The University of South Florida recognized faculty and students in the College of Arts and Sciences for their outstanding mentorship and scholarship with three Outstanding Graduate Faculty Mentor awards and three Outstanding Thesis & Dissertation (OTD) award. One member of the college faculty also received an honorable mention.
These awards not only recognize the recipients’ amazing work, but also provide them with incredible opportunities to connect with scholars at USF and beyond.
“I am very grateful for the USF Outstanding Dissertation Award for recognizing the impact of my research,” said Janine DeBiasi, a doctoral student in the Department of Molecular Biosciences. “This award not only brings visibility to my work on cancer progression, but also provides a valuable platform for collaboration, helping me connect with leading scholars in my field and potentially secure future research funding or academic positions.”
Outstanding Faculty Mentor Award Winner
Patrice Buzzanell, PhD
Professor of Communication
An award-winning mentor, Buzzanell has served as a professor of communication at USF since 2017, and has profoundly impacted graduate mentoring, advising 147 completed theses and dissertations throughout her career and actively supporting 20 current projects across USF and other institutions. Her mentoring philosophy emphasizes "co-mentoring," a collaborative approach that values mutual learning and adapts to each unique relationship. Aside from USF’s Outstanding Faculty Mentor Award, her accolades include the B. Aubrey Fisher Mentorship Award from the International Communication Association and Purdue University’s Outstanding Graduate Mentor Award. Buzzanell’s mentees have earned prestigious awards from the Association for Chinese Communication Studies, the Organization for the Study of Communication, Language & Gender and other organizations. Many have gone on to hold academic positions nationwide.
Outstanding Faculty Mentor Award Honorable Mention
Travis Bell, PhD
Director of Graduate Programs and Research in the Zimmerman School of Advertising
& Mass Communications
Bell joined USF’s faculty in 2019, and in that time has demonstrated an incredible
commitment to mentoring graduate students. He has chaired 10 master’s theses, served
on committees across four departments and fostered students’ academic and professional
success. Notably, seven of his mentees have been accepted into top doctoral programs,
with others securing industry positions in media and sports organizations. Outside
of USF, Bell actively mentors students through associations like the International
Association for Communication and Sport and remains committed to advancing students’
careers and academic journeys beyond graduation.
Outstanding Thesis & Dissertation Award Winners
Janine DeBiasi, PhD
Molecular Biosciences/Cancer Biology, under the mentorship of Chair Marcus Cooke and Ken Wright, with Dean Elizabeth Spiller
Title of Thesis: “Distinct Nrf2 Signaling Thresholds Mediate Lung Tumor Initiation and Progression”
DeBiasi’s research examines NRF2, a protein that protects cells from stress, and its
complex role in non-small cell lung cancer. NRF2 can sometimes support the initiation
of cancer, but it also has the potential to limit cancer cell growth in other contexts.
Her work suggests there may be an optimal level of NRF2 in cancer initiation and progression.
Insufficient NRF2 activity can allow cancer to progress more easily, while excessive
NRF2 activation can lead to metabolic challenges that restrict cancer cell growth.
These findings suggest that therapies targeting NRF2 could be tailored to different
stages of cancer. Additionally, for healthy individuals, activating NRF2 might offer
protective benefits against cancer, although more research is needed to confirm its
long-term safety in humans.
Noah Schulz, PhD
Applied Physics, under the guidance of Chair Sarath Witanachchi and Dean Elizabeth Spiller
Title of Thesis: “Interfacial Magnetism and Anisotropy in Dirac and Weyl Semimetals”
Over the past twenty years, scientists have been able to identify special types of electrons in semimetals, which hold great potential for applications in modern computing, sensing and renewable energies. There are two problems with the realization of these systems in practical applications: the ability to induce magnetism, and the ability to systematically control their properties. Schulz’s dissertation research explores two specific types of semimetal systems, Dirac and Weyl semimetals, and investigates how changing the interfacial and bulk magnetic properties can be used to solve those problems.
Alexandria Choate, PhD
Psychology, under the guidance of Chair Judy Bryant and Dean Elizabeth Spiller
Title of Thesis: “Modeling the Development of Borderline Personality Disorder: A Formal Theory Approach”
Choate’s dissertation aims to advance the understanding of borderline personality disorder (BPD) by leveraging mathematical, formal models to better understand its development across the lifespan. She uses these models to provide novel insights into the development of BPD, while simultaneously addressing key limitations of existing theories. These findings also have several clinical implications, with the potential to advance current prevention and intervention strategies for BPD.