August 24, 2021

The new issue of EXEL, Drexel University’s research magazine, features a number of articles on College of Arts and Sciences faculty members, departments, centers and programs, recognizing the significant contributions they have made to research and discoveries.

Speaking About Symptoms

Doctors and their patients both benefit from using a range of diagnostic labels to discuss patients’ experiences with autoimmune conditions. Learn more about this research by Kelly Joyce, PhD, professor of sociology and interim dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.

Body of Research

The Academy Library and Archives at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University is internationally recognized for its rare and historic books, journals, artifacts, manuscripts, photographs and the unique papers and research of Academy members and staff. View a photo gallery of images from the collection.

A Serious Play on the Refugee Crisis

Resilience, a socially conscious city-builder video game set on an alien moon, blends game play with research and realism to bring the global refugee crisis home. Learn about this game created by a cross-curricular team of 18 students and faculty advisors from the Westphal College of Media Arts & Design, the College of Computing & Informatics and the College of Arts and Sciences.

Aha! & Ahhhh Moments

By monitoring subjects completing word puzzles, researchers found that creative insight triggers a neural reward signal. Learn more about this research by John Kounios, PhD, professor of psychology, and Yongtaek Oh, a psychology doctoral candidate.

How to Catch a Fish

The study of unknown fish species and habitats sometimes mean you have to get your feet wet. Learn more about National Science Foundation-funded expeditions to Brazil’s Xingu River.

Creatures Great and Small

Scientists from the Academy of Natural Sciences are continually identifying new species and expanding our knowledge of biodiversity with their discoveries. View some recent discoveries recently entered into the scientific record.

School Suspension

Justice-involved youth who seek to earn academic credit for their studies while in detention find the odds stacked again them. Learn more about this new study from Naomi Goldstein, PhD, professor of psychology and head of the Juvenile Justice Research and Reform Lab.

Drexel’s Play on the Business of Research

A neuroscience study on gaming with esports booster Comcast is the latest project orchestrated by the Drexel Solutions Institute as it remakes how higher education collaborates with external partners. Learn more about this project and the Drexel Solutions Institute.

Murky Watershed Outcomes

More public and private resources than ever are being directed to protecting and preserving aquatic ecosystems and watersheds—but are they truly having an impact? Learn more about research that investigates this question, led by Stefanie A. Kroll, assistant research professor of biodiversity, earth and environmental science.

An Outpost for Equatorial Guinea

Drexel is expanding a unique conservation and visitor outpost it operates on the island of Bioko in partnership with the Universidad Nacional de Guinea Ecuatorial. Learn more about the Bioko Biodiversity Protection Program, led by Mary Katherine Gonder, professor of biology.

A Rock-Solid Rarity

An unusual species of shipworm has a taste for rock that sets it apart from thousands of others. Learn more about this discovery by a team of researchers, including Gary Rosenberg, PhD, professor of biodiversity, earth and environmental science and curator and Pilsbry Chair of Malacology in the Academy of Natural Sciences.

Quick Studies on Racial Injustice

Outrage over police killings of Black citizens in the summer of 2020 spurred researchers and the University to respond with a novel fund for “rapid response” scholarship. Learn about the projects in the College of Arts and Sciences and across the university that were supported by this fund.

Encroaching on the Endangered

Researchers traveled to China to study the risk that free-roaming dogs continue to pose to giant pandas even though they are in protected habitats. Learn more about this research led by L.D. Betz Professor of Environmental Science James Spotila, PhD.

Right Brain v Left Brain

A brain-imaging study of jazz guitarists during improvisation sheds light on where creativity resides in the mind. Learn more about this study led by David Rosen, a recent Drexel psychology doctoral graduate, and John Kounios, PhD, professor of psychology and director of Drexel’s Creativity Research Lab.

Li’l Eats

Healthy eating advice for children is just a video call away thanks to a new program from Drexel’s Center for Weight, Eating and Lifestyle Science. Learn more about “Project PICNIC,” developed by Britt Evans, a recent PhD graduate in the WELL Center.

View the full issue.