What do nursing and podiatry have in common? College of Public Health faculty. Interdisciplinary work and collaboration efforts in higher education is becoming more common, according to a white paper released by the Collaborative on Academic Careers in Higher Education at Harvard’s Graduate School of Education. In fact, the research indicates, newly minted faculty “…hav(e) come to enjoy and expect such intellectual commerce during graduate school.” (2014).
Dr. Mark Dalman is no exception. “After completing my PhD in Integrative Bioscience from University of Akron, I became a post-doctoral research associate in the College of Public Health, specifically leveraging an “-omic” (i.e. metagenomics, proteomics, transcriptomics, metabolomics) approach to the field of Epidemiology. While in this position, I began conducting research in Dr. Tara Smith’s lab while keeping my eyes open for teaching and research opportunities at Kent State.”
Dalman was offered a unique joint assignment with the CPH and College of Podiatric Medicine (CPM) where he has had an opportunity to “bridge the scientific divide.” He teaches communicable diseases courses for CPH and Clinical Microbiology and Immunology at CPM.
He explains, “Without preaching to current graduate students, I still fall back on the old saying of wishing I knew then what I know now. The best advice I would give them is to be nimble and capable of molding to the college’s needs. Next I would tell them that funding agencies, department needs, and student wants are drivers for professors with unique backgrounds. I believe that forging collaborations helps create distinctive research opportunities. I feel I can contribute to Kent State University students in many ways and look forward to future collaborations with the Colleges of Podiatric Medicine, Public Health, and Arts and Sciences.”