Six Women Faculty Members Who Are Taking on New Assignments

Diane M. Simeone has been appointed director of the Moores Cancer Center at University of California, San Diego Health, effective April 1, 2024. Dr. Simeone currently serves as the Laura and Isaac Perlmutter Professor of Surgery, director of the Pancreatic Cancer Center, and the associate director of translational research at Perlmutter Cancer Center at New York University Langone Health. She is an internationally recognized surgeon-expert in the biology and multidisciplinary treatment of pancreatic neoplasms, with an active clinical practice in pancreatic surgery.

Dr. Simeone is a graduate of Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, where she majored in neuroscience. She earned her medical degree at Duke University.

Jessica Thompson, a professor in the College of Business at Northern Michigan University in Marquette, was given the added duties of assistant vice president for sustainability at the university. Her research is focused on team and organizational communication about complex ecological issues, such as climate change resilience and sustainable development.

Dr. Thompson holds a bachelor’s degree in communication studies and public relations from Northern Michigan University. She earned a Ph.D. at the University of Utah.

Nikia A. Laurie was appointed interim director of the Julius L. Chambers Biomedical Biotechnology Research Institute at North Carolina Central University in Durham. She joined the faculty at the university in 2020. Prior to her NCCU appointment, Dr. Laurie served as the director of the Retinoblastoma Center of Excellence and assistant professor at the Stanley Manne Research Institute and the Northwestern University School of Medicine in Chicago.

Dr. Laurie earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from Xavier University of Louisiana. She holds a Ph.D. in medical science from Brown University.

Haley Duschinski, a professor of anthropology and the graduate program director of the master’s degree program in law, justice & culture at Ohio University, has been selected as the new director of the university’s Center for International Studies. She is the co-editor of the Palgrave Handbook of New Directions in Kashmir Studies (Palgrave Macmillan, 2023).

Dr. Duschinski is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She earned a Ph.D. in anthropology from Harvard University.

Jennelle Malcos, professor of biology and associate director of the Center for Excellence in Science Education in the College of Science of Pennsylvania State University, has been given the added duties of assistant dean for undergraduate students in the college.

Dr. Malcos holds a bachelor’s degree in biology from Canisius College in Buffalo, New York. She earned a Ph.D. in plant physiology from Pennsylvania State University.

Lingying Zhao was appointed a Distinguished Professor of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences at Ohio State University. Dr. Zhao specializes in air quality and indoor environmental control of food animal production facilities.

Professor Zhao holds a bachelor’s degree in structural and environmental engineering and a master’s degree in bio-environmental engineering from China Agricultural University. She earned a Ph.D. in agricultural engineering from the University of Illinois.