Vikash Patel (Social and Behavioral Health) received the 2026 APHA Integrative, Complementary and Traditional Health Practices Section Outstanding Student Poster Award for the presentation “Efficacy of yoga interventions as complementary therapy in the pediatric oncology population: A scoping review of the literature, prepared in co-authorship…

Farhana Khandoker (Social and Behavioral Health) received the 2026 APHA Student Assembly Outstanding Student Abstract Award for an oral presentation, “Applying the multi-theory model of health behavior change to examine depression among adults with type 2 diabetes,” prepared in co-authorship with Manoj Sharma (Public Health; Internal Medicine) at…

Graduate students Stephanie Meza, Juan Plancarte Hernandez, and Marissa Rakos (all Education) presented Breaking Silos: Intersectional Testing Supports for Multilingual Learners with Disabilities at the 2026 ATLAS Conference on October 17. Their research examined how school leaders can better support multilingual learners with disabilities during…

Doctoral studet Olivia Hackett (Educational Policy & Leadership) and associate professor Jacob D. Skousen (Educational Psychology, Leadership and Higher Education) presented Not Another SEL PD! Teacher Leaders Linking Brain Science and Healing-Centered Practice at the 2026 ATLAS Conference on October 17. Their professional development session…

Praise Osawaru (English) spoke as a guest panelist on the Homelands (Discourses on Parenthood, Indigeneity and Belonging) panel at the 2026 Las Vegas Book Festival. The panel, which happened in the "Poetry Pavilion" tent, explored the question of what it means to write about home and the people in our lives who manifest and create belonging.…

Sam Leif (Teaching and Learning) published Against the Meta: The Evolution of Women's Competitive Apex Legends. This book is the first documented history of women's competitive Apex Legends; drawn from firsthand interviews, tournament archives, Discord records, and player testimony, it traces how a community of players, organizers, coaches,…

Associate professor Jenna Weglarz-Ward (Early Childhood Special Education) was part of the research and writing team for the 2026 position statement from national organizations Division for Early Childhood/National Association for the Education of Young Children--Early Childhood Inclusion. First published in 2009--this statement is used…

The Association for Behavior Analysis International (ABAI) has granted provisional recognition to the M.Ed. in Special Education with an Emphasis in Applied Behavior Analysis. The program met more than 50 rigorous standards across nine areas, including mission, curriculum, outcomes assessment, resources, and faculty. ABAI is the…

Dan Wright (Educational Psychology, Leadership, and Higher Education) published research examining whether asking people for more information following responses to the General Health Questionnaire could affected subsequent responses. It can. Respondents gave fewer psychologically concerning responses when presented with selective and predictable…

Madeline Clark and Heather Dahl-Jacinto (both Counselor Education, School Psychology, and Human Service) published their text "A DSM-5-TR Companion for Counselors: A Trauma-Informed and Socially Just Model for Diagnosis and Treatment Planning."

Gerilyn Slicker (Early Childhood, Multilingual, and Special Education) received a $300,000 award from the Stranahan Foundation.  Her project will develop and test an innovative leadership model to help elementary school principals strengthen the transition from preschool to kindergarten — supporting developmentally appropriate…

Shane W. Kraus (Psychology), associate professor and director of the Behavioral Addictions Lab at UNLV, recently published six peer-reviewed articles advancing research on behavioral addictions, mental health, and public health. The publications appeared in leading journals including Frontiers in Psychology, Frontiers in Public Health, the Journal…