UF holiday season 2016 experts
Shopping and consumers
Steve Kirn, retailing management lecturer, UF Warrington College of Business; 352-273-3277, steven.kirn@warrington.ufl.edu
Kirn draws on more than 25 years in retailing to provide context on sales trends, the impact of internet sales, mobile shopping, the impact of new competitors on existing businesses, “fast fashion” retailers and the future of department stores.
Elizabeth “Lissy” Calienes, interior design doctoral student, College of Design, Construction and Planning; 310-403-0913, calienes@ufl.edu
Calienes studies retail design and the millennial generation, and serves as a consultant on shopper behavior for Hispanic and general customers.
Read Hayes, research scientist, Crime Prevention Research Team; 321-303-6193, rrhayes@ufl.edu
Theft and fraud cost U.S. retailers billions in annual losses. In UF’s crime-prevention lab and retail stores, Hayes works with new technologies to stop shoplifters.
Gift ideas: Children’s books and educational toys
Katie Caprino, children’s literature professor, College of Education; 757-478-0250, kcaprino@coe.ufl.edu
In her blog, “Katie Reviews Books”, Caprino suggests children’s books titles for early readers, middle grades and young adults for the holidays and beyond, drawing on her experience as an education professor, former middle- and high-school English teacher and avid reader.
- Diane Howell, pediatrician at UF Health, has identified toys that are appropriate and educational for children as gifts. Contact UF Health Media Relations, 352-273-5810.
- Ianessa Humbert, associate professor, UF Department of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences in the College of Public Health and Health Professions, speech-language pathologist with expertise on the physiological mechanisms of swallowing and swallowing disorders. Media contact: Michelle Koidin Jaffee, assistant director of communications, McKnight Brain Institute, 352-294-8352
- Greg Jones, addiction medicine specialist in the UF Department of Psychiatry, can discuss alcoholism, addiction and New Year’s sobriety. Contact UF Health Media Relations, 352-273-5810.
Food and drink issues, addiction
Dr. Humbert, who recently hosted a first-ever national think-tank of experts on the study of swallowing disorders, can shine a light on what causes these disorders (treatment from head/neck cancers, neurodegenerative diseases, stroke, injuries) and what current treatments and therapies exist.
Holiday blues
Dr. Sarah Fayad, assistant professor in the UF department of psychiatry, can discuss holiday depression. Contact UF Health Media Relations, 352-273-5810.