ETI, Staff

Name: Dina Kurzweil, Ph.D. Department of Primary Appointment: ETI Position: USU Staff/ Associate Professor Title: Director, Education & Technology Innovation Support Office Affiliated Departments: Dept. of Medicine and Nursing

Profile

Dr. Kurzweil is the Senior Director of Education & Technology Innovation and an Associate Professor of Medicine and Nursing at USU. In this role, she leads the team equipping faculty with the digital tools and strategies needed to educate the next generation of military healthcare providers. She also serves as the co-course director for the Military Operational Space Medicine course. A widely published researcher and speaker, Dr. Kurzweil frequently presents at major conferences—including AERA, AECT, and AAMC—championing the role of instructional design, faculty support, and educational technology in modern medicine.

AREAS OF EXPERTISE:

• Educational Technology
• Instructional Design
• Faculty Development
• Program Assessment & Evaluation
• Faculty Support Teams
• Learning Engineering

BACKGROUND AND LEADERSHIP:

Prior to her current role at USU, Dr. Kurzweil led the instructional and technical teams supporting the Center for Educational Technology at the National Defense University. Throughout her career, she has worked on numerous grants and government contracts focused on education and training.

Dr. Kurzweil is a trusted voice on numerous institutional committees as well as national and international task forces and committees, shaping policies and approaches around educational technology, interprofessional education, distributed learning, faculty support teams and partnerships, learning engineering and professional development.

Current Teaching:

• Military Operational Space Medicine  
• Advanced Combat Medical Experience  
• Bushmaster
• Disaster Medicine and Mass Casualty (MASCAL): A Military-Civilian Approach to Leadership
• Foundations in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning in Healthcare

Previous Teaching:

• Dental Faculty Development 1 & 2
• Instructional Methods in Health Professions Education  
• Curriculum Development in Health Professions Education
• Curriculum Seminar
• Advanced Instructional Methods and Curriculum Development in Health Professions Education
• Computer Applications in Public Health
• Dr. Kurzweil has previously taught at University of Maryland, Temple University, University of Virginia and Trinity University. 

Education:  

• Ph.D. in Education from the University of Maryland

• M.A. in Communication from Syracuse University

• M.S. in Education from Syracuse University 

RESEARCH AND CONFERENCES:

As a researcher and speaker, Dr. Kurzweil frequently shares her findings on topics such as faculty support/partnership, educational technologies, and instructional design. She is a regular presenter at major national and international conferences, some examples include:

• American Educational Research Association (AERA)
• Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC)
• Interservice/Industry Training, Simulation & Education Conference (I/ITSEC)
• Association for Educational Communications & Technology (AECT)
• The International Association for Health Professions Education (AMEE)

Selected Publications and Presentations:

• Hirumi, A., Kurzweil, D., Giacumo, L., Olsen, C., de la Mora Velasco, E., & Moon, H. (2026). AI-assisted evidence-informed practice: Reclaiming the scientific foundations of instructional design—Part I (Why). TechTrends. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11528-026-01176-3.
• Hirumi, A., Giacumo, L., Kurzweil, D., de la Mora Velasco, E., & Moon, H. (2026). AI-assisted evidence-informed practice: Reclaiming the scientific foundations of instructional design—Part II (How). TechTrends. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11528-026-01177-2.
• Meyers, P., Guzman-Figueroa, S., Patterson, R., Kurzweil, D., Perez-Oquendo, M., Rajapaksha, M., Rajan, D., & Chosed, R. J. (2026). Montessori principles in medical education: Training innovative and compassionate physicians. Medical Science Educator https://doi.org/10.1007/S40670-026-02705-8.
• Grant L., Hamaoka D., Kurzweil D., Steinmann M. Designing Self-Paced Psychiatry Modules: A Practical Guide for Clerkship Faculty. Acad Psychiatry. 2025 Dec; 49(6):567-571. doi: 10.1007/s40596-025-02269-6.
• Kurzweil, D., Marcellas, K. & Macaulay, L.S. (2025). ADIIT - An Evidence-Based Maturity Model for Faculty Support Teams in the Health Professions. Med.Sci.Educ. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40670-024-02229-z .
• Macaulay, L. & Kurzweil, D. Teaching in the “New Normal”: Using an Evidence-Based Process to Determine Should It Stay or Should It Go (SISoSIG). Med.Sci.Educ. (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40670-023-01827-7.
• Kurzweil, D., Macaulay, L., & Marcellas, K. (2023). The Holy Grail of Developing Partnerships for DL in Military Education: The Keys to Success. Journal of Military Learning 7(1) Found at https://www.armyupress.army.mil/Journals/Journal-of-Military-Learning/Journal-of-Military-Learning-Archives/Conference-Edition-2023-Journal-of-Military-Learning/Military-Education/.
• Kurzweil D, Seibert D, Tetteyfio G, Henry B, & Cruthirds D. (2023) Quality Feedback: Using Animation to Improve Evaluations. Nurse Educator. Vol. 48(4).
• Kurzweil, D., Meyer, E., Marcellas, K, & Henry, B. (2020). Evidence-Based Guidelines for Recording Slide Based Lectures. Medical Science Educator. DOI 0.1007/s40670-020-01032-w https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7394704/.
• Kurzweil, D. and Marcellas, K. (2020). Teaming Up to Improve Medical /Healthcare Education: Instructional Design & Learning Engineering. Journal of Applied Instructional Design 9(1):20. 
• Yoon M., Kurzweil D., Durning S., Schreiber-Gregory D., Dong, T., Hemmer P., and Gilliland W (2020). It's a Matter of Trust: Exploring The Basis of Program Directors' Decisions About Whether to Trust a Resident to Care For a Loved One. Advances in Health Sciences Education https://doi.org/10.1007/s10459-019-09953-x.
• Nguyen D., Kurzweil D., Marcellas K., Iteen A. (2019) The Qualities that Matter - Understanding the Medical Student Perspective of Residents as Teachers. J Health Sci Educ 3(3): 161. http://escires.com/articles/20190620033605_Health-1-161.pdf.

Name: Beth (Karen) Marcellas, Ph.D. Department of Primary Appointment: ETI Title: Instructional Systems Specialist, Education & Technology Innovation Support Office

Profile

Dr. Marcellas is the Instructional Design Team Lead for the ETI. She has more than twenty years of experience in designing instruction for classroom-based, DL and blended learning environments. Her main role at the ETI is ensuring that the team understands faculty members’ needs, and that the team designs and develops products that meet those needs. Her work at the ETI has included front-end analysis, content design, course evaluation, and conducting research on instructional interventions.  She has led professional development sessions at USU on topics including the development of effective learning objectives, the use of Bloom’s Taxonomy to guide assessment, and techniques for creating an effective learning environment. Dr. Marcellas has been involved with many instructional and educational technology initiatives at National Defense University (NDU) as well as USUHS.

Dr. Marcellas has made presentations at numerous national and international conferences, including the American Educational Research Association (AERA) Annual Meeting, multiple conferences offered by the Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education, the Interservice/Industry Training, Simulation, and Education Conference, the Open Apereo (Sakai) Conference, AAMC, and the Educause Mid-Atlantic Regional Conference.

Education:

Ph.D. in English Literature from Princeton University

M.A. in English Literature from the University of Sussex

M.S. in Instructional Systems from Florida State University

B.A. in English and Psychology (double major) from the University of Virginia

Selected Publications and Presentations:

• Kurzweil, D., Marcellas, K. & Macaulay, L.S. (2025). ADIIT - An Evidence-Based Maturity Model for Faculty Support Teams in the Health Professions. Med.Sci.Educ. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40670-024-02229-z 
• Kurzweil, D., Macaulay, L., & Marcellas, K. (2023). The Holy Grail of Developing Partnerships for DL in Military Education: The Keys to Success. Journal of Military Learning 7(1) Found at https://www.armyupress.army.mil/Journals/Journal-of-Military-Learning/Journal-of-Military-Learning-Archives/Conference-Edition-2023-Journal-of-Military-Learning/Military-Education/ 
• Kurzweil, D., Meyer, E., Marcellas, K, & Henry, B. (2020). Evidence-Based Guidelines for Recording Slide Based Lectures. Medical Science Educator. DOI 0.1007/s40670-020-01032-w. http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40670-020-01032-w .
• Kurzweil, D. & Marcellas, K. (2020). Teaming Up to Improve Medical /Healthcare Education: Instructional Design & Learning Engineering. Journal of Applied Instructional Design 9(1):20.https://www.jaid.pub/vol-9-issue-1-2020 .
• Kurzweil, D. &  Marcellas, K. (2020).  Learning Engineering: It’s all about Teamwork  - iFest Conference. August 2020 Virtual due to COVID 19.   
• Kurzweil, D, Marcellas, K & Nguyen, D. (2019).  Minds at Work: Teaching Professional Practice in the Medical Setting. Full Paper and Poster at the American Educational Research Association. Toronto, Canada. 
• Kurzweil, D. & Marcellas, K. (2019). Instructional Designers and Learning Engineers. In Walcutt, J.J. & Schatz, S. (Eds.) (2019). Modernizing Learning: Building the Future Learning Ecosystem. Washington, DC: Government Publishing Office. License: Creative Commons Attribution CC BY 4.0 IGO.
• Nguyen D., Kurzweil D., Marcellas K., Iteen A. (2019) The Qualities that Matter - Understanding the Medical Student Perspective of Residents as Teachers. J Health Sci Educ 3(3): 161.http://escires.com/articles/20190620033605_Health-1-161.pdf .
• Anderson, M., Kurzweil, D., Marcellas, K., Jordan, B., & Cooper, S., (2020). Using Games to Enhance Learning in Health Professions. Concurrent presentation the Association for Educational Communications & Technology (AECT).  Virtual in November 2020 due to COVID19.
• Kurzweil, D., & Marcellas, K., (2019). Providing a Helping Hand – Sharing Research & Best Practices on Supporting Faculty as a Learning Workshop at The IEEE Industry Connections Industry Consortium on Learning Engineering (ICICLE) - ICICLE Conference. Fairfax, VA.
• Kurzweil, D & Marcellas, K., (2018). Making the Familiar Seem New Again: Using Principles of Engagement to Design Effective Processional Development. Education session at OLC Accelerate Conference. Orlando, Fl.
• Marcellas, B., & Kurzweil, D. (2016). How to Win Friends and Influence Educators. E-Learn World Conference on E-Learning in Corporate, Government, Healthcare and Higher Education 2016 Conference. Washington, DC. 
• Marcellas, K., Kurzweil, D., Henry, B. & Hanson, E. (2015). Designing and Building Effective Assessments: It's not about all about Total Recall. Presentation at Open Apereo 2015 Conference Baltimore, Maryland. Presentation.
• Marcellas, B., Kurzweil, D., Woodson, J., & Henry, B.  (2014). Bringing Procedural Knowledge Instruction to Life Through Scenario-Based Online Lessons. In Proceedings of the AACE World Conference on E-Learning in Corporate, Government, Healthcare, and Higher Education. (p. 217-222). Presentation.
• Goodie, J. & Kurzweil, D. & Marcellas, B. (2012). Fostering Collaboration Between Faculty and Instructional Design/Technology Specialists to Advance Student Learning. Educause Mid-Atlantic Regional Conference. Baltimore, Maryland. Presentation.
• Kurzweil, D., Marcellas, K., Lopreiato, J., & Woodson, J. (2012). Planning Low Bandwidth Assessments That Support Curriculum Competencies. The Interservice/Industry Training, Simulation & Education Conference (I/ITSEC). Orlando, Florida.  Paper and Presentation.
• Woodson, J., Schwartz, J., Kurzweil, D., & Marcellas, K. (2012). T3 Pursuit: Triage, Transport, & Track Combat Health Support Board Game. The Interservice/Industry Training, Simulation & Education Conference (I/ITSEC). Orlando, Florida. Paper and Presentation.
• Woodson, J., Kurzweil, D. & Marcellas, K. (2011). Operation Lost Paradise: A Low‐cost Classroom Simulation for Medical Stability Operations in Medical Education. The Interservice/Industry Training, Simulation, and Education Conference (I/ITSEC). Orlando, Florida. Paper and Presentation. 
• Goodie J.L., Williams P.M., Kurzweil D., & Marcellas K.B. (2011). Can Blended Classroom and Distributed Learning Approaches Be Used to Teach Medical Students How to Initiate Behavior Change Counseling During a Clinical Clerkship? Journal of Clinical Psychology in Medical Settings. (4) 353‐60. Paper. 
• Kurzweil, D.; Marcellas, B.; Miller, M. and Piller, M. (2006). American Educational Research Association. “Analysis of Participation in a Voluntary, Faculty-Led Online Book Discussion Group for Alumni.” Paper and presentation.

Name: Brandon Henry Department of Primary Appointment: ETI Position: USU Staff Title: Instructional Systems Specialist, Education & Technology Innovation Support Office

Profile

As the Technical Team Lead for the Educational Technology Innovation (ETI) department, Mr. Henry brings over two decades of experience in digital course production, advanced multimedia creation, and instructional design. He works directly with faculty, administrators, and technical teams to establish clear content standards and expand high-quality, graduate-level distance learning programs.

Since 2006, Mr. Henry has partnered with the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS) to review, design, and build advanced curricula for doctoral and PhD programs across the School of Medicine and the Graduate School of Nursing (GSN). As a media specialist, he leads cross-functional teams of instructional designers, multimedia creators, and certified medical illustrators to deliver highly engaging, interactive, and technology-driven courses for both classroom and remote learning environments.

Respected in his field, Mr. Henry has presented his work on educational technology at major industry conferences, including E-Learn, ED-MEDIA, and the Open Apereo (Sakai) Conference.

Mr. Henry is also a former instructor at the University of South Florida.

Education

• Masters of Education, Instructional Technology, University of South Florida, 2005
• Bachelor of Science, Mass Communications, Kansas State University, 1995

Selected Publications and Presentations

• Kurzweil D, Seibert D, Tetteyfio G, Henry B, & Cruthirds D. (2023) Quality Feedback: Using Animation to Improve Evaluations. Nurse Educator. Vol. 48(4)
• Kurzweil, D., Meyer, E., Marcellas, K, & Henry, B. (2020). Evidence-Based Guidelines for Recording Slide Based Lectures. Medical Science Educator. DOI 0.1007/s40670-020-01032-w https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7394704/.
• Marcellas, K., Kurzweil, D., Henry, B. & Hanson, E. (2015). Designing and Building Effective Assessments: It's not about all about Total Recall. Presentation at Open Apereo 2015 Conference Baltimore, Maryland. Presentation.
• Henry, B., Marcellas, K., Kurzweil, D.,  & Hanson, E. (2015). Can't We All Just Get Along? Using Media Principles to Find Common Ground Among Team Members. Presentation at Open Apereo 2015 Conference Baltimore, Maryland.
• Ling, C., Kurzweil, D., Henry, B., Beam, K., Marcellas, B. & Onufro, D. (2014). Preventing a Zombie Pandemic - Working with Nursing Faculty to Create Motivating Online Content. In Proceedings of the AACE World Conference on E-Learning in Corporate, Government, Healthcare, and Higher Education. (p. 217-222).
• Watts, D., Chuba, J., Henry, B., Kurzweil, D., Marcellas, B., Mulkern, J. and Tarr, S. E-Learn World Conference on E-Learning in Corporate, Government, Healthcare and Higher Education – “Using Emerging Technologies to Decrease Anxiety and Improve Performance in a Doctoral Statistics Course.” (10/2009)
• Kurzweil, D., Marcellas, B., Muniz, G., Henry, B., Watts, D., Gibbons, Lopreiato, J. & Wilber, J. E-Learn World Conference on E-Learning in Corporate, Government, Healthcare and Higher Education –“A Multidisciplinary Team Approach to Develop and Validate an Online Course.” (10/2009)
• Marcellas, B., Kurzweil, D., Goodie, J. & Henry, B. ED-MEDIA World Conference on Educational Multimedia, Hypermedia & Telecommunications – “Expanding the Learning Space: Transitioning from a Face-to- Face to a Blended Learning Experience Without Losing the “Human Touch”.” (6/2009)
• Henry, B., Kurzweil, D., Marcellas B. ED-MEDIA World Conference on Educational Multimedia, Hypermedia & Telecommunications – “Changing the Face of Online Courseware (Literally!).” (6/2009).
• Henry, B.; Marcellas, B.; Kurzweil, D.; and Davis, S. E-Learn World Conference on E-Learning in Corporate, Government, Healthcare and Higher Education – “Using Templates to Build Courseware to Enhance Ease-of- Use for Faculty and Usability for Learners” (11/2008).

 Profile

Simone Fary, MA  is an instructional designer/media producer with the Henry M. Jackson Foundation in support of the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences Education & Technology Innovation (ETI) Support Office. She has over 30 years of experience developing educational media such as online learning, websites, instructional videos, webinars, eBooks, and other digital media. She has created assorted training products on a range of topics including nursing education, refugee resettlement, adult learning theory and practice, behavioral health, substance abuse. She is also an award-winning documentary film producer/director.

Profile

Mr. Gallagher is a medical illustrator with the Henry  M. Jackson Foundation in support of the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences Education & Technology Innovation (ETI) Support Office. He has 

over 20 years of experience in the creative field, with more than half that time as a medical illustrator. In this role he has produced illustrations and animations that assist healthcare researchers, educators and professionals communicate complex information in an understandable and engaging manner. Mr. Gallagher has worked as a medical illustrator at MD Anderson and Northwestern University, where he provided illustrations and animations for classroom instructional use, patient education, presentations, journals and textbooks. He also worked as a lead medical artist for GPI Anatomicals, heading a team of medical artists in creating anatomical models for student and patient education. With the USUHS ETI team, Mr. Gallagher performs a variety of tasks including illustration and animation, video editing, and other content creation. 

Mr. Gallagher’s illustrations can also be found in numerous scientific and medical textbooks and journals.

Profile

Mr. Hospodar is an education/training and exercise specialist with the Henry M. Jackson Foundation in support of the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences Education & Technology (ETI) Innovation Support Office. He collaborates with USU faculty in planning, assessing, designing, developing, implementing, and evaluating courses and USU Military Field Practicums. He is a Retired U.S. Navy Special Operations Chief Petty Officer with extensive experience/knowledge of explosives and their applications, U.S. and foreign ordnance, and Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) and counter-IED (C-IED) methodologies. He is a Designated USN Master Training Specialist (MTS) for high-risk training.

Profile

Mr. Jackson is the Green Room Studio Technician with the Henry M. Jackson Foundation in support of the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences Education & Technology Innovation (ETI) Support Office. for ETI.  Mr. Jackson has worked in audio/video for over 20 years. His role at USUHS includes graphic and motion design, and recording and editing educational content such as lectures, podcasts, and presentations to increase the quality of faculty’s course material. 

Profile

Dr. Macaulay is an instructional designer with the Henry M. Jackson Foundation in support of the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences Education & Technology Innovation (ETI) Support Office. She has over 15 years of experience teaching in online, blended, and traditional higher education programs. Before coming to the university, she served as an Assistant Director of Instructional Technology,  taught graduate and undergraduate educational technology courses, and taught elementary school for eleven years. Her background in leadership for change, technology, and learning theory provides a broad base of knowledge to support faculty as they work to enhance their face-to-face, blended, and online courses with innovative teaching strategies and technology. She calls herself a "teacher first, techie second" because it is good teaching and course design that makes all the difference for student success.

Profile

Dr. McLeod is an instructional designer and evaluation-data specialist with the Henry M. Jackson Foundation in support of the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences Education & Technology Innovation (ETI) Support Office. She has over 11 years of experience teaching in K-12 environments and at the university level, and has supported educators as an instructional technology coach. She has a background in Educational Psychology, Learning Technologies Design Research, and Research Methodologies, as well as experience in instrument development and mixed methods research. She believes in the importance of situating both teachers and students in the role of a designer.

Profile

Mr. Onufro is a graphic designer/multimedia specialist  with the Henry M. Jackson Foundation in support of the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences Education & Technology Innovation (ETI) Support Office. He has over fifteen years of experience in multimedia visualization, design, and development for many diverse clients, including the United States Air Force (USAF), United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM), Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) and the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections (PADOC). Since 2007 he has worked closely with multimedia specialists, instructional designers, subject matter experts and faculty at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS). In his role at ETI he designs and delivers engaging multimedia including instructional graphics, animations, infographics, illustrations, user interfaces, print, and voice-over products. In 2018 Mr. Onufro was certified as a Department of Homeland Security Section 508 Trusted Tester. He is trained to evaluate web and distributed learning products for compliance with Section 508 standards, which require all electronic and information technology accessible to people with disabilities such as impaired vision, hearing and motor functions.