neurodivergent UMKC student population. In its first year, NSU has gained more than 110 members, showing the need for community-based organizati0ns within the disability community. UMKC NSU has also been the recipient of UMKC Student Organization and University Leadership (SOUL) Award for Emerging Student Organization of the Year while Z Kemp received the Emerging Leader Award in April 2024. As they prepare for graduation in May, Z hopes to continue their studies by attending graduate school at UMKC. 

Dr. Jessica Magaña is an Associate Teaching Professor in the School of Science and Engineering at the University of Missouri-Kansas City and teaches biology and scientific writing courses. They earned a doctorate in Integrative Biology at Oklahoma State University, a master’s degree in Biology from Emporia State University, and a bachelor’s degree in Wildlife Biology from Kansas State University.

Brianna (Bri) Mann is a Visiting Graduate Student at the University of Missouri – Kansas City. She is interested in rural-urban transfer partnerships in higher education and the role of ecological and institutional supports in increasing representation of underrepresented groups in STEM fields. This interest aligns with her broader focus on understanding bioecological systems and their impact on the success and well-being of minority groups and underrepresented individuals. She graduated from UMKC last December with a Bachelor of Psychology and is currently applying to Clinical Psychology PhD programs for the 2025 cycle. On the weekends, she enjoys hiking, spending time with her wife and cats, catching up with friends, and exploring Kansas City's coffee scene. 

Dr. Cindy McDonald at UMKC, Assistant Teaching Professor. She is interested in _students overcoming academic probation, student success and retention with a background in academic advising, Higher Education Administration and Curriculum and Instruction due to working with students to facilitate their successful graduation. She graduated from University of Kansas with a Bachelor of Psychology degree, [and] from UMKC with a Master of Public Administration with an emphasis in Organizational Behavior and received her doctorate from UMKC. On the weekends, she likes to spend time with the family, sons, 4 legged babies, make glass beads, create other whimsical glass crafts, crochet and watch movies and shows as well as read mystery novels. Recently, she has begun gardening.

Dr. Marcus Meade is a faculty member with the Honors Program. He specializes in writing pedagogy, literacy studies, and writing center studies. In his spare time, he enjoys golf, hiking, and sleeping. 

Gina Paese is an Assistant Teaching Professor and Assistant Director of Teacher Education at University of Missouri – Kansas City. She is interested in studying life in urban classrooms via teacher action research and community engaged research because of her past experiences teaching in the NYC public school system. She graduated from CUNY Hunter College with a BA in English Teacher Education, [and] from St. John's University with a MS in TESOL and received her PhD in Literacy from St. John's University. She has been living in Kansas City since 2017 and enjoys exploring the city with her 4-year old daughter. 

As Director of CAFE, Dr. Petri collaborates with the Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs to orchestrate a broad array of faculty development initiatives that align with the ongoing needs of UMKC faculty. Along with delivering evidence-based professional learning opportunities and resources, Alexis' responsibilities include facilitating, designing, coordinating, promoting, implementing, evaluating, and documenting the outcomes of UMKC’s faculty support programs. 

Dr. Tiffani Riggers-Piehl, Associate Professor of Higher Education, is an award-winning teacher and mentor, who has taught at the university level for 10 years. She specializes in creative and inclusive teaching and learning across modalities. Her current research on student and staff well-being grew from her interest in the ways that people find meaning and purpose in their personal lives (with an emphasis on spiritual and religious dimensions). These research interests support her teaching philosophy and underscore the important work of mentoring faculty and students in their scholarship, while allowing herself to be mentored as well. She has a strong interest in creating scholarly communities that are supportive, humane, and resist the individualistic nature of academia and capitalism. 

Stephani Stancil, PhD, APRN is an assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Missouri-Kansas City and University of Kansas Schools of Medicine. She is also a practicing clinician in Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine and the GOLDILOKS Precision Therapeutics inpatient consult service at Children’s Mercy. She currently serves on the Board of Directors for the American Society for Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics. Following her PhD in pharmacology and pharmaceutical science, she completed a NIH-funded T32 post-doctoral fellowship in pediatric clinical pharmacology.  Her interdisciplinary, translational research focuses on developing precision therapeutics for adolescent mental health conditions by understanding variability in exposure and response.

Jeff Traiger, Ph.D., is a Senior Research Associate for the Institute of Human Development (IHD) and the Collective for Education Systems Learning Analysis (CESLA) at the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC). He is responsible for organizing several projects and serves as the Midwest Hub Lead for the NSF’s Eddie Bernice Johnson INCLUDES Initiative: TAPDINTO-STEM. This project includes 37 institutions around the nation supporting students with disabilities in STEM degree programs graduation and transition into the STEM workforce. Jeff’s career at UMKC also includes working in career services and later as the Assistant Dean of Students before becoming an Assistant Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs and Enrollment Management where he was responsible for supervising student disability, health, counseling, conduct, career, and testing offices, and later served as the campus chief student affairs personnel officer. Jeff has created and taught a variety of for-credit classes in career development, counseling, psychology, and human resources as well as presented state-wide career transition workshops to dislocated workers, conducted research on bullying behavior in higher education, employee engagement, and career development interventions. He held a national board mental health counselor certification and a Kansas teaching license in secondary social studies. 

John Tumberger is a research assistant at Children’s Mercy Kansas City and a second-year medical student at the University of Kansas School of Medicine. He graduated from Kansas State University in 2022 earning a Bachelor of Science in Biology and a minor in Leadership studies. For the past 4 years, he has worked with Dr. Stancil on various translational research projects that focus on developing precision therapeutics for adolescents. After medical school, he intends to pursue a career in academic medicine focusing on improving treatments for critically ill pediatric patients.

Dr. Karen Turla has taught at the university level for over 28 years, gaining extensive experience with many student populations, including majors, non-majors, introductory-level students, upper-level students, and professionals. Each group presents unique considerations, and Dr. Turla is dedicated to identifying the most effective strategies to foster student engagement and learning across diverse contexts. Currently, Dr. Turla teaches physiology to undergraduates and first-year pharmacy students, combining her passion for teaching with a commitment to research-based approaches. Over the years, she has explored and implemented techniques that promote engagement and learning. An active participant in CAFE, Dr. Turla was was selected as a CAFE Fellow this year. In this role, she is contributing to the growth of the Peer Observation program, recognizing it as a valuable resource for enhancing teaching practices and supporting faculty development.

Amelia Whittier serves as a member of the Teen Research Advisory Board at Children's Mercy, providing input on research-related topics and practices. She is currently a Freshman at the University of Kansas pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Behavioral Neuroscience and anticipates graduating in the Fall 2027. At the University of Kansas, she works as a research assistant on the Adaptive Use Musical Instrument (AUMI) Team. With her degree, she hopes to continue her education and to gain professional experience in research of the brain and behavior.