Research in Action

“We’re uncovering how blood vessel cells rewire under stress,” says Black. “By understanding these triggers, we can design interventions to protect the lung’s fragile vascular system and prevent irreversible disease.” The second award targets a deadly complication of sepsis—acute lung injury, while the third aims to develop new treatments for acute lung injury and acute respiratory distress syndrome.

They found that genetic ancestry plays a measurable role in IBD risk, disease severity, and clinical outcomes. Using ancestry-informed, genome-wide analyses, the team identified 14 novel genetic risk loci specific to African ancestry and one genome-wide significant locus specific to Amerindian ancestry. Many of these variants were rare or absent in European populations and would not have been detected in ancestry-agnostic studies.

They identified three previously unknown genotypes of Helicobacter: Kogia Helicobacter 1, 2 and 3. “We saw signs of gastritis, gastric ulcers, fibrosis and nematode infestations. In one case, there was also colitis .... While Helicobacter wasn’t listed as the cause of death in any of the whales, these lesions raise questions about its role in gastrointestinal disease,” says researcher Annie Page.

They identified three previously unknown genotypes of Helicobacter: Kogia Helicobacter 1, 2 and 3. “We saw signs of gastritis, gastric ulcers, fibrosis and nematode infestations. In one case, there was also colitis .... While Helicobacter wasn’t listed as the cause of death in any of the whales, these lesions raise questions about its role in gastrointestinal disease,” says researcher Annie Page.

Singla is addressing this problem with an innovative drug delivery platform that puts heart medication into “smart tiny bubbles” tagged with markers that send them precisely where the drug is needed. “Our goal is to create a safe, highly targeted treatment strategy that improves patient outcomes, reduces healthcare costs and lowers global cardiovascular mortality rates — all while advancing a more personalized, effective approach to heart disease care.”

“It's like what a sculptor might do with stone, where you gradually subtract more and more until you have what you want,” says researcher Brent Sumerlin. “It’s like having a very small mesh in a screen, which is potentially good for purifying wastewater … It also works as a high-performance membrane, which is key to many batteries.”

The material has a crystalline structure and contains bismuth, a naturally occurring metal with antibacterial properties, and iodide, which enables it to activate when exposed to sunlight. The resulting product generates a chemical compound capable of breaking down red tide cells. The material “doesn’t require added energy or ongoing chemical inputs once it’s in place… is not consumed and does not dissolve in water, so it can be recovered and reused,” adds Philippidis.

These organic metal halide complexes can be synthesized from abundant non-toxic raw materials. “This is actually the first time these OMHC materials have been used to fabricate direct X-ray detectors,” says Ma. “They can be prepared in a low-cost way while delivering high performance. From a sustainability perspective, this new class of materials offer tremendous advantages.”

Astronomers have wondered why specific wavelengths of light known as helium spectral lines are faint or missing in the diffuse ionized gas in the inner Milky Way. Using the Green Bank Telescope, the team detected radio spectral lines from helium in diffuse ionized gas in the Cygnus X region. The detection demonstrates that helium within the diffuse gas associated with this region is fully ionized.

Chen’s team posits that there was no water to begin with because there was no gas to contain it, due to the high-velocity collision events the system experienced. Instead of acquiring material for a gaseous atmosphere, the planets’ atmospheres were cleared out by the powerful collisions. They ran hundreds of simulations that returned thousands of possibilities for how TRAPPIST-1’s planets might have formed. “Whatever we did, we couldn’t get much water in these inner planets.”

The team found chemists working in industry perceive a boundary between academia and industry, with some reporting negative perceptions about their career choices. Underwood sees a need to broaden awareness of diverse career paths in chemistry, considering that the field faced a 25 percent decline in college majors over the past five years. “Chemistry plays a role in everything we have,” says Underwood — from developing paints and creating flavors and fragrances to improving fertilizers and contributing to manufacture of products.

Despite major infrastructure improvements, bacteria levels remain too high for recreational uses of the canal. “This is the first time that UV light is used to evaluate the disinfection of street surfaces,” said Solo-Gabriele. “Results open the door for a new technology that can be used to improve water quality within our local communities and in other communities that suffer from excessive bacterial levels within their waterways.” 

The device pairs zinc and graphite, which react to produce a small electric field in the surrounding seawater. The field repels sharks from the bait without affecting target fish. In Florida field trials, the device reduced shark bycatch by more than 60%. “What makes this approach so exciting is its practicality – zinc and graphite are inexpensive, widely available, and already familiar to fishers,” says Kajiura.

The device pairs zinc and graphite, which react to produce a small electric field in the surrounding seawater. The field repels sharks from the bait without affecting target fish. In Florida field trials, the device reduced shark bycatch by more than 60%. “What makes this approach so exciting is its practicality – zinc and graphite are inexpensive, widely available, and already familiar to fishers,” says Kajiura.

“We created a pipeline to harvest the therapeutic potential of the microbiota through specific steps to get to an active molecule,” says Christian Jobin. They identified a metabolite called Bac429 that, when injected into the tumors of mice with highly non-responsive lung cancer, the mice had 50% less tumor growth after immunotherapy.

“Probably the most important … is imaging. Currently there is no way to image things like lymph flow in real time, at least more than once in the same person,” says Breslin. One purpose is to build a database that enables the direct connection between a person’s genome, the protein expression profile at the tissue level, and direct functional analysis of the person’s lymphatic vessel function. 

This benchmark can help models identify where fires burn the hottest, helping emergency responders understand how wildfires spread and quickly pinpoint high-priority zones. The datasets and detailed maps of wildfire damage could also support other work, such as tracking vegetation recovery after a wildfire.

The team measured permeability, water uptake, salt partitioning, and conductivity, traits that determine how quickly salts and ions pass through PFSA membranes versus conventional materials. The team showed how pretreatment leads to tradeoffs: “If you want speed, pretreatment is helpful. If you want precision, pretreatment might hurt performance,” says Tang. “Understanding how this process works will help engineers optimize membrane selection and pretreatment for specific applications.”

The project will provide vouchers for free summer camp for 40 kids that meet certain weight and body mass index criteria. The team will then compare health markers for the 40 kids that attend summer camp with 40 kids who spend summer at home. They’ll study two more groups the following summer. “This won’t require 20 years in a lab … Everything is already in place to impact childhood obesity.”

Using historical data collected by the South Florida Water Management District, the system was trained to recognize how rainfall, tides, groundwater, and storm surge interact across the region. Past storms were used to fine-tune the model, which was then tested on the Miami River, which runs through Miami and drains into Biscayne Bay. In addition to helping manage immediate flood risks, the model could also support long-term infrastructure planning.

Delivering the medicine through the nose let it reach the brain quickly and avoid being filtered out by the body’s usual barriers, so treatment should work faster and require a smaller dose compared to an IV. “This work exemplifies how nanotechnology and neuroscience principles can be applied together to create therapeutic solutions for critical medical problems,” says researcher Sylvia Daunert. The work sets the stage for innovative neuroprotection strategies that could be deployed outside hospital settings.

The program also includes occasional direct support to FBI agents during active investigations. This ensures that real-world applications align with technical understanding, allowing investigators to navigate complex cellular evidence effectively. By improving accuracy in analyzing cellular data, the program will strengthen the use of digital evidence in the prosecution of criminal cases.

The team will use a probabilistic, multi-stage sampling framework to measure maximum aquatic prey densities and track inter-annual variability in relation to hydrologic conditions. They will examine how local site characteristics, regional prey populations, and microtopography influence prey concentrations. Data collection will focus on shallow sloughs undergoing seasonal drying and use standardized methods to ensure comparability across sites and years.

“These returning flocks have given us an opportunity to collect contemporary and historical samples to address questions about their genetics and population structure.” Hoffman’s team found that American flamingos in Florida have strong genetic variability and are genetically compatible with Caribbean and zoo-managed populations, supporting future reintroduction and conservation efforts.

The study also confirmed that females can produce male offspring without mating, so “from a single female, we can have the emergence of a new population,” says Alexandra Revynthi. “If that female is resistant to a pesticide, she can give birth to resistant offspring, creating a big challenge for the sustainable management of this pest.”

“This discovery provides the long-sought definitive proof of Y. pestis at the epicenter of the Plague of Justinian,” says USF’s Rays Jiang. “For centuries, we’ve relied on written accounts describing a devastating disease, but lacked any hard biological evidence of plague’s presence. Our findings provide the missing piece of that puzzle, offering the first direct genetic window into how this pandemic unfolded.”

“This discovery provides the long-sought definitive proof of Y. pestis at the epicenter of the Plague of Justinian,” says USF’s Rays Jiang. “For centuries, we’ve relied on written accounts describing a devastating disease, but lacked any hard biological evidence of plague’s presence. Our findings provide the missing piece of that puzzle, offering the first direct genetic window into how this pandemic unfolded.”

The team found that the way LARP6 binds to RNA is directly involved in the biosynthesis of type I collagen, the protein involved in fibrosis. “Our new ‘LEGO piece’ uses a different kind of interaction with its RNA,” said Silvers. “It utilizes a different set of rules and the protein uses a different RNA binding site altogether.” This discovery could help scientists develop a treatment for fibrosis.

Guilarte was among the first to document lead’s effects at the cellular level and how those effects trigger lifelong consequences, from learning difficulties and lower IQ scores to the risk of psychiatric diseases and drug abuse in adulthood. “After many discoveries, we are currently investigating ways to improve the cognitive deficits resulting from childhood lead intoxication.”

Ali and a friend wrote a machine-learning algorithm that deconvoluted the effects of each inhibitor, cross-referencing the kinases each compound hit with observed outcomes, such as axonal growth. Their integrative platform of phenotypic screening, biochemical profiling, and advanced machine learning (idTRAX) enabled them to identify not just single drug targets but networks of targets. Ali is now developing a therapeutic candidate for spinal cord injury based on this work. The platform is also being used by scientists seeking new therapies for cancer and kidney disease.

The team will now convert their lanthanum-modified powders into robust 3D-printed structures that can be submerged in freshwater. Unlike powdered materials, which cannot be easily recovered, the 3D-printed structures are engineered for durability and long-term use. Once spent, they can be retrieved and regenerated or recycled, preventing phosphorus accumulation in sediment and reducing maintenance costs.

The team leveraged interdisciplinary knowledge, including decision support systems designed for nurses and medical professionals. They studied how human-machine trust, uncertainty, and decision-making intersect by using VR simulations. The prototype immerses users in a realistic, mission-relevant environment. The team hopes to expand the simulator and study ways to improve how machine assistants help astronauts make decisions under stress.

Valente’s goal is to help people with HIV achieve durable viral suppression with a safe, affordable add?on therapy to “quiet” the virus—what she calls a “block?and?lock” strategy. “By adding a transcriptional inhibitor like spironolactone to antiretroviral therapy, we saw faster plasma viral decay and marked reductions in HIV RNA and inflammatory gene expression in tissues, suggesting a practical path to both hasten suppression and mitigate inflammation.”

Saildrone’s vehicles gather data from the surface while USF gliders dive to collect vertical profiles. Comparing data from the two methods may lead to more accurate sound speed forecasts. “The observations collected by both gliders and Saildrone USVs are limited in location,” says USF’s Yonggang Liu. “By feeding the new data into the West Florida Coastal Ocean Model … we can use the real observations to evaluate and improve model simulation.”

“We like these nice pristine beaches. So do sea turtles. We like fishing offshore for fun and for food. The sea turtles use those same resources for a lot of the same purposes,” says Ware says. “Having healthy ecosystems provides a lot of services to us as a society … clean air, clean water, recreational opportunities. When we can provide a healthy system for turtles, we’re also providing a healthy system for ourselves.”

AI is already being used in storm surge forecasts in a limited way. However, Navid Tahvildari’s team at FIU is training AI to use observed data, assess damage after hurricanes, and process camera images to compute flood intensity. Such granular information can fill a critical gap in the data needed to provide the neighborhood-level detail communities can benefit from.

“We addressed this challenge directly, through chemical and biochemical methods. Next, we used a series of genetic approaches …. Basically, we expressed every known enzyme in this family to figure out what else can do this,” says Sharifi. The CYP51 pathway the team discovered is not targeted by current medicines. The next step is to figure out how this finding might be important to the care of men with prostate cancer.

“Energy-efficient AI infrastructure isn’t just an engineering optimization – it’s a national imperative,” says Munir. “By rethinking how we cool and power AI factories, we can dramatically increase performance while aligning with global sustainability and cost-reduction goals.”

“I think the goal is to have something that’s accessible worldwide – regardless of the environment,” says researcher Daniel Ram. “Having the capacity to detect multiple viruses at once really has potential to benefit everyone.” Because the biosensors conduct genetic testing on the viruses, the scientists can target all the different genetic sequences of both viruses, which is especially important since HIV mutates so often. 

“There is a critical need for simulation models that can realistically capture how civilians, incident commanders and public safety officials make protective decisions during wildfires,” says Zhao. “We envision this tool being used during planning so emergency managers can test different kinds of scenarios to determine how to draw the evacuation zones, where to issue the orders first and how to design the communications messaging.”

The team examined sediment from the holes and found traces of crops such as maize and wild plants traditionally used for weaving and packaging goods. They also used drones to capture high-resolution aerial images, revealing patterns in how the holes were organized. The data show the holes are not random or decorative but organized in deliberate blocks that may have represented quantities of stored goods or tallied exchanges between communities--a system of accounting.

The team also found that with the generalized Wigner crystal, some electrons remained frozen, while others began moving around the system as if in a pinball machine. “This pinball phase is a very exciting phase of matter … Some electrons want to freeze and others want to float around, which means that some are insulating and some are conducting electricity,” added Cyprian Lewandowski. Wigner crystals offer unique insights into quantum phases of matter and research in the areas has potential implications for quantum computing and spintronics.

Some participants will engage with a VR simulation with artificial intelligence called Engage VR. Others will participate in guided peer-teaching sessions. “This research explores the potential of artificial intelligence – driven avatars in virtual reality to transform the way future STEM teachers learn to teach,” says UWF’s John Pecore said. The team will also design a scalable peer-teaching model that universities can adopt even without access to virtual reality tools.

Their levels don’t surpass surface water screening standards, says researcher Natalia Soares Quinete. However, “Whether lower concentrations automatically mean ‘safe’ for this ecosystem and the people and wildlife it supports isn’t something that has been determined with certainty yet … Especially considering how these chemicals tend to accumulate and build up over time in the environment.”

“The drones can fly at incredibly low altitudes—that boundary layer in hurricanes down to about 200 meters above the surface of the ocean where heat and moisture provide the energy that powers storms,” Zhang said. “And it’s that critical boundary layer we need to learn more about as it is involved in the rapid intensification of storms.” 

The findings point to the need for more awareness of early warning signs, family health history, and risk management. Jones is developing tailored interventions to improve genetic testing decisions, family communication, and quality of life for younger survivors. “Younger women face unique challenges and are more likely to die from the disease compared to older women, making research and support in this area critically important.”

“Think of a running AI model like a factory,” says Wang. “You have different teams, machines, workers and logistics, and all of them have to be coordinated. So in AI, those teams are the software algorithm and the hardware components like the GPUs and the operating systems. It just means coordinating across all of them and designing the algorithm and the system together so they work in harmony from the start.”

For example, among the 180 advanced lung cancer patients, getting the vaccine was associated with a near doubling of median survival, from 20.6 months to 37.3 months. “When you give an mRNA vaccine, that acts as a flare that starts moving all of these immune cells from bad areas like the tumor to good areas like the lymph nodes,” says Sayour. Non-mRNA pneumonia or flu vaccines resulted in no change in longevity. These preliminary findings will be followed by a randomized clinical trial.

USF plans to leverage the grant to implement innovative strategies tailored to the needs of families and communities throughout the state, while focusing on maximizing enrollment and retention in Medicaid and CHIP. “Our focus isn’t just about connecting families to care, we also make sure they have access to health care and support them in navigating the system that can be overwhelming and confusing,” says Xonjenese Jacobs, director of Florida Connecting Kids to Coverage.

“Our development of advanced nanoscale imaging tools and new analytical methods could lead to a means of testing the efficacy of medical treatments without relying on animal or human studies,” says Lazenby. “Our approach could also improve how we study diseases that are difficult to study with current imaging techniques.” The NIH Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award will support the lab’s work over a five-year period, maximizing stability, flexibility, and opportunities for discovery.

Electrofishing surveys confirmed that the near disappearance of crayfish and other small fish from the slough is due to predation by invasive swamp eels. “They don’t behave like any of our native fish,” Dorn says of the eels. ““It’s a really novel predator with some novel traits and it’s a new sort of loss factor for our fish in the system.” It’s still unclear how the ecosystem will adapt to the new predator.

The team examined data from randomized controlled trials, observational cohorts, and cross-sectional studies. People with type 2 diabetes that used CGMs experienced significant improvements in their glucose levels, spent more time in the healthy range, and faced fewer episodes of low blood sugar. “CGM devices have revolutionized diabetes care … The new frontier will be continuous monitoring of other human electrolytes like sodium, calcium, potassium or disease biomarkers like ketones.”  

The team plans to develop the platform in tandem with a decision-support tool that helps engineers work through these problems. Engineers will be able to access recommended tools and models specific to their project as they complete each step. The platform will remember each step, and its recommendations will consider those steps to provide more relevant guidance. They hope this collaborative technology will eventually support a wide range of industries, such as materials, advanced manufacturing, supply chains, and national defense.

The purpose was to teach medical trainees and others how studies are built. “As physician-scientists, we often need to explain complex research methods to people who may not be familiar with a study’s language,” says Singh Ospina. “Here, we try to get them engaged in a way that’s accessible and enjoyable.” Although the team did the work after hours, they followed rigorous research protocols to test the question: “Not all superheroes wear capes,” a saying popularized during the COVID-19 pandemic, often used to describe medical workers. Is it true?”

“We found that the Mean Firing Rate – a common experimental measure – was particularly effective in helping these models detect glial influences, especially when paired with robust algorithms like Feedforward Neural Networks,” says researcher Rodrigo Pena. One key finding is that astrocytes exert the most influence during synchronous brain states, suggesting they not only support but may also fine-tune the dynamics of brain networks.

The study’s first phase showed an increase in dry cough, wheezing, nausea and abdominal pain among residents exposed to the blooms. Researchers are continuing to collect samples from previous participants to examine potential health impacts over time. The team hopes to better advise residents and visitors on when to exercise caution. “If … there’s red tide nearby, what does that mean and what do our residents and visitors need to do for safety?”

The system was upgraded recently with the addition of 23 static cameras that capture images every 15 minutes from flood-prone areas and are uploaded directly to the system. When residents upload photos, the system automatically identifies the nearest camera and uses computer vision and a machine learning model to analyze water depth. Those data are then compared with the camera images to increase accuracy.

Among the lab’s interests is the enzyme asparagine synthetase, which creates asparagine, an amino acid critical for protein production and nervous system function. Dysfunction of this enzyme is associated with a rare pediatric disorder caused by a genetic mutation that impairs brain development and leads to a progressive loss of brain tissue in infants. 

Those who used this strategy solved problems twice as fast as those that used a piecemeal approach. “Kids aren’t just absorbing information, they’re thinking critically and strategically much earlier than we used to believe,” says researcher Shannon Pruden. “And now we have the tools, and science, to help them thrive.” The team encourages caregivers to support these skills by providing early exposure to spatial experiences and using spatial words such as “under,” “around,” “bigger,” “farther,” and “corner.”

The team is comparing samples before and after the fire to identify any heavy metals and the size of the aerosols, which may affect the danger they pose to human health. While air quality eventually improves after wildfires, the specifics depend on the weather. “How fast are the winds dissipating the smoke? Is there a rain event? … the lingering effects [of smoke] really depend on the interplay between how much is being emitted and the underlying meteorological conditions.”

Palmer’s lab will provide the bacteria used for bioleaching. The planted microbes will absorb nutrients embedded in the regolith through a hydroponic system that transports nutrients to the plants’ roots more efficiently. Palmer believes the techniques could be beneficial to improving space crop growth from any substrate – not just lunar soil. “This is a real step forward into the next generation of space agriculture.”

The team created a smaller version of a device typically used in heart and lung bypass procedures and put it to work pumping oxygenated blood in and out of an eye that was recently recovered from a donor, keeping it alive for several hours. They had also created an “eye-HOLDER” to safely transport the donor eye between the operating room and the lab to determine tissue viability. It was one positive step on a long, complex path. “This could open up medical advancements in terms of whole-eye transplants to try and cure blindness,” says Agarwal.

“With this support, our team will be able to develop a scalable manufacturing pipeline and establish quality control criteria for EV-based genome editing products,” says He. “The outcome will have a significant impact on accelerating the translation of novel, safe and effective therapeutics and genome editing strategies into first-in-human clinical trials.”

The team will deploy passive sampling devices to capture seasonal and annual variations in contamination and will incorporate cutting-edge chemical analysis, including carbon isotope ratio measurements, to determine degradation processes and identify which phototransformation mechanisms are occurring. This will enable them to predict which contaminants are likely forming dangerous byproducts – all without the need for complex screening of unknown compounds.

Ladislau Bölöni is working on integrating AI into the manipulation of agricultural robotic arms to improve the way they interact with the physical environment. Chen Chen is investigating a new AI method for the sensors used in precision agriculture, which uses technology to make more accurate and informed decisions. Swadeshmukul Santra is working to integrate AI into the analysis of pesticide residues.

Pain assessments in the NICU typically rely on nurses’ observations and scoring, which can vary widely. The new AI system aims to deliver a standardized, continuous, and objective assessment using non-invasive, affordable sensors and cameras that integrate easily into existing hospital settings. The team will analyze photos, videos, and vital signs of infants before and after surgery to understand how pain presents in newborns through facial expressions, movements, and vital signs. Computer scientists will then train the AI to recognize those pain indicators and notify nurses in real-time of distress. 

Nyce focuses on how consumers can protect themselves from the potentially catastrophic financial consequences of a hurricane or other major storm. He has also studied financing for wind mitigation and home hardening projects. “Consumers have to understand that the federal government and the state government are not going to come in and bail them out after the fact.”

The network’s 100-gigabits-per-second data transfer rate moves data the entire length of the network in just seven seconds, with 20 terabytes of data making the trip each day. The data ride the 16,000-mile network through multiple cities and beneath the Atlantic Ocean to reach an interchange in Atlanta and then on to California, where a supercomputer processes the information and generates composite images that will be stacked and merged to create an ultra-high-definition time-lapse record — "the largest astronomical movie of all time."

The study confirms that depth and pressure do not inhibit ichthyocarbonate formation. Kept in the lab at 6 degrees Celsius to replicate their natural habitat, the fish excreted 5 mg of ichthyocarbonate per kilogram per hour, aligning with predictions from metabolic scaling models. The study underscores the importance of ichthyocarbonate in the ocean carbon cycle. “Mesopelagic fish aren’t just prey; they’re chemical engineers of the ocean,” says Grosell.

“Space is the ultimate high-stress environment for plants. On Earth, the extreme environments … include heat waves, drought and hard freezes,” says Vendrame. “This could be a way of generating more crops that are resilient to those kinds of stressors.”?Genetic testing of the space plants compared to plants grown in Vendrame’s lab will allow the team to better understand how specific plants change when they go through the stress of microgravity and Earth reentry.?  

Jeffrey studies the effects of ultraviolet radiation on marine microbes and has worked around the globe, including 15 trips to Antarctica. He was also heavily involved with projects examining the effects of oil on microbial communities in the Gulf of Mexico, spawned by the 2010 BP oil spill. He is director of UWF’s Center for Environmental Diagnostics and Bioremediation.

FAU’s Isaac Elishakoff is part of a team studying how corrosion of steel reinforcement bars (rebar) impacts structures exposed to harsh environments, especially the relationship between corrosion rates and structural stress. The aim was to minimize initial construction costs while optimizing the performance and durability of reinforced concrete elements.

“Our method eliminates the need for ultracentrifugation, precipitation kits or affinity-based labeling,” says Qun Huo. “Instead, we use a size-selective filtration and direct optical analysis technique that can isolate and characterize exosomes within a single step.” The team tested their method on exosomes from three different types of cells, including brain cancer stem cells from a patient with glioblastoma. The method isolated the exosomes and identified their surface proteins with great reliability.

The team is also focused on developing an X-ray imaging system that works across several miles, rather than a few feet, as current systems do. “It’s an extreme version of shadow-based imaging,” he says. “You send X-rays through an object, and depending on what gets absorbed, you capture shadows at the detector. The problem is, the longer the distance, the weaker and noisier the shadows become.”

The team used a pathogenicity predicting model for small amino acid-changing mutations in human genomes that can distinguish harmless mutations from those that are harmful to a gene and likely to cause disease. “Our DNA is packed with millions of tiny changes — most do nothing, but a few can seriously affect our health. Being able to tell the difference is one of the toughest problems in genetics.’’

“There are no sodium-ion battery-powered electric vehicles in America yet — this is the country’s first big push toward environmentally friendly, affordable electric vehicles.” Current sodium-ion batteries provide lower energy than lithium-ion batteries of the same size. Zeng’s group will create new element and structure combinations to pack as much sodium in the cathode structure as possible, allowing the new sodium-ion batteries to be more powerful than lithium-ion.

“We can build on that research by studying the effects of chronic sleep disruption, too,” says Shandra. If his hypothesis is correct, people that experience this series of events could be prime candidates for a non-invasive preventative treatment called transcranial magnetic stimulation. “If we can identify the people who have a very high chance of developing epilepsy, we might be able to help them before the seizures arrive.”

“A nano drug using nasal delivery that could drop systemic temperature would be a game-changer because it could be used in an ambulance, providing early intervention to the patient,” adds Bramlett. She is also investigating the use of whole-body vibration therapy to reduce bone loss in patients with spinal cord injuries, the impact of menopause-induced frailty after traumatic brain injury, and communication between the gut and brain after traumatic brain injury in patients with Alzheimer’s disease.

Parkinson’s symptoms typically begin after a significant loss of dopamine neurons in the substantia nigra. “Understanding the earliest functional breakdown of dopamine neurons helps us design drugs or gene therapies aimed at restoring healthy firing patterns and network connectivity before irreversible damage occurs,” says Khoshbouei. The team will next focus on understanding how long it takes for stressed networks in the substantia nigra to degenerate. They also plan to analyze side-by-side comparisons of the substantia nigra and ventral tegmental areas.

These factors can lower job performance and eventually affect an organization’s bottom line. Researchers typically treated organizational constraints as a single, general category, but Bowling has developed a self-reporting tool that organizes them into distinct dimensions. “The tool allows organizations to pinpoint specific sources of stress that may be hurting employee performance and take action accordingly.”

The product will support 28 commonly prescribed oral anti-cancer medications. It will also integrate information about food and drug interactions. "Allowing them to have a resource that's online and usable on multiple devices can help them manage their oral anti-cancer medication, symptoms, and side effects at home," says Marshall.

NPPS uses computer-assisted dispatch data to incorporate key factors such as call type, call urgency, and high-risk locations. The approach can help improve response times, balance officer workloads, and allocate patrol resources where they are needed most. “This project is a powerful example of how collaborative, applied research can directly inform and improve public safety,” says Buker.

He will integrate disconnected excavation units, mosaic pavements, ancient houses, and previously undocumented monumental features to provide a more complete topography of Daphne. Another aim is to “shift the focus of this area to a human scale by tracing the movements, encounters and religious experiences of the throngs of visiting worshippers and inhabitants of the site.”

“It all depends upon where that cell type projects in your brain and how it engages with structures in your brain.” says UF’s Dan Wesson. Potentially, medications could suppress some of these pathways’ activity to allow patients to overcome aversive emotional responses. Conversely, the pathways could be activated to, for example, restore enjoyment for people that lose their appetite due to illness.

The algorithm is designed to run on conventional computers and provide security against both traditional hacking methods and future quantum computer attacks. It protects videos while they are being transferred and while they are stored and is ten to fifteen percent more effective than comparable advanced encryption techniques.

“If we try to run models without accounting for them, then we get a very poor representation of our climate and weather.” However, data on convective gravity waves produced by thunderstorms are sparse. The scientists flew almost daily for a month, using LiDAR equipment to measure temperature variations and wind speeds of gravity waves spawned by storms. They also used airglow cameras to detect faint atmospheric emissions, giving them a better view of gravity wave structures.

The HIPAA Checker software produces a numeric score based on the app’s compliance with privacy laws. The risk level is also color-coded. App vulnerabilities can then be fixed on the back end, but the goal is to find and address security flaws early in the app development process. While the platform is primarily for app developers, individuals can use it too. Likewise, it can perform general security checks, not just checks targeting medical information.

The institute manages the Florida subnetwork of 160 atmospheric and more than 30 water-level stations across 32 counties and is working to expand its network to 445 stations over the next five years. “Every forecast that helps a family seek shelter, every alert that gives emergency crews time to mobilize – it all begins with accurate, real-time data from the ground,” says Jason Hallstrom.

EOS allows researchers to study ultrafast phenomena and capture molecular spectra with high resolution. It also offers greater sensitivity than other models, allowing it to detect very faint signals. “It can even detect vacuum fluctuations -- the elusive ‘zero-point motion’ of the electromagnetic field — providing profound insights into the foundations of quantum physics.”

"Habitat fragmentation is like breaking apart a completed puzzle. A healthy, intact ecosystem is like a 1,000-piece puzzle where every piece is in place — you can clearly see the full picture,” says Margres. “But when you start fragmenting it, pieces go missing or get rearranged, and the image becomes distorted.” The team is also working to test how well antivenoms neutralize the unique venom found on these islands.

Erickson and collaborators have been excavating an area on Alaska’s North Slope called the Prince Creek Formation for years. The area is rich with dinosaur fossils, but this time, the team also found bird fossils. Even rarer, some of the fossils turned out to be those of baby birds. Erickson confirmed via analysis of their microstructure that some were late-term embryos or hatchlings.

The platforms operate with little transparency, using cryptocurrency for payments. While some are on the dark web, they are often hosted on mainstream cloud providers that inadvertently enable their activities. “There’s an emerging conversation in the machine learning community about whether some of these tools should be restricted,” Butler said. “We need to rethink how open-source technologies are shared and used.”

“Seagrass meadows are not just important for marine biodiversity, they are a critical piece of the climate puzzle,” says FIU’s Johannes Krause. Although they cover only 2 percent of the ocean floor, vegetated coastal ecosystems store nearly half the organic carbon buried in ocean sediments. Seagrass meadows in the Tropical Atlantic—including along Florida’s coastline—and Temperate Southern Africa hold the most carbon.

“How precisely is that information coded and does the hardware, the nerve carrying the signal, confer any information?” asks Chaudhari. “These are really important neurological questions and they are also related to clinical questions about how information is coded when people develop eating or metabolic disorders. If a specific part of the circuitry stops working, would appetite change or might sugar be avoided?”

“By reviewing other archaeological reports, we were able to trace the spread of cats in the Americas up to 1760,” says Bratten. “Their arrival and spread mirrors European settlement with the use of ships.” Isotopic analysis shows that the cat likely had a diet rich in fish and domestic meats rather than rodents, suggesting cats on early transatlantic voyages may have been seen not only as pest controllers but also as pets.

“When HIV infects the body, certain immune cells called CD4+ T cells respond by increasing levels of two microRNAs – miR-6727-3p and miR-4722-3p – that likely help fight the virus,” says Massimo Caputi. “But HIV seems to fight back by producing circRNAs that trap these microRNAs. This weakens the immune response and helps the virus make more copies of itself.”

“The idea that algorithms are affecting not only our work lives or our interactions on the internet, but also the kind of art, literature, and music that we have access to offline is something that people may not be aware of,” says Muenchrath. “The humanities are absolutely vital to interrogating the role of machines in our society… and how to live a life conditioned by technological change.”

MRI and CT are often used to assess musculoskeletal conditions, but MRI is expensive and CT exposes patients to radiation. Neither is good at imaging tissue movement. In contrast, ultrasound is safe, low cost, and can capture tissue dynamics, but interpretation tends to be highly subjective. The team will have AI and human raters analyze ultrasound images to establish if there is agreement between manual and automated analyses.

Jessica Dominguez Rieg leads one project, which aims to increase interest and opportunities for pre-clinical medical students in nephrology, which has a shortage of physicians. The program will provide hands-on research education in renal physiology over the summer and pair students with faculty mentors to engage directly in an immersive kidney research project.

The researchers will use combinatorial generalization to empower the AI to make inferences based on scenarios from multiple data sources. They expect their work to expedite the development of new manufacturing processes and materials. The technology could also “democratize” manufacturing, says Wang, “making it easier for inexperienced manufacturers to advance from lab testing to large-scale production.”

The researchers will use combinatorial generalization to empower the AI to make inferences based on scenarios from multiple data sources. They expect their work to expedite the development of new manufacturing processes and materials. The technology could also “democratize” manufacturing, says Wang, “making it easier for inexperienced manufacturers to advance from lab testing to large-scale production.”

“There is promising potential for GLP-1RAs and SGLT2is to be considered for Alzheimer’s disease prevention in the future. As use of these drugs continues to expand, it becomes increasingly important to understand their real-world benefits and risks across populations,” says Serena Jingchuan Guo. Next steps include evaluating the effects of the drugs in broader populations.

The system deposits thin layers of UHPC onto surfaces through a nozzle. Layers are then added like coats of paint. Their light weight doesn’t significantly alter the mass of the structure. The FIU mix comes at a fraction of the cost of standard UHPC and, since only a thin layer of it is needed, the overall costs are more manageable. 

The team then used the SUSTAIN wind-wave tank to reconstruct airflow patterns that drive wave growth in strong winds. The approach “reconstructed the two-dimensional profile of pressure and airflow above wavy surfaces.... [which] can help refine numerical wave models by incorporating airflow separation effects,” says Brian Haus. The team found that when airflow separates on the leeward side of waves, traditional models underestimate momentum transfer by more than 30%.

The acquisition of advanced robotic platforms will provide  unique research opportunities and strengthen the position of the region in cutting-edge robotics education, says researcher Hakki Erhan Sevil. Upgrades to existing robotic platforms will also enable research on dexterous manipulation for tasks.

The team found that vertical migration, surface growth, and vertical mixing are the main forces behind bloom formation in the lake’s central basin. “High temperature and calm winds favor algae growth, but strong winds can mix the cells below surface limiting their access to light. While horizontal movement does play a role over time, it’s the vertical processes that set the stage each day,” says FAU’s Mingshun Jiang.

The team found that vertical migration, surface growth, and vertical mixing are the main forces behind bloom formation in the lake’s central basin. “High temperature and calm winds favor algae growth, but strong winds can mix the cells below surface limiting their access to light. While horizontal movement does play a role over time, it’s the vertical processes that set the stage each day,” says FAU’s Mingshun Jiang.

Nordin will employ his expertise in materials and photonics to create some of the camera hardware using radiation-tolerant materials and a form of nano structuring known as atomic layer deposition to fabricate a semiconductor that can detect infrared light. Pang’s team will work on data encoding and transmission, seeking a way to transmit a high-resolution image from space with minimum energy consumption from the hardware.

The team will explore both transfer learning-based approaches and few-shot learning approaches.  FSL is a technique that teaches a model to generalize information with just a few data samples instead of the massive datasets used in transfer learning. “That would help us reduce the time and cost of data collection as well as time spent labeling the data.

The team is doing related work on controlling the spin of electrons by combining ferrimagnets with two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides, which can serve as semiconductors. If they succeed, they may advance ultrahigh speed optical communications, three-dimensional displays, quantum encryption, and more secure long-range communication. 

The team hopes to use regolith from the moon and Mars to create inks that can be 3D printed. They have developed a new technique called electrohydrodynamic printing that uses electric fields to precisely print nanoparticles. “By combining this printing technique with laser curing we can rapidly manufacture the sensors and speed up the manufacturing process.”

The team hopes to use regolith from the moon and Mars to create inks that can be 3D printed. They have developed a new technique called electrohydrodynamic printing that uses electric fields to precisely print nanoparticles. “By combining this printing technique with laser curing we can rapidly manufacture the sensors and speed up the manufacturing process.”

“All three invasive termite species present serious risks of structural damage over time, but not all communities are equally affected,” says scientist Thomas Chouvenc. “It is crucial for homeowners to understand their local risk and take preventive measures.” Each termite species requires a different approach to manage, so accurate identification is essential before applying any treatment.

“One of the main issues we encountered … was translating an instrument developed for a rocket to one based on the moon,” says Galeazzi. “One of the challenges LEXI faces is observing the area of the sky between the Earth and the sun without being blinded by their emission. So, it required a carefully designed Earth and sun shield.” LEXI is aboard the Blue Ghost lunar lander as part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative. 

“We started working with these next generation battery chemistries eight years ago. The first charging cycle was great. By cycle 20, it was a useless lump of metal,” says Bilal El-Zahab. To counteract this, the team added nanoparticles of platinum to the sulfur side of the battery, which stabilized battery performance and boosted storage capacity closer to commercial viability. It’s “like adding a pinch of salt to food: A small amount can have an outsized impact.”

The study also reveals possible evidence of play, social learning, social instruction, and even personality differences among narwhals. “Our observations provide clear evidence of narwhals chasing fish and using their tusks to interact directly with the fish and to influence the fish’s behavior,” says O’Corry-Crowe. “Some of the interactions we saw appeared competitive in nature with one whale blocking or trying to block another whale’s access to the same target fish, while others may have been more subtle, possibly communicative and even affiliative.” 

Behal’s new project will aim to create intelligent, mobile robotic assistants that offer easier control and a better robot-human interface. Initial testing will be conducted with students, followed by studies involving adults with upper body paralysis. The team will survey the participants to find out how many times they had to tell the robot to perform a task, how long it took for the robot to complete the action, how many mistakes were made, and how satisfied they were with the robot’s assistance.

Water distribution in plants and its percolation through soil relies on gravity. It is not yet known whether the lower gravity on the moon will be enough to support these processes. The experiment compared the effects of lunar gravity on aqueous solutions of different viscosities. Acceleration, temperature, time, and images of the fluid distribution were recorded.

“What we’ve done for the first time is pinpoint all the most important genes required for both types of human malaria parasite to survive, which gives researchers a prioritized list of genes as the best likely drug targets that work against both,” says Jenna Oberstaller. “The differences in which genes are essential are also bigger than we thought …, which has implications for malaria treatment specifically and how parasites adapt to their hosts in general.”

Hurdal also explores the biomechanical theory of buckling, which explains how the brain folds form by axonal tension. “By combining these findings, my models provide insights into brain folding abnormalities such as lissencephaly, a lack of folds, and polymicrogyria, excessive folding. Both abnormalities are linked to neurological disorders and developmental challenges.”

The shortage of affordable rental housing is acute for renters with incomes below 80% of area median income. Statewide, an estimated 883,863 renter households with incomes below 60% AMI pay more than 40% of their income in rent. “When families pay a large share of their income for housing, it’s harder to cover other critical costs such as food, transportation, and health care,” notes researcher Anne Ray.

The team used a satellite-based remote sensing technique known as Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar to measure ground surface deformation. They found that subsidence can persist for many years. “Establishing a public database…would enable residents, housing associations, and authorities to monitor their buildings for signs of subsidence, inspect for cracks, and take proactive measures,” says Antonio Nanni.

Kim identified immunoproteasome inhibitor compounds that controlled inflammation. When tested on mouse models, cognitive function improved regardless of amyloid plaque buildup. “I feel like I’m in a new frontier of Alzheimer’s research — investigating immunoproteasome’s role in Alzheimer’s progression. Now we’re even closer to a drug that could be used ... to help patients.”

The area is being transformed from asphalt roads and canals back into a thriving ecosystem. Everham monitors resident fish, frogs, and insects to learn how well a system can recover from such a change. “I don’t know any place else in Florida — any place else in the world — where they were well down a path of putting in a community for maybe hundreds or thousands of people and then stopped. And then someone else said, ‘Let’s dig up the roads and fill in the canals.’”

“Our work will examine the role played by ... hypoxia-inducible transcription factor 1 or HIF1a in control of lens gene expression and the requirement for oxygen-induced epigenetic modifications that regulate DNA conformation,” says Marc Kantorow. The ultimate goal is to use insights from these studies to engineer cell systems and transplantable cells capable of restoring the functions of damaged tissues and organs in other body systems.

The other award will support the evaluation of novel non-plastic materials for use in oyster reef restoration. “The desire to stop using plastics in coastal restoration has opened a floodgate of new and novel restoration materials,” says Lisa Chambers. “We need to know how materials affect the microbes and natural chemical cycles in the coastal ecosystem and long-terms impacts of restoration efforts.”

The first phase of the project focused on feasibility. This second phase focuses on solidifying the algorithm while testing a simulated spacecraft under realistic space conditions in the lab. The algorithm must be efficient enough to run from space and to run on limited hardware. “We’re seeing an exponential increase in space debris,” says Tiwari. “We can characterize this debris or space object and then eventually do something with it.

Halade used a sensitive analytical technique to detect trace amounts of lipids in 162 patient tumor samples. The team found an excess number of molecules that promote inflammation and a shortage of those that help resolve it. The study paves the way for a new therapy, resolution medicine, focused on restoring balance in the patient’s diet to reduce inflammation and potentially treat colorectal cancer.

Bleiholder worked with collaborators at Bruker Daltonics to develop a patented technique called tandem-trapped ion mobility spectrometry, or Tandem-TIMS, that allowed them to preserve the molecules’ structure while studying how their shape changes under different conditions. The team confirmed that structural variations among antibody populations are not influenced by glycosylation, a process in which sugar molecules attach to other molecules.

The team found flatter shoes improved runners’ sensation of the ground, while shoes with thicker heels confused runners about their gait. That confusion was linked to injury. “Features like a large heel-to-toe drop make it more challenging for runners to identify how they’re striking the ground,” says Vincent. “The runners who correctly detected mid- or fore-foot striking had very different shoes: lower heel-to-toe drop; lighter; wider toe box.” 

The grant continuation will allow them to collect additional data and conduct more sophisticated modeling for risk factors, disease progression, and clinical outcomes and incorporate artificial intelligence and machine learning to predict disease onset. “This groundbreaking study advances our understanding of unique risk factors among diverse Hispanics and informs targeted, precision prevention and medical care in cardiovascular diseases, as well as many other conditions,” says researcher Frank Penedo.

Another difficulty of understanding stories is that the sequence of events is rarely laid out in a neat order. Finlayson’s research on timeline extraction has advanced AI's understanding of event sequences within narratives. “In a story, you can have inversions and rearrangements of events…An AI model must be able to order the events in a story accurately. This is important not only to identify disinformation but also to support many other applications.”

They found that the birds’ gut microbiome diversity can be predicted by its body condition and the quality of its ornamentation. Low microbiome diversity can lead to immune issues and poor nutrient absorption; high diversity can boost resilience to stress and pathogens. “Our findings confirm the hypothesis that a wild bird’s health is tied to its microbiome, and that the ‘sexiness’ of a male’s ornaments can signal his health,” says Anderson.

The Center for Quantum Materials Innovation and Educational Excellence at UCF envisions high-impact research training for students to make discoveries related to synthesis, structure, and properties of quantum materials. The new program is built upon the success of the partnership between UCF and UW that began in 2021, says Saiful Khondaker. “The new PREM center will provide cutting-edge materials research and educational training to promising students at high-school, undergraduate, and graduate levels.”

Raindrops are typically cooler than the surface, so when it rains, the surface cools. In India, Ray says, most models overestimate precipitation. His team’s results generated predictions that are much closer to observed rainfall. “The moment we include that term, it cools down the surface, land surface. The temperature difference is smaller between the land and the ocean,” says Ray. “That reduces the overall precipitation overland because now less moisture is coming from the ocean.”

Guttman is director of UWF’s Center on Aging. His current work, funded by the National Institute on Aging through NIH R15 grants, focuses on early Alzheimer’s detection through advanced phage display technology. He has also partnered with Avanir and Otsuka to develop patented therapeutics, including a membrane-permeable peptide capable of calpain inhibition and monoclonal antibodies targeting pathological forms of calcineurin.

Steve Murawski will spearhead USF’s involvement, providing access to labs and research vessels and offering training in various technologies. Murawski will help entrepreneurs, scientists, and marine-resource managers gain real-world experience in the blue economy. The funds will be used to establish a network of business accelerators and commercialization programs, fostering hundreds of startups focused on solving challenges related to the environment.

The project leverages cutting-edge technology that allows researchers to simulate the impact of storm-induced hydrodynamic loads on geotechnical coastal structures. “It’s about setting new, more reliable benchmarks for coastal designs, ones that promise not just endurance but safety and continuity for communities in the relentless face of nature's turbulence.”

Dark matter has never been directly observed; it has only been detected through its gravitational influence on visible matter. This project will test the feasibility of the mineral detection approach by studying interactions of crystals in rock samples that have been exposed to dark matter for billions of years.

Cold-water seaweeds such as kelp and nori would not thrive in Florida’s warm waters. So, the team will focus on subtropical species that do well here. Objectives include developing scalable seaweed farming methods, identifying the best local species for cultivation, exploring commercial uses for these seaweeds, estimating costs and profits of farming seaweed, and assessing how seaweed can help clean waterways.

I-Corps Hub South will train and mentor university professors, students, staff, and community partners to help them transform their scientific discoveries and ideas into commercial products that improve everyday lives. Suhrud Rajguru will lead UM’s effort. “We’re building a vibrant ecosystem that will drive breakthrough discoveries and bring impactful solutions to our communities.”  

I-Corps Hub South will train and mentor university professors, students, staff, and community partners to help them transform their scientific discoveries and ideas into commercial products that improve everyday lives. Suhrud Rajguru will lead UM’s effort. “We’re building a vibrant ecosystem that will drive breakthrough discoveries and bring impactful solutions to our communities.”  

I-Corps Hub South will train and mentor university professors, students, staff, and community partners to help them transform their scientific discoveries and ideas into commercial products that improve everyday lives. Suhrud Rajguru will lead UM’s effort. “We’re building a vibrant ecosystem that will drive breakthrough discoveries and bring impactful solutions to our communities.”  

I-Corps Hub South will train and mentor university professors, students, staff, and community partners to help them transform their scientific discoveries and ideas into commercial products that improve everyday lives. Suhrud Rajguru will lead UM’s effort. “We’re building a vibrant ecosystem that will drive breakthrough discoveries and bring impactful solutions to our communities.”  

“Think of HEARTS-D as a comprehensive how-to guide packed with the latest diabetes prevention, diagnosis and management tools,” says Chowdhury. “It has the potential to transform the primary health care system from the grass roots level up for diabetes care.” In this integrated approach, in addition to the local doctors and nurses at health care facilities, the team will also train community health workers.

The long-term goal is to create a blue energy industry cluster in Southeast Florida that covers all aspects of utility-scale ocean current energy projects, including turbine development, undersea cables, and marine services. “Southeast Florida is ideal for ocean current energy projects not only because of its favorable ocean current conditions but also due to several supportive socio-economic factors,” says scientist Gabriel Alsenas.

The sponge applies pressure to restrict the hemorrhage while its silver oxide component serves as an antibacterial agent. The sponge also results in gentler removal. “The adhesive property of this bandage is optimized so that when you take it out from the system, the smaller vessels don’t get ruptured.” SilFoam’s advantages over other methods include less leakage, room-temperature storage, and lower costs.

Now the team aims to understand the cellular and molecular mechanisms behind COVID-induced tauopathy and identify potential drug targets to prevent or slow its progression. The goal is to help prepare for the danger that Long COVID could lead to a wave of early onset Alzheimer’s disease in 10 years.

“Hospitalizations and ICU stays, combined with antibiotic exposure, may lead to a further decline in microbiome diversity that leaves older adults at high risk not only for digestive issues but also for extra-intestinal pathologies such as neurodegenerative disorders through a dysregulation of the gut-brain axis,” says Nagpal.

“Hospitalizations and ICU stays, combined with antibiotic exposure, may lead to a further decline in microbiome diversity that leaves older adults at high risk not only for digestive issues but also for extra-intestinal pathologies such as neurodegenerative disorders through a dysregulation of the gut-brain axis,” says Nagpal.

The project will connect postdoctoral candidates with program mentors from fields such as engineering, medicine, biostatistics, psychology, nursing, and anthropology. The vision for the UF PAIN TEAM (Partnerships Across Interdisciplinary Networks: Training through Engineering, Epidemiology & Addiction Medicine) is to help develop a “new pain scientist” that can “think across traditional academic disciplines and boundaries,” says researcher Kyle Allen.

“We have mapped more of the surface of Mars, the sun, and the moon than we have our own ocean floor,” Chirayath says. “Yet the ocean is Earth’s largest ecosystem…, pivotal to our survival, and the most rapidly changing.” Active fluid lensing would fuse two of his previous inventions: passive fluid lensing and Multispectral Imaging, Detection, and Active Reflectance.

The group will develop a National Cybersecurity Workforce Development model based on best practices, industry input, employable competencies, and stackable credentials. The program will include approximately 50 NCAE-C designated institutions across the country and provide education and professional development to help learners launch or advance cybersecurity careers.

Healthy seagrass meadows are vital for healthy oceans. They serve as nursery habitats for fish, crustaceans, and shellfish and food for sea turtles, manatees, and other animals. Seagrasses also remove carbon from the air and store it. “The arrival of yet another invasive species to Florida is a reminder that all of our earth is interconnected,” says researcher James Fourqurean.

The fully online training programs will offer flexible, self-paced options with integrated assistive technologies and accessibility features. The goal is to recruit 240 youth and adults with disabilities to participate. Half will receive paid internships in leading tech companies in order to obtain real-world, hands-on experience.

The team hopes to achieve this improved stability and performance through diamagnetic levitation, or a “hovering” effect. Diamagnetic materials are materials that are repelled and stabilized by a magnetic field. In the future, they plan to explore the potential of their levitation technology in fields such as precision measurement systems, quantum engineering, and advanced communication technologies.

The team hopes to achieve this improved stability and performance through diamagnetic levitation, or a “hovering” effect. Diamagnetic materials are materials that are repelled and stabilized by a magnetic field. In the future, they plan to explore the potential of their levitation technology in fields such as precision measurement systems, quantum engineering, and advanced communication technologies.

A separate study found that playing the JSax (a small saxophone) can improve respiration of adults experiences breathing difficulties following COVID-19 and increase their executive functions. “Learning a challenging new activity such as learning a musical instrument can increase sensorimotor activity leading to strengthened neural pathways and enhanced cognition,” says Bugos. The team is working to distinguish which types of fine and gross motor music interventions have the most impact. 

The team will compile existing research about the spring and conduct new work to address gaps in current knowledge, says researcher Joel Trexler. “This is a tremendous opportunity…to understand what has been affecting the spring and how we can recommend changes that will assist environmental managers working to keep the water clean and clear.”

The new system uses constructed wetlands to break down chemicals on site to meet ground water standards, which is a low-energy solution for treating leachate. The system is expected to pay for itself in leachate-transport fees in five years. Although such systems have been built elsewhere, they are still uncommon, so Polk’s project could serve as a model for other Florida communities.

After learning about coral reefs, the children paint their favorite marine animals. UM students lead educational sessions and art activities, enriching the children’s understanding of marine science and providing training for the older students in science communication and community outreach. At the kickoff exhibition, the children’s artwork was displayed on upcycled coral nursery trees. 

The team will develop and disseminate breast cancer screening and tobacco smoking cessation information to at-risk women. Health and wellness workshops will be offered in rural communities, and breast cancer screenings will be made available through mobile mammogram vans. Long-term goals include a decrease in breast cancer morbidity and mortality, reduction in the proportion of women in the area that smoke, and improved life expectancy among breast cancer survivors. 

The team will develop and disseminate breast cancer screening and tobacco smoking cessation information to at-risk women. Health and wellness workshops will be offered in rural communities, and breast cancer screenings will be made available through mobile mammogram vans. Long-term goals include a decrease in breast cancer morbidity and mortality, reduction in the proportion of women in the area that smoke, and improved life expectancy among breast cancer survivors. 

The team will develop and disseminate breast cancer screening and tobacco smoking cessation information to at-risk women. Health and wellness workshops will be offered in rural communities, and breast cancer screenings will be made available through mobile mammogram vans. Long-term goals include a decrease in breast cancer morbidity and mortality, reduction in the proportion of women in the area that smoke, and improved life expectancy among breast cancer survivors. 

The team will develop and disseminate breast cancer screening and tobacco smoking cessation information to at-risk women. Health and wellness workshops will be offered in rural communities, and breast cancer screenings will be made available through mobile mammogram vans. Long-term goals include a decrease in breast cancer morbidity and mortality, reduction in the proportion of women in the area that smoke, and improved life expectancy among breast cancer survivors. 

Many also discovered new hobbies and deepened relationships with family and friends via video calls. Some drew on past experience of hardships like recessions and wars to cope. “Many… indicated that with age comes the ability to see the bigger picture. Using this perspective helped them remind themselves that difficult times are usually temporary and that it is possible to find joy and meaning even during hardship,” says researcher Patricia Liehr.

The NOD2 pathway has been linked to inflammatory conditions such as Crohn’s disease and early onset sarcoidosis (symptoms of which may include pediatric arthritis). “Our hope is that by understanding the molecular events important for the production of such lipid mediators, we can guide therapies in the future that either prevent inflammation or promote its resolution,” says Tigno-Aranjuez.

The project aims to reduce the responders’ mental health burden by offering a personalized, clinician-supported remote intervention they can access to help manage their symptoms. The focus is on PTSD, anxiety, depression, and sleep difficulties. The team is also advocating for federal funding to establish a designated clinical center that would offer physical and mental health care services in Florida.

The program includes efforts to introduce K-12 students to careers in railroading and provide college students with internships. It also includes training for existing railroad employees to encourage employee retention and upward mobility. “We are committed to promoting industry careers, developing and advancing the skillsets of current transportation workers and reaching and developing tomorrow’s industry professionals,” says project manager Lisa Staes.

Collaborator Ebrahim Ahmadisharaf will use machine learning to evaluate water quality in two estuaries connected to Lake Okeechobee. The research will distinguish the impact of natural and human-related effects on short-term and long-term water quality. The team will also investigate other effects of poor water quality, such as harm to wildlife and contribution to destructive algae blooms.

Ferl will chemically lock the plant’s genes with a preservative to pause the plants at various points in the launch – just before takeoff, at the start of zero gravity, at the end of zero gravity, and at landing. Researchers will then sequence the plants’ expressed genes and compare them to an on-Earth control experiment to figure out which were activated or deactivated during the flight.

However, they are now focusing on a new strategy: delivering mRNA to dendritic cells, a specific immune cell that is at the basis of driving anti-tumor immune responses. “The main goal of this proposal is to knock down immune checkpoint targets and see how targeting these could improve mRNA vaccination,” says Van der Jeught. “Our goal is to ensure that our work has a real chance to make it to the clinic and help patients.”

“Our tool, which we coined ‘EPICS,’ offers a novel lens to monitor marine ecosystems in real-time, allowing human intervention to be supplemented … to prevent biotic disasters,” says Zhu. The larger goal is to “advance and generalize AI-powered conservation study to manatees, sea turtles, whales, rays and other threatened or endangered marine species.”

“There have been attempts in the past to try to warm Mars using greenhouse gases, but they require many resources to be brought from Earth and there’s the issue of cost,” Ramirez says. “We were trying to find a solution that was more cost effective and also made it possible to live off the land per se using Martian materials.”

The U.S. sawfish population experienced dramatic declines in the 20th century due to incidental capture, trophy fishing, and habitat decline and was the first marine fish listed as endangered under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. Since then, the species has shown signs of slow recovery, but remains at risk. In the first half of 2024, 53 sawfish deaths due to an unknown “spinning and whirling” disease were reported.

The Automated Lidar Scanning Topography (A-LiST) invention was integrated onto a rocket-powered lander for a flight that simulated a lunar landing. The flight was part of the NASA TechLeap Prize’s Nighttime Precision Landing Challenge. “Leveraging our expertise in software, systems engineering and integration, the IAE team intends to dramatically reduce costs of precision landing technology, enabling increased potential for rapid lunar landings,” says Peter Jorgensen.

The team hopes to develop a treatment with fewer side effects than chemotherapy or radiation therapy. They derived natural killer cells from human-induced pluripotent stem cells, which do not pose a risk of rejection by the immune system, unlike feeder cells from mice. They also enhanced the immune quality of the cells by using different proteins to stimulate them to have more killing power.

Blackburn is developing an AI-based model to process the resulting massive amounts of data. To train the model, Blackburn feeds it more than 20 years of data from satellite imagery showing how a landscape’s vegetation grows and dies back with each year’s changing seasons. The goal is to develop a way to determine the likelihood of an outbreak with two months’ notice.

The cylinders could be lowered to allow the ship to pass beneath bridges and navigate in and out of ports. On some shipping routes, the cylinders could cut fuel consumption by as much as 50 percent. The nonrotating cylinders are expected to be a significant upgrade in efficiency over the few wind-assisted propulsion units currently in use.

“The goal of the model is to provide optimized treatment plans, aid diagnosis and follow-up, and draw on patients’ data including health history, cancer histology, genomic and molecular profiling, prior treatment history, and radio-sensitivity index to improve patient outcomes,” says Muhammad. The project will address challenges related to data quality, complexity and integration of AI into clinical workflows.

Increasing demand for wireless data transfers “causes more tussle on the sharing of the underlying natural resource, which is the radio spectrum that supports these wireless transfers,” says Yuksel. The deep learning network will select the optimal waveform modifications and beam direction to manage the drones and nodes that provide wireless signals and modifications.

“Digital ordering modes foster a more automatic decision-making process with lower cognitive involvement,” says Biswas. “This is because digital tools encourage people to rely less on their cognitive resources and more on automated processes.” The study also found that consumers that are more proficient with technology may be less susceptible to this “Google Effect.”

It’s difficult to link damage to a structure to the wind field at the time of failure. During hurricanes, power often goes out, leaving weather stations not functioning, so not much information about what the wind field is doing near the ground is available. “That is a challenge we are working on right now… to better infer or predict what the wind field was, with regards to intensity, direction and turbulence, and then relate that to some of the observed damage that we see.”

The team has identified compound 368, which, when paired with Narcan, increased the latter’s efficacy. Also, compound 368 can be used with lower doses of Narcan to reverse respiratory depression without inducing withdrawal symptoms. “Determining the optimal Narcan dosage has been a persistent challenge,” McLaughlin said. “Combining a smaller amount of Narcan with our compound may circumvent the danger of patients undergoing opioid withdrawal.”

The team will study how lead exposure affects neurons, brain circuits and networks, and behavior. They will also assess the effectiveness of the flavonoid 7,8-dihydroxyflavone in mitigating the effects of lead exposure. The natural chemical found in foods (and also available as a supplement) has previously demonstrated the ability to reverse lead-induced damage in animals.

The team found rates of both types of digital self-harm increased from 2016 to 2021. They also found that students that experienced cyberbullying were more likely to have digitally self-harmed compared to students that had not been cyberbullied, and that female and non-heterosexual youth were more likely to engage in digital self-harm compared to male and heterosexual youth.

One goal was to identify immune cells released by the endometrium into the uterine fluid during the period of optimal conditions for embryo transfer. “If you are outside of that window of opportunity, then the implantation will never happen,” Strbo says. The team found significant differences in the presence and level of immune cells. They plan to correlate their immunologic findings at the time of IVF with pregnancy outcomes to determine if there is a role for uterine fluid analysis in infertility medicine.

The team compiled a huge database of animal DNA sequences showing the presence of various types of magnetic bacteria to help understand the environmental and ecological roles of such bacteria and identify potential host animals. They are now testing their hypotheses in sea turtles because they are “kind of a model of animal navigation.”

Cisplatin and similar chemo drugs damage the cochlea in the inner ear, leading to hearing loss. The risk increases with higher doses. Despite that, hearing assessments for chemotherapy patients are not routine, says Sanchez. “This research gives oncologists the information they need to explore alternative treatment plans that could reduce the long-term side effects, such as altering the dosages and timing of the cisplatin in the treatment,” adds Frisina.

“We were surprised at how well this worked,” Steinbock says. “Who would think that from a photo, you can tell the difference between sodium chloride and potassium chloride?” The research has many potential applications, such as analyzing samples collected by a rover during planetary exploration, testing materials for lab safety, or low-cost blood analysis.

“We were surprised at how well this worked,” Steinbock says. “Who would think that from a photo, you can tell the difference between sodium chloride and potassium chloride?” The research has many potential applications, such as analyzing samples collected by a rover during planetary exploration, testing materials for lab safety, or low-cost blood analysis.

The team brought numerous colonies of Caribbean elkhorn to a south Florida spawning facility in hopes they will spawn in late summer and can then be crossbred with Florida coral. If successful, they will seek permits to plant the new babies on Florida’s reef. “We can't just wait for that solution to be ready and then think ... What do we do to save these ecosystems?” says Baker. “We've got to work now, to have something left to save by the time we fix this bigger problem of climate change.”

“Fungi play a significant role in agriculture by naturally managing insect pest populations in various crop production systems, as they work compatibly with natural enemies,” says Avery. The researcher introduced South Florida growers to fungi to manage pest ambrosia beetles in more than 3,000 acres of avocado. The growers used less chemicals when fungi were part of their management strategy. 

“In addition to their socioeconomic importance, the queen conch plays a critical ecological role in seagrass beds,” says Davis. “Aquaculture, along with conservation of breeding populations and fishery management, are ways we can help ensure longevity of this important species.” eConch uses visuals from the Naguabo Aquaculture Center in Puerto Rico, where Davis has been assisting with stock enhancement since 2019. 

“It may be that a combination of these approaches, tailored to the diverse needs of different crops, is the best way to provide sustainable and productive agriculture,” says Palmer. “Until now, there have been no direct comparison studies between hydroponic and regolith-based systems for any crop targeted for space applications.” The team hypothesizes that fast-growing crops like microgreens will be better suited for hydroponic systems, while slow-growing crops like tomatoes may fare better in regolith.

The team also developed a 3D-printed whistle that produces a sound frequency proportional to the air flow a patient is generating. A smartphone app measures the pitch of the sound and the patient’s breathing capacity, providing the same information as much more expensive devices now on the market. Eddins’ has also developed a device and treatment method to help people with abnormal sensitivity to sound and another targeting age-related auditory deficits. “Rather than just put a hearing aid on, what we would like to do is change the way the brain reacts and responds and processes.”

“We are the only team that we know of globally that can successfully enable anatomy-based classification from a single photo to identify mosquitoes,” says Chellappan. The new funding will allow the team to refine their algorithms and add additional species for automated ide

“The BRADs Program represents an important expansion of the EPA’s commitment to minimizing displacement and gentrification resulting from brownfields reuse, and more generally thinking about the relationships between brownfields and environmental justice,” says Kinahan. The team will conduct research on gentrification issues and provide guidance and technical assistance on anti-displacement practices.

“We have so many unique and amazing ocean habitats ... but they are facing tremendous challenges,” Heithaus said. “This Hope Spot designation helps shine a light on the tremendous work that our scientists and others are doing along with the community and government agencies to keep our oceans healthy.” FIU has long led research on the bay, and FIU scientists provide essential data to water and land managers, monitor plant and animal species on coastlines, reefs, and islands, and much more.

However, access is still uneven. “Unfortunately, while we know this technology could have great benefits in terms of an individual’s overall quality of life, there still is a lot of variability in coverage by states and by insurance companies,” says Cejas. “And there are issues related to early intervention and equal access, especially when we talk about diverse populations.”

“We intuitively know that landscapes have been … transformed by humans, but we don’t know exactly how these changes have affected the distribution of different lineages of plants and animals,” says researcher Nico Cellinese. Bellflowers are perfect “tracers” because they diversified throughout the Mediterranean before the arrival of humans, tend to have narrow distributions, and do not have direct agricultural applications.

An advantage of using C. elegans as a research model is that its embryos can develop outside the uterus and in the absence of maternal care. “Our results were not influenced by possible amphetamine-induced epigenetic or behavioral modifications passed through maternal care, but they are a direct consequence of biological alterations,” of the embryo, says Carvelli.

The Contactless Magnetic Joint Actuator addresses three NASA focus areas: dust mitigation with dust tolerant mechanisms and bearings; new sensors and controls for precision landing, surface navigation, hazard detection and avoidance to support spacecraft systems; and precision pointing subsystems for instruments to address the need for autonomous systems and robotics.

The gold will be coated in an MOF, which will help it react to the sunlight, resulting in oxidation of the microcystins, removing them from the water. “Clean drinking water isn’t just a necessity, it’s a fundamental right,” says Lee. “By leveraging the innovative nanotechnology for water treatment, we’re not only removing toxins but also safeguarding the health and well-being of our communities, ensuring a brighter, healthier future for all.”

“Even though we’re focusing on a specific part of the brain involved in hearing, the information we gather can help us understand serious developmental disorders that happen when the brain doesn’t develop properly early on,” says Spirou. The team is capturing the journey of neurons in mice from birth to their establishment of synaptic connections and using VR to examine the neurons in the images and analyze the synapses.

He also works with biologist Roberto Vincis and mathematicians Tom Needham and Martin Bauer to investigate how taste is processed in the brain and with biologist Douglas Storace and mathematician Bhargav Karamched on the neural basis of the sense of smell. “The success of most research projects depends on the team behind it; my collaborators have all been part of the ecosystem that is my work,” says Bertram.

The device may also help advance bone engineering research — including bone reconstruction to replace chunks of bone lost to cancer, infections, or injury — as well as cartilage research and growing new cartilage tissue. Prasad plans to use this device as part of an ongoing bone reconstruction project in which a team will design personalized 3D implants for children with osteosarcoma, a type of bone cancer.

They found that phytoplankton, which can live as much as 150 meters below the ocean surface, and the carbon isotope ratios in their cells vary between the top layer of the ocean, where sunlight reaches and the deeper, low-light areas of the ocean. The variations in carbon isotope ratios were as large as those in the geologic record that have been attributed to major global carbon cycle events. 

The results will help scientists make data-based recommendations on how to manage coyotes and their habitats. “Knowing where potential prey, like deer and turkey, live, and knowing where and when coyotes are hunting and searching for prey allows us to better predict potential predation events and conflict,” says researcher Hance Ellington.

“We can attach various drugs to the nanoparticles and deliver them to a specific site,” says Seal. “The medication on its own already has its own applications, so when you combine them, their role in intervention becomes quite significant.” The RNA-targeting therapy inhibited tumor growth in mice by 40-50%. It may also have fewer side effects than the current therapy of craniospinal irradiation.

“Employing this advanced technology ... enabled us to collect extensive data from Hurricane Ian’s aftermath and analyze large-scale datasets rather quickly,” says researcher Tiffany Roberts Briggs. “We found no correlation between the ground elevation or year built for the extent of damages,” emphasizing instead the role of extreme inundation and other factors contributing to vulnerability.

Passaglia believes there is an association between circadian rhythm and eye pressure. The lab has also created a portable pump to inject fluid into the eye to set intraocular pressure to any desired level. Passaglia hopes to use the device to determine what causes cell death in the eye that typically leads to glaucoma.

Although it had been thought that luminous secretions were the most common type of bioluminescence, the team found that more species that rely on photophores. Shrimp may use bioluminescence for camouflage, defense, or to communicate with other shrimp. “Bioluminescence is the universal language of light in the deep sea,” says Bracken-Grissom.

Electrolytes are a crucial battery component, facilitating movement of ions between electrodes and enabling the battery to be charged or to supply power. The FSU team discovered a strategy using an electrolyte made of lithium chloride and gallium fluoride that can promote ion transport in solid electrolytes, leading to faster charging and longer battery life.

Schwann cells are a type of nervous system cell that wrap around nerve fibers, or axons, to create the myelin sheath. “We are now looking at how to overcome limitations associated with Schwann cell transplantation while improving the cells’ ability to survive, integrate and repair the injured spinal cord, which is why our partnership with Gel4Med came to life,” says Pearse.

FIU’s Jeremy Kiszka has taken on that challenge. While surveying about 5,500km across the northern Seychelles, Kiszka and collaborators had a surprising five sightings of up to 10 individual blue whales. They also discovered that the animals’ presence in the area was highly seasonal, primarily from December to April. “We still know so little about blue whales. But the data collected in Seychelles gives us hope and encourages us to do more.”

When printing with its special eco-friendly liquids, which may include metal or ceramic particles, a non-solvent vapor is released into the printing area. This vapor makes the liquid part of the ink solidify, leaving behind solid material. The process will allow manufacturers to print parts that include different kinds of substances at different locations and varied levels of porousness. This could be useful for manufacturing objects such as porous medical implants or lightweight aerospace products.

The software obscures identifying elements such as faces or clothing by adding perturbations to the RGB (color) pixels in the video feed, so human eyes are unable to recognize them. The new technology must analyze the data quickly and not require a lot of computing power, since it is designed for drones and public surveillance cameras that are not dependent on an outside server.

They had a mixed reaction to prospects for the integration of artificial intelligence into healthcare. A majority expressed reservations, and 38% questioned AI’s potential benefits for nursing. While some recognized AI's potential, many were concerned about its lack of empathy, data security risks, and other matters. “Ultimately, current and future nurses will find a synergistic balance between technology, innovation, patient trust and the human connection,” says FAU’s Safiya George.   

But the team found a way to go back to an earlier point in the parasite’s development and disrupt it in a way that makes it less able to tolerate artemisinin. “The parasite development is very rhythmic... A lot of genes are expressed just in time for when they’re needed, and then they’re gone. So if they are made at the wrong time, they will not have the same function.”

“Our study takes the harmful greenhouse gas CO2 and makes it into a useful raw material to produce degradable polymers or plastics,” says Hoyong Chung. “We are not only reducing CO2 emissions, but we are producing a sustainable polymer product using the CO2.” The material will degrade fully without producing microplastics and toxic substances and can be recycled without losing its original properties. It could be used in an array of low-cost products and, eventually, in biomedical and energy storage applications.

“Across Phoenix and Las Vegas, … arid climates with limited rainfall, water-saving fixture installation and grey water harvesting systems are pivotal,” they write. “In Des Moines and Houston, where rainfall is more abundant but still subject to seasonal variability, optimizing water usage through efficient fixture installation and grey water recycling becomes paramount.” The team will next research water-saving measures for larger residential buildings and commercial structures, says lead author Esber Andiroglu.

“This parasite is able to survive many decades inside of a human cell and hijack its machinery,” says Beatty. But when diagnosed early, T. cruzi infections can be treated with antiparasitic medications. The team has established a screening program in clinics and hospitals targeting people with high risk of infection. Beatty’s research suggests that using two rapid blood tests simultaneously could be a quick and easy way to diagnose the disease.

Personalized cancer treatment is about getting rid of the guesswork by matching “the right drug for the right person at the right time,” says Azzam. One of the most common precision medicine tools is genomics, and Azzam’s approach includes a genomics component. But its “functional” ability to see how living cancer cells derived from a patient tumor sample respond in real time to extensive drug testing expands the horizon of treatment options.

The Antheater is a mobile, high-volume machine that injects 150°F water directly into fire ant mounds without disturbing other species nearby. It has potential for controlling other ground nesting insects as well. The Antheater has been proven effective in defense of threatened and endangered wildlife affected by fire ants, including beach nesting sea turtles and Florida grasshopper sparrows. The system also has potential in urban, suburban, and agricultural settings.

The team will use remotely operated vehicles to survey Sargassum sites for fauna, quantify the size of the Sargassum mats, and assess the changing structure of the beach. They will begin with a small trial removal with dip nets to test the viability of harvesting Sargassum without harming marine animals and other fauna. “After collection, we will scale up harvesting this seaweed using larger nets,” says researcher Brian Lapointe. The team will also try to identify a change point—a density or distance from shore where Sargassum no longer provides functional habitat.

Florida Tech computer scientist Debasis Mitra is developing a machine learning algorithm to help in the decoding efforts. “I work on medical imaging and some of the challenges are similar,” says Mitra. Using two-staged artificial neural networks, the automated script recognition system has achieved 88% success in detecting graphemes. The team hopes to eventually develop a system that allows archaeologists to take a smartphone photo of a text and route it directly into the database.

“Most of the work that I've been doing inside glaciers has been with an eye towards understanding how they're going to be impacted by future climate change scenarios,” says Gulley. “For example, the way that caves melt glaciers in the Himalayas from the inside out was a process that nobody even knew was happening until we started exploring and mapping in that area. It turns out that the process is really important for setting the pace at how quickly those glaciers are melting.”

MagLab experts will use the facility’s 21-tesla Fourier-Transform Ion Cyclotron Resonance mass spectrometry system to analyze the mixture, with the goal of improving efficiency and increasing production capacity. "It's sort of like having a world class taste tester of your cookie recipes. They're tasting it and telling you exactly ‘that's too much vanilla', or ‘that's too much this', and you can change the recipe to perfect the product," says FSU’s Ryan Rodgers.

After travelling to Mars aboard a rocket, MAGGIE would fly more than 100 miles on a full battery charge, landing to conduct atmospheric and geophysical experiments. The Ingenuity helicopter covered about 11 miles during its three years of operation. MAGGIE would cover nearly 10,000 miles over the course of a Martian year (687 days). MAGGIE is still in the pre-prototype stage. “But our goal is to make history—the first fixed-wing aircraft to fly on the red planet,” says Zha.

Most sensors function in temperatures up to 125ºC. So new solutions will be needed for extreme environments such as the surface of other planets. The team’s platform, Integrated Harsh-Environment Analog Transducers, harnesses team members’ experience in aerodynamic sensor design, thin-film piezoelectric transducer development, and high-temperature physics. “It’s an organic thing, where faculty come together … with very complementary technical abilities. No one person could do this.”

Free photo editors, tax document assistants, and other web apps that access the user’s media can encrypt files and then demand ransom in exchange for safe return of the files. "Antivirus software systems allow these attacks because it is normal for them to give browsers access to files,” says researcher Selcuk Uluagac. “They don’t detect that anything is wrong.”

Each part (enantiomer) can have different effects in the body, so pharmaceutical developers must often separate the enantiomers or synthesize only the desired enantiomer to ensure optimal therapeutic outcomes and minimize adverse effects. The new platform can quantify the purity of chiral enantiomers with a high degree of sensitivity and save money due to its nanoimprinting fabrication and lower concentrations and fewer molecules needed for accurate detection, says inventor Debashis Chanda.

They recorded participants walking straight and curved paths and compared gait markers between participants with MCI and a group of healthy older adults. Curved walking outperformed straight walking in detecting MCI. “The MCI group exhibited a markedly lower average step length and speed during curve walking…,” says researcher Behnaz Ghoraani. “The MCI group showed diminished symmetry and regularity in both step and stride lengths for curved walking.” 

They recorded participants walking straight and curved paths and compared gait markers between participants with MCI and a group of healthy older adults. Curved walking outperformed straight walking in detecting MCI. “The MCI group exhibited a markedly lower average step length and speed during curve walking…,” says researcher Behnaz Ghoraani. “The MCI group showed diminished symmetry and regularity in both step and stride lengths for curved walking.” 

“It is helping us paint a more complete picture of the human trafficking situation in the greater Tampa Bay region,” says researcher Shelly Wagers about the BRIGHT Network. “Federal support will now allow us to do the same throughout Florida.” Nearly $1 million will go toward development and operation of a statewide human trafficking data repository.

PREDISS takes advantage of sensors, cameras, and wireless technology already in use and intervenes by providing collision warning signals and, potentially, modifying traffic signals to prevent an incident. “We hope to validate all aspects of the technology using FDOT’s data for stage 1B,” says researcher Olugbenga Anubi, and to explore ways to mature and scale the technology.

PREDISS takes advantage of sensors, cameras, and wireless technology already in use and intervenes by providing collision warning signals and, potentially, modifying traffic signals to prevent an incident. “We hope to validate all aspects of the technology using FDOT’s data for stage 1B,” says researcher Olugbenga Anubi, and to explore ways to mature and scale the technology.

The study found that while older adults were in some cases better at discerning financial scams than younger ones, older adults with cognitive impairment were more likely to engage in both scams and legitimate scenarios. “If we could identify individuals at risk ... before they are scammed, we could protect them, their families and their assets,” says researcher James Galvin. The team is now collecting new data to test the questionnaire against measures of cognitive and functional ability and biological markers of brain health.

The team had previously studied antibody functionality in breast milk after mothers received the initial COVID vaccines. “When babies are born, they have an immature immune system, so they rely heavily on mom’s immune system,” says researcher Joseph Larkin. But antibodies wane, so the team wanted to know if moms can provide prolonged protection to their baby by getting the booster.

The AR system fills in the details of the scenario. “If you bend it, for example, the smart moulage know[s] it’s flexing and the digital imagery will match what you’re feeling,” says researcher Gregory Welch. Learners may even feel a pulse and liquid “blood” from a reservoir inside the wound. When the learner applies pressure to stop the bleeding, they see the results in the patient’s improved vital signs.

“There was no difference in abundance across the study period …, which suggests that the populations of both species appear stable in Southeast Florida,” says biologist Stephen Kajiura. The researchers also found that the abundances of the two species were not correlated with sea surface temperature, daily chlorophyll-a concentration (an indicator of phytoplankton abundance), or day length.

Researchers are gauging abnormal driving such as getting lost, ignoring traffic signals and signs, and near-collision events, as well as number of trips, miles on the highway, and driving in severe weather. “These travel-pattern-related driver behavior indices are known to be indicative of the changes in older drivers’ cognition and physical functions since they tend to incorporate deliberate avoidance strategies to compensate for age-related deficits,” says Ruth Tappen of FAU’s College of Nursing.

In the U.S., Black women are more than three times as likely as white women to die from pregnancy-related causes. “This project will allow us to look at Miami-Dade County community-based care models to measure what it is about community-based models that leads to better outcomes and the lessons that this kind of model in Miami can provide nationally,” says researcher Okezi Otovo.

 

O’Leary tried a machine that converted the data into sound, but was unhappy with the results. “I was thinking how sound could make my spreadsheets come alive.” So she reached out to USF’s School of Music, which led to the creation of an interdisciplinary group of faculty and students creating music about the environment. The piece was performed by the USF Symphonic Band & Wind Ensemble in 2024.

The team has submitted a patent for a technology that will allow researchers to measure what is happening in the prefrontal cortex directly, using TMS in conjunction with functional near infrared spectroscopy. “Over 20 years ago, we looked at adjusting the dose parameters related to age based on MRI scans,” says researcher Frank “Andrew” Kozel. “Based on our prior success, we think that if we enhance the personalization for each individual, we will improve clinical outcomes.”

Arruda knew the goggles needed to be enhanced for people that are color deficient. “Not everyone has all four types of visual receptors…. So we are attempting to tailor the physical properties of the light to maximize the response of someone’s visual receptors so we can get an appropriate response from the brain.” The team includes Muhammad Harunur Rashid, Mohamed Khabou, and Aaron Wade.

The team synthesized a new derivative of a compound called Motuporamine C that is extracted from a type of sea sponge. It turned out to be twice as effective as the original at blocking cell migration in a pancreatic cancer cell line they tested. “Who knows if Mother Nature made the perfect antimetastatic compound right out of the box? As medicinal chemists, we like to tinker with those molecular messages and see if we can make them better,” says Phanstiel.

“While we have done great in reducing the racial inequity in terms of the Black-white poverty gap...our position [relative to other communities] in terms of income inequality worsened.” On the upside, Tampa Bay is one of the most affordable regions to go to college. “This is great because it helps in the production of a high-caliber workforce which in turn helps in creating and attracting high paying jobs.”

They developed a mathematical model dubbed Inferred Attractiveness that proposes a new idea about how females choose mates, says DuVal. “We suggest females learn from each other’s mate choices but use the context of other males to decide what makes a chosen male attractive. Because observing females aren’t mind-readers, they can make ‘mistakes’ in inferring what traits are important, and this generates some interesting patterns over time.”

“Once the data are unblinded ..., we will be able to determine if those who received the TPS demonstrate any thinking and memory changes as well as any lasting changes in their functional abilities in the home, such as ability to cook meals, manage medications and so forth,” says Gullett.

In the game, patients make decisions for an avatar to prevent nausea and vomiting and decide what to do when it does occur. In a small preliminary study, “Those who played the game were proactive and didn’t have as much nausea as they could have, while the control group waited until they started to feel sick before they did anything,” says Loerzel. A new study will include 500 participants.

The researchers floated mats of inexpensive polyethylene foam in outdoor test tanks that mirrored water conditions of nearby polluted waterways. They transplanted flower seedlings, including giant marigolds, into the mats. The team found that flowers grown on the floating platforms extracted 52% more phosphorus and 36% more nitrogen than the natural nitrogen cycle removes from untreated water.

Seeking an alternative, the team targeted a peptide called tertiapin, isolated from European honeybee venom. However, tertiapin breaks down too quickly in the body to be effective. So they attached the peptide to the stem of an antibody, to allow the drug to remain in the bloodstream longer. “Now we have a formulation that does not need to be administered daily– it could be every week or every month,” says researcher Sami Noujaim.  

The team will analyze thousands of ship tracks captured by satellites. They will also use computer models to extend their findings, investigating what sort of clouds would form if ships emitted salt particles instead of sulfur or carbon. Spraying salt water into the atmosphere to seed clouds, a proposal called marine cloud brightening, is a potential tool for lowering global temperatures.

To learn more, NASA’s Space Biology Program has funded an experiment that involves growing the bacteria in enclosed canisters on the International Space Station to better understand how microgravity affects their disease-spreading properties. Rice’s experiment was launched in early 2024 aboard a SpaceX rocket. “We hope that these results will help guide strategies to maintain astronaut health during long-term space flight missions,” says Rice.

Copik is studying if removing a molecular “brake” cancer cells use to avoid being killed can enhance NK cell anti-tumor power. The approach is showing strong results in killing neuroblastoma cell lines, the most common cancer in infants. NK cell therapy comes with very few side effects, and NK cells can be donated by a patient’s family, friends, or even strangers without the new cells attacking the recipient’s healthy cells.

The key innovation lies in combining different biological elements to identify biomolecules that interact with specific metal surfaces under certain environmental conditions. This approach not only seeks to stop corrosion but also offers the ability to tailor the biomolecules for specific environments. Another benefit is that biobased products result in lower greenhouse gas emissions compared to petroleum-based counterparts.

In addition to political polling, PORL works with clients from across the public, nonprofit, and private sectors to gauge public sentiment and awareness around topics ranging from economic impact to public safety. In 2023, PORL conducted 31 large polling projects with more than 14,150 surveys completed.

The team used high-speed cameras to map the movements of hundreds of insects. It turns out that, in flight, the insects kept their backs to the artificial light, just as they keep their backs to the sky to know which way is up and control their flight. This otherwise helpful behavior traps insects that try to orient to the “imposter sky” created by the artificial light.

Looking into the future, we can expect cybercrime to keep happening and changing shape,” says researcher Gita Javidi. “Realistically, hackers will get smarter and more targeted.” The lab uses advanced technology, including chatbots that engage the hacker community directly, as well as neural networks and artificial intelligence tools, to better understand the current threat landscape.

“Air can get trapped in the IV bags ... or when administered by syringe the oil used in delivering the product can mix with the proteins in the therapeutic and alter its effectiveness,” says researcher Hadi Mohammadigoushki. The structure of the monoclonal antibodies causes this vulnerability. Once that process is better understood, steps can be taken to mitigate the risks.

“Identifying local reefs and oceanic regions with high recovery rates is crucial to protecting reefs and ensuring their future. And identifying the environmental drivers behind recovery rates is vital to predicting changes in coral reefs,” says Rob van Woesik. “Our research incentivizes protection and conservation locally, in tandem with reducing greenhouse gases globally, as the oceans continue to warm.”

In a new study, the researchers used artificial intelligence to identify the combinations of genetic variants that best predicted outcomes in patients that received standard chemotherapy and G.O. They also developed a genetic score to predict patient outcomes with the targeted drug treatment.

The mobile unit will be based on a trailer chassis and thus easily deployed in neighborhoods without power or service access. It will offer appliances and services for cooling off, charging devices, accessing the internet, and more. The key is the hub’s self-sustaining power, principally supplied via solar panels and supplemented by a conventional generator.

“Forams have been abundant in the ocean for the last 500 million years, and their limestone shells record many things about the chemistry of the ocean,” says researcher Sam Purkis. “We are using forams to tell us whether the reefs have suffered high temperatures over the centuries, how the reefs have been stressed or impacted by humans, and also how reefs have been overgrown by algae.”

The video explains what types of statements are (and are not) appropriate for forensic experts to make, based on U.S. Department of Justice guidelines. It also explains that juries are required to consider, but not necessarily to accept, expert testimony. Participants that watched the video before a mock trial were more likely to appropriately differentiate between low- and high-quality forensic testimony.

Results suggest the shark’s vertebral anatomy and mineralized microstructure meet the demands of both fast swimming and tail-whipping. The shark’s vertebral column is fortified along its length and may work like a catapult, allowing the tail to launch over the head. “We think that anterior body vertebrae stabilize the thresher shark’s main body, while vertebrae closer to the tail support overhead tail-whips,” says researcher Marianne Porter.

The five-year, double-blind, placebo-controlled study will be led by Harry van Loveren, who says the neurosurgery research group has been conducting TBI-focused research for nearly 20 years. They have already conducted numerous smaller studies of the effectiveness of HBOT in patients that suffer from TBI.  

The team’s research predicts that by 2100, average age in coastal communities could rise by 10 years. “Think about who are more unlikely to move and who will be left behind in these communities; it tends to be the oldest,” Hauer said. “Because migration is most likely to occur in more youthful populations, areas experiencing accelerated out-migration could face accelerated population aging.”

The field of nuclear forensics focuses on tracking the movement of rogue nuclear material around the world and providing law enforcement with evidence needed to prosecute perpetrators. Project leader Jim Baciak says the diversity of the team’s expertise—in analytical chemistry, radiochemistry, environmental sciences, geochemistry, nuclear engineering, physics, statistical analyses, machine learning, and optical sciences—will allow it to attack the problem from multiple angles.

One benefit of the ceramic far-field infrared blanket for wound care is that it does not require a power supply, says Sugaya. So it is well suited for use in combat situations and applications in remote areas. The team is conducting ongoing research on its use in treating Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and other conditions.

When nerve cells die, as in ALS, neurofilament is released into the spinal fluid and blood. The amount of neurofilament in the blood reflects the speed with which neurons are dying. Researchers can use this information to guide strategies and improve the efficiency with which they work to develop new treatments. The research team included UM’s Joanne Wuu and researchers from Oxford University, Biogen, and other organizations.

“Growing challenges of food safety, biosecurity and agricultural productivity, or emergence of new pathogens such as citrus greening devastation, plant invasion, climate change and depletion of soil fertility, all have a microbiome undertone,” says researcher Nwadiuto Esiobu. “In virtually every field of science, microbiomes are emerging as key priority themes.”

“Growing challenges of food safety, biosecurity and agricultural productivity, or emergence of new pathogens such as citrus greening devastation, plant invasion, climate change and depletion of soil fertility, all have a microbiome undertone,” says researcher Nwadiuto Esiobu. “In virtually every field of science, microbiomes are emerging as key priority themes.”

Neuroinflammation causes infected cells hiding in the brain to activate, start the replication process, and spread the virus back into the body. The team tested various concentrations of THC and CBD on hundreds of HIV-infected microglia cells. CBD-treated cells reduced the numbers of inflammatory molecules and kept the infected cells from activating.

Assessing the effectiveness of drugs and gene therapies in clinical trials can be difficult when based on measures of participants’ physical functioning, especially with young children. In contrast, muscle imaging provides objective evidence of muscle changes. “With the capabilities of AI, we can more quickly and accurately extract answers to treatment questions that will accelerate new therapies and bring us closer to a cure,” says Vandenborne.

Chen’s group plans to incorporate advanced semiconductor technologies and artificial intelligence into a millimeter-wave radio system. This system widens bandwidth for each user, but also increases energy consumption. To address this, they will develop advanced millimeter-wave power amplification circuits using highly efficient wide-bandgap semiconductors. The team will also collaborate on AI to allow for autonomous control of advanced power amplification circuits for faster processing.

Researchers used state-of-the-art climate models and “offline” radiative flux calculations to analyze the effect increasing CO2 has on the upper part of the atmostphere, known as the stratosphere, which cools with increasing CO2 concentrations. They found that this stratosphere cooling causes subsequent increases in CO2 to have a larger heat-trapping effect than previous increases.

“With the power of AI, our interdisciplinary team is going to explore how we can equip these systems with autonomous resilience," says researcher M. Hadi Amini. In addition to supporting research, the grant will support the establishment of the Advanced Education and Research for Machine Learning-driven Critical Infrastructure Resilience (ADMIRE) Center.

The team replaced some of pumps directly and then expanded their impact by training local technicians to do so themselves. They also worked with local health practitioners to measure blood lead levels of children that drank water from the pumps. The combined efforts helped decrease the blood lead levels of 87 percent of the children tested during the study.

About 60 percent of the patients followed up with their primary care provider. Of those, 72 percent received a fall assessment and 56 percent adopted a fall prevention strategy. This reflects an urgent need to promote fall assessment and prevention strategies, says researcher Richard Shih. “When referred to physical therapy, patients may be more likely to adopt fall prevention interventions and home safety modifications that have been shown to reduce recurrent fall, hospitalization and mortality.”

The team is developing lightweight, compact inverters for solar power plants. The inverters help regulate the flow of electricity from power plants to the electric grid. The sub-modules are small enough that a team of two people can set them up without heavy equipment, allowing solar power plants to quickly restore electricity in the wake of hurricanes and other disruptions.

They identified outdated and invisible markings by comparing the locations of school zones with other geometric features, such as crosswalks. The procedure eliminates the need for manual inventory data entry, prevents errors, and speeds up results. The goal was to improve the process of planning, designing, and maintaining relevant roadways, which will pay dividends for children and drivers, said RIDER’s Eren Ozguven.

They identified outdated and invisible markings by comparing the locations of school zones with other geometric features, such as crosswalks. The procedure eliminates the need for manual inventory data entry, prevents errors, and speeds up results. The goal was to improve the process of planning, designing, and maintaining relevant roadways, which will pay dividends for children and drivers, said RIDER’s Eren Ozguven.

They identified outdated and invisible markings by comparing the locations of school zones with other geometric features, such as crosswalks. The procedure eliminates the need for manual inventory data entry, prevents errors, and speeds up results. The goal was to improve the process of planning, designing, and maintaining relevant roadways, which will pay dividends for children and drivers, said RIDER’s Eren Ozguven.

Previous MagLab research has focused on fire impacts in Colorado and the African Congo. However, in Maui’s unique landscape, with its volcanic soil, the impacts could be quite different, notes chemist Amy McKenna. Researchers will use the lab’s 21 Tesla Ion Cyclotron Resonance system, the world’s most powerful mass spectrometer, to measure toxins, carcinogens, and other compounds to gauge the environmental impacts and implications for recovery.

They’re also hoping to increase awareness of the disease’s symptoms so practitioners will be able to recognize and treat it early. “Good clues for leprosy include a patch of skin that is lighter in color or numb to the touch,” says Kartik Cherabuddi of the UF College of Medicine. “Fortunately, someone with leprosy can be cured …. an early diagnosis can lead to a straightforward recovery.”

The team found that the river’s tributaries continue to be badly polluted, and wetlands continue to be lost due to development. Salinity has increased, and the water column is contaminated by pharmaceuticals such as acetaminophen and hydrocodone. On the upside, most fish and invertebrates are not in danger of overfishing, and protected species are faring well.

The new inventions put technologies such as computer vision, augmented reality, virtual reality, and AI to work instead. For example, the Collective Intelligence Framework blends human-centric AI with mixed reality to fast-track inspections and keep costs down while ensuring accuracy. Another invention, the Generative Adversarial Network, uses AI to actually predict damage in advance.

“We found that white matter worsening was more likely for individuals in lower-greenspace/lower-income neighborhoods, says Besser.” Residential neighborhoods become increasingly important as individuals move into retirement, reduce their driving, and face new medical issues. “Greenspaces can provide quiet moments for older adults to refresh their brains, reduce chronic stress, and increase physical activity.”

“Restoration is key because when water can once again move north to south, more clean water can fill up the Everglades and the aquifer, allowing fresh water to push back the salt water,” explains Crowl. Restoration would safeguard Floridians, attract tourists, protect the home of the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida, and ensure animals and plants found only in the Everglades would still have a place to live.

“The corals housed at KML came from nurseries where they were growing out in the ocean. Unfortunately, many of the corals that could not be relocated to land-based facilities and remained in the ocean died from the hot waters,” said KML’s director, Cynthia Lewis. Ultimately, the corals will be reattached to grow on natural reefs using epoxy, cement, zip ties, and nails.

“Cybersecurity is very multidisciplinary,” says El-Sheikh. “While there are some jobs that require coding or technical experience, there are also jobs that focus on cyber policy or cyber management, or, cyber forensics and intelligence analysis ... You really can't beat the mission, because you're helping ... your organization and your community, and ... you're also helping our country with national security.”

“This invention will increase advanced underwater imaging techniques and equip underwater unmanned vehicles with the capability of identifying and extracting or neutralizing threatening underwater objects or devices,” said Ouyang. The compact imaging device could also assist divers during deep diving exercises, inspections of the underside of vessels, and underwater robotic operations.

“If you want to deliver a rescue or support package in an area not easily accessible, such as a warzone, you may have to do so at fast speed, so you don’t get shot down,” Kumar said. “Manned or unmanned, whatever you are dropping should not hit the parent aircraft during flight.” The U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory is funding the study through FSU.

Given this reality, Zaremski and co-authors of an editorial in the Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine have called for a reassessment of risk factors for these elbow injuries. They suspect that the lack of improvement in injury rates may be due in part to the focus on increased pitching velocity in the past decade, which puts increased torque and stress on young arms.

Kirtman received grants from NSF and NOAA to collaborate with researchers across the country to study the impacts of the El Nino climate pattern. “When you watch your weather forecast on TV...“they’re going to not only talk about how hot and humid and chances of rain, they’re going to start talking about, ‘What’s the flood forecast for this coming week?’ This is the kind of research that will inform that.”

LSST is expected to discover many dwarf galaxies that are much smaller than our own but are orbiting the Milky Way and thus are excellent targets to search for dark matter. They will assess if the new dwarf galaxies likely to be discovered by LSST will be able to confirm if dark matter is responsible for the surplus of gamma rays emanating from the center of the Milky Way.

“Cancer cells ... need to survive, grow and get nutrients,” says researcher Annette Khaled. “If we can target those basic needs of cancer cells, then we have a therapy that not only works for breast cancer but works for many other cancers.” UCF’s breast cancer research team is relatively small, but they have been awarded more than $2 million in grants for their work.

Dozens of UF faculty participate in FSI, along with partners from other Florida universities, so it is well-positioned to boost Florida’s research and development in this sector. FSI will also launch an education program to serve universities, state and career colleges, and private industry. “Our vision is to double the state’s semiconductor workforce within a few years,” said Mark Tehranipoor, chair of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

Kerr’s team is focusing on how proteins called inflammasomes are transported from the brain to the gut through extracellular vesicles—small particles released into bodily fluids, such as blood, cerebrospinal fluid, and stool. In people with Alzheimer’s disease, inflammasome activation in the brain and gut increases. Once inflammasome pathways are activated, they can trigger a form of cell death in both brain and gut.

The folding antenna designs take inspiration from origami. “Satellites in space must deploy large antennas to communicate down to earth. Once an antenna is in space, there’s plenty of space for it. That’s not the problem,” Georgakopoulos notes. “It’s how do you get it there?” His next goal is to radically upgrade the frequencies on the antennas with the addition of ultra-wideband systems.

“We’re calling them inert zombies due to their lack of life,” says USF’s Sarina Ergas. “If you look at the difference between a stormwater pond in a wealthy neighborhood and one in a low-income neighborhood – it’s day and night in terms of how they benefit the community.” USF is collaborating with UF’s Mary Lusk, the local community development corporation, and others on the project.

“We’re calling them inert zombies due to their lack of life,” says USF’s Sarina Ergas. “If you look at the difference between a stormwater pond in a wealthy neighborhood and one in a low-income neighborhood – it’s day and night in terms of how they benefit the community.” USF is collaborating with UF’s Mary Lusk, the local community development corporation, and others on the project.

Such systems included the telephone, postal system—even railroad timetables. “Detection is an information behavior,” Kazmer said. “You are seeking information, figuring out what to keep and what to get rid of, organizing what you keep and then drawing a conclusion. In the case of these stories, the detectives use information to determine who committed the crime and why.”

The team analyzed data from two studies that together included more than 30,000 people. Although there was evidence of decline in feelings of purpose in the time leading up to cognitive impairment, the decrease sped up after diagnosis. “It is critically important for individuals to maintain their purpose in life to prevent or at least delay this apathy, which can reduce quality of life,” added Sutin.

“Most hypersonic engines are structurally fixed due to the challenging flight environment,” says Ahmed. “Our research will show the performance gains from an adaptable engine configuration that would self-optimize its surfaces to maximize performance power, thrust and travel distance which is the first of its kind for hypersonic engines.”

Johns has been involved for years in two projects that deploy arrays of deep-ocean moorings for continual monitoring of the AMOC. “These observational programs are intended to provide benchmarks for global climate models…. The observations also help to understand the physics of the natural variations in the AMOC so that they can be separated from the long-term AMOC variations associated with climate change.”

“My research in eating disorders has expanded my understanding of the human condition by probing the biological, psychological, and social factors that influence behaviors critical to survival and yet so malleable to social context,” Keel said. “I most enjoy the process of discovery and then sharing new findings with others, including writing articles and books and giving plenary and keynote addresses

Fossez’s work examines specific theories on the composition and variations in stability of atomic nuclei that make up the matter of the world around us. “The question is: which combinations of protons and neutrons gives you a nucleus that does not break apart? That’s what my work aims to investigate so we can better understand the universe’s total molecular design,” says Fossez.

“The green turtle was heavily exploited for its meat, and local populations were likely small decades before the ESA went into effect,” said turtle researcher Erin Seney. “The nest numbers we now see on the Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge and elsewhere highlight the importance of conservation efforts that have occurred both in the water and on land.”

“For years we have been developing the infrastructure capacity to support reef restoration efforts that enable KML to temporarily house corals during emergencies such as this,” said Cynthia Lewis, director of KML. “Typically, water temperatures at this time of year are in the mid 80s, but we are already recording temperatures of 90 degrees. It is very alarming.”

“We believe that with clear-eyed perspectives, people will have a greater chance of producing meaningful policy and other progress on the environmental challenges facing us, rather than continued stalemate and gridlock,” stated Polsky. “The time for blaming and shaming in climate discussions is over. The bipartisan path is the only way forward. Today this path is more accessible for climate than ever before.”

“Current antimalarials don’t completely stop transmission, meaning patients can continue to infect mosquitoes before they recover,” said lead author Masafumi Yoshinaga.  “Developing new potent multi-stage drugs is imperative to ensure malaria elimination and eradication. We found AST is a promising lead compound for developing a new class of potent multi-stage antimalarials.”

“By integrating research on different levels spanning basic principles by which the brain operates, different large-scale networks, and psychological processes and behavior, we are translating basic science in the lab to treatment at the clinic,” Li said. “By isolating specific neural mechanisms and inventing non-invasive techniques to target these mechanisms, we are developing new treatments for these debilitating and hard-to-treat conditions.”

“Our design is significantly simpler than most designs as all the actuators and sensors are combined into a single molding process,” said Engeberg. “Importantly, although this study’s application was for playing a song, the approach could be applied to myriad tasks of daily life and the device could facilitate intricate rehabilitation programs customized for each patient.”

According to the World Health Organization, these infections are widespread, with the flu causing 3 to 5 million severe cases of illnesses and up to 650,000 deaths every year.  “Interventions that can improve the outcome of serious viral infection without interfering with effective anti-viral immune responses are urgently needed,” said Strutt.

“We found that the more time people spent in space, the larger their ventricles became,” said Rachael Seidler, a researcher in physiology and kinesiology at the University of Florida. “Many astronauts travel to space more than one time, and our study shows it takes about three years between flights for the ventricles to fully recover.”

“We’d thought the glacier retreated back to where it is now but it went back well beyond that, which indicates the ice is a lot more dynamic than we realized. Now we need to incorporate this new understanding into models so we can better predict what may happen in the future as the planet warms,” said Rosenheim.

Saeed and team have been working on developing a seizure prediction model using data analytics and machine learning. The research uses continuous EEG recordings and has been conducted through a clinical trial at Baptist Health South Florida to provide patients with epilepsy an early warning system to prevent seizures and improve quality of life.

Traylor-Knowles and team are studying the mechanisms of coral stress responses to identify key factors responsible for coral survival. Using genetic sequencing to identify genes responsible for stress responses, they are studying the interactions between corals and their symbiotic algae. They hope their findings can help develop strategies to protect and restore coral reefs.

The algorithm compresses data and shares it across very large machines, high-performance supercomputers. It was created to help scientists that use mass spectrometry to study proteomics (i.e., proteins in a cell, tissue, or organism). While scientists are already able to produce vaccines quickly, with this algorithm that process could be even more streamlined.

Reeves and team used DNA analysis to identify the mosquito. This species is typically found in Central America/Northern South America, contributing to transmission of West Nile and St. Louis encephalitis viruses, among others. Every year, Florida faces the dangers of mosquito-transmitted diseases, and research can help determine if this mosquito will exacerbate those challenges.

The team developed a technique for creating porous, bioabsorbable materials that mimic the structure of bone. The screws, pins, rods, and other medical implants are then coated with a compound called hydroxyapatite, which encourages bone growth. The implants are customized to fit a patient's specific needs and provide better bone healing.

Parsons is using the underwater classroom to conduct research on marine life and ecosystems, including fish behavior and migration patterns. Understanding the way fish forage for food is essential to preserving their habitats, explains Parsons. They aim to develop strategies for managing marine resources, promoting sustainable practices, and helping protect oceanic ecosystems.

Solid-state batteries store energy and release it to power devices, using solid electrodes/a solid electrolyte, allowing for a higher-than-average energy density. But this causes supply chain difficulties because each battery relies on only one element, such as lithium. Ouyang and his team have discovered ways to combine more common elements, possibly changing the electric vehicle or aircraft industries.  

“Since typical red tide cell sizes are well within the instrument resolution range, all bloom phases can be monitored and tracked, including initial bloom development,” said Nayak. The system, which is being tested off the Florida coast, uses machine learning and artificial intelligence to predict and alert authorities about red tide events, helping to prevent health risks and economic losses.

Kercheval's research aims to address the challenge of estimating population parameters from high-dimensional data by reducing sampling errors using a combination of machine learning and statistics. Kercheval uses a method called "randomized low-rank approximation" to analyze the data and shrink the sampling error, leading to more accurate estimations of population parameters.

“Without diversity in the workforce, minority communities are negatively impacted because research areas – such as health disparities among Latino, Native American and Black communities – are underrepresented,” Johnson said. “An example of this is the opioid epidemic, where the lack of African American researchers was directly reflected in how little research was available to help the African American community.”

“Impairment in an individual’s cognition and behavior stems, at least partly, from impairments in the ability of brain regions to communicate with each other effectively. Since networks vary across people, it’s important to look at how Parkinson’s affects brain networks in individual people,” said Gratton. 

Hou’s work focuses on supporting aging-in-community, rather than in nursing homes and other institutions. “Aging-in-community is a global issue,” said Hou. Her mixed-method research integrates quantitative data analysis with qualitative (narrative) stories of research participants.

Ma has built upon previous research by using both organic and inorganic materials to create a new class of scintillators. This allows for higher resolution and contrast in images. “Using a hybrid material made up of both organic and inorganic components means each component can be used for the part of the process where it is most effective,” says Ma

“Sea turtle sex, fitness, and hatchling success is influenced by temperature,” said Mariana Fuentes, a researcher at the FSU Department of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Science.  “Understanding how changes to the environment could affect the temperature of nesting grounds is important for monitoring the future of these keystone species.”

“Other parasites similar to this one are known to cause disease in other organisms but have not been implicated in urchin disease outbreaks, in the Caribbean or elsewhere,” said Behringer. “It appears to act in a micropredation mechanism where it swarms the urchins and starts multiplying and rapidly eating away at them.”

The device uses transfluthrin, an organic insecticide considered safe for both humans and animals. “Our device eliminates the need for applying topical repellents and for insecticides that are sprayed across an open area, which can contaminate surrounding plants or bodies of water and have a negative impact on beneficial pollinators like bees and butterflies,” said Batich. 

“This study shows that there are some unusual reefs that may be able to survive for several decades as a result of their ability to shuffle symbionts,” said Andrew Baker, a researcher at the Rosenstiel School. “Coral reefs are incredibly valuable natural assets, providing coastal protection and fisheries benefits, and supporting many local communities.”

UWF’s Guillermo Francia is part of the Transatlantic Working Group on IoT/CPS Cybersecurity Research. Their connected-vehicle security research highlights the need for better encryption/authentication methods to keep sensitive data secure and ensure that unauthorized access to these systems does not put drivers at risk.

The clinical trial is designed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of Insightec’s ExAblate Model 4000 Type 2.0 System as a tool for disrupting the blood-brain barrier in probable Alzheimer’s patients.  “The treatment … represents a significant advancement for potential drug delivery and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease and other neurological disorders,” said Fields.

At 260 actions per second, the physical and digital buildings adjust to one another’s movements to remain in sync, creating a realistic simulation. This method, known as real-time cyber-physical modeling, links a building model at FIU’s Wall of Wind with a model on a computer to create realistic simulations of how skyscrapers face powerful winds.

The team is using highly realistic simulation scenarios to foster inter- and intra- disciplinary care within public health nursing to medically underserved communities. “When social workers, nurses and other healthcare professionals work together, they can combine their knowledge to focus on the patient care from various perspectives

“Understanding the science of salt concentrations and formation of evaporites will bring new insight into identifying where water may have existed,” said Dangi. “Water is a critical source NASA researches and explores to better understand other planets’ surface geology and the potential future of lunar and Martian exploration.” The project brings together the team’s expertise in ultrasonic levitation, spectroscopy, and astrochemistry.

Bhide’s team had mice drink water containing aspartame at 15% of the FDA-approved daily human intake for 12 weeks. Prominent anxiety-like behavior appeared in the mice across multiple generations. The researchers are planning an additional publication on how aspartame affected memory. Future research will identify the molecular mechanisms that influence the transmission of aspartame’s effect across generations.

The FINDER (Fireball Early Warning Network with Electro-optic Recognition) system uses a network of algorithms and high-speed cameras to capture and analyze lightning strikes in real-time. The system is being tested in Florida and may aid in quickly detecting wildfires and alerting first responders.

Stroke is the number one cause of long-term disability around the world.  Regaining independent, safe walking is the most common rehabilitation goal of stroke survivors, which is exactly what Balasubramanian’s research focuses on. Their research continues to make a profound impact on the lives of stroke survivors and their families.

"Parents of children with developmental delay and behavioral problems face many barriers as they seek care, including transportation obstacles, language barriers, financial challenges, shortages of mental health clinicians and fear of stigma," Bagner said. "We hope this study shows telehealth can be an effective strategy to address many of these barriers."

“Valuable chemical reactions convert cheap and abundant starting materials (reactants) into more valuable products. Life in the universe and civilization on our planet depend on this simple fact,” Alabugin said. Everything around us was formed via chemical reactions. These reactions sustain our existence and fuel our progress. Our life and death are the consequences of chemical reactions.”

The team examined U.S. deaths between 2000-2019 using SaTScan/ArcGIS software to analyze geographic information and create cluster/heatmaps. Nine significant clusters were found: six were suicide and opioids, and three were opioids only. Based on this information, interventions could be implemented to attempt to reduce elevated rates of suicides in areas of concern.

Heather Agazzi of USF Health has adapted the program for parents of elementary school age children. With DOCS K-5, each cohort of adults attends sessions focusing on everyday hassles and behavior issues. “We adopted the program to be more relevant for the types of social, emotional and behavioral challenges that children age five to age 11 present in everyday life,” says Agazzi.

Agoulnik and their team discovered a new drug compound that can reverse osteoporosis in mice by increasing bone density. The researchers designed and synthesized the drug, named SR9009, and tested it on mice with induced osteoporosis. The compound increased bone formation and density and could potentially be used to treat osteoporosis in humans. It may be the first step toward cheaper, easy-to-take treatments for osteoporosis and other diseases associated with bone loss.

Those who uploaded photos had negative thoughts about weight and shape and higher anxiety levels. They also wanted to exercise more and eat less. “Just posting a photo, whether or not it’s edited, caused increases in body concerns,” says Keel. “But editing photos before posting caused an even greater increase in those concerns.”

“Almost one in five is a very large number,” says Scheffers. “What’s surprising and important about this work is that, for the first time, we know the sheer magnitude of the global wildlife trade.” He also found that traded species are significantly more likely to be endangered than nontraded ones.

Romano developed NeuroEyeCoach, a visual rehabilitation therapy that improved vision in over 80 percent of stroke and traumatic brain injury patients in the study. Of those patients, 79 percent said they had less disability after doing NeuroEyeCoach. “Up to recently, there was very little treatment available to restore vision loss in this population,” says Romano.

“Our simulation approach is helping us to understand how the human mind goes from one specific trust-state to another one in a sequence of events as we gauge various levels of trust and distrust in real-time,” says Nojoumian. The results show that aggressive autonomous driving diminishes trust, while defensive autonomous driving builds trust.

Having fewer birds to perform these tasks will affect “how well our natural world can support life, including our own,” says biologist John Albert Uy at the University of Miami. Habitat loss and wider use of pesticides may be primarily affecting bird populations since insects are their main food source.

Hohlmann says scientists have not directly detected dark matter particles yet. “The only effect that we know of is the gravitational effect…but it doesn’t emit light…, so it’s hard to observe.” To better detect the particles, Hohlmann and Yumiceva are upgrading a compact muon solenoid detector to make it operate at higher intensities.

"It’s important to think about the human factors of evacuation, especially in Florida, where many…evacuees may be older adults,” says psychologist Walter Boot, also of FSU. The researchers developed models to help emergency managers account for vulnerable populations’ needs. “Thinking about their particular needs can allow for less stressful evacuations, and that ultimately saves lives,” says Ozguven.

In the undersea lab, D’Agostino worked with NASA for a 10-day study called NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations, or NEEMO. He collected data on various physiological factors, such as pressure-related changes in sleep, skin microbiomes, metabolic markers, strength, and decision-making. “The NASA NEEMO mission was the most intense, amazing experience of my life,” D’Agostino says.

“Enteroviruses are…very common…, sometimes causing fever, sore throat, rash or nausea. A lot of children get them, but not everybody that gets the virus will get T1D,” said Vehik. Additionally, Vehik found contracting adenovirus C, a virus causing respiratory infections, early in life correlates with a lower risk of developing autoimmunity.

The algorithm continuously monitors Parkinson’s patients wearing sensors and measures their tremors while they freely move around in their natural environments. This method can measure the full spectrum of tremor changes over time. “The method… will provide clinicians with vital information to effectively manage and treat their patients with this disorder,” adds FAU’s Stella Batalama.

Jails often do not have the tools to effectively treat inmates’ trauma symptoms. FSU’s Carrie Pettus-Davis, Stephen Tripodi, and Tanya Renn are testing a flexible, short-term trauma intervention called “Skills Training on Affective and Interpersonal Regulation,” or STAIRS, that addresses the needs of these individuals. STAIRS encourages group-based work during and after incarceration.

This may make ketamine a tool for treating depression. Kabbaj’s research is a step toward learning more about ketamine and its interactions with alcohol, the number one drug abused by depressed patients. Ketamine did not affect high-alcohol female rats. Clinical studies for men and for women are needed before ketamine is used as a therapy for alcoholism in either sex.

“Children can’t learn what they don’t hear. So if their parents or other adults speak to them with a very simple, limited vocabulary, that is all that they can learn,” Hoff said. “Parents who are more proficient in English use a richer vocabulary and produce longer sentences, even when they are talking to a toddler.” The findings have broad implications for immigrant

The bistrategic group, those that are feared and loved, were the most popular and ranked above average on physical and relational aggression, as well as prosocial behavior. They were seen by peers as disruptive and angry, but were otherwise well adjusted. “Bistrategic adolescents are noteworthy…for the way they balance getting their way with getting along,” said FAU psychologist Brett Laursen.”

The device generates a backward motion in the patient’s good leg, which exaggerates the existing step. That uncomfortable movement strengthens their stroke-impacted leg, leading to a more symmetrical gait after shoe removal. “Unlike many of the existing gait rehabilitation devices, this device is passive, portable, wearable and does not require any external energy,” says Reed.

The foam was originally developed by Zeng to create a more comfortable prosthetic sock for amputees, but Li and Zeng thought it could also be used to build 3D brain scaffolds on which stem cells can grow. “As we get more and more data exploring this, it looks more likely that it works,” Li says.

The foam was originally developed by Zeng to create a more comfortable prosthetic sock for amputees, but Li and Zeng thought it could also be used to build 3D brain scaffolds on which stem cells can grow. “As we get more and more data exploring this, it looks more likely that it works,” Li says.

Findings show that the echo chamber, a metaphorical environment where people only pay attention to information supporting their own beliefs and opinions, plays a major role in spreading misinformation. “While there are actual benefits to our innate trusting behavior, such as reinforcing our social bonds, these instincts can be easily turned against us,” Anagnostopoulos says.

This discovery is groundbreaking for marine biotechnology. “Sponge cell lines could be used as models to understand the role of secondary metabolites in sponges, to use this information to develop new models for drug discovery, and to scale-up production of sponge-derived bioactive compounds for novel medicines,” says Pomponi.

Coral reefs protect the coastlines from storms. Their destruction could gravely harm Miami’s environmental and tourist economies. Baker and UM’s dive team are removing healthy colonies from the Dry Tortugas to bring to UM’s Key Biscayne lab temporarily for protection and to use as seed stock for breeding the next generation of coral.

FAU’s Adam Schaefer partnered with the Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds to research ways to optimize rehabilitation efforts for African penguins. Results showed the need for marine protected areas and fisheries management. The researchers recommend developing methods to lessen the effects of malnutrition and treat parasites.

These findings build upon Yang’s previous research demonstrating ways to reduce the amount of the expensive platinum needed in metal-air batteries. Metal-air batteries are safer and last longer than the fire-prone lithium metal batteries that are often used in electric cars. 

“We found one in five patients admitted to the hospital for a psychiatric condition end up being readmitted within 30 days and almost half require inpatient care within six months,” says Winterstein. Bussing notes that comprehensive discharge planning to ensure that patients have medical and social support can make a big difference in readmission rates.

Breast milk transfers beneficial gut bacteria from mothers to infants, and NICU babies often consume more formula than breast milk. Two years later, Groer followed up with 24 of the children she observed previously and found that their microbiomes remarkably improved. She attributes that improvement to eating regular diets and being outside of hospital settings.

Settlers built their homes atop the mounds, ignoring the many uses those mounds had for indigenous people, such as protection from raiding and flooding, as well as social and ideological benefits. “These places deserve our attention, our efforts, and preservation, just as much as we would strive to preserve colonial Williamsburg or Jamestown,” Mehta says.

The study was the first on this matter to analyze data collected at the village-level rather than the national level. It was also one of the most diverse investigations of the non-random medicinal plants selection theory, because it includes analysis by gender, age, and exposure to outside influences from working with ecotourism projects. The study’s results strengthen the non-random medicinal selection theory.

“This histone mutation seems to cause a collaboration to make a more aggressive, angrier group of cancer cells,” Licht says. “This suggests that this mutation may amplify the effects of other cancer mutations.” He also discovered that the mutation was most commonly found in tumors with high rates of mutations, such as cervical cancer.

The whales are heavily affected by human impacts like vessel strikes, energy exploration and development, oil spills, fishing gear entanglement, and ocean noise. “The goal of the study is to generate new information that would lead to changes in conservation and management,” says marine biologist Jeremy Kiszka.

Dysregulated anger results in negative emotions, verbal and physical aggression, and hostility. Children with dysregulated anger are at greater risk of becoming bullies and bully-victims—bullies that are victimized by other bullies. “Parents’ belittling and critical interactions with adolescents thwart their ability to maintain positive relationships with peers,” says Laursen.

“This is a solution that should be beneficial for many people. For instance, managers of wastewater treatment plants could potentially earn revenue by selling the biosolids instead of paying disposal fees for [them] to be dumped [in] landfills,” says Chen. “Farmers would also benefit from cheap organic fertilizers that could replace the chemical synthetic ones...”

“This is a solution that should be beneficial for many people. For instance, managers of wastewater treatment plants could potentially earn revenue by selling the biosolids instead of paying disposal fees for [them] to be dumped [in] landfills,” says Chen. “Farmers would also benefit from cheap organic fertilizers that could replace the chemical synthetic ones...”

Everham and former graduate student Gianna Diaz studied how hurricanes and roads compound to affect mangroves. As sea level rises, mangroves can migrate landward to keep from being inundated, but roads through mangrove forests might prove fatal for some forests. “Forests that are cut off by roads have nowhere to go,” Diaz said. “When the water gets too high, they’re going to die off.”

Ormsbee found that overnight belly fat metabolism and whole-body fat burn were not affected whether the women consumed protein during the day or before bed. Ormsbee and the team hope this research and future follow-up studies will help discredit myths about women’s nighttime eating.

Currently, oil production facilities burn off gases such as methane, a process that is inefficient and leads to the release of excess, unburned methane into the atmosphere, as well as additional carbon dioxide. The USF-developed technique could allow oil producers to better manage their impact on the environment and produce valuable compounds like ethylene glycol and glycolic acid – molecules used in the production of plastics, polymers, and much more.

“These results… [suggest] that the use of low-intensity behavioral intervention as a first-line treatment for children with ADHD reduces or eliminates the need for medication,” says Erika Coles, clinical director at FIU’s Center for Children and Families. Additionally, the researchers found no significant cost difference between treating ADHD with behavioral intervention versus medication.

“Our results provide compelling evidence that nitrogen loading from the Florida Keys and greater Everglades ecosystem caused by humans… is the primary driver of coral reef degradation at Looe Key Sanctuary Preservation Area,” says Lapointe. Nitrogen loading to the coast is expected to increase by 19 percent globally, suggesting a need for urgent management actions.

“A lot of people don’t know what exists in their community,” Felke says. The map details where the closest open food pantries are to users in real-time. It also collects user data to help decisionmakers strategically place new food pantries where they are needed most. Felke hopes to expand the map across southwest Florida.

“Research [has demonstrated] that near-infrared light applied to neurons and other cells can increase…the energy metabolism of the cells,” Woods said. “Many different brain-based disorders have a major component of brain metabolism or brain energy being altered. Being able to improve brain energy could have [a] wide-spanning impact on [several] behavioral and brain functions.”

The team estimated that 5,707 Zika cases went unreported in Cuba in 2017. To get that number, they combined travel surveillance and sequence analyses of Zika virus genomes from infected travelers. “This approach could be used to track other future outbreaks,” says Isern. Why did the Cuban outbreak lag a year behind? The answer might be Cuba’s aggressive mosquito-control program.

Liao says that the fish hair cells “translate sound and movement from the environment and send signals to the fish’s brain, telling it when and where to swim. The cells are identical to the ones we have in our ears that help us hear. But, unlike fish, we can’t regenerate them.”

FSU meteorologist Zhaohua Wu researched historical weather data in highly populated northern regions and found that extreme weather fluctuations during autumn months kick-started the flu. These findings implied that “the lapsed human immune system in winter caused by rapidly changing weather makes a person more susceptible to flu virus,” Wu says.

However, Travis and his colleagues found that something else is driving the rapid evolution of upstream guppies—living in an overcrowded world. They evolved to have fewer offspring since there is less food available due to a higher population. The team tracked every aspect of the life of more than 40,000 guppies over a decade, noting how fast they matured and how large they grew.

Dinglasan tried a different approach--repurposing antimalarial drugs to directly treat mosquito vectors. They laced sugar traps with a known antimalarial, which treated infected mosquitos by disrupting the malaria parasite’s reproductive process. Those mosquitos can no longer infect humans. “If we remove that humancentric lens and think more broadly about treating all mosquitoes, we could potentially get rid of these parasites,” he says.

“It is important that we develop green aviation for the future because our highway infrastructure just won’t be able to keep pace with population growth,” Zha says. The United Nations’ International Civil Aviation Organization predicts aviation emissions could triple by 2050. Zha’s green aviation technology produces lower greenhouse gas emissions to help combat global warming.

The new drug, called DT2216, helps cells break down BCL-XL instead of merely suppressing it. The risk of bleeding is lower when taking DT2216 than it is with other anticancer drugs because it is less toxic to blood platelets. “These findings support the potential of DT2216 to be developed as a first-in-class BCL-XL-targeting antitumor agent,” says Zheng.

Schaefer obtained pathogens isolated from bottlenose dolphins and found that the overall resistance to at least one antibiotic for these pathogenic isolates was 88.2 percent. “These isolates from dolphins [likely] originated from a source where antibiotics are regularly used, potentially entering the marine environment through human activities or discharges from terrestrial sources,” says Schaefer.

Jones found that, among 1,503 diverse breast cancer patients, less than half completed hereditary breast and ovarian cancer genetic testing, but that percentage increased over time. Also, the results of those genetic tests differed depending on race and ethnicity. “Our study…highlights the need to increase genetic testing completion among racially/ethnically diverse populations,” says Jones.  

"If medical professionals, whether consciously or unconsciously, believe that African Americans feel less pain than others, clinicians may be less inclined to alleviate the pain of their African American patients," says Losin. She believes that the increased pain sensitivity in African Americans may be due to stressful experiences, such as discrimination and mistrust of doctors.

“Generally, the difference in mortality between the affected and unaffected groups dissipated over time,” says Quast. “However, we found that this trend did not apply to those in the affected group who moved to a different county after the hurricanes.” Those who moved sustained higher mortality rates for reasons that still need to be determined.

“In my experience in southeast Florida…, the private sector leaders are, regardless of party affiliation, not only actively concerned about challenges linked with our changing climate but also committed to meaningful actions,” Polsky said. “Now through this survey, we may be seeing similar support statewide for climate solutions grounded in innovation and entrepreneurship.”

FSU biologist Kathryn Jones studied a sister bacterium—Liberacter cresens—that also has difficulties growing in labs. Findings showed that the bacteria themselves were changing the pH level of the solution they were being cultured in and then dying off as a result. This “extreme reaction demonstrate[s] just how intricate these bacteria are,” says Jones.

The two UF researchers are part of a $12.8 million USDA grant to broaden the nation’s blueberry breeding capabilities. “Fruit with exceptional flavor will improve fruit consumption satisfaction and hopefully, increase purchasing frequency,” Muñoz says. “All these will be beneficial to … the nurseries producing the plants, to the producers of fruits, supermarkets selling the fruit and consumers of blueberries.”

Physicians often recommend adding a LABA to the regimen for children with severe and poorly controlled asthma. Cardet says that this standard was based on studies that historically included too few black individuals, who suffer higher rates of serious asthma attacks, hospitalizations, and asthma-related deaths than white individuals. 

“Persistent anxiety is associated with distress, impairment in functioning, and [an] elevated risk for other psychiatric disorders and suicide," Pettit says. He used computer-based attention training to reduce anxiety in youths that had already received CBT. After four weeks of attention training, 50 percent of participants no longer met the criteria for their primary anxiety diagnosis.

Kimmerle tested bone fragments found on Nikumaroro Island, Kirbati, in the western Pacific, three years after Earhart’s final radio signal was transmitted. Kimmerle reconstructed a skull that likely belonged to a female and also considered Earhart’s known sinus condition. Bone fragments were then DNA tested to determine if they match Earhart’s relatives. 

Walter Boot, Neil Charness, and Shayok Chakraborty are the FSU portion of the CREATE consortium. One CREATE project will look at using virtual reality technology to foster cognitive and social engagement among aging adults. Another will focus on using innovative technologies to assess cognitive decline in those with mild cognitive impairment. The third will focus on developing digital assistant tools to help older adults with cognitive impairments manage tasks such as enrolling in Medicare.

Microcystin exposure can lead to symptoms such as nausea, allergic reactions, and even tumor progression. FAU’s Adam Schaefer analyzed urine samples from south Floridians and detected low-dose exposures to microcystins. “This research is a critical step in developing and interpreting clinical diagnostic tests for harmful algal bloom exposure around the world,” says Schaefer.

Taylor-Clark used a rat model for high blood pressure and simulated effects of inhaling air pollution. “The speeding up of heart rate and abnormal heartbeats (in the hypertensive rats) were due to the switching on of this ‘flight-or-fight’ nervous system not seen in the healthy animals exposed to noxious agents,” says Taylor-Clark. 

Paragraph 2: Eirin-Lopez designed the Bottlenose Dolphin Epigenetic Age Estimation Tool, which can determine a dolphin’s age through a small skin sample. Knowing the ages of dolphins is a critical part of understanding the overall health of a population. “A more even distribution of different ages means the population will be more effective,” says Eirin-Lopez.

These brain dysregulations include dysphoria associated with negative emotional states like depression and anxiety, as well as impaired motivation, judgment, and decision-making. Walker says these dysregulations can “extend to all drugs of abuse, whether it be opiates like heroin, or psychostimulants like cocaine,” because they cause similar brain changes.

Researchers often use animals with cancer or inject them with cancer cells for testing, which is an expensive and controversial practice. 3D bioprinting cancerous samples would be a cost-effective, efficient, and humane way to test cancer cells. Mitra hopes his findings will lead to researchers using 3D printed cancerous samples for drug testing.

Cornea transplants are among the most successful tissue transplants. However, due to a lack of donors, only one cornea is available for every 70 needed. Sachdeva’s research could increase cornea supply not only for transplants but also for drug testing, virtually eliminating the need for animal testing for cornea research.

“Our results say this cloud radiative feedback is important for tropical cyclone development,” Wing said. “We know weather and climate models sometimes have a hard time simulating clouds correctly.” This research may aid in hurricane forecast model improvement and understanding of how the greenhouse effect warms the atmosphere of a developing storm.

No current measurement system has the ability to detect the full light emission of marine organisms. “We are not only developing a next generation ‘gold standard’ sensor that will be compact and versatile in deployment but continuing a legacy of research in oceanic bioluminescence and its role in ocean ecology,” said Twardowski.

Fox says a lack of treatment and support for inmates and former inmates contributes to over 40 percent of inmates returning to jail. High re-incarceration rates are problematic not only in Pasco County but across the country. “We’re willing to spend money every year to keep people in jail, but… [not] to help with recidivism.” 

Tuesta and the Miller School will receive $2.3 million over the next five years. This will allow Tuesta’s lab to further their treatment research with a novel approach to understanding opioid addiction. “Ultimately, we want to manipulate the root of the craving with a drug to change the behavioral course of addiction,” Tuesta said.

“This is one of the great examples of ‘science without borders,’ in which multiple different Institutes of the NIH and multiple different NIH-funded projects all come together under one mission — to help patients heal,” said Tomic-Canic. This initiative will build on prior research from Tomic-Canics’s lab and help develop therapeutic approaches.

Sneed, dean of the Taneja College of Pharmacy and member of the USF Sports Medicine division, highlights that the USF laboratories have the capability to provide results within one day. Sneed says this “is a very innovative endeavor that supports our student-athletes’ desires to continue competing in as safe a manner as possible.”

This grant assists in UM’s mission to help end systemic racism in the U.S. “There is no greater or more pressing issue of societal importance than that of anti-Black racism,” said Erin Kobetz, UM’s vice provost for research and scholarship. Shearer’s research weighs children’s resilience and how to get children the resources they need in the future.

After a dog died while swimming in Zion National Park, Rosen was called on for his water expertise. Rosen is fulfilling The Water School’s mission by applying lessons learned in Florida to cases around the world. “I do extremely applied work,” said Rosen. “I personally love the beauty of the organism.”

Newer materials, such as resin, show promise for use in military planes, but additional research is needed. “We are asking the question of why and how things happen,” Ramakrishnan said. “We want to know how to develop novel materials and help to advance design rules for processing them.”

These patents are an important development for the Florida grape and wine industry. “The long-term sustainability of the state and national grape industry depends on new genetic resources that carry adaptive traits capable of overcoming the existing and future challenges in grape industry sustainability,” said Tsolova.

“This is an important opportunity for me to present my work to an international audience and get feedback from the world’s experts in vascular biology,” she said. Her research is aimed at developing a treatment for high-risk patients, so they do not develop calcifications. “Go for it. Don’t be afraid of failure,” Ng advised other researchers.

“Climate change and extreme heat waves strongly affect sea urchin populations. When their numbers explode, sea urchins can devastate ecosystems by eating everything in their path,” Okamoto said. The NSF grant will help Okamoto and his team understand how warming events can lead to harsh outcomes for some populations.

These molecules can provide information on pathways between specific neurons and behavior. “Given that one human brain has billions of neurons and interconnections, our molecules provide clues on the connectivity of this vast, complex network,” Nesnas said. Nesnas’s approach allows for molecules to remain inactive until a selected portion of brain is turned on using light.

The research began with a trip to Greenland in 2011, which actually failed. “When we realized there were no accessible springs, we decided to switch the sampling plan to collecting water from two unique kinds of streams we found in the region,” says Martin. The grant will also allow Martin to collaborate with researchers based in Greenland.

The award recognizes technology with the potential to positively affect national security. Liu developed the pollutant removal technology for automakers, who need to meet increasingly strict government emissions standards. However, the technology has the potential for many applications beyond the scope of the auto industry, including national defense and security.

The compounds were tested in non-human brain tissue. “That was the breakthrough,” Lepore said. “These compounds almost serendipitously exerted this protective ability, and they do so in extremely small amounts.” Lepore and team are looking to grow their group of collaborators in hopes of improving medical outcomes.

“The young adults with disabilities who will complete the PEDI-PRO are in that stage where they’re preparing to say, ‘What do I want from my life as an adult?’ ‘What’s important to me, what are my goals and aspirations, whether that is for work or being a community member or living on my own or not,’” said Kramer.

“It’s amazing that you can transform a lot of the area,” Kominoski said. “We’re starting to see vegetation change and declines in phosphorus in some wetlands as a result of the water being there longer. That’s good. That’s what restoration is trying to do.” Researchers will keep exploring how releases of water change the Everglades.

After using telescopes to collect data in Chile and Spain, the research team saw that the supernova was hitting material surrounding it. “These supernovae can be particularly troublesome because they can mix into the sample of normal supernovae used to study dark energy,” Hsiao said. This finding will guide future research of dark energy.

The current optical technique is slow, but if he’s successful, Han will be able to target proteins in just 24 hours. This tool could be extremely important to researchers, providing insight into diseases like cancer. “That’s why I study optics,” Han says. “My background, how I got into this, is biophysics and biochemistry. I recognize the potential.”

“The goal of the project is to understand how team members implicitly and explicitly learn as they collaborate on convergence science,” Fiore says. “When we work with people from different fields, to be successful we need to be continually learning from each other.” Fiore believes that team interactions are essential to solving the world’s challenges.

Providing an integrated food safety system for fresh produce is a goal for UF researchers. “This proposal was specifically developed to respond to a critical national problem that is dramatically affecting specialty crop producers and processors: food safety and implementation of new federal food safety regulations,” said Danyluk.

“Current climate models are a reliable tool to predict future water availability,” said Chen. “What we are lacking is having enough data to make those models as effective as they can be.” This research could be important for a state like Florida, facing a limited water supply resulting from population growth, development, and climate change.

“Current climate models are a reliable tool to predict future water availability,” said Chen. “What we are lacking is having enough data to make those models as effective as they can be.” This research could be important for a state like Florida, facing a limited water supply resulting from population growth, development, and climate change.

When the climate changes, the combination of species that grow together create new groupings. “That is another really important message for us: as we change climate, we are going to change the combinations of species around us,” Bush said. This study allowed researchers to learn more about the Andes and understand the climate engine.

“Our data provide clear evidence of a biochemical foundation for the reinforcing properties of home cage return. This simple environmental manipulation can provide a minimally-invasive approach to peel away aspects of reward circuitry connected to natural reinforcers – one that is critical to an animal’s survival,” said Blakely. 

“We need to talk to the community leaders to see what they perceive as barriers and how to overcome them,” Baum says. Another goal of this project is to evaluate the success of community leaders’ efforts to encourage testing in their neighborhoods. The sites will test up to 200 people per week.

“Antimicrobial-resistant (AMR) strains of bacteria are increasing and if we want to develop new antibiotics and diagnostic tools to effectively identify and control their spread, we need to better understand what physical forces drive their drug resistance,” Ali said. The research aims to determine the role fluid flow plays in the development of bacterial communities.

“Our research examines the correlation between interannual variability of potential intensity, which is the maximum possible intensity a tropical cyclone can reach or theoretical ‘speed limit’ of tropical cyclone intensity, and the actual intensity of tropical cyclones across all global ocean basins,” Wing said. This could help researchers interpret the tropical intensity theory.

“Automated personnel-selection systems have been widely implemented in our society for hiring employees,” Wang said. “However, the automated process is not immune to bias and unfairness. It is time for us to take a careful look at the structural bias that exists in such automations and figure out ways to eliminate its impact.”

“The protection afforded by face masks has emerged as a particularly important issue in the COVID-19 pandemic, and the flow physics of these types of masks is extremely complex and not well-studied, especially when it comes to the facial topology of the user,” Shoele said. The study could yield important findings for face mask design.

“COVID-19 has really changed the way in which we have to look at sexual health among those who may be living with or at risk for HIV,” said Safren. Researchers found that sexual minority men experienced anxieties, depression, sleep difficulties, substance use, loss of income or employment, and fears about how others are managing COVID.

“I am excited that Florida Tech is a key player in this development effort, which is revolutionizing the way natural hazard scientists and engineers operate,” Pinelli said. DesignSafe is advanced in its capacity to store and process massive data sets, leading to opportunities for collaboration and sharing among researchers worldwide. 

“These findings are consistent with reports from many other conditions. Racial health disparities are driven by socio-economic disadvantage and not by biological or genetic differences,” said Palacio. The study offers a potential explanation for COVID-19 disparities in these areas, including comorbidities and socio-economic factors that affect minorities’ ability to socially distance.

“We found that even if lightning was striking the ground nearby there were upward leaders produced from the tower, and they remained unconnected to the main discharge from the cloud,” Nag said. “These have significant amounts of electric charge and currents in excess of 100 amps associated with them and can pose a threat.”

“Big-headed ants were absolutely thrashing the native insect community in three different conservancies in Laikipia,” Milligan said. “I noticed that many of these whistling-thorn acacias had leaves that just looked drab, limp, or damaged, and it sparked the idea that this invasion was killing off enough influential insect species to possibly cause changes in the plants.”

“The most common way to raise dairy calves from birth is in individual pens, but providing early social contact may improve the long-term welfare of these animals. This should benefit sustainability of the dairy industry as a whole, improving consumer perceptions and having economic benefits for producers,” Miller-Cushon said. 

“Aggression is common in insects, including fruit flies, where single-pheromone receptors or single genes have been shown to trigger their aggression,” said Keene. Monarchs present a model for studying molecular mechanisms underlying behavior and welcome future investigations into aggression. Researchers believe that aggression caused due to limited food supply is present throughout the animal kingdom.

“I’m really excited about this because if we crack this nut, and we have, I think, a very promising approach, then that means robots will be able to reason in a way that is really impressive in real-life situations, as opposed to being very rigid in their thinking, or some might say, robotic,” said Hubicki, based at the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering.

“The ability to now remotely track how animals are behaviorally responding to changes in environmental conditions over several months and across vast expanses of open ocean really opens up a lot of new research opportunities,” said Hammerschlag. “This is especially important for understanding if and how these species respond to climate change.”

“The fact that these simple animals have figured out how to achieve a ‘ground effect’ type boost in open water, away from any solid surfaces, has the potential to open up a range of new possibilities for engineered vehicles to take advantage of this phenomenon,” Gemmell said. These findings could enhance development of ocean monitors.

CogTracer is anonymous and private and does not ask for any personal information. This provides a way for those who would normally not engage in the process to do so on their own terms. The online interview method assists non-English speakers, speeding up the tracing process for those that may have needed an interpreter.

Limbitless Solutions is a UCF nonprofit that creates bionic arms for children. “This opportunity for various creative mediums to unite to create a positive impact in our world is truly amazing,” said Dombrowski. As a part of the collaboration, Microsoft is donating $85,000 to support adult clinical trials for the bionic arms.

“There is only a certain amount of this vaccine made every year, and it’s very hard to ramp up production quickly enough to address an emerging outbreak,” said Cummings. The results will assist public health experts in responding quickly to yellow fever outbreaks with a limited supply of the vaccine.

“We now have experience in building small satellites and getting them into orbit,” said Colwell. “It’s pretty exciting, and now we have to get in touch with the satellite and get the experiments running.” The mission will last up to three years, with the satellite eventually falling into Earth’s atmosphere and burning up. 

“This award comes at a crucial time in U.S. history, where we are facing more storms of increasing intensity impacting vulnerable coastal communities,” said Chowdhury. Research at the Wall of Wind has helped scientists from across the country refine designs for repair of existing and new buildings, systems, and components.

“If we can develop compounds to shut down or significantly reduce both processes – viral entry and viral replication – such dual inhibition may enhance the potency of these compounds in treating the coronavirus infection,” said Chen. “Metaphorically, it’s like killing two birds with one stone.”

“There is some awful irony in that exercise, a known health benefit for the heart, leads to cell death in ACM subjects,” said Chelko. “Now, we know that endurance exercise, in particular, leads to large-scale myocyte cell death due to mitochondrial dysfunction in those who suffer from this inherited heart disease.”

“There are certain community enclaves in Miami that are more isolated, and they’re getting information from sources that are harder for us to tap into and to counteract,” said Carrasquillo. “In addition to conspiracies, there are also the legitimate questions that we can address: How were the vaccines developed so quickly? What are the side effects?”

“The high sensitivity of our protocol may be useful in testing patients with low viral titers such as asymptomatic patients or testing individuals prior to quarantine release. Our method also enables several patient samples to be pooled, decreasing the number of tests required for larger populations,” said Caputi.

The new system will require new agreements and partnerships with Indian Ocean rim countries, allowing them to enhance their monitoring system and forecasting ability. Many of the rim countries have economies that are particularly vulnerable to climate effects, such as sea level rise and extreme weather events.