A Florida State University neuroscientist has received a new grant from the National Institutes of Health to investigate how a food or drink’s temperature affects the way our brains process the taste of salt, a neural mechanism that plays a significant role in shaping eating behaviors and nutrition habits.

Associate Professor of Biological Science and Neuroscience Roberto Vincis will use the $2.5 million in funding from the NIH’s National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders to research temperature’s impact on salt taste processing through his project, “Thermal Influences on Salt Taste Sensitivity and Neural Processing.”

“Temperature strongly shapes what we choose to eat, yet we know surprisingly little about how it affects the way the brain processes taste,” Vincis said. “When we eat or drink, three senses work together: taste, smell and touch, which includes texture and temperature. Combined, they create what we experience as flavor.”

Flavor guides what we choose to eat and drink, and those choices have lasting effects on health. Salt plays a bigger role. Beyond tasting salty, it changes how a food tastes, most notably by masking bitterness. Reducing excess salt in the American diet is a major public health priority. According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, about 90 percent of Americans consume more sodium than recommended.

“Most previous studies looked at one component of flavor at a time, but in order to fully understand how the brain processes taste, we need to see components like temperature and salt interact,” Vincis said. “I believe few labs in the U.S. study oral sensory components simultaneously. The NIH is supporting nutrition-related research from many angles, and this grant tells us we are on the right track to better understanding what drives nutrition habits and shapes eating behaviors.”

Table salt is necessary in small amounts, but too much can lead to high blood pressure and a higher risk for heart disease and stroke, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Together, heart disease and stroke kill more Americans each year than any other cause.

“By uncovering how multiple sensory systems interact to drive unhealthy dietary preferences, this research could also help to identify novel biological targets for treating obesity and eating disorders,” said Lisa Eckel, director of FSU’s Program in Neuroscience.

When we eat, chemicals in foods and drinks activate taste cells in the mouth, and these cells pass the signal to nerves that carry it to the brain. This information eventually reaches the primary gustatory cortex, a region deep in the brain’s insular region where the brain makes sense of what we are tasting.

By studying how the temperature of a food or drink affects the way the brain processes the taste of table salt and salt substitutes, Vincis and his team hope to uncover overlooked factors that shape what we eat and ultimately our health.

“We’ll combine hypothesis-driven behavioral experiments, recordings of brain activity, and targeted manipulation of specific brain circuits to examine how stimulus temperature changes the way the brain responds to salt,” Vincis said. “What we learn could help develop strategies to reduce excess salt consumption in the diet.”

Since joining FSU’s faculty in 2018, Vincis and the Vincis Lab have been continually supported by national funding in the investigation of processes underlying neural processing of sensory experiences. In 2022, he was awarded a five-year, $1.8M NIH grant to understand how interactions among various brain regions contribute to the sense of taste, and he received the 2026 Ajinomoto Award for Young Investigators in Gustation from the Association for Chemoreception Sciences.

Vincis’ research also contributes to FSU’s Institute for Connecting Nutrition and Health, which aims to create and catalyze high-impact multidisciplinary collaborative nutrition research and training to improve human health. Additionally, his work supports FSU Health, an academic health system combining the expertise of hospitals, physicians, clinics, research, education and innovation to improve the health of our community.

“The study of chemical senses has long been a hallmark of excellence within the FSU Program in Neuroscience, and this new grant award further elevates the stature of this distinguished community of scientists,” Eckel said. “It also highlights the broad impact of Dr. Vincis’ research and his growing national and international reputation as a leading scholar in the field.”

To learn more about neuroscience and biological science research at FSU, visit neuro.fsu.edu and bio.fsu.edu.

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Florida State University cut the ribbon Friday on its new FSU Health Research and Collaboration Building and announced that the facility will be named for Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Wilton Simpson, whose leadership helped secure the funding that made the project possible.

The 137,000-square-foot facility, located on the FSU Health Tallahassee Memorial Hospital campus, marks a major milestone in the growth of FSU’s integrated academic health system. It brings clinicians, researchers, students and community partners together under one roof to advance medical research, train healthcare professionals and improve patient care.

The FSU Board of Trustees voted Friday morning to name the facility the Wilton Simpson FSU Health Research and Collaboration Building. As Florida Senate president in 2022, Simpson championed the project, helping secure $125 million in construction funding and an additional $20 million in recurring funding for FSU and its growing health enterprise.

FSU President Richard McCullough recalled meeting with Simpson early in his presidency to discuss his vision for transforming healthcare in North Florida. When McCullough outlined the proposed research building and its $125 million price tag, Simpson’s response was immediate.

“He said, ‘Done,'” McCullough recalled.

McCullough said Simpson’s support reflected his understanding of the project’s potential impact.

“What I appreciate most about Wilton Simpson is that he saw what this could mean for the people of Florida,” McCullough said. “He understood that this was ultimately about improving health, expanding access to care, strengthening our healthcare workforce and creating opportunities that did not exist before.”

Simpson said he was surprised by the naming announcement but proud of what FSU Health will mean for the region.

“If you care about your community, you care about the quality of care,” Simpson said. “The research that will be done on these floors behind me will save lives and improve the quality of life of so many.”

More than 250 people attended the ribbon-cutting and dedication, including FSU trustees, university and hospital officials, government and business leaders, and community partners.

McCullough thanked Gov. Ron DeSantis, the Florida Legislature, the Florida Board of Governors, the Leon County Board of County Commissioners and the Tallahassee City Commission for supporting the project.

FSU Board of Trustees Chair Peter Collins said the building will help shape the university’s future for the next 10 to 15 years, calling it one of the most transformational investments in FSU’s history.

“The really cool thing about being a trustee is at these moments, right? When you build something tangible,” Collins said. “This is going to be transformational.”

Mark O’Bryant, president and CEO of Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare, said the building will give patients access to more advanced care closer to home while supporting research that could lead to new treatments and save lives.

“This building represents a huge strengthening of that fabric, and it really helps us to complete the fabric of healthcare in our region,” O’Bryant said.

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Florida State University artists, scientists and therapists united at the Arts-Humanities-Health Symposium during Discovery Days to explore how the arts and humanities can improve our health and well-being.

The symposium at the Claude Pepper Center featured art and music therapy, design, and for the first time, motion picture arts, showcasing the breadth of creativity at FSU.

Healing through art

Presenters at the event highlighted how their work uses art to support physical and mental health.

Michelle Pellito, a music therapist at the FSU College of Music, spoke about how collaborative goal setting with young patients helps them learn they have personal agency and that expressing themselves can change their environment.

Children communicate their wants and needs in a variety of ways, from traditional speech to noises, body language and nonverbal cues. Therapists have a duty to listen, notice and offer feedback, no matter how subtle, for the best possible care, Pellito said.

“Patient-centered care is at the heart of everything we do as music therapists. Care is most effective when it’s created with the patients and not just for them,” she said.

Brianna Vo, a second-year medical student at the FSU College of Medicine, told the story of an artist at the bedside of a patient. The patient, through the hands of the artist, draws a colorful picture of a butterfly. To educate healthcare students about the power of patient-centered visual arts, Vo ran two different “Brushes to Bedside” workshops.

In the first workshop, a “patient” directed their “practitioner,” using only spoken voice, to craft a personalized mosaic coaster for them. In the second workshop, healthcare students painted a watercolor landscape with modified tools, like a sock over their dominant hand or a lump of clay wrapped around a paintbrush, to simulate motor restrictions. Vo showed that after the workshops, students had more confidence in their ability to adapt to a patient’s abilities and incorporate visual arts into patient-provider interactions.

Doctoral candidate Xingyi Li and Assistant Professor Bani Malhotra from the FSU Department of Arts Leadership, Education & Therapy studied the impact of art therapy on hospitalized burn patients. Research shows that art therapy has significant mental, emotional and physical benefits. Li and Malhotra gifted art kits to patients and held viewing sessions of “hopeful” pieces and tactile squares.

“Art therapy gives tangible form to thoughts and emotions that may be hard to articulate otherwise,” Li said.

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FAMU-FSU College of Engineering professors Ralm Ricarte and Junliang Liu have been named recipients of the U.S. Department of Energy’s prestigious Early Career Research Program awards, an honor bestowed upon outstanding scientists and engineers early in their careers.

This year, the DOE’s Office of Science selected just 67 scientists nationwide for the awards, providing $96 million to support research across science and engineering.

Ricarte is an associate professor in the Department of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering, while Liu is an assistant professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering. They are the only Florida State University researchers to receive the awards in 2026, the only two recipients from Florida and two of just eight awardees in the Southeast United States.

“Earning this award is a tremendous recognition of the innovative work happening at our college,” said Richard Liang, associate dean for research at the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering. “Professors Ricarte and Liu are trailblazers in their fields and their research will drive discoveries that benefit society and reinforce America’s leadership in science.”

Ricarte’s project, “Molecular mechanisms driving enhanced energy dissipation in dual cross-link elastomers,” will receive $875,000 over five years. His research aims to develop resilient, energy-absorbing materials with far-reaching applications, from next-generation transportation systems to advanced electronics.

“In this project, our team will explore how specially engineered rubber materials can stay flexible and efficiently absorb energy under heat, repeated stress and large deformations,” Ricarte explained. “These rubbers will feature permanent bonds that provide structural integrity and temporary bonds that can break and reform. We’ll investigate how the rate of this molecular exchange influences the materials’ energy absorption in various real-world scenarios.”

By integrating materials development, mechanical testing, computer simulations and advanced X-ray analysis, the team will identify how molecular-level changes affect overall material performance.

“The Early Career Award gives us the time, resources, and access to Department of Energy facilities needed to rigorously test these ideas,” Ricarte noted. “It will also foster new collaborations and enable hands-on training for students in advanced computational and experimental techniques. The insights we gain will shape the next generation of durable, adaptable materials for vehicles, protective equipment and energy-harvesting devices.”

Ricarte, who joined the college in 2020 following postdoctoral research in Paris, holds a degree from the University of Minnesota and has been recognized as a Marie Curie PRESTIGE fellow.

Liu’s project, “Effects of High Magnetic Fields on Hydrogen Retention in Vanadium Alloys,” also received $875,000 over five years. His research could help scientists develop materials capable of withstanding the extreme conditions inside nuclear fusion reactors.

“Fusion is the same process that powers the Sun,” Liu said. “Scientists are striving to replicate this phenomenon on Earth, essentially building a miniature Sun to deliver nearly limitless clean energy.”

Materials in fusion reactors must withstand extraordinary conditions, such as plasma temperatures over 100 million degrees Celsius and magnetic fields more than a million times stronger than Earth’s. These intense fields are crucial for containing the plasma but present major challenges for structural materials. Liu’s research focuses on discovering materials capable of surviving and performing in this extreme environment.

“The DOE Early Career Award will enable us to utilize the world-class facilities at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory (NHMFL) and FSU to replicate these extreme magnetic field conditions and study their effects on the microstructure and properties of fusion materials,” Liu said. “Our findings will help the scientific community better understand and qualify materials for fusion applications, bringing fusion energy one step closer to powering the grid.”

Liu earned his doctorate and completed postdoctoral research at the University of Oxford. He then worked as staff scientist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison before joining the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering faculty in 2025.

The ECRP award is among the nation’s most competitive honors for early career scientists, supporting the next generation of STEM leaders as they pursue bold, innovative research. The 2026 cohort includes recipients from 39 universities, 11 DOE National Laboratories and 26 states.

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Florida State University Professor Zhe He has been elected a fellow of the American College of Medical Informatics (ACMI), one of the highest professional honors in biomedical and health informatics.

He is among just 22 individuals elected to the college in 2026, recognizing his contributions to advancing artificial intelligence, health data science and informatics to improve healthcare delivery, patient engagement and health outcomes.

“I am deeply honored by this recognition,” He said. “It reflects the collective efforts of my students, colleagues, mentors and collaborators over the years. Our goal has always been to bridge advances in AI and data science with real-world healthcare needs, developing technologies that empower patients, support healthcare professionals and ultimately improve people’s lives.”

He is a professor in FSU’s School of Information and director of the university’s Institute for Successful Longevity, a multidisciplinary research institute dedicated to helping people live longer, healthier and more fulfilling lives. He also directs the eHealth Lab, where his research team develops and evaluates trustworthy, human-centered AI and informatics technologies for healthcare.

His research focuses on making complex medical information more useful for patients, caregivers and clinicians. Through federally funded projects supported by the National Institutes of Health, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, and the Humana Foundation, his team is developing AI-powered tools to help patients understand complex medical information, improve patient-clinician communication, support personalized healthcare decision making, and reduce loneliness and social isolation, particularly among older adults and underserved populations.

One example is LabGenie, an AI-powered educational tool designed to help patients better understand their laboratory test results and communicate more effectively with healthcare professionals. The project reflects He’s broader vision of developing AI technologies that are technically advanced, trustworthy, accessible and responsive to patients’ needs.

“Dr. He’s election to the American College of Medical Informatics is a tremendous recognition of his scholarly work and leadership in the field,” said Michelle Kazmer, dean of FSU’s College of Communication and Information. “His research demonstrates how interdisciplinary collaboration and human-centered innovation can translate advances in artificial intelligence into meaningful improvements in healthcare. We are proud of his achievements and grateful for the impact of his work at Florida State and beyond.”

In addition to his work in patient-centered AI, He has made significant contributions to biomedical data science through research involving electronic health records, natural language processing, and machine learning. His interdisciplinary collaborations bring together experts from computer science, medicine, psychology, public health and gerontology to address complex healthcare challenges.

He also contributes to the national biomedical informatics community through scientific leadership, editorial service, mentoring and federal research review. He currently serves as a standing member of the National Institutes of Health Clinical Informatics and Digital Health Study Section, and chair of AMIA’s Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining Working Group.

He earned his bachelor’s degree from Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, a master’s degree from Columbia University and a doctorate from the New Jersey Institute of Technology. He conducted postdoctoral research at Columbia University’s Department of Biomedical Informatics before joining FSU in 2015.

“AI has tremendous potential to transform healthcare, but its success depends on whether the technologies we develop are trustworthy, accessible and genuinely useful to the people they are intended to serve,” He said. “I hope this recognition will help us build new collaborations and further advance patient-centered AI research at FSU.”

New fellows will be inducted into the college during the organization’s annual symposium in Dallas in November.

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FSU Health is Florida State University’s integrated academic health system, uniting hospitals, physicians, clinics, research, education, and innovation under a unified vision to improve health across communities we serve. With hospitals in Tallahassee and Panama City Beach operated by Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare, FSU Health connects trusted community care with the academic, research, and training strengths of Florida State University. FSU will open a new 140,000-square-foot FSU Health Research and Collaboration Building on the Tallahassee Memorial campus in Fall 2026. Together, we are building a nationally recognized destination for patient care, education, research, and innovation.

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Florida State University’s Institute for Connecting Nutrition and Health (ICON-Health) marked its first anniversary  Oct. 20 with a symposium exploring how poor diet drives chronic disease and how lifestyle medicine and GLP-1 are changing treatments and even food choices in our society.

Nearly three in four U.S. adults are overweight or have obesity, and an estimated 11% of U.S. adults — about 40 million — now take a GLP-1 medication for weight loss, nearly four times the number in 2024. The “Blurry Lines: When Does Nutrition Become Medicine?” symposium, part of FSU’s Discovery Days, took a hard look at this issue.

The forces shaping how we eat are complex. Neuroscience and sensory science experts at the event described how weight-loss medications can influence food choices, helping people eat differently. They also emphasized that physical activity and preserving muscle are critical components of healthy weight loss.

Research presentations

With poor diet and food environments as primary drivers of obesity and other chronic diseases, weight loss was a recurring theme among the ICON-Health members presenting:

• Debra Ann Fadool, distinguished research professor of biological science and neuroscience in the College of Arts and Sciences, explored the connection between the sense of smell and obesity.
• Gregg Stanwood, professor of biomedical sciences in the College of Medicine, presented on how GLP-1 drugs rewire the brain and gut. “All motivated behavior comes from the brain,” said Stanwood, whose research explores the relationship between the brain and the gut microbiome, including the role of dopamine reward circuits.
• David W. Smith, a cardiologist with TMH Physician Partners, Services by Southern Medical Group, presented on insulin resistance — fat being stored where it should not be, in muscle, the liver, the pancreas and the heart — and on lifestyle change as a key part of cardiac rehabilitation after a heart attack.
• Cammy Crolic, assistant professor in the Dr. Persis E. Rockwood School of Marketing at the Herbert Wertheim College of Business, discussed how wanting a food can influence how much we like it, and vice versa. She said the food industry has responded to the success of GLP-1 drugs by reducing portion sizes and emphasizing higher-quality products and peak enjoyment. GLP drugs are restoring people’s sense of willpower, Crolic said.

The event also highlighted ICON-Health’s first-year accomplishments and partnerships as institute leadership works to improve public health and economic prosperity.

“It’s exciting to be a year-old kid and already walking,” Professor Regan Bailey, an ICON-Health founding director, said in her welcome remarks. “We’ve been able to amass a team of more than 80 scientists, not only at the university but around the world. We have faculty, clinicians and allied health professionals as members, but importantly we also have students and trainees as members of ICON-Health.”

Professor Patrick Stover, a fellow ICON-Health founding director, also noted new biomarker research facility will be housed in a soon-to-open FSU Health Research and Collaboration Building. The facility will significantly expand nutritional research opportunities across biological or medical studies.

Biomarkers help researchers understand how individuals respond differently to nutrients. The facility will feature a microscope that can measure seven health- and disease-related pathways simultaneously. Researchers can use fluorescent markers to track those pathways and study how cells respond to different nutrient doses and combinations.

“We can determine whether certain configurations of nutrients promote health pathways or promote disease pathways in the short term, which then correlates to long-term outcomes,” Stover said. “AI is reading this all the time, and when it sees a hit, it will go back and reoptimize that exposure and that response to maximize it and see what all the biological variables are.”

About a decade ago, the National Institutes of Health  began requiring that sex be considered as a biological variable in the research it funds, because men and women can respond differently to exposures, medications and interventions. Stover said nutrition is now being discussed as a fundamental biological variable in the same way.

“There are differences in fundamental biology, how our metabolism works, how our physiology works,” he said. “We all respond differently to the diet and that diet-disease connection. What’s good for one person in terms of maintaining their health may not be good for another person.”

Visit the ICON-Health website to learn more about how this institute is pioneering a comprehensive approach to tackle diet-related chronic diseases through its multidisciplinary nutrition research initiatives.

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For Dr. Alma Littles, dean of the FSU College of Medicine, the 2026 FSU Health Expo in Gadsden County on Saturday was a homecoming and a reminder of the importance of access to quality healthcare.

Littles grew up in Gadsden County and spent much of her career there as a family medicine physician before becoming dean. At Saturday’s health expo at the Gadsden County Courthouse in Quincy, she reconnected with former patients and saw firsthand the impact that access to healthcare can have on individuals, families and communities.

“We want to make sure that we’re making a difference,” she said. “That’s why we’re here.”

Hosted by FSU Health in partnership with Gadsden County, the expo brought together faculty, staff, students, researchers, healthcare professionals, community organizations, local businesses and residents for a day focused on health, wellness and community connection.

More than 90 vendors and exhibitors participated, representing Florida State University, Florida A&M University, healthcare organizations, nonprofit agencies, local businesses and community partners from across the region. They offered health screenings, educational resources, research opportunities and community services designed for people of all ages. The event was part of FSU Discovery Days, the university’s annual celebration of research, creativity and innovation.

“Seeing all these amazing people, organizations and community partners come together in one place demonstrates the incredible commitment that exists across our region to improving health and well-being,” said Ursula Weiss, director of FSU Health Community Engagement. “Our goal is not only to connect people with resources today, but also to build lasting relationships that help create healthier communities for years to come.”

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Support from Dance Marathon at FSU (DM@FSU) for the Florida State University College of Medicine has reached new heights with the student-led organization’s latest donation.

DM@FSU raises funds for pediatric medical care. The 2026 DM@FSU, the 31st year for the event, raised a little over $1.5 million, and the group’s donation to the college this year was $697,380.85. That donation brought total support since the College of Medicine was added as a beneficiary in 2003 to more than $11.5 million.

Hundreds of students participate in DM@FSU, the largest student-run philanthropy on campus. It’s an entire year of fundraising and planning, culminating in a whirlwind three-day event with closing ceremonies held the first Sunday in March. Many of the college’s partners in pediatric outreach attend the check ceremony each fall, staffing tables to explain how they use DM@FSU funds to expand and enhance access to healthcare.

Emmanuella Essien, 2027 DM@FSU executive director, explained why the students put their hearts into the effort.

“The mission of Dance Marathon is greater than the dollars raised,” she said. “It’s about bringing people together around something that matters, while helping ensure kids have access to the care they need and families don’t have to face difficult moments alone.”

The organization is one of the five founding dance marathons in the Children’s Miracle Network, and it continues to be one of the most successful at raising money for children’s healthcare.

At an Oct. 5 celebration in the FSU College of Medicine atrium, Dean Dr. Alma B. Littles noted that DM@FSU has consistently finished in the top five among dance marathons supporting the network.

“Our dance marathon here at FSU actually raised more money this year than the Dance Marathon the same weekend at our sister university over in Gainesville, my alma mater,” Littles said. “But no matter which school brings in the most money, the beauty of friendly competition for a worthy cause means everybody wins — very different from that last weekend in November!”

This was the 12th year that DM@FSU topped the $1 million mark, with the proceeds divided between the College of Medicine’s pediatric outreach programs and UF Health’s Shands Children’s Hospital in Gainesville, the region’s Children’s Miracle Network hospital.

Dr. Rashmin Savani, chair of the University of Florida College of Medicine’s Department of Pediatrics and Shands’ physician-in-chief, heads a delegation from UF Health each year to thank the dancers for their support.

“It’s all about making meaningful change for families and children that have diseases that end them up in hospitals, that put their future in doubt,” he said. “And it’s the things that you do that alter the outcome. Just think about that. I couldn’t be more grateful for all the things that you do. Thank you again.”

Since its creation in 1995 and first marathon in 1996, DM@FSU has raised almost $25 million.

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The Florida State University Jim Moran College of Entrepreneurship will conduct a first-of-its-kind study that explores the link between proper fit of personal protective equipment (PPE) and occupational cancer risk for women in the fire service.  

In partnership with the University of Arizona, FSU Carol Avery Professor Meredith McQuerry, lab director of the Wearable Advancements in Research and Performance (WARP) group, received a $1.5 million grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to further examine the relationship between gear fit and occupational cancer. The findings will be applicable to approximately 1.1 million members of the United States Fire Service. 

“I am honored to be part of this award, partnering with colleagues at the Zuckerman College of Public Health at the University of Arizona, to study how gear fit directly impacts occupational cancer for the first time,” McQuerry said. “We hope this work will inform standard sizing improvements for increased firefighter health and safety.” 

“I am honored to be part of this award, partnering with colleagues at the Zuckerman College of Public Health at the University of Arizona, to study how gear fit directly impacts occupational cancer for the first time. We hope this work will inform standard sizing improvements for increased firefighter health and safety.” 

– Meredith McQuerry, FSU Carol Avery Professor

McQuerry and her research team will compare gear fit of female firefighters with cancer biomarkers that provide results from pre-to-post live fire training burns at four structural fire departments across the United States, including Florida, California, Arizona and Virginia. Occupational cancer is the leading cause of long-term line-of-duty deaths in the fire service. Last spring, FSU principal investigator and postdoctoral fellow Josephine Bolaji collaborated with Arizona to deploy a multi-measurement system to quantify gear fit during a pilot trial.  

FSU’s latest research is a hallmark of the FSU Health mission, an integrated academic health system that brings together hospitals, physicians, clinics, research, education and innovation to improve the health of the communities the university serves. McQuerry is a member of ICON-Health, an institute dedicated to combatting chronic disease through comprehensive, multidisciplinary research. 

As director of the ThermaNOLE Comfort Lab®, McQuerry has world-renowned expertise in clothing comfort physiology with industry-leading research that investigates ways to improve first-responder safety through functional equipment. Her latest grant explores multiple risk factors for toxic exposure and reproductive outcomes for the female firefighter population. 

McQuerry has received federally funded awards demonstrating the potentially hazardous relationship between poor gear fit and increased occupational exposure. She recently chaired a research team that concluded a five-year multi-state project titled “Protective Clothing for Wildland Firefighters,” providing recommendations to the National Fire Protection Agency (NFPA) on improving methods for cleaning and safeguarding PPE for wildland firefighters. 

As head of the WARP Group, McQuerry leads a team of postdoctoral, graduate and undergraduate students at the ThermaNOLE Comfort Lab ®, the Textile Testing Laboratory and the 3D Body Scanning Lab. Over the last decade, WARP has received more than $5 million in funding for research that spans protective equipment design, clothing comfort physiology, medical textiles and material durability. 

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With Breast Cancer Awareness Month approaching in October, several organizations are actively preparing campaigns to spread awareness about early detection and prevention. However, a significant knowledge gap remains between available medical information and actual awareness among young women. 

New research from the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine notes that among women, breast cancer is the leading source of alcohol attributable cancer. Yet, according to the National Cancer Institute, less than one-third of young adult women are even aware that drinking alcohol is a breast cancer risk factor.  

Russell B. Clayton, Distinguished and Endowed Provost McKenzie Professor in the College of Communication and Information at Florida State University, is working to bridge this gap through a recently awarded $3.1 million, five-year National Institutes of Health federal grant in collaboration with The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – James and the UMass Chan Medical School. The grant will support a series of projects over the five-year funding period focused on identifying the most effective social media strategies for spreading awareness about the link between alcohol consumption and breast cancer in women. 

Clayton believes several factors may be contributing to this information gap.  

“Traditional alcohol-related health messaging has largely focused on more immediate and familiar risks, such as drinking and driving, rather than the longer-term cancer risks associated with alcohol consumption,” Clayton explained. “The evidence for alcohol-focused cancer messaging is also less established than it is for tobacco.”  

The lack of research available on this subject is exactly what Clayton and his team aim to address through their series of studies. They will focus specifically on social media messaging due to its potential to reach a wider audience, especially among women in younger populations.  

“We are interested not only in whether a message changes what people say they believe, but also in whether it captures and sustains attention, strengthens memory for the message and ultimately influences attitudes and behavioral intentions,” Clayton explained.  

“We are interested not only in whether a message changes what people say they believe, but also in whether it captures and sustains attention, strengthens memory for the message and ultimately influences attitudes and behavioral intentions.”

– Russell B. Clayton Distinguished and Endowed Provost McKenzie Professor

Clayton also noted that rather than using top-down messaging, members of the grant team at Ohio State University worked with young adult women to create several social messages communicating the risk of alcohol consumption in relation to breast cancer. The participants were able to provide useful information, including that Instagram and TikTok are the preferred platforms for young women.  

“Involving young women directly in the design process allows our team to develop messages that reflect how they actually think about alcohol, breast cancer risk and social media,” Clayton added. “Their input helps us develop messages that are relevant, credible and engaging to the audience we are trying to reach.”  

To achieve this goal, the researchers will use a range of methods, including nationally representative online self-report surveys followed by laboratory experiments employing psychophysiological measures that provide insight into participants’ cognitive and emotional responses to the messages, such as eye tracking, heart rate and skin conductance. Together, these methods will provide a more comprehensive understanding of how people respond to different social media messages. 

“Self-report questions typically ask people to report what they remember, what they felt or what they thought about a message after message exposure,” Clayton noted. “Measures such as eye tracking, heart rate and skin conductance give us another window into those responses and help us understand which parts of a message capture visual attention and generate cognitive or emotional engagement.”  

Overall, Clayton and the research team aim to provide a solution that can ultimately be used to design better and more effective social media messaging that communicates the risks associated with alcohol and breast cancer. 

“We can then build on these findings by rigorously testing optimized messages on actual behavioral outcomes and developing strategies that could eventually be scaled to population-based and national campaigns aimed at reducing alcohol-related cancer risk,” Clayton said.  

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A Florida State University researcher will use a combination of artificial intelligence tools and laboratory testing to find innovative treatments for brain cancer, particularly for children.

Qing-Xiang “Amy” Sang, the Diane and Michael Bruton Professor for Cancer Research in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, received more than $500,000 from the Florida Cancer Innovation Fund to determine which existing cancer drugs have the potential to also effectively treat rare pediatric brain cancers. Sang will use AI to quickly sort through a large volume of data to identify which drugs show the most promise as brain cancer treatments before testing them in the laboratory to investigate how they interact with various brain cancers at the molecular level.

Created in 2024 under the Florida Department of Health, the Florida Cancer Innovation Fund aims to strengthen collaborations between oncologists and scientists by supporting cutting-edge cancer research and treatment models.

“Brain cancers are among the deadliest and hardest-to-treat cancers in both children and adults,” Sang said. “There are many types of brain cancers, so a drug that works well against one may do nothing against another. However, different tumors often share hidden similarities in their underlying biology. This grant will help us examine drugs that are already known to work against certain cancers and test whether they can also treat different, less-studied types of brain cancer.”

There are nearly 600 cancer-fighting drugs on the market today, made possible by countless hours of research, culminating in the production of more than 1 million cancer-related scientific publications worldwide from 2010-2019 alone. These publications contain valuable findings on cancer biology, cancer-drug interactions and patient response to different treatments.

However, because the volume of research is so vast, it would be nearly impossible for one person, or even one laboratory group, to spot crucial patterns across this data set even if they had the time and funding to do so. Sang will use AI to bridge this gap, quickly analyzing which of those nearly 600 cancer drugs have the highest potential to effectively combat specific understudied brain cancers, such as atypical teratoid rhabdoid tumors and diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma — both of which are rare and presently incurable pediatric brain cancers.

Repurposing existing medicines for cancer-fighting benefits

Sang will expand her search to include drugs already approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for non-cancer conditions. For example, tamoxifen was first approved as a contraceptive pill, but scientists later discovered it can treat breast cancer and even lower the risk of tumor development in high-risk patients.

“By identifying molecular similarities among tumors, we can make educated, data-driven hypotheses about which existing drugs might work in a new biological setting,” said Sang, who is also affiliated with FSU’s Institute of Molecular Biophysics. “We will take our top candidates for novel brain cancer treatments into the lab and test them directly on brain tumor cells to demonstrate that our approach works in practice, not just theory.”

In the lab, Sang will test how the recommended drugs interact with real, patient-derived organoids — three-dimensional, ball-shaped clusters of cells — which behave much more like a whole tumor than a single flat layer of cells. This method aligns with a national shift away from animal testing, driven by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s preference for use of computer-based tools and realistic human-cell models when possible.

“Dr. Sang is a highly regarded biochemist with remarkable creativity, persistence, and a research program yielding unique insights,” said Wei Yang, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry chair. “Her new grant is also a testimony to the advancement of A Strategic Plan to Inspire Research Excellence, or the FSU ASPIRE mission, developed to identify strategic areas of focus and investment, ensuring the sustained growth and impact of FSU’s research enterprise, particularly in the area of drug discovery.”

While Sang primarily focuses on rare pediatric brain cancers, she also seeks treatments for more common forms, like glioblastoma tumors. Compared to more prevalent cancers, such as prostate and breast cancer, brain tumors account for less than two percent of all new U.S. cancer cases, according to the National Foundation for Cancer Research.

“Because we research drugs that are already approved or have gone through early-stage clinical trials, the odds of successfully moving them toward new patients are much higher than trying to build a brand-new compound,” Sang said. “This is especially important for rare brain cancers, which often attract little interest from pharmaceutical companies simply because the number of patients is small and potential profit is limited.”

Sang’s work also supports FSU Health, an academic health system combining the expertise of hospitals, physicians, clinics, research, education and innovation to improve the health of our community.

“Our goal is to extend the lives of cancer patients, enhance quality of life and when possible, provide a cure,” Sang said. “I hope that in our efforts to repurpose existing drugs, we have a realistic shot at finding effective treatments for difficult brain cancers in a quicker timeframe.”

To learn more about research conducted in the FSU Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, visit chem.fsu.edu.

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Although music has been used as a form of healing for centuries, music therapy is still considered an emerging healthcare practice. At the Florida State University College of Music, a professor is helping to grow this clinical intervention that addresses everything from anxiety to physical rehabilitation. 

Professor of Music Therapy Lori Gooding is accelerating the industry through research and translational courses. She believes there is a misconception surrounding music therapy that needs to be cleared up.  

“A lot of people don’t recognize that music therapy is a profession you train for, that you have academic and clinical training, that there’s a board certification exam you have to pass and there’s licensure in many states,” Gooding said.  

She also addressed the core difference between the informal therapeutic benefits of listening to a favorite playlist and clinical, evidence-based music therapy, as they are often thought of as one.  

“The difference between that and what we do in music therapy is that we are going in and assessing an individualized need, and we are using music within the context of a therapeutic relationship to help someone restore, maintain or improve their functioning,” Gooding said.  

FSU is nationally recognized for having one of the earliest established leading programs in music therapy with a 100% placement rate among graduates. The program often places its graduates in fields such as medicine, mental health, special education, hospice and older adult services. 

Gooding attributes the program’s success to equipping students with the latest research so they enter the workforce fully prepared. 

“I think one of the things that makes us unique is we are really grounded in research; we’re really integrating what the current evidence is,” Gooding noted. “They’re also learning how to generate new evidence. It’s going to not just keep practice current but actually push practice forward. It’s that combination, I think, that sets us apart.” 

In addition, in partnership with Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare, FSU offers a NICU-MT certificate program through the College of Music. Gooding explains how this program highlights the physical relief music therapy can offer its patients.  

“We’re watching the monitors for their heart rate, their respiration rate, the oxygen saturation rate, and so on,” Gooding said. “And based on what’s happening, knowing where those levels need to be, and watching what’s happening while we’re doing the music intervention, we actually adjust what we’re doing.”  

Gooding’s practice aligns with FSU Health, the university’s integrated health system that brings together hospitals, physicians, clinics, research, education and innovation to improve the health of the communities FSU serves. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, music therapy’s countless benefits include lowering blood pressure, improving memory, enhancing social skills, reducing muscle tension and more.  

Music therapy can also be particularly effective for mental health treatments. Gooding noted that for anxious patients, integrating music into preexisting methods of relaxation can minimize their stress levels.  

“A lot of people do relaxation exercises like deep breathing, that kind of thing,” Gooding said. “We take those similar concepts and pair it with music, so that if someone is feeling anxious, or if they’re noticing that their heart rate is elevating, they can use the steady pulse of a piece of music or a music exercise or experience to help their body kind of get in line with that steady pulse, which is going to help literally physiologically slow them down.”  

Music therapy can be particularly effective in treating adolescents struggling with their mental health. In these cases, there are a variety of methods specialists may use, including analyzing lyrics.  

“Where it might be a challenge for someone to engage in just one-on-one talking directly about themselves, we can find a song that has lyrics that are relevant to what that person is going through, and that creates a space that allows people to say, ‘Well, I noticed this in the song, you know what? I do that sometimes too,’” Gooding said.  

The evidence-based practice remains a versatile profession, offering a range of clinical approaches designed to meet patient needs. An essential component of the field lies in its individualized nature, ensuring that every treatment is tailored to support each patient’s specific needs.  

“One person could love heavy metal music and find that relaxing because it’s their favorite kind of music, whereas for another person, that’s going to increase their anxiety,” Gooding said. “We really lean into that patient-preferred piece to try to connect with them.” 

As she trains the next generation of music therapists, Gooding is bolstering an emerging healthcare practice ready to put its patients at ease. One of music therapy’s early pioneers, the FSU College of Music is proving once again that great music has strong healing power. 

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