Steven High, executive director of The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, has announced he will retire after 15 years leading the Sarasota museum complex governed by Florida State University.

High has served as executive director since 2011, overseeing a period of significant growth in collections, educational programming, attendance, fundraising and campus expansion at The Ringling, which serves as Florida’s State Art Museum under the stewardship of Florida State University. He will remain in the position until his successor is identified.

High said serving as executive director of The Ringling has been the highlight of his career and credited the museum’s growth to the work of its staff, foundation board, university leadership and community supporters.

“Together, we strengthened The Ringling’s financial foundation, expanded its reach and preserved its remarkable collections and historic campus for future generations,” High said. “I am deeply grateful to Florida State University, our supporters and the Sarasota community for their partnership and trust.”

During High’s tenure, The Ringling more than doubled its collections, enhanced exhibition programming and educational offerings while overseeing major additions and restorations across the museum’s campus. High oversaw the opening of the Ting Tsung and Wei Fong Chao Center for Asian Art, the Kotler-Coville Glass Pavilion, and the Turrell Skyspace Joseph’s Coat as well as several major restoration and preservation initiatives. He also expanded educational outreach, accessibility initiatives and multidisciplinary programming, including the Art of Performance series.

The Ringling also experienced substantial institutional growth during High’s leadership, increasing its annual operating budget from $12 million to $28 million and growing its endowment from $27 million to $67 million. The museum completed a $100 million comprehensive campaign in 2019 and expanded its campus through a series of major projects and initiatives.

“Steven High strengthened The Ringling’s role as both a world-class museum and an important part of Florida State University’s academic mission,” said FSU Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Jim Clark. “He expanded opportunities for student learning, research and community engagement while helping preserve and enhance one of Florida’s great cultural institutions. FSU has invested in The Ringling’s growth and success, and Steven’s leadership helped ensure those investments created lasting impact for the museum, its visitors and our students.”

Ringling Museum of Art Foundation Board Chair Meg Hausberg said High’s leadership helped elevate the museum’s national and international reputation while deepening its ties to the university and the Sarasota-Manatee community.

“Steven High has led The Ringling with extraordinary care, intellect and purpose,” Hausberg said. “His leadership elevated the museum’s profile while also strengthening its role as a cultural and educational resource for the state of Florida.”

The Ringling is one of the largest university-based museum complexes in the United States, encompassing 66 bayfront acres and nearly 500,000 square feet of facilities in Sarasota. The campus includes the Museum of Art, Tibbals Learning Center, Circus Museum, Ca’ d’Zan mansion, Historic Asolo Theater, and extensive research, conservation and education spaces. The institution welcomes more than 400,000 visitors annually.

Florida State University has overseen The Ringling since 2000, when the state transferred responsibility for the museum’s stewardship and operations to the university. Today, The Ringling serves as both a cultural destination and an academic resource supporting teaching, research and museum studies opportunities for FSU students and faculty. In January 2026, FSU and The Ringling marked 25 years of shared stewardship.

A nationally respected museum leader and scholar, High’s early career began with the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the MIT Museum in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Following graduate work at Williams College, he held leadership and academic roles at institutions including the Portland (Maine) School of Art and Virginia Commonwealth University and led the Nevada Museum of Art in Reno and Telfair Museums in Savannah, Georgia.

Across a career spanning nearly five decades, he has curated numerous exhibitions and published dozens of scholarly catalogues. High also served in leadership roles for national and local organizations, including the American Alliance of Museums and the Arts & Cultural Alliance of Sarasota County.

Florida State University and the Ringling Museum of Art Foundation have hired Isaacson, Miller, a national search firm, to assist in identifying High’s successor.

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Florida State University’s Jim Moran College of Entrepreneurship has graduated the first cohort of its Veteran Entrepreneurship Certificate Program in Leon County, with 14 veterans completing the Facilitated Business Modeling Program.

Delivered in partnership with State of Florida nonprofit Veterans Florida, the free program is designed to help participants move from business ideas to actionable business models through practical instruction in customer discovery, market validation and entrepreneurial decision making. The six-week program combined interactive workshops, mentoring and applied exercises focused on helping participants evaluate and strengthen their business concepts.

“Veterans bring an incredible combination of resilience, leadership and adaptability to entrepreneurship,” said Eric Liguori, associate dean for research and external relations in the Jim Moran College of Entrepreneurship, who led the program. “What made this cohort especially exciting was watching participants build confidence in their ideas while also building a strong community around one another.”

Participants represented a range of entrepreneurial interests and business development, from early-stage concepts to existing ventures seeking growth and refinement. Throughout the program, participants worked through business modeling activities, explored customer validation strategies and connected with local entrepreneurial resources. In doing so, they learned directly from multiple FSU faculty, including Susana Santos, Bill Lickson, Juliana Binhote, Doug Tatum, and Melissa Roberts, bringing expertise spanning entrepreneurship education, venture growth, finance and innovation and small business development.

Feedback from participants highlighted the practical nature of the program and the value of learning alongside fellow veterans. They praised the program’s open-forum format, its ability to clearly teach how to run a business and how it allowed each attendee to naturally network.

Program organizers said participants consistently pointed to the program’s hands-on approach, real-world applicability and supportive learning environment as key strengths. Several participants also noted that the experience helped them better understand how to refine business ideas, identify customer needs and think strategically about long-term growth.

“This partnership with Veterans Florida reflects the kind of community-centered impact happening every day in the Jim Moran College of Entrepreneurship,” said Susan Fiorito, dean of the college. “We are proud to support veterans and military-connected families as they pursue entrepreneurial opportunities that can create lasting economic and community impact across Florida.”

“This partnership with Veterans Florida reflects the kind of community-centered impact happening every day in the Jim Moran College of Entrepreneurship.”

– Susan Fiorito, dean of the Jim Moran College of Entrepreneurship

Graduates received a certificate of completion from the Jim Moran College of Entrepreneurship and are now eligible to join the Jim Moran Institute for Global Entrepreneurship’s statewide alumni network of more than 2,700 Florida business owners.

This program builds on FSU’s longstanding commitment to supporting veterans, service members and military-connected families through entrepreneurship education, workforce development and community engagement initiatives.

For more information about veteran entrepreneurship programming at FSU, visit the Jim Moran Institute for Global Entrepreneurship website.

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Conference brings together researchers, clinicians, industry leaders and families to discuss advances in genomic screening and gene therapy

For families affected by rare diseases, unexplained developmental delays or medical symptoms often mark the beginning of a “diagnostic odyssey,” a frustrating search for answers and treatment options.

The longer the search continues, the greater the emotional toll on families. Without a diagnosis, effective treatment may be delayed. Millions of families worldwide face this challenge each year.

The Florida Institute for Pediatric Rare Disease (Florida IPRD) at the Florida State University College of Medicine is working to shorten that journey.

Through a newborn whole-genome sequencing pilot program, family counseling, care management, rare disease research initiatives and professional training, FSU faculty and scientists are helping families better care for their loved ones with a rare disease.

With support from the state legislature, Florida IPRD is helping to expand access to genomic medicine and accelerate research into rare diseases to transform lives. The institute is partnering with the A.J. Anderson Foundation on its shared mission to improve pediatric rare disease healthcare.

Transforming personal tragedy into a movement to help Florida families

Rep. Adam Anderson (R-Palm Harbor) and his wife, Brianne, started the A.J. Anderson Foundation in 2018 after their son Andrew was diagnosed with Tay-Sachs disease, a rare genetic disorder that destroys nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. Their own diagnostic odyssey followed as they sought care for their son. The experience prompted them to look for a way to support other families seeking rare disease treatment.

The foundation’s goals are to advocate for improved research and treatment to put an end to pediatric rare diseases and to increase access to genetic testing.

“The partnership between the A.J. Anderson Foundation and the Florida Institute for Pediatric Rare Diseases demonstrates what can be accomplished when advocacy, science, medicine, industry and public policy come together to accelerate diagnosis, expand treatment opportunities, and improve outcomes for children with rare diseases,” said Pradeep Bhide, director of Florida IPRD. “Representative Anderson and Brianne Anderson have been extraordinary champions for children with rare diseases, and their leadership has helped create programs such as ours that are positioning Florida as a national leader in genomic medicine and early diagnosis.”

Rare Disease Conference: Bringing together research and industry leaders

On Wednesday, the A.J. Anderson Foundation and Florida IPRD cohosted a rare disease conference in Pinellas County, bringing together researchers, healthcare professionals, industry partners and families to learn about ongoing work and provide a look into the future of treatment.

Dr. David Bick, the principal clinician for the Newborn Genomes Programme at Genomics England, delivered the keynote address. Attendees also heard from two panels, one focused on genomic newborn screening and the other focused on advances in gene therapy. Panelists from GeneDx, Nest Genomics, Alexion Pharmaceuticals and Amazon Web Services shared their insight in the first session. Panelists from UMass Chan Medical School, Florida IPRD and the University of Florida spoke during the second session.

Together, the panels represented two major, complementary goals: Diagnosing children with rare disease at birth and offering them an opportunity for early intervention and rapid treatment.

“The promise that these gene and cell therapies offer is that if you can detect a condition at birth, before symptoms occur, you can prevent those symptoms from ever showing themselves, and that child can live a perfectly healthy life,” Anderson said.

The Sunshine Genetics Program

Genomics medicine in Florida received a major boost last year with the passage of the Sunshine Genetics Act. With the support of the state legislature and Gov. Ron DeSantis, the act established the Florida Institute for Pediatric Rare Diseases and provided additional funding for research and a genetic screening pilot program.

For the Floridians who now have the opportunity to screen their children for a rare disease and for the millions more people who can be helped through research breakthroughs, the work is urgent and crucial.

“Rare diseases test our healthcare systems, our scientific capabilities and our collective compassion. At the same time, they inspire determination, collaboration and hope,” said Dr. Alma Littles, dean of the FSU College of Medicine. “At Florida State University, we are proud to support the Florida Institute for Pediatric Rare Diseases and the Sunshine Genetics initiative as part of our broader commitment to expanding precision medicine, expanding access to care, and bringing together clinicians, scientists, educators, policymakers, industry leaders and patient advocates around a shared mission.”

Visit the Florida IPRD website for more information about the institute. Visit the A.J. Anderson Foundation website to learn more about the organization’s mission.

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Florida State University research published today in Science Advances demonstrates a new framework for predicting the motion of kilometer-scale underwater waves that complicate satellite readings of the ocean.

By accurately modeling these subsurface waves, scientists can remove their interference from NASA’s Surface Water and Ocean Topography, or SWOT, satellite, improving the satellite’s signal and allowing for observations of the Earth’s ocean circulation that are about 60 percent more accurate.

“SWOT is giving us the clearest view we have ever had of the ocean’s fine-scale circulation, the small eddies and currents that govern how much heat and carbon the ocean draws down from the atmosphere,” said study lead author Yadidya Badarvada, a researcher at FSU’s Center for Ocean-Atmospheric Prediction Studies who completed the work at FSU and while a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Michigan. “But those measurements have been partially obscured by internal tides, which mimic the very features we are trying to observe. What this work shows is that the interference we assumed was too chaotic to fix is actually predictable, once you have a model that accurately tracks the evolving ocean state.”

How it works

The SWOT satellite orbits Earth more than 500 miles above the planet’s surface.

Jointly operated by NASA and the French space agency CNES, this satellite observes the surface of the ocean, rivers and lakes to provide high-resolution data used by meteorologists, oceanographers, hydrologists and other scientists. SWOT imaging helps answer questions about the path of rivers, the aftermath of tsunamis and other water features on the planet’s surface.

But finding the ground truth on the planet from the sky can be difficult. Complicating SWOT’s readings over the ocean are internal tides traveling beneath the ocean surface, whose signals overlap with the very features scientists are trying to observe.

Known as internal tides, these underwater waves have historically been the major challenge for measuring sea surface height. These “non-phase-locked” internal tides did not appear to have a predictable pattern, and researchers thought their interference was too chaotic to be corrected using standard statistical or sensing tools.

What they did

To solve this problem, the researchers developed a new framework based on the Hybrid Coordinate Ocean Model, or HYCOM, a three-dimensional depiction of the ocean state at fine resolution in real time. This existing, operational U.S. Navy ocean forecast system is the result of decades of development from researchers across institutions, including FSU’s Center for Ocean-Atmospheric Prediction Studies.

HYCOM works by continuously combining a physics-based simulation of the ocean with a real-time stream of observational data, a technique called data assimilation. Every day, the model takes in measurements from orbiting satellites that track sea surface height and temperature, robotic floats that drift through the ocean interior measuring temperature and salinity at depth, moored buoys and ship-based instruments. The model uses all of this incoming information to constantly correct its simulation, keeping it as close to the true state of the ocean as possible.

Because HYCOM explicitly simulates the forces that drive tides, including their interaction with seafloor ridges and seamounts, the internal tide field emerges directly from the model’s own ocean physics rather than being estimated separately.

By separating HYCOM’s internal tide predictions into predictable and chaotic components, the team could identify and remove both from SWOT’s measurements. Because SWOT data were never fed into HYCOM, the comparison was a genuine independent test. The result was a 59 percent improvement over the best correction method currently applied to the satellite.

Why it matters

The improved model could help SWOT provide a more accurate picture of the ocean’s surface and currents, which are crucial to our understanding of how the ocean functions. Without accurately observing them from space, scientists cannot track the ocean’s capacity to buffer rising temperatures or verify the models used to project future warming. The work has applications in forecasting, navigation, infrastructure planning and more.

“We can’t deploy buoys across the entire globe to take measurements,” Badarvada said. “The information from SWOT fills a huge gap in our understanding of the physics and dynamics that govern the ocean and how it transports heat and nutrients on a massive scale. We used a model the Navy built to navigate the ocean and ended up giving NASA’s most advanced ocean satellite significantly clearer eyes. That kind of unexpected overlap between defense science and Earth observation is exactly what this project has been about.”

Researchers from the University of Michigan, Oregon State University, Naval Research Laboratory, University of Southern Mississippi, and the French company CLS Group were co-authors on this study. This research was supported by the Office of Naval Research, NASA and the French space agency CNES.

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Florida State University Vice President for University Advancement and President of the FSU Foundation Marla Vickers will step down from her position this summer.

Dr. Vickers, an FSU alumna and the first woman to serve in the role, joined Florida State in October 2022 and has led the university’s advancement and alumni engagement efforts during an important period for the institution.

She has overseen fundraising, alumni relations, donor engagement and communications initiatives supporting Florida State’s academic, research and student success priorities while also providing executive leadership to the FSU Foundation Board of Trustees.

During her tenure, Dr. Vickers helped launch and lead Florida State’s new comprehensive fundraising campaign and guided major philanthropic initiatives from a national model of excellence.

Among the most significant milestones during her leadership was Anne Spencer Daves’ landmark gift to the College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences, resulting in the renaming of the college in her honor. The designation marked the first time an FSU college was named for an alumna and established the Anne Spencer Daves College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences, known as Anne’s College, as the first named education-related college in Florida.

Dr. Vickers also helped advance Dr. Herbert Wertheim’s $65 million investment in the College of Business, the university’s largest endowment gift in its history, which named the Herbert Wertheim College of Business and the Herbert Wertheim Center for Business Excellence. She worked closely with donors, alumni, volunteers and university leaders to strengthen philanthropic support across the university and expand engagement with the FSU community worldwide.

“Marla has provided exceptional leadership for University Advancement and the FSU Foundation during an important period for Florida State University,” said FSU President Richard McCullough. “Her leadership was instrumental in advancing our comprehensive campaign and supporting transformative investments such as the renaming of Anne’s College and the Herbert Wertheim College of Business. As a Florida State graduate, she brought a deep understanding of this university and a genuine passion for its future. We are grateful for her service to Florida State and wish her all the best.”

For Dr. Vickers, the opportunity to return to her alma mater and help advance the university’s mission through philanthropy and engagement made her tenure especially meaningful.

“Returning to Florida State to serve my alma mater has been one of the great privileges of my career,” Dr. Vickers said. “I am deeply grateful to President McCullough, our alumni, donors, volunteers, my team and colleagues throughout the university for their partnership and support. Together, we have strengthened the foundation for Florida State’s future, and I will always cherish the opportunity to be part of the university’s continued growth and success.”

Before joining Florida State, Dr. Vickers served as associate vice president of Advancement at Emory University, where she directed fundraising and alumni and constituent engagement efforts for eight academic schools and units. She also held advancement positions at Yale University, the University of Chicago, George Washington University, Duke University and Georgetown University.

Dr. Vickers earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Georgia, a master’s degree from Florida State University, an MBA from George Washington University and a doctoral degree from Vanderbilt University.

Florida State University will launch a national search for its next vice president for University Advancement and president of the FSU Foundation. Information regarding interim leadership will be announced in the coming weeks.

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A promising new pancreatic cancer drug that nearly doubled survival times in a recent clinical trial is drawing attention not only for its potential impact on patients, but also for the university research that helped make it possible.

In recent clinical trials by oncology company Revolution Medicines, patients who received daraxonrasib live an average of 13.2 months. The rate nearly doubled the average of 6.7 months for patients in the study who received standard chemotherapy.

Pancreatic cancer has a five-year survival rate of about 3% once it spreads to other parts of the body. Daraxonrasib targets the KRAS gene, which was once deemed “undruggable.” Breakthroughs by university scientists helped lay the foundation for collaboration between universities and biotech companies that led to the drug’s development.

Florida State University chemist James Frederich is the Werner Herz Associate Professor and head of The Frederich Laboratory in the FSU Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. He focuses on developing new strategies and tactics to prepare architecturally complex natural products that exhibit important biological activity in living systems. Frederich’s research specialties include chemical biology, synthesis and catalysis.

Frederich said the success of daraxonrasib reflects the vital role universities play in advancing high-risk scientific discoveries. FSU has its own history of innovation, including chemist Robert Holton’s pioneering work on the cancer drug Taxol in the late 1980s.

“This is a wonderful example of the impact of translational academic research,” Frederich said of the recent pancreatic cancer treatment. “Revolution Medicines started as an academic startup seeking to explore a high-risk, high-reward mechanism for cancer therapy. Academia uniquely provides the freedom to pursue such risky ventures. When they succeed, the results are often paradigm-shifting.”

Frederich said the value of academic research is often overlooked once groundbreaking treatments reach patients.

“It is sometimes easy to forget that academic research can change the world,” Frederich added. “Daraxonrasib, and the mechanism underlying its action, serves as an excellent reminder of the long-term return on investing in academic science.”

Media interested in interviewing James Frederich about the role of universities in developing cancer-treating drugs may reach out to him via email at jfrederich@fsu.edu.

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Two professors at Florida State University’s Anne Spencer Daves College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences (Anne’s College) have earned fellowships recognizing their contributions to the field of nutrition.

Associate Professor Sarah A. Johnson and Betty M. Watts Endowed Professor Ravinder Nagpal, both members of FSU’s Department of Health, Nutrition and Food Sciences, are among 69 researchers and professionals selected for the American Society for Nutrition’s (ASN) 2026 Excellence in Nutrition Fellows of ASN (FASN).

The program recognizes nutrition professionals who are 10 or more years beyond their terminal degree and have maintained ASN membership for five or more years. Fellows have demonstrated significant impact in their respective career paths, as well as meaningful service to ASN.

The FASN designation recognizes significant contributions to nutrition science, practice and professional service.

Johnson’s research uses clinical and translational approaches to develop food and nutritional interventions. Her work evaluates how nutritional interventions, particularly phytochemical-rich, high–nutritional quality functional foods, promote cardiometabolic health and reduce cardiovascular disease risk with aging.

Earlier this year, Johnson was one of 12 researchers whose study examined the effects of wild blueberries on cardiometabolic health. The findings received attention in national and industry publications.

Johnson said the fellowship reflects a career shaped by mentors, colleagues and collaborators.

“I am honored and humbled to be recognized as a Fellow of the American Society for Nutrition among colleagues I admire and whose work continues to advance the science of nutrition and its translation to improve human health and well-being,” Johnson said. “I am deeply appreciative to everyone who has contributed to making this achievement possible. I joined the American Society for Nutrition as a PhD student, new to research and having just worked as a clinical inpatient and outpatient dietitian prior to going back to school to pursue a doctoral degree. Reflecting on that journey, it is difficult to fully express the meaning and impact of this recognition. To be honored by peers I admire so strongly is especially meaningful.”

Nagpal directs The Gut Biome Lab, which studies the mechanisms and dynamics of host-diet-microbe interactions and how they influence human health.

He has become one of the country’s top experts in gut health, a field that has fueled interest because of new research showing how the gut plays a central role in overall health. His lab collaborates with experts in gerontology, neuroscience, microbiology, nutrition/food sciences, cell/molecular biology, immunology, sepsis and clinical care.

Nagpal said the fellowship reflects the collaborative nature of nutrition research.

“It is a tremendous honor to be recognized as a Fellow of the American Society for Nutrition,” Nagpal said. “This distinction reflects the collective efforts of an incredible community of my mentors, collaborators, students, trainees and friends who have supported my endeavors and made this recognition possible. My research is centered on understanding how nutrition shapes the gut microbiome and influences health and disease, with the goal of translating these discoveries into strategies for disease prevention and improved well-being. Since joining ASN in 2017, I have always been proud to be part of a scientific community dedicated to advancing nutrition science through education, research and service.”

The 2026 Fellows will be recognized July 25-28 at NUTRITION 2026 in National Harbor, Md., at the ASN’s annual meeting.

For more information about Anne’s College, visit its website.

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Florida State University’s distinguished faculty are central to the mission of the university. Faculty excellence in scholarship, research, and creative activity is critical to the quality of student learning and makes a difference in the lives of others.

Throughout the year, honors and recognitions are awarded to individual faculty and staff members across campus. Faculty and Staff Briefs are produced monthly to recognize accomplishments and provide a space where honors, awards, bylines, presentations, grants, service and any other notable items can be showcased.

ARCHIVE

HONORS AND AWARDS

Carrie Meyers, (Learning Systems Institute/FSU InSPIRE) was awarded the FLATE (Florida Advanced Technological Education Center) Manufacturing Partner-of-the-Year for Service award.

Laurie Abbott, Ph.D., RN, DipACLM, CNE, PHNA-BC, FAAN, Lucinda Graven, Ph.D., APRN, FAHA, FAAN (College of Nursing) and Thomas Ledermann, Ph.D. (Anne’s College) were awarded the 2nd place professional poster presentation award at the 11th Annual University of Texas at San Antonio, Health Care Summit held in San Antonio, TX.

Frank “Frankie” Y. Wong, Ph.D. (College of Nursing) has been selected as a Fulbright U.S. Scholar for the 2026–2027 academic year. During the Spring 2027 semester, Wong will conduct work in Ho Chi Minh City, Việt Nam, focusing on HIV research and global health challenges. His project aims to support innovative strategies for HIV prevention and long-term disease management while fostering international collaboration and cultural exchange through the Fulbright Program.

Hua (Elaine) Luo, Ph.D. (Anne Spencer Daves College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences) received the Society for the Study of School Psychology Early Career Research Award for her project, “Bridging the Training-to-Practice Gap: A Large-Scale Mixed-Methods Study of Job Demands and Curriculum Alignment in School Psychology.”

Cheyenne Egstad, (Career Center) received the Rising Star Award from the Cooperative Education & Internship Association for her outstanding contributions to the field of work-integrated learning.

Kari DiDonato, (Campus Recreation) and Campus Recreation Marketing were awarded two Creative Excellence awards from the National Intramural-Recreational Sports Association. “Lakefront Rental Office, Matilda Theme” received first place in the Social Media Campaign category and “Outdoor Trip Essentials” received first place in the Student Generated Content Campaign category.

Elizabeth Cecil, Ph.D. (Department of Religion) was awarded a fellowship from the Association for Public Religion and Intellectual Life to participate in the Representing Religion in Museums summer colloquium in New York City, New York.

Debajyoti Sinha, Ph.D. (Department of Statistics) was elected a fellow of the International Society for Bayesian Analysis in recognition of his significant contributions in promoting Bayesian ideas and methods in society, through scientific works and other activities. The honor will be announced at the annual ISBA banquet in Nagoya, Japan.

Nicole Bentze, D.O. (College of Medicine) was inducted into the Alpha Omega Alpha medical honor society.

Tonya Williams, M.D. (College of Medicine) was inducted into the FSU Chapman Chapter of the Gold Humanism Honor Society.

GRANTS

Matthew Lenard, Ph.D. (Anne Spencer Daves College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences) is leading a research project examining how specific math skills contribute to upward mobility. Lenard’s project is one of 29 projects in the U.S. selected to receive support through the $7 million Student Upward Mobility Initiative, which funds innovative efforts to identify the PK–12 skills that drive long-term success.

Michael Ormsbee, Ph.D., and Andrew Koutnik, Ph.D. (Anne Spencer Daves College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences) received an $84,439 grant from Health via Modern Nutrition for their project “Targeted Assessments of Cognition in Tactical-performance with Ingested Ketones: The TACTIK Trial.”

BYLINES

Nicholas Mazza, Ph.D. (College of Social Work) authored the article “Gerontology as Poetry” in the Brown Journal of Medical Humanities.

Shamra, Boel-Studt, Ph.D., Lauren Herod, MSW, and Darejan Dvalishvili, Ph.D. (College of Social Work, Institute for Quality Children’s Services) co-authored the article, “Advanced Certification Trainings for Child Welfare Professionals: Results from the Formative Evaluation of STARS,” published in the journal Child Protection & Practice.

Gashaye Tefera, Ph.D., Shelby Varol, MSW and Ponsiano Ngondwe, MSW (College of Social Work) co-authored the article, “‘I’m not just a large lady; I’m a large Black lady’: Intersectional stigma and barriers to healthcare access among Black women,” published in the journal Social Science & Medicine.

Lauren Herod, MSW, MPA, Melissa Radey, Ph.D., and Lauren Stanley, Ph.D. (College of Social Work and Florida Institute for Child Welfare) co-authored the psychometric article “The Power of Belonging: Confirmatory Factor Analysis of the Belonging Barometer with Child Welfare Workers”, which was published in Children and Youth Services Review. 

Kristy Anderson, Ph.D. (College of Social Work) co-authored the article, “Caregiver employment changes and care coordination in families with children with autism,” published in the journal Research in Autism.

Melissa Radey, Ph.D. (College of Social Work) co-authored the article, “Separated families’ use of formal and informal childcare across 12 European countries,” published in the Journal of Family Studies.

Brenda Wawire, Ph.D. (Learning Systems Institute) co-authored “Open Educational Resources in African Languages: The Case Study of Elementary Kiswahili Hujambo textbook,” which was published in the Journal of African Language Teachers Association.

Laurie Abbott, Ph.D., RN, DipACLM, CNE, PHNA-BC, FAAN and Lucinda Graven, Ph.D., APRN, FAHA, FAAN (College of Nursing) co-authored “Acceptability and Usefulness of a Dyadic Problem-Solving Partnership to Promote Rural Heart Failure Self-care” in the Western Journal of Nursing Research.

Laurie Abbott, Ph.D., RN, DipACLM, CNE, PHNA-BC, FAAN, Lucinda Graven, Ph.D., APRN, FAHA, FAAN (College of Nursing), and Thomas Ledermann, Ph.D. (Anne’s College), co-authored “Effects of Coping Resources on Depressive Symptoms in Rural Heart Failure Patient Caregiver Dyads: An Actor-Partner Interdependence Modeling Analysis” in the Journal of Family Nursing.

Timothy Baghurst, Ph.D. (Anne Spencer Daves College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences) co-authored “Experiences and barriers to career advancement among minority assistant coaches in the National Basketball Association,” published in the International Journal of Sports Science & Coaching.

Boris Kantor, Ph.D., (Florida Institute for Pediatric Rare Diseases) co-authored an article entitled “Cell-specific DNA methylation in human alpha and beta cells regulates gene expression in type 2 diabetes,” published in Nature Metabolism.

Xiaonan Zhang, Ph.D. (Department of Computer Science) co-authored, “From Static Constraints to Dynamic Adaptation: Sample-Level Constraint Release for Offline-to-Online Reinforcement Learning,” accepted to the 2026 International Conference on Machine Learning in Seoul, South Korea. She also had her co-authored paper “Longitudinal Behavioral Change Coaching with Multi LLM Agents: Multi-Scale Summaries and Automated Dialogue Steering,” accepted to the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and the Association for Computing Machinery’s 2026 conference on Connected Health: Applications, Systems and Engineering Technologies which will take place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in August.

David Newheiser, Ph.D. (Department of Religion) authored, “Hope as a Political Practice,” published on the blog Contending Modernities, the University of Notre Dame’s interdisciplinary effort to explore how religious and secular powers interact, as part of his, “Hope in a Secular Age,” symposium, an ongoing series of articles considering the place of hope in contemporary political, philosophical and theological contexts.

Sara Green, MSW, Kayla Hicks, MPH, Sharry Anne Solis, MPH, Jonathan Morgan, and Sylvie Naar, Ph.D. (College of Medicine) co-authored and presented a poster titled “Insights from the SHARE Research Program: Approaches, Success and Lessons Learned in Recruitment and Retention of Emerging Adults with HIV in Florida” at the Society of Behavioral Medicine 47^th Annual Meeting in Chicago.

Mike Drury, Ph.D. (College of Medicine) co-authored “Training focused on commonalities for the common good: A transdiagnostic approach for the next generation of health service psychologists,” published in the American Psychological Association’s journal, Training and Education in Professional Psychology.

Yang Hou, Ph.D., and postdoctoral scholars Dan Liu, Ph.D., and Xiaoli Zong, Ph.D. (College of Medicine) were part of the Hou-led international team of scholars that published “Age trends of internalizing and externalizing problems in children with neurofibromatosis type 1: a multicenter study,” in European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry.

Angelina Sutin, Ph.D., Martina Luchetti, Ph.D., and Antonio Terracciano, Ph.D. (College of Medicine) published “Daily activities and purpose in life” in The International Journal of Wellbeing.

Jacob Eisler, M.Phil., J.D., Ph.D. (College of Law) co-authored the forthcoming article, “Disparate (Algorithmic) Advantage”, in the Stanford Law Review Online: Special Collection on Technology, AI, and the Future of Civil Rights. Eisler also co-authored the article, “The Circuit Court Interim Docket.”

Henry Zhuhao Wang, J.D. (College of Law) co-authored “Evidentiary Rules for Administrative Hearings.”

Panagiotis Takis Tridimas, Ph.D. (College of Law) co-authored the Oxford University Press book, The Foundations of European Union Law. The book provides an in-depth yet accessible explanation of the foundational principles of constitutional and administrative law in the European Union.

PRESENTATIONS

Sherrell Cork, (Office of Business Services) co-presented “How Auxiliary Services are Navigating Strategic Partnerships” at the 2026 National Association of College Auxiliary Services – South Region in Charlotte, NC.

Remy Jennings, Ph.D., (Wertheim College of Business) presented “Family-Interference-with-Work: Antecedents and Outcomes of Employees’ FIW Disclosures” at the Purdue University’s Working Well Conference.

Shane Hockin, Ph.D., and Redgine Michel, (Academic Center for Excellence) co-presented “Developing Leadership While Sustaining Business Success” for the Florida College Learning Center Association Conference.

Nicholas Mazza, Ph.D. (College of Social Work) presented, “Finding Our Way Home: The Place of Poetry in Giving Voice and Hope for the Homeless” at the 46th Annual National Association for Poetry Therapy Conference in Chicago, Illinois.

Shamra, Boel-Studt, Ph.D. (College of Social Work)  presented, “Calming the Storm: Trauma-Responsive Approaches for Working with High Acuity Youth in Out-of-Home Care” as the keynote presentation at the national and virtual conference on Trauma Informed Care: Taking Science to Practice hosted by the University of Northern Iowa, Department of Social Work.

Sherrod, Kristyn, MSW, Patel, Dimple, Jacqueline Martin, LMSW, DSL, Kimberly Wheaton and Gray Hilliard-Koshinsky (Florida Institute for Child Welfare) (CWLA Emerging Leaders Committee) co-presented “Distributive Leadership: Dynamic and Immersive Development of Emerging Leaders” at the Child Welfare League of America 2026 National Conference.

Michael Buchler, Ph.D. (College of Music) gave three juried presentations this spring, including: “Sondheim’s Fractured Pastiches” at the annual meeting of Music Theory Southeast in February (Atlanta), “When Democracy and Equity Collide: Responses that Promote Institutional Learning” at the National Center for the Study of Collective Bargaining in Higher Education and the Professions annual conference at the CUNY Graduate Center (New York), and “Musical Markers of Jewishness as Moral Signifiers in Harold Rome’s I Can Get It For You Wholesale” at Sonic Markers of Jewishness On Screen and Off conference at UCLA (Los Angeles).

Lucinda Graven, Ph.D., APRN, FAHA, FAAN (College of Nursing) presented “Caregiving with Heart for Heart Failure Caregivers” at the annual Big Bend Hospice and ACTS 2 Caregiving Conference. The focus of this presentation was to provide valuable information regarding heart failure caregiving needs and skills, as well as self-care tips and strategies for caregivers.

Delaney W. La Rosa, EdD, MSN Ed, RN (College of Nursing) presented as part of an AI seminar series through The American Association of Colleges of Nursing, designed to equip nursing educators and academic leaders with the foundational knowledge and real-world context needed to prepare students for AI-enabled healthcare environments. The series explores both the fundamentals of AI in healthcare and current applications transforming nursing practice.

Christine Andrews-Larson, Ph.D. (Anne Spencer Daves College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences) presented a talk titled “Linear Algebra Applications in Students’ Post Linear Algebra Coursework” at the International Linear Algebra Society conference in Blacksburg, Virginia.

Cheyenne Egstad, (Career Center) co-presented the peer-reviewed conference session “Internships 101: A Toolkit on Increasing Reach of Employer Training” at the 2026 Cooperative Education & Internship Association Annual Conference. She also chaired the Technology subcommittee at the conference.

Darryl Lovett, Ph.D. (Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs) co-facilitated a discussion with student affairs vice presidents and assistant vice presidents grounded in NASPA’s “Centering the Student Affairs Workforce.” The conversation focused on leadership pathways and career visibility.

Alice Maxwell, (Division of Student Affairs Marketing and Communications) presented the keynote speech “Building a Strategic Communications Framework That Advances Student Success” at the College Public Relations Association of Mississippi annual conference.

Cynthia Vied, Ph.D., (Florida Institute for Pediatric Rare Diseases) participated in the Quest Diagnostics FOCUS Leadership Series, where she discussed the future of diagnostics and the role of patient-centered partnerships in advancing access to genetic testing for rare diseases.

David H. Ledbetter, Ph.D., FACMG, (Florida Institute for Pediatric Rare Diseases) presented at the 20th Genetics of Neurodevelopmental Disorders Conference demonstrating how rare pathogenic variants linked to neurodevelopmental disorders can be grouped into distinct genetic clusters associated with specific biological pathways and clinical patterns.

Pradeep G. Bhide, Ph.D., (Florida Institute for Pediatric Rare Diseases) discussed the Sunshine Genetics Act on the DNA Today, highlighting how the legislation established IPRD at Florida State University College of Medicine and launched a five-year pilot program providing no-cost newborn genomic sequencing to support earlier detection and more personalized care for Florida families.

Elizabeth Cecil, Ph.D. (Department of Religion) presented the invited lecture, “The Lord of the Elements & the Eaglewood Goddess: Hinduism in Monsoon Asia,” at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco, California.

Neil Van Leeuwen, Ph.D. (Department of Philosophy) presented, “Rational pressure on ideological imagining?” at the University of Neuchâtel in Switzerland in May. He also presented, “Pretense is Representation,” on the Acting as if Perspectives on Pretending workshop at the University of Geneva in Switzerland.

Christopher Mulrooney, Ph.D. (College of Medicine) was invited to present “Liver Cancer Prevention in Primary Care: The Florida Healthy Liver Program™” to the Liver Cancers Council of the Global Liver Institute, Washington, DC.

Diana Paquette, Ed.D. (College of Medicine) presented “Smart Space Strategies: Using Policy and Data-Driven Decisions on the development and implementation of the MED Lab Space Policy at the Association of American Medical Colleges’ Group on Institutional Planning-Group on Business Affairs Conference in St. Louis.

Mark Chaet, M.D. (College of Medicine) participated in Thayer Leadership’s Battle-Tested Open Enrollment leadership training program at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.

Amy Hall, Ph.D., and Karen MacDonell, Ph.D. co-presented a poster titled “Motivational and psychological predictors of asthma medication adherence in Black emerging adults” at the Society of Behavioral Medicine 47^thAnnual Meeting in Chicago.

George Rust, M.D. (College of Medicine) recently provided expert insight into developments surrounding the hantavirus and the importance of strong public health systems during disease outbreak response efforts in an interview aired live on FOX 35 in Orlando.

Nadia Banteka, S.J.D, (College of Law) participated in the 2026 Carolina Law Scholarship Roundtable on Immigration, Policing, and Detention at the University of North Carolina School of Law. Banteka presented her latest paper, “Police-Created Suspicion” (with Erika Nyborg-Burch). The roundtable brought together an outstanding group of scholars, to support cutting-edge legal research and scholarship.

Brian Slocum, J.D., M.A, Ph.D. (College of Law) was invited to the Georgetown Law Center as a moderator and speaker. The event focused on a forthcoming Oxford University Press book, Corpus Linguistics and the Interpretation of Statutes over Time.

Jake Linford, J.D., (College of Law), hosted a two-day Florida Intellectual Property & Technology Law Workshop at the College of Law which featured scholarship from accredited professors and Linford’s latest scholarship, “Education, Wealth, and WEIRD Trademark Surveys” (with Justin Sevier).

Brian Slocum, J.D., M.A, Ph.D. (College of Law) presented chapters from his co-authored forthcoming Yale University Press book, Twenty-First Century Textualism, at Yale Law School during a Theories of Statutory Interpretation Seminar.

SERVICE

Allison Justice, MMS, PA-C, (College of Medicine) is president-elect of the Florida Academy of Physician Assistants.

Rima Nathan, J.D. (College of Law) hosted an Estate Planning Clinic for Legal Services of North Florida through the Claude Pepper Elder Law Clinic with the Legal Services of North Florida Tallahassee Pro Bono team to provide their services to the greater community.

NOTABLE

Iain Quinn, Ph.D. (College of Music) was elected to fellowship of the Learned Society of Wales.

Bernard McDonald (College of Music) has drawn numerous plaudits from veteran critics following his début with Indianapolis Opera at The Tobias Theater at Newfields, Indianapolis, IN.

Carrie Meyers and Jim Reynolds (Learning Systems Institute/FSU InSPIRE) organized and implemented the “America 250 Challenge in AI Literacy” program challenging teachers to co-design a curriculum using artificial intelligence. The goal was to create a lesson that celebrates US history, culture, and innovation.

Rabieh Razzouk (Learning Systems Institute) awarded the first-ever FCR-STEM Innovating Educator of the Year award to Holley-Navarre fifth grade teacher Anna Prindle.

Vilma Fuentes, Ph.D. (Learning Systems Institute) led the second Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) program between the Armenian State University of Economics (ASUE) and FSU. In the Spring of 2026, 24 students from both universities participated in this 10-week asynchrounous virtual exchange program as part of a U.S. Department of State grant to enhance entrepreneurship education in Armenia.

Delaney W. La Rosa, EdD, MSN Ed, RN (College of Nursing) has been appointed to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) Emerging Technologies in Nursing Task Force. The national task force brings together nursing leaders and innovators to explore the impact of artificial intelligence and emerging technologies on nursing education and practice to help shape recommendations and strategies to prepare the future nursing workforce for a rapidly evolving healthcare landscape.

Frederick Abbott, J.D. (College of Law) participated as a panel judge in Beijing, China for the East Asia and Oceania Regional Round of the 24th Edition of the John H. Jackson Moot Court Competition in International Trade Law.

Please send items for Faculty and Staff Briefs to tfordyce@fsu.edu. We publish monthly.

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The galleries of the Florida State University Museum of Fine Arts (MoFA) will be filled with vibrant florals June 11 during the museum’s inaugural Art in Bloom event, sponsored by Tallahassee Nurseries.

For the first time at MoFA, local floral artists will create botanical arrangements inspired by watercolor paintings featured in the Tallahassee Watercolor Society’s 2026 Tri-State Annual Juried Water Media Exhibition. The resulting displays will transform the galleries into a temporary collaborative installation.

Guests attending the ticketed event will be the first to view the floral installations while enjoying wine provided by Damas, light bites from Food Glorious Food and Cruton & Co., cakes from Eats by Elyse and live music.

MoFA Director Kaylee Spencer said the event highlights the creative connections between visual art and floral design.

“We are excited to host this event at MoFA. Art in Bloom celebrates the generative power of artistic dialogue: how a creative act in one medium can inspire, transform and expand into another,” said Spencer. “We are thrilled to share these floral creations alongside original watercolors, inviting guests to experience the conversation that emerges between paintings and floral design. That exchange between artists, materials and forms of expression is at the heart of what we foster here at the museum. Every ticket purchased helps support the museum’s exhibitions, programming and collections all year long.”

As presenting sponsor of Art in Bloom, Tallahassee Nurseries is providing both financial support and floral expertise to help bring MoFA’s inaugural celebration to life.

“We are excited to be involved with an event that showcases the artistry growing in our area and cultivates the community’s connection with the arts. Our floral designers’ creativity shines at every event or occasion, so we are delighted to see their bespoke designs displayed alongside the works of other talented florists and local artists,” said Melissa Hutchinson, social media and outreach manager for Tallahassee Nurseries.

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Yinghe Qi, a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering at the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering and the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory (MagLab), has received the Gustav and Ingrid Klipping Award, one of cryogenic engineering’s top international honors for early-career researchers.

The International Cryogenic Engineering Committee presents the Gustav and Ingrid Klipping Award to a young researcher for outstanding work in cryogenic engineering. The award honors the Klippings’ contributions to the field and their commitment to involving the next generation of researchers. It is presented during the International Cryogenic Engineering Conference, held every two years and candidates must be 35 years of age or younger at the start of the conference.

Qi will receive the award at the 30th International Cryogenic Engineering Conference and International Cryogenic Materials Conference, scheduled for June 22–26 in Daejeon, South Korea.

“It is a privilege to be recognized by the cryogenic engineering community with this award,” Qi said. “I am incredibly thankful for the chance to work with Dr. Guo and our group at the MagLab. This environment has given me the support to tackle complex challenges in cryogenics, from dark matter detection to beamline vacuum break analysis and I am grateful for the opportunity to contribute to such impactful research.”

Advancing dark matter detection and accelerator safety

Qi was nominated by Professor Wei Guo of the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering, who cited her “broad knowledge, rigorous analytical ability and exceptional experimental and computational skills.” Her work spans several major research fronts, most notably the design of a cryogenic platform for the TESSERACT Collaboration’s dark matter search and new safety models for particle accelerator beamlines.

TESSERACT, which stands for Transition-Edge Sensors with Sub-EV Resolution And Cryogenic Targets, searches for low-mass dark matter roughly a hundred to a thousand times lighter than a standard WIMP (weakly interacting massive particle). Florida State University researchers, including members of Guo’s lab, are part of the collaboration and much of the effort in designing the specialized cryostat used in these searches was led by Guo’s team at the MagLab.

“This is a highly competitive international honor that recognizes exceptional early-career contributions to cryogenic engineering and applied low-temperature science,” Guo said. “Dr. Qi’s work has made a strong impact in cryogenic heat transfer and safety-relevant cryogenic-system modeling.”

The impact of cryogenic engineering research

Qi’s research has produced results published in leading peer-reviewed journals and carries practical value for laboratories around the world. Her work on sudden vacuum-break events in cryogenic accelerator systems, known as beamline vacuum break analysis, addresses safety challenges for facilities such as particle accelerators that rely on liquid-helium-cooled beamlines.

Guo’s broader research program at the college and MagLab spans quantum fluids and solids, cryogenic platforms and quantum sensing and devices. Qi has been a central contributor within that group for more than two years. Beyond her research contributions, she has also been recognized as a dedicated mentor within the lab.

Guo offered his “strongest recommendation” for the award, citing Qi’s scientific maturity and breadth of expertise across multiple subfields of cryogenic engineering.

FSU Quantum Initiative

Guo is co-director of the FSU Quantum Initiative and leads the Cryogenics Lab at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, where his research focuses on cryogenics, with applications in quantum fluid dynamics, liquid-helium-based dark matter detection, cryogenic accelerator physics, quantum-fluid-based qubits and liquid hydrogen aviation.

The Klipping Award places Qi among a small group of early-career researchers recognized internationally for pushing the boundaries of low-temperature science. Her selection reflects both the depth of her individual contributions and the strength of the research environment at the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering and the MagLab.

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The Learning Systems Institute (LSI) at Florida State University has been selected to collaborate with IREX and other partners on the Early Grade Education Activity in Jordan. LSI will join the project to advance Jordanian-led teacher education initiatives.

Under the direction of IREX, a global nonprofit organization focused on education and development, LSI will foster a collaborative relationship between Florida State University and Jordanian universities to support initiatives that address low literacy and numeracy rates while promoting whole-child development. LSI will support Jordanian universities through curriculum review and co-development, faculty professional development and research and quality assurance frameworks.

“IREX is proud to partner with the Learning Systems Institute at Florida State University to support the groundbreaking Early Grade Education Activity, ASAS, across Jordan. This collaboration reflects the value of drawing on the experience and expertise of U.S. universities to strengthen higher education institutions internationally and better prepare educators to meet the needs of students and communities. At the same time, collaboration on AI in education is essential to responsibly realizing the opportunities AI can bring and to supporting long-term student success,” said Aleksander Dardeli, President and CEO of IREX.

Stephanie Simmons Zuilkowski, Associate Director for Research at LSI and Professor of Educational Leadership and Policy in the Anne Spencer Daves College College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences, and Sana Tibi, Associate Professor in the Department of Communication Science and Disorders at FSU, will serve as principal investigators. Anne’s College faculty and LSI staff will provide support.

“The FSU team is excited to start work on this project, which is grounded in partnership and mutual learning,” said Zuilkowski. “We look forward to collaborating with Jordanian universities to support their efforts to advance teacher education, while also deepening our own understanding of effective, contextually responsive approaches to primary grades teacher preparation.”

IREX and its partners are working with Jordan’s Ministry of Education and universities across the country to sustainably improve early grade education.

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Florida State University Professor of Art Therapy and director of the Institute for Arts & Art Therapy with the Imprisoned Dave Gussak has launched a podcast exploring how the arts are transforming the lives of incarcerated individuals.

On “Creativity Unconfined,” Gussak, a leading expert who has authored numerous books on the topic, interviews guests involved in prison arts programs and advocacy efforts.

Gussak said the podcast is designed to raise awareness about the positive impact of arts programs in prisons, spark new ideas among practitioners, and inspire others to get involved.

“I’m incredibly excited to bring together leading voices from across the field for conversations about emerging research and personal stories about the impacts of art and art therapy in prison settings,” Gussak said. “My hope for this podcast is that it can be a space that’s welcoming and informative not only for therapy practitioners, but for anyone — including corrections professionals, community activists and artists, and of course, formerly incarcerated individuals and loved ones.”

The first eight episodes of the podcast will be available May 31 on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and YouTube, with new episodes released each Monday.

Among Gussak’s first guests are Chris Fausto Cabrera, an artist and activist who credits art and writing with helping him survive 21 years in a Minnesota prison; Antonio Espinosa, a former prison guard who became an advocate safer for prison environments through the arts after the death of his partner during a prison altercation; and Julie and Mike McBride, whose son was sentenced to life in prison for a murder he committed when he was young.

The podcast is produced by FSU art therapy graduate students Malea Burroughs and Sydney Nichols.

For more information about Arts & Art Therapy with the Imprisoned and its mission, visit AATI.fsu.ed.

Those interested in supporting AATI or “Creativity Unconfined” can make a gift at give.fsu.edu/AATI.

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