Kudos for Chapter Members
Join us in celebrating our MLA Liberty Chapter members for a job well done on their personal and professional accomplishments!
By Monifa Carter and Sarah Gabrielle Bauman, Membership Committee
Marie T. Ascher, MS, MPH, New York Medical College
Congratulations to Marie, our newly elected MLA President-Elect!
Joey Nicholson, PhD, MPH, NYU Health Sciences Library
Congratulations to Joey, newly elected to the MLA Board of Directors!
Yingting Zhang, MLS, AHIP-D, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
Congratulations to Yingting on her election as MLA Community Council Chair, 2026-2029!
Congratulations to the 2026 recipients of MLA awards, grants, and scholarships!
- Estelle Brodman Award for the Academic Health Sciences Librarian of the Year
Fred LaPolla, NYU Langone Medical Center, New York, NY
- Continuing Education Grant
Jeannine Creazzo, Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Somerset, Sommerville, NJ
- Hospital Libraries Professional Development Grant
Jaclyn Morales, North Shore University Hospital, Manhasset, NY
Calvin Wang, MLA Liberty Chapter Archives Committee
Calvin Wang deserves a big kudos as a longtime Archives Committee member and former chair of the committee. Prior to his committee work, he was heavily involved with MLA-PHL for many years.
He is stepping down from the Archives Committee after several years of service to the committee, MLA Liberty, and MLA Philadelphia!
A few highlights of his time with the Philadelphia and MLA Liberty Chapters:
- Calvin was a member of Archives Committee 6 years before the merger
- He was the chair until 2024 and led the committee through the merger and pandemic years
- He transitioned the two groups into one (NY/NJ and PHL) during the merger
- Calvin was part of the initial talks to merge and set up talks with leadership
- First Asian American chair of the chapter
Thank you for all your contributions, Calvin Wang!
Michael Bailou Huang, MLS, MSEd, MSAc, LAC, Stony Brook University
Michael Bailou Huang, MLS, MSEd, MSAc, LAC, will be retiring from his role as Director of Global Library Initiatives and Health Sciences Librarian at Stony Brook University after 29 years of dedicated service to the State University of New York. A SUNY Distinguished Librarian, Michael has made invaluable contributions to the university community. We extend our deepest gratitude and wish him all the best as he embarks on this exciting new chapter.
Congratulations on your retirement, Michael Bailou Huang!
Lara Nicosia, MLIS, MA, Stony Brook University
Lara Nicosia, MLIS, MA, has recently joined Stony Brook University Libraries as a Health Sciences Librarian. Lara previously worked as a Humanities Librarian at the University of Rochester. She is well-versed in innovative technologies such as artificial intelligence, programming languages, and data-wrangling software. She is excited to be joining the field of health sciences librarianship. Please join us in welcoming Lara to the Liberty Chapter!
Welcome, and congratulations on your new position, Lara Nicosia!
Hsinliang (Oliver) Chen, PhD, Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine
Congratulations to Dr. Chen on his publication:
AI prompts for clinical questions: Evaluating information literacy frameworks in health sciences education, which was published in the March issue of the Journal of Academic Librarianship https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acalib.2026.103217
Dr. Chen was the 2024 recipient of the Liberty Chapter Research Grant, which supported his work on this project.
Nancy Glassman, MLS, MPH, AHIP, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, D. Samuel Gottesman Library
Congratulations to Nancy on her promotion to Director of the D. Samuel Gottesman Library of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine.
Rie Goto, Rockefeller University; Jaclyn Morales, Northwell, North Shore University Hospital; Allison Piazza, Weill Cornell Medicine; Latrina Keith, Albert Einstein College of Medicine; Julie Reed, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia; Jordan D Correia, New York Medical College; Sarah Gabrielle Bauman, Temple University School of Podiatric Medicine; Monifa Carter, NYU Grossman Long Island School of Medicine; Bridget Jivanelli, Montclair State University
The Membership Committee of the Liberty Chapter and the Liberty Chapter Newsletter Team will be presenting a poster, Keeping in Touch with Newsletters – A Simple Tool for Staying Connected during the MLA Annual Meeting in Milwaukee, May 19-22.
Jaclyn Morales, MLS, AHIP, Regina Vitiello, MLS, Lena Bohman, MSLIS
The past chair, Jaclyn Morales, and fellow Liberty Chapter members are presenting in a Lightning Talk session titled Beyond the Hospital Walls: How Hospital Librarians Can Address Community Health Literacy through Public Library Partnerships at the MLA Annual Meeting in Milwaukee.
Regina Vitiello, MLS, Lena Bohman, MSLIS
Featured in the Member Spotlight section of the Spring 2026 Newsletter, Regina Vitiello and her coworker are presenting in a Lightning Talk session, Beyond Lecture: Search & Destroy, a Card Game for Interactive Biomedical Literature Searching Instruction at the MLA Annual Meeting in Milwaukee.
Penn Medicine, Chester County Hospital: Event Highlight
The hospital library participated in the Nursing Professional Development Fair, sponsored by the Education Council. The event was to support staff education and the Magnet journey. Updated nursing certification resources and library services were showcased, highlighting the library’s role in professional growth and lifelong learning. The well-attended event fostered meaningful engagement with nurses, students, and staff. It further promoted the library as a key resource for advancing the education and clinical practice of today’s and tomorrow's healthcare professionals.
Congratulations to the Penn Medicine Chester County Hospital for putting on this successful event!
Ajatshatru (A.J.) Pathak, MLS, MPH, Hunter College CUNY
A.J. Pathak recently worked on two systematic review projects with a group of researchers from Hunter College Bellevue School of Nursing of the City University of New York (CUNY). Both have been accepted for publication.
The first article was accepted by Oncology Nursing Forum:
Tan, A., Samuels, W. E., Scaramuzzino, M. E., Lall, S., Martelly, R., Tennill, P. A., Pathak, A., Scacalossi, A., Yu, K., Sultana, S., Zaman, S., George, A., Abedalrhman, O., & Capezuti, E. (2026). Fall Risk Factors Among Individuals With Cancer in a Large, Urban, Public Hospital. Oncology Nursing Forum, 53(1), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1188/26.ONF.e26535246
The second article, "Predictors of Adherence to Physical Activity Among Adults with Diabetes," has been accepted for publication in the Journal of Nurse Practitioners. The lead author for this article is Dr. Amil Tan, and another co-author is Shiela Strauss. https://ssrn.com/abstract=5857512 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.5857512
Congratulations on your new publications, A.J. Pathak!
