Faculty Focus - Sinan Sousan

Sinan Sousan knows well what life is like for people with respiratory conditions.

“No one understands asthma patients more than a fellow patient who carries a rescue inhaler in their bag,” said Sousan, an assistant professor in the Department of Public Health at the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University. “I wanted to actively work toward finding solutions to mitigate this disease.”

Educated as a chemical engineer at the University of Baghdad in his native Iraq and the University of Iowa, where he received a Fulbright Scholarship to study atmospheric science, completed his doctorate and served as a postdoctoral student, Sousan accepted a position at ECU in 2018. Since arriving, he’s been an investigator on 10 peer-reviewed publications.

“The university was recruiting faculty to provide unique training for students in new areas that would allow them to compete in this fast-paced, ever-changing world,” he said. “I was given the opportunity and funding to start an aerosol research laboratory and explore different areas related to public and occupational health.”

The laboratory studies environmental and occupational hazards such as toxic gases, e-cigarettes, viruses and other respiratory irritants.

He said ECU’s largely rural service area also offers opportunities to support farmers and farmworkers.

“My department encouraged me to join the N.C. Agromedicine Institute team to help find solutions to improve farmers’ and workers’ health,” said Sousan, a research faculty member with the institute. “I envision a future with low-cost sensors that can serve as a real-time warning system to improve wellbeing and alert workers to immediate dangers in their environment.”

He looks forward to continuing that work at ECU.

“I am so happy to be part of this community and am proud to be a father of two Pirate students,” he said.

“My daughter admires her professors so much that she has expressed interest in teaching future Pirates.”

– Kim Tilghman

Nicole Bromfield has been appointed dean of the ECU College of Health and Human Performance, effective July 1. Her most recent leadership role was as associate dean for academic affairs for the University of Houston’s Graduate College of Social Work, where she has been an associate professor since 2016. Her research has focused on local capacity building and the social well-being of those who are vulnerable and at risk for exploitation, especially women and children. She has a doctorate in public policy and administration with a specialization in health policy from Virginia Commonwealth University. She holds two degrees from West Virginia University – a master’s in social work and a bachelor’s in sociology and anthropology. She has completed academic leadership training with Harvard University, the Council on Social Work Education, the National Association of Deans and Directors, and the University of Houston.

Debra L. Jackson has been named dean of the ECU Graduate School, effective July 1. She joins ECU after serving two decades at California State University, Bakersfield. Her most recent role is as associate vice president for academic affairs and dean of academic programs. Jackson also served as associate dean for graduate and undergraduate studies, and interim associate dean for the School of Arts and Humanities. She recently completed a three-year term on the executive board of the Western Association of Graduate Schools. Her research addresses ethical, political and epistemological issues regarding sexual violence against women. She has a doctorate in philosophy from Purdue University and a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from Middle Tennessee State University.

At ECU’s research and creative achievement award event April 2, Xiaoping Pan, a professor of biology and an expert in how exposures to toxins such as crude oil, pesticides, nicotine, PFAS and other chemicals impact the environment, organisms and human health, received the university’s Lifetime Achievement Award for Excellence in Research and Creative Activity. She and her team are currently studying nematode infections on crops and developing strategies to combat nematode infection, which could have major beneficial impacts on crop yields.

Christine Habeeb, assistant professor in kinesiology, received the Five-Year Research & Creative Activity Award. Habeeb’s work focuses on improving performance, teamwork and well-being in sport and military settings.